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Chattanooga or Louisville for 1st Timer?
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Which of the two races is better for a noob to triathlons? I love heat and don't need a wetsuit to feel comfortable in the water.

For the bike, I like being hot, but too much elevation worries me. My training area has very few elevations. I can ride 50 miles and not have a total elevation of 400ft.

Running... I'm a runner and can run anywhere.

Biggest concern (after New Orleans was cancelled and Gulf Coast 70.3 removed the swim) is picking the race with the least chance of getting cancelled or modified.

Thanks
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Re: Chattanooga or Louisville for 1st Timer? [Spartan420] [ In reply to ]
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I was thinking about giving Louisville a go for my first 70.3 primarily because its late season, so I would have more time to work my swim, and my brother lives there. I have, however, been dissuaded from that goal after hearing about the water quality. I knew the Ohio river was terrible. I used to live in Louisville and my dad would take me fishing and tell me about how bad the water was. He worked for Jeff Boat so was routinely on the water and a lot of the fish we caught were pretty damned deformed. I digress, the individual I spoke with was telling me he had water get in his goggles and had a severe eye infection afterwards. Granted, there are MANY people that do this race and I am sure perhaps most don't experience this; but it did make me rethink this particular race for maybe something more local. . .and clean.

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Re: Chattanooga or Louisville for 1st Timer? [Spartan420] [ In reply to ]
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I did Louisville in 2015 and Choo in 2016. I don't really see that either race has much more of a chance to get canceled or modified. I guess Louisville did have the toxic algae scare in 2015, but the swim went on.

Both swims are fairly easy, Choo's more so. Louisville has a moderately harder bike, Choo has a much harder run. With Choo pushed back a week, I think the chances of a hot day are unlikely at either. But I guess the chance of heat is still better at Choo. It was 49F when we got in the water at Louisville, and last year a cold front came through on the bike.

Both are good races in cool cities. I'd say Choo is slightly harder, just due to that beast of a run.

Good luck.
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Re: Chattanooga or Louisville for 1st Timer? [Spartan420] [ In reply to ]
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I have done both and I would suggest Chattanooga. The swim is cleaner and a little bit easier and the bike is better also.

Louisville has or at least had a ton of rollers that can become annoying to soul crushing depending on your fitness and riding skill.

The run is pancake flat in Louisville and is relatively flat in Chattanooga until you cross the river and then there are some substantial hills.

If your strength is running, Chattanooga wins.
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Re: Chattanooga or Louisville for 1st Timer? [Spartan420] [ In reply to ]
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i did Lou this past year and thought it was a great race. not sure if you'll like it though if you're warm blooded. a cold front came in halfway through the race and the temps dipped into the low 50s with high wind. i normally love cold weather running but this was something else. the hot chicken broth on the run course saved my butt. i was freezing
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Re: Chattanooga or Louisville for 1st Timer? [Spartan420] [ In reply to ]
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I would choose based on do you want a hilly bike or run? Louisville has a fairly hilly bike ride but a flat and fast run. Chattanooga is the opposite.

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Re: Chattanooga or Louisville for 1st Timer? [Spartan420] [ In reply to ]
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Spartan420 wrote:
Which of the two races is better for a noob to triathlons? I love heat and don't need a wetsuit to feel comfortable in the water.

For the bike, I like being hot, but too much elevation worries me. My training area has very few elevations. I can ride 50 miles and not have a total elevation of 400ft.

Running... I'm a runner and can run anywhere.

Biggest concern (after New Orleans was cancelled and Gulf Coast 70.3 removed the swim) is picking the race with the least chance of getting cancelled or modified.

Thanks

Given your concerns I would do Chattanooga.


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Re: Chattanooga or Louisville for 1st Timer? [Thomas Gerlach] [ In reply to ]
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Chattanooga. Run was harder than I was expecting, hills and heat. Bike was not bad at all and I believe a good one for a first timer.
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Re: Chattanooga or Louisville for 1st Timer? [joshjan] [ In reply to ]
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joshjan wrote:
Chattanooga. Run was harder than I was expecting, hills and heat. Bike was not bad at all and I believe a good one for a first timer.

Both are great races, and as everyone else has stated, they a flipped a bit on the bike/run part. The bike and swim is a bit easier at CHOO, but the run is MUCH harder. LOU bike is a bit harder, not the difference between the two is not as drastic as the differences in the runs.

Alot of people saying you should do CHOO because run is your strength....I'm not sure I agree. It's up to you. The LOU run is completely flat, so for a strong runner maybe you kill that course?

As I said, both events are great, similar profiles and have excellent support. There's not a *bad* choice there.
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Re: Chattanooga or Louisville for 1st Timer? [dprocket] [ In reply to ]
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Louisville has the best finish of all IM races IMHO.
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Re: Chattanooga or Louisville for 1st Timer? [Spartan420] [ In reply to ]
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i did last year LOU, never CHOO
i did many races around the world and rarely I thought...I think i will come back again to this race. LOU was one of the few.
Swim: easy, fast but ugly water quality
Bike: I loved it. nice landscapes, good support. I think we were unlucky with the weather because in the last 20k on the bike I got a scary wind that almost I fell from my bike. it was side wind, strong gusts. I cant imagine who had to do maybe 40k instead of 20k in those conditions
Run: i would vote it one of the best marathon courses in an Ironman. flat and fast even though also here we were hit by freezing wind
Arrival: one of the best, if not the best
Logistics: you wont have any hotel very close to the transition. better to stay close to the arrival
sightseeing: not much around Louisville. not the best location for tourism (though, bike course is amazing)
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