Canadian Olympic and Sprint Tri Championships Ottawa 17-18 June Roll Call

Jun 10, 17 12:43

Post #1 of 27 (3296 views)

Just wondering how many of you are making the trip over here to Ottawa for Nationals. Looks like we have some warm weather over the next week so the water should not feel like run off from the polar ice cap that just receded after our insanely long winter!!!

http://ottawatriathlon.ca/

Saturday 1.5-40-10K no drafting

Swim will be like swimming in a pool (easy navigation, no current), bike is dead flat but with several turns and U turns so may not be as "fast" as the profile suggests (due to braking). Run is 4x2.5K on the road with a hill on each loop (basically half the 1.25K is on a hill/incline either up or down). Venue at Dow's lake is really nice. Hopefully waves are spread apart enough so all of you have a clean race.

Sunday 0.75-20-5K draft legal

Draft legal sprint on Sunday is half of the course of the Saturday events. Should be a blast.

I am on the fence about participating, as I am just getting back into riding that is very problematic after my disk-nerve stuff from the last 1.5 years. My shuffle/run is coming along. I think I can get through 10K without prolonged stretching breaks to loosen up leg spasms (basically it's like having a constant soccer player calf cramp and I lose all function of the leg). But I was hoping to get back into participating at this race as the organizer, Sharon Donnelly (Sydney 2000 Olympian, Pan Am 1999 winner) is an old classmate from Royal Military College and would be great to race again at her event. I have been eyeing this for 6 months, but was expecting my progress to be "better" but my body is in the way of my mind!!! In any case I'll be out there in some capacity and hope to seem many of you ripping it up.

If you have any questions about the event or about local logistics in our city, put them in this thread, and I will try to answer them for you or get the answers from the organizers.

Welcome to Ottawa, you'll love our city now that the polar ice cap that is here 10 months per year has melted LOL!

Dev

Re: Canadian Olympic and Sprint Tri Championships Ottawa 17-18 June Roll Call [devashish_paul] [ In reply to ]

Jun 10, 17 13:09

Post #2 of 27 (3281 views)

A lingering knee injury is keeping me off the roster...although, swimming in dows lake doesn't really make me want to sign up either!

Ask me how much I love my Kiwami LD Aero Trisuit

Re: Canadian Olympic and Sprint Tri Championships Ottawa 17-18 June Roll Call [devashish_paul] [ In reply to ]

Jun 10, 17 13:16

Post #3 of 27 (3275 views)

I am glad to see the ice has melted off the lake! I am a transplanted Canadian coming up from North Carolina to race in one of my favorite cities.

Re: Canadian Olympic and Sprint Tri Championships Ottawa 17-18 June Roll Call [Larry NC] [ In reply to ]

Jun 10, 17 13:25

Post #4 of 27 (3272 views)

Larry NC wrote:

I am glad to see the ice has melted off the lake! I am a transplanted Canadian coming up from North Carolina to race in one of my favorite cities.

http://weather.gc.ca/...on-118_metric_e.html

It's kind of funny when you get a few 31C days and Environment Canada issues a "heat warning"...that's like a cold front in Houston or Kona!

As for the water in Dow's Lake, it's probably 1000x better than Woodlands Texas. It's the exact same water that we race in at various races in Mooney's Bay upstream from the locks and the canal+ Dow's lake does have water turnover due to the locks, just no current to deal with. My biggest worry about the course is that there are many cracks in the pavement into which you could as a minimum hide a Canadian Beaver, but you can probably stuff a Canadian Polar bear in there if you get a skinny one. I know organizers are painting big orange circles around them, but just be careful.

Re: Canadian Olympic and Sprint Tri Championships Ottawa 17-18 June Roll Call [devashish_paul] [ In reply to ]

Jun 10, 17 14:01

Post #5 of 27 (3257 views)

Fun DL event and first itu event in North America to have the full on semifinal-final format.

Currently will have 4 semifinals and top 30 make A final, next 30 make B final.

Also will have a MTR Sunday morning!

Brooks Doughtie, M.S.
Exercise Physiology
-USAT Level II

Re: Canadian Olympic and Sprint Tri Championships Ottawa 17-18 June Roll Call [B_Doughtie] [ In reply to ]

Jun 10, 17 20:47

Post #6 of 27 (3216 views)

Jr/u23/Sr all in one field ;)

___________________________________________
http://en.wikipedia.org/...eoesophageal_fistula
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cerebral_palsy
2020 National Masters Champion - M40-44 - 400m IM
Canadian Record Holder 35-39M & 40-44M - 200 m Butterfly (LCM)

Re: Canadian Olympic and Sprint Tri Championships Ottawa 17-18 June Roll Call [devashish_paul] [ In reply to ]

Jun 11, 17 5:05

Post #7 of 27 (3188 views)

I'll be there as cannon fodder for the draft legal sprint.

Re: Canadian Olympic and Sprint Tri Championships Ottawa 17-18 June Roll Call [Scott_B] [ In reply to ]

Jun 11, 17 5:39

Post #8 of 27 (3179 views)

You should do really well at the sprint with a strong swim and bike. I was thinking about doing the sprint but I don't think my body would be able to react to any accelerations....better to do my own thing in the Olympic. Yesterday I did a "test" and biked 45K (did not go well, but I "finished") and went to the track and did 6x1 mile without having to stop and stretch (other than at the end of each mile, 10 second to drink). So I am hopeful I can get through the distance. I did the Perth Pool tri last weekend 1000m swim-32K bike-6K. That 6K was the longest I had run in 2 years without constantly stopping to stretch. After riding today, I guess I decide if I sign up or not, but will be fun to be out there either way for the sprint for sure. I'm keeping that as my volunteer day.

Re: Canadian Olympic and Sprint Tri Championships Ottawa 17-18 June Roll Call [devashish_paul] [ In reply to ]

Jun 11, 17 5:57

Post #9 of 27 (3174 views)

Really glad to see that you are getting back into racing after all the frustration and setbacks you have had to deal with over the past few years. Most people would have thrown the towel in a long time ago. You probably should give serious consideration for doing the draft legal sprint over the OD. The run will be a much better distance at this point in your recovery, and as far as the bike goes, slide into a group and stay there for as long as possible. I doubt the AG race dynamics will be similar to elite racing, at least that my hope.

Re: Canadian Olympic and Sprint Tri Championships Ottawa 17-18 June Roll Call [Scott_B] [ In reply to ]

Jun 11, 17 6:05

Post #10 of 27 (3173 views)

Scott_B wrote:

Really glad to see that you are getting back into racing after all the frustration and setbacks you have had to deal with over the past few years. Most people would have thrown the towel in a long time ago. You probably should give serious consideration for doing the draft legal sprint over the OD. The run will be a much better distance at this point in your recovery, and as far as the bike goes, slide into a group and stay there for as long as possible. I doubt the AG race dynamics will be similar to elite racing, at least that my hope.

By the way, I did not see the format for the sprint. Is it by age group (and you can only draft your age group)? Or can you draft anyone?

Re: Canadian Olympic and Sprint Tri Championships Ottawa 17-18 June Roll Call [devashish_paul] [ In reply to ]

Jun 11, 17 8:04

Post #11 of 27 (3157 views)

devashish_paul wrote:

As for the water in Dow's Lake, it's probably 1000x better than Woodlands Texas. It's the exact same water that we race in at various races in Mooney's Bay upstream from the locks and the canal+ Dow's lake does have water turnover due to the locks, just no current to deal with. My biggest worry about the course is that there are many cracks in the pavement into which you could as a minimum hide a Canadian Beaver, but you can probably stuff a Canadian Polar bear in there if you get a skinny one. I know organizers are painting big orange circles around them, but just be careful.

Many of us were pretty disappointed when they cancelled the swim last year... then we actually looked at the water. Not sure what's worse: having the swim cancelled or actually having to swim in Dow's Lake. Yes, it's part of the canal, but it's like an oxbow, there really isn't any flowthrough. It's just a big shallow basin that bakes in the sun.

The roads on the bike course do require you to have your wits about you - some huge cracks and potholes. The run course is nice - tough but fair. Running up and down a hill 4 times may or may not be everyone's cup of tea.

The event was well run last year and I'm sure it'll be even better this year. I've got my gripes with the course, but I understand why the organizers chose the location they did.

Re: Canadian Olympic and Sprint Tri Championships Ottawa 17-18 June Roll Call [devashish_paul] [ In reply to ]

Jun 11, 17 10:00

Post #12 of 27 (3144 views)

The sprint is AG wave starts. Can only draft off of the same sex.

Re: Canadian Olympic and Sprint Tri Championships Ottawa 17-18 June Roll Call [ClayDavis] [ In reply to ]

Jun 11, 17 11:59

Post #13 of 27 (3129 views)

ClayDavis wrote:

devashish_paul wrote:

As for the water in Dow's Lake, it's probably 1000x better than Woodlands Texas. It's the exact same water that we race in at various races in Mooney's Bay upstream from the locks and the canal+ Dow's lake does have water turnover due to the locks, just no current to deal with. My biggest worry about the course is that there are many cracks in the pavement into which you could as a minimum hide a Canadian Beaver, but you can probably stuff a Canadian Polar bear in there if you get a skinny one. I know organizers are painting big orange circles around them, but just be careful.

Many of us were pretty disappointed when they cancelled the swim last year... then we actually looked at the water. Not sure what's worse: having the swim cancelled or actually having to swim in Dow's Lake. Yes, it's part of the canal, but it's like an oxbow, there really isn't any flowthrough. It's just a big shallow basin that bakes in the sun.

The roads on the bike course do require you to have your wits about you - some huge cracks and potholes. The run course is nice - tough but fair. Running up and down a hill 4 times may or may not be everyone's cup of tea.

The event was well run last year and I'm sure it'll be even better this year. I've got my gripes with the course, but I understand why the organizers chose the location they did.

While I agree there is limited flow in Dow's Lake, it's still 100x-1000x better water than a ton of racing I have done in the US and Europe. Here in Canada, we are so bless with a gazillion venues where you could just use the lake water for drinking water, that our standards are pretty high for what we will swim in LOL! In terms of the bike course, it's not really worse than a lot of the local tris, but yes, I agree, a more diverse course would be nice. As an organizer, its been a few decades since I organized an event at this venue, but it's super convenient just shutting down the roads that access the canal and then away you go. And as a city we're kind of used to the roads beside the canal being shut down for various tri and run events. Other roads are tough to shut down! I like the 4xhill run course! It's definitely a bit of a power runner course!

Re: Canadian Olympic and Sprint Tri Championships Ottawa 17-18 June Roll Call [devashish_paul] [ In reply to ]

Jun 11, 17 18:08

Post #14 of 27 (3095 views)

I'll be there in the DL sprint. My swim isn't where it needs to be, so I'm just hoping to pick up a bike group that hauls ass up toward the leaders. Things went a little south on the run last year, so I'm hoping to improve that leg this year. Mainly I'd like to have fun with it, DL is a really exciting format. It's early in the season, and my goal is to get to Rotterdam healthy, motivated, and fit -- in that order. So I've got a ways to go before I'm in peak shape this season.

Re: Canadian Olympic and Sprint Tri Championships Ottawa 17-18 June Roll Call [surroundhound] [ In reply to ]

Jun 12, 17 10:39

Post #15 of 27 (3045 views)

Best of luck on your build to Rotterdam. It looks unlikely that I will do any of the events. Body is feeling off, but I have till Wednesday to sign up with the extended deadline, so I will let me waffling go on till 11 pm on Wed LOL! I told myself 2 decades ago that I won't enter a race, unless I can plan to swim, bike and run the entire run and not plan to use walking as part of the strategy. After yesterday's ride that was a bit of a disaster, in terms of my nerve acting up and getting spasms on the bike, not sure, because once that happens, it becomes very hard to not just finish the bike, but start the run and plan to run. But having said that, not throwing in the towel "yet". This morning's attempt at a trainer ride was a complete write off....but still.

OK, for anyone who is in town or visiting the race organizers still need last moment volunteer roles. At this link you can see the roles and shifts and can sign up. Maybe if you are a racer and have friends or family members, get them to hit this link :-)

http://ottawatriathlon.ivolunteer.com/ott_int_tri

Re: Canadian Olympic and Sprint Tri Championships Ottawa 17-18 June Roll Call [devashish_paul] [ In reply to ]

Jun 12, 17 13:09

Post #16 of 27 (3028 views)

Already signed up for the standard distance race and I'm looking forward to it! Just curious about the water quality, I heard that the swim got cancelled last year? I bailed on my bike recently and got some real nasty road rash that isn't going to be healed entirely before the race, should I be really worried about infection? I don't care if the water looks nasty but only if its actually unsafe. Can anyone pipe in on this? Also how warm is the water looking? Wetsuit legal for the age groupers? because that would help my road rash situation a bit...

I'd really appreciate any help!!

Re: Canadian Olympic and Sprint Tri Championships Ottawa 17-18 June Roll Call [CoolDownChamp] [ In reply to ]

Jun 12, 17 19:10

Post #17 of 27 (2980 views)

I am returning to race for the first time since Chicago in 2015. Had surgery on my heel (removed my bursa) in March of 2016 and one year ago I was able to do 20 minutes of jog a minute/walk a minute but things are coming along nicely so I'm in for the standard distance race..... might have been better to pick a race other than Nationals for my return but my daughter is racing in the U23 Camtri race so why not! I will definitely have to adjust my expectations though.

I just got an email stating the latest bacteria and pH tests of the water and it looks good. I think they moved the race from late July to mid-June so that there isn't the heat and time for the bacteria to build up .... and it will definitely be wetsuit legal with the cold, rainy spring we've had..... the water was around 15.4 degrees C on June 2nd so even with the past few hot days I doubt it could warm up that quickly.

Re: Canadian Olympic and Sprint Tri Championships Ottawa 17-18 June Roll Call [CoolDownChamp] [ In reply to ]

Jun 12, 17 19:49

Post #18 of 27 (2965 views)

Just want to confirm that the swims for the first few events of last year's race were cancelled due to delays in receiving test results, not poor water quality. Dows Lake has consistently had water quality that exceeds ITU standards and the most recent results (June 2) supporting this were released earlier today.

June 2nd results - temp - 15.4 degrees
Location 1 - PH - 8.4 PPM / EColi - 6 PPM
Location 2 - PH - 8.3 PPM / EColi - 8PPM

You can find details related to these results, as well as historical data here - http://ottawatriathlon.ca/water-quality/. Recent temperatures have been warm, so expect the water to warm up quite a bit over the next few days.

http://www.bytowntriathlon.com

Re: Canadian Olympic and Sprint Tri Championships Ottawa 17-18 June Roll Call [teamwhitedog] [ In reply to ]

Jun 14, 17 9:40

Post #19 of 27 (2915 views)

teamwhitedog wrote:

Just want to confirm that the swims for the first few events of last year's race were cancelled due to delays in receiving test results, not poor water quality. Dows Lake has consistently had water quality that exceeds ITU standards and the most recent results (June 2) supporting this were released earlier today.

June 2nd results - temp - 15.4 degrees
Location 1 - PH - 8.4 PPM / EColi - 6 PPM
Location 2 - PH - 8.3 PPM / EColi - 8PPM

You can find details related to these results, as well as historical data here - http://ottawatriathlon.ca/water-quality/. Recent temperatures have been warm, so expect the water to warm up quite a bit over the next few days.

How is everyone doing. Things are looking good for the weekend? Hopefully your tapers are good.

I will be in non athlete mode for this weekend (and likely for some time yet) as my spasms on the bike recently got uncontrollable....need to go see my neurologist on all this....kind of sucks. It's really demoralizing with this awesome weather and not being able to ride (AGAIN)....back in the pool like during the winter, but at least I can do that.

Re: Canadian Olympic and Sprint Tri Championships Ottawa 17-18 June Roll Call [devashish_paul] [ In reply to ]

Jun 29, 17 13:48

Post #20 of 27 (2754 views)

Late response to the thread. Great event that went down few weeks ago. For the elites having heat-finals back to back days was fun and the hill out of transition made the bike matter. With advent of MTR being added my guess is that both usa and Canada will have more of these type of events that really can showcase that raw speed necessary for 18 min race. Canada put on a great show, weather held off nicely and it seemed no real issues aside from an DQ protest.

Was cool to see the top Canadian elites showing up to get after their national championship. I was super impressed overall by Canadian athletes technical skills. They were easily 4-6s faster in transitions than American athletes overall from what I watched with each race.

Brooks Doughtie, M.S.
Exercise Physiology
-USAT Level II

Re: Canadian Olympic and Sprint Tri Championships Ottawa 17-18 June Roll Call [B_Doughtie] [ In reply to ]

Jun 30, 17 5:09

Post #21 of 27 (2723 views)

MTR?

Advocating for research & treatment for Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ME).
http://www.meaction.net/about/what-is-me/

"Suck it up, Buttercup"
(me, to myself, every day)

Re: Canadian Olympic and Sprint Tri Championships Ottawa 17-18 June Roll Call [B_Doughtie] [ In reply to ]

Jun 30, 17 5:16

Post #22 of 27 (2719 views)

Sorry I missed you. Would have loved to meet. I was down there both days, although on day 2 I was going the road closures on Pretoria Bridge at the far end of the course, so really saw no one other than the athletes going by! I agree that the super short format was a real blast to watch too! The mixed tri relays at the next Olympics will be a blast.

Re: Canadian Olympic and Sprint Tri Championships Ottawa 17-18 June Roll Call [Scotttriguy] [ In reply to ]

Jun 30, 17 6:01

Post #23 of 27 (2703 views)

Mixed Team Relay

Brooks Doughtie, M.S.
Exercise Physiology
-USAT Level II

Re: Canadian Olympic and Sprint Tri Championships Ottawa 17-18 June Roll Call [Scotttriguy] [ In reply to ]

Jun 30, 17 6:04

Post #24 of 27 (2700 views)

MTR = Mixed Tri Relay.

For those curious about the water quality in Dow's Lake, the E Coli levels were less than 2/100ths of the allowable limit by ITU rules. The swim was cancelled for the Standard in 2016, not because the water quality was poor, but because the testing company had not returned the results on time, as soon as the results came in, the swim was back on (The elite woman were about 15min from starting, so they did a Du, but every start after that had a swim). The water there isn't that bad, just weedy, and you hit the odd patch of diesel run off from boats, which can be a bit stinky.

The bits I caught of the racing looked pretty awesome, and the volunteers for the event were great! The elites that I talked to after their races seemed to love the format of heats and finals. And fortunately the worst bullets were dodged weather wise on the Sunday, and the active cells of the front missed town (the last thing you want to pop up on your phone as they are about to start elite B finals is a Tornado watch) and we only got 40min of rain.

Re: Canadian Olympic and Sprint Tri Championships Ottawa 17-18 June Roll Call [Trauma] [ In reply to ]

Jun 30, 17 6:27

Post #25 of 27 (2693 views)

One thing that allowed this race to go off so well was split transitions and the bike/run course separated. Unfortunately US junior elite cup (DL events) and the few CC's that are held in US all have run and bike the same course. Which means you can't split transitions and have races start 10 mins apart because same course is used in both run and bike for heat semi-finals.

Ottawa did a cool thing of switching the run/bike directions after Saturday. So the 300m hill they had to ride up 4 times instead of running up it like they did during heats on Saturday.

That's one thing that makes races go by faster and let's RD use less resources on cops closing streets.

An venue like clermont would have taken 5.5 hours what took Ottawa 2:30 to get 4 races in.

Brooks Doughtie, M.S.
Exercise Physiology
-USAT Level II

Last edited by: B_Doughtie: Jun 30, 17 6:31

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