be careful in how you compare your times to the AGNC Omaha times. keep in mind there is 2.5-3 minutes of transition time minimum, 200 meters or so of running with your bike before/after mount/dismount that is added into the bike times, not the transition times, and the run was just brutally hot, I know I was 2 minutes slower than normal hot, and 4 minutes slower than open times in okay weather. And I dont think I melted down as much as other people on the run.

all that being said, you should totally come do AGNC. Its a competitive, hard, fast race. I don't do long course, so this race is probably the best production value I get all year. Chicago is pretty good too.

Worlds in chicago was kind of a shit-show. dont know if Chicago, ITU or USAT it to blame for that one. I would be interested to hear how Cozumel was. I am going to Rotterdam next year and hope it is run better than Chicago.

I have done a number of Nationals, Tri, Du and Aquathlon in a week.

I have been on TeamUSA 4 times.

IMO, there is just no better races to be at than these. As was posted you really cannot compare times unless you were there. But, it will give you a general idea.

USAT does a great job putting on Nationals. Just wish they would get them back to the west coast after being gone for 10 years.

TeamUSA is out of this world. Yea, nothing is perfect, but the people and competition is amazing.

I worked hard this year in races and rankings to hope to get on multiple TeamUSA teams next year. Am hoping to do DL Sprint DU, NDL Std DU, Aquathlon, and
LC Tri in Penticton. And via rankings, DL sprint Tri and NDL std Tri in rotterdam. Shall see what happens. Plus back to DU Nationals in Bend.
Tri Nationals is a week before DU worlds, so I am out. Sure wanted to go but oh well.

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Dave Campbell | Facebook | @DaveECampbell | h2ofun@h2ofun.net

Boom Nutrition code 19F4Y3 $5 off 24 pack box | Bionic Runner | PowerCranks | Velotron | Spruzzamist

Lions don't lose sleep worrying about the sheep

USAT nationals wa some of the best experiences in 10 years of racing. Mostly because I am not really fast enough to usually qualify for these types of things. If you can go, go

Have you done Kona? I really enjoyed Chicago Worlds but it couldn't compare to my Kona experience. I'm sure Worlds in Australia would be an awesome experience.

Be prepared to spend more for your Team USA uni than you expected. That seems to be a near universal complaint.

Good luck with your quest!

I thought Chicago worlds were great - bike course was a bit sketchy, but overall I had a ton of fun. My only worlds, so not much to compare it to. Cooler than really nice big participation races like Milwaukee nationals and Steelhead 70.3 because of the pageantry and the athletes from all over.

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Aaron Bales
Lansing Triathlon Team

Thanks, this is great feedback. The non-wetsuit swim, transition times and the hot run all add up to make Worlds a true challenge for me. And that is just what I need. I'm getting excited about building my season around Nationals and seeing what I can do.

Do spots typically roll-down to the 25th place floor?

Scott

That's a lotta options! Too many in fact. It took me some time to figure out the formats.

That said, long course is appealing, and aqua-bike plays to my strengths. Perhaps I will add AB Nationals to the end of 2017. Any idea where that and the related 2018 Worlds will be?

Scott

Cool, thanks.

Scott

Make sure to pack in some extra motivation for me. I've never been a great triathlete (middle to back of pack), but for some reason, I actually got slightly fast this year and qualified!!!

I have no idea if I'll be going at this point, though. I got mowed down by a car a couple weeks ago and can't train and have no idea when, or if, I'll be able to at the same level I used to. So, go qualify for worlds so I can live vicariously through you.

Wow, sorry. Cars really suck.

Thanks for the perspective. Racing is a privilege we should appreciate.

Recover well, and I'll see you there.

Scott

Depends where it is. Longer the travel, the more the roll down to 25th happens.

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Dave Campbell | Facebook | @DaveECampbell | h2ofun@h2ofun.net

Boom Nutrition code 19F4Y3 $5 off 24 pack box | Bionic Runner | PowerCranks | Velotron | Spruzzamist

Lions don't lose sleep worrying about the sheep

Aquabike was added to the multi festival race. Will have it in Penticton 2017 in August 27th, so you might want to go to AB nationals in 2016.

2018 multi festival is in Odense, Denmark

Only race location for 2017 announced so far by USAT is the Tri/sprint race.

You can see the list of all the known races I keep current at the TeamUSA FB group at

https://www.facebook.com/groups/781961558480877/

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Dave Campbell | Facebook | @DaveECampbell | h2ofun@h2ofun.net

Boom Nutrition code 19F4Y3 $5 off 24 pack box | Bionic Runner | PowerCranks | Velotron | Spruzzamist

Lions don't lose sleep worrying about the sheep

Nah, the uniform costs are fair. Some folks just like to complain about everything USAT, or WTC. :)

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Dave Campbell | Facebook | @DaveECampbell | h2ofun@h2ofun.net

Boom Nutrition code 19F4Y3 $5 off 24 pack box | Bionic Runner | PowerCranks | Velotron | Spruzzamist

Lions don't lose sleep worrying about the sheep

If I am going somewhere, I like to get my monies worth while I have the health.

I was one of the few who did the Olympic Tri, Sprint tri, and Aquathlon in Edmonton worlds 2014 in 6 days. Was a blast.

I did Du sprint and Du Olympic at Bend within 5 hours.

Doing 4 races at Penticton in 10 days would be very cool, but I am not in them all yet.

Been racing enough years that For me, long is just not any fun. This was the first year I did more than Tri's. Added Du's and Aquathlon, and it has been a blast.
Will be racing all three types again next season. Will try to get number 1 rankings in the Aquathlon at 60. :)

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Dave Campbell | Facebook | @DaveECampbell | h2ofun@h2ofun.net

Boom Nutrition code 19F4Y3 $5 off 24 pack box | Bionic Runner | PowerCranks | Velotron | Spruzzamist

Lions don't lose sleep worrying about the sheep

Let me clarify. The actual races were good, the admin part I thought was a mess. Disc ok, no disc, disc ok again? hand written numbers, packet pickup was a mess, sand pits in transition. It's just for the cost, I expected more, at least on par with AGNC. Obviously it doesn't bother me too much since I am going again.

Nationals fills up fast so make sure you register as soon as you can once you are notified you have qualified! The field size is larger at Nationals and is very intense. I enjoyed World's more, because you weren't competing against your teammates. It felt like you were all part of a team and was fun seeing a new place and meeting athletes from across the globe. The Team USA uniform was a great memento as well.

Since the qualification process is a little more involved than Ironman races, and at World's you have to wear the team kit, it feels more like a World Championship race than the Ironman World events. Very fun experience.

Interesting, Nationals has filled? I sure have not seen this. Great event, but always has been plenty of spots.

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Dave Campbell | Facebook | @DaveECampbell | h2ofun@h2ofun.net

Boom Nutrition code 19F4Y3 $5 off 24 pack box | Bionic Runner | PowerCranks | Velotron | Spruzzamist

Lions don't lose sleep worrying about the sheep

ya, i don't think it has. I registered in March last year. I have heard about it filling before from someone, maybe my old coach or something, but I have also heard that light wheels are faster than aero wheels, the swim doesnt really matter, and power cranks will help your running ;)

of course i have already booked my hotel, to make sure I got the one I wanted. I'll wait a while before I actually register for the races, probably next year.

Damn. Now I have a lot to think about. I qualified this year. I usually sneak in just above MOP and sometimes higher depending on the race. But next year I have Rev3 Williamsburg in July and my first IM at Chattanooga in September so squeezing in USAT Nationals would be a challenge. I'm no threat to those tops spots for sure and Omaha is not exactly a destination I am interested in. What did you feel was so special about it?

I guess it's a matter of perspective. I like signing up for races the night before (I do a lot of road races) so for me triathlon races requiring advanced registration is an extreme for me. I remember one year Nationals being full in April (4 months before the race).

USAT Nationals is one of the best events of the year. USAT always does a great job with the race, and it always brings out some great competition! The logistics were a bit better in Milwaukee than Omaha, but hopefully year 2 of Omaha will run a little more smoothly. Milwaukee was a pretty fast course, Omaha was deceptively slow as someone else had mentioned, especially the run times in later waves due to the brutal heat and humidity. But again, a really great event overall.

Worlds, on the other hand, was quite a shit show. I did the olympic at Chicago in 2015, which might have been the worst one, so maybe others' experiences were much better than mine. They changed dates of the race last minute, then when we arrived, they were constantly changing schedule due to weather (mandatory day before bike check in, check in race morning, packet pick up, body marking, pro races, etc), which is reasonable, but communication regarding these changes was horrible. No one had any idea what was going on. Then there was the "no disc wheels allowed" controversy, then discs were allowed, but I still got attacked by the "TeamUSA coach" when I walked into transition with a disc wheel. The post race food was the best though: a quarter of a stale bagel. The bike was short, the run was long, and the later waves had a shortened swim. A $500 race, a $300 uniform, and the whole thing was very amateur hour, even down to the event t shirt and body markings. I guess it's cool to say I did it, but definitely didn't leave me wanting to go back.

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http://trainingwheelsrequired.wordpress.com
@KellyNCollier

It was sad to read how badly the US hosed up AG Short Course Worlds in Chicago. I've been to Long Course Worlds in Holland, Sweden and Switzerland. All were equally outstanding experiences and highly professional race productions. The takeaway is to race Worlds only when some other governing body besides USAT is responsible for hosting.

been to Nationals twice, Worlds twice..
Nats is the most competitive Olympic-distance race in the US, and both the ones I went to - Kansas in the second year, Tuscaloosa - were excellent in terms of organization, marshalling, etc. Highly recommended. I had planned to go to Omaha this year since it's driving distance for me, but broken ribs stopped play.

Worlds in Lausanne was hands-down the best race experience I've had in thirty-plus years of tri, they really looked after us.
Budapest was a bit disorganized but still great fun. By all accounts Chicago was a bit of a botch, which is unusual for Worlds. Definitely go if you can.

The Gold Coast will probably be a draft-fest on the bike, it was last time, but just go in with a prepared mind.. given that it is Oz and a long expensive trip, chances of a rolldown are good.

Drafting in 2009:
http://forum.slowtwitch.com/...ng_P2498857/?page=-1

Cool, I love the consistency of the prior three posts.

I'm in and looking forward to seeing where this takes me!

Scott