Pimp my '07 race sked!

Triathlon Forum
1

OK ST’ers, here’s your chance to help me pick what races to do in '07. I have a few that are pretty much chiseled in stone already, but the rest are open to discussion and vote, and feel free to suggest other options. I’m going to enjoy an “IM Free” season, and also no flying to races, so they must be w’in reasonable driving distance of me (N. 'burbs of NYC) for a day or a weekend trip.

Here’s the stuff that’s on there already (or will be registered for shortly):

May - 5/19/07 Harriman Endurasport Half Iron - top 10 or bust!

June - 6/8/07 EpicMan (to “defend” my title - why do I feel like I’m wearing a coonskin cap at the Alamo? :wink:

June - 6/30/07 Tupper Lake Tinman!!! For once it’s not on my wife’s b-day, I am THERE!!! ST Smackdown vs ???

July - ??

Aug - 8/19/07 Timberman HIM

Sept - ??

Oct - 10/14/07 American Zofingen, sub 8 or bust!!!

Other potential options:

5/6/07 - NJ Devilman. OK, so the swim is a murky cesspool, but it’s a blazing fast bike and run apparently, could be a nice way to get the rust off for the season. A bit far to drive for a day race, but doable.

6/3/07 - Mooseman. Great race, but too close to Harriman and EpicMan.

7/??/07 - NYC Tri. Never done it, mebbe this year??

7/15/07 - Musselman, based on ST feedback!

9/9/07 - DE Diamondman. Dunno much about it. A longshot at best…

9/9/07 - SOS, Survival of the Shawangunks. In my “backyard”, but I suck at swimming and this is a very swim-centric race. Sets up a theoretically possible double w/ A-Z if they have the prime again next year.

9/15/07 - Demi Esprit in Montreal. FAST race, PB course. Long way to drive, but could be a nice family long weekend trip. Cheap entry fee is offset by gas/tolls/lodging. Probably hafta choose between this and SOS, 6 days ain’t enuff recovery to do both, even assuming my wife didn’t divorce me for even thinking about doing so :-p

9/23/07 - Nutmeg Half, CT. Brand new race, near home. Probably a longshot at best since Demi Esprit and SOS are the 2 main Sept contenders.

11/??/07 - 70.3 Championships. If I get in, and if I’m motivated to race in Nov…

Other???

What say ye, denizens of ST??

-M

2

July - I vote for the Musselman Half. Just an all round fun race.

Sept. I am also considering SOS for next year. It is not swim centric. The swims are pretty well broken up, and 2/3s are short half milers. No one will be swimming fast at that point.

May - I did the Devilman Half this year. If they don’t change the swim venue to a proven acceptable site, you couldn’t pay me to go back. Now, for me, I gotta see if I can work my way into EpicMan next year. :wink:

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Yeah, I’ve heard nothing but negatives about the Devilman swim venue(s - I vaguely remember hearing they’ve tried more than one, but both sucked??)

Only reason I’d consider it is it’s relatively “cheap” for a half ($140 I believe) and it’d be nice to be on a fast course for a half for once, since Harriman’s not exactly a PB course. (PS - if YOU don’t man-up and do Harriman, I will ride over to your house after the race and kick yer wussy nancy-boy ass personally :wink:

OK, so SOS is run AND swim centric then. (the bike is like an apertif to cleanse the palate at the beginning). Several short swims and one long one still adds up to a decent chunk of mileage at by far my weakest discipline .

The pre-qualification for EpicMan is pretty stringent. You need to get to LP and pay $22 for a bunk at the Jackrabbit. I hope you can swing it.

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That is a ton of HIM’s for a “non-IM” season – including AmZof will leave your body feeling pretty much like it did this year, with two IM’s. Why not mix it up with some shorter, faster races like West Point or Westchester?

In any case, we’ll look for you at SOS!

-Mike

5

Mike,

I appreciate the input. I recover pretty fast from HIM’s of late, and this is only the “Dev-lite” sorta season plan, since he does more Halfs and then throws in a IM, plus a handful of silly training events as well - so compared to him, I’m a total slacker! :wink: I do the 4 HVTC club sprint races, so there’s my shorter faster racing. I’d rather do Demi Esprit or SOS than Westchester, hands down!!!

Realistically I’ll only be doing one race / month (assuming one considers EpicMan a training event rather than a race), so it’s really not too too bad. Hopefully I’ll actually remember to think about registering for West Point, since it seems like every year that race comes and goes and I never think to register in time before it sells out.

Actually, other than rolling my ankle last Sun on a trail run, I feel pretty damn good! A helluva lot better than after LP at least. See ya out and about-

M

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Come on down and do the DeSoto TripleT! I’d wager you would have more fun (and steeper competition) than any race you have ever done - seriously.

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The NYC Tri is one of the coolest races I’ve ever done… It’s exremely well put todether and it may be only second to the ironman with the type of crowds it brings out…

I got to meet a ton of very cool folks including all the people who race in the PC Division becasue it was the national race for them…

BUT!!!
That is the FOULEST water I have ever swam in… In all honesty it may be Technically safe, but the mental effect of putting yourself in that milky grey river is second to none in a bad way…

You can’t see more than 1 inch infront of you… not even your own arm… as for the taste… yea.

But besides that it was one of the nicest races i’ve ever done… the bike course it amazing and risding on the west side highway is awsome!

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Add the SOS. Think of it as a smackdown to your swimming suckiness. Might force you to shake things up a bit.

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Patriot Half, July 1st, Freetown, MA.

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A true Epicman would not worry about Mooseman being too close to Epicman…

11

Another vote for the Musselman for your July race.

Sprint on Saturday AM. Watch the ITU in the PM then HIM on Sunday.

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Make up your mind. Either you’re a Hairy Man or Epic Man or Timber Man, etc. But not all at once, that would be a crisis of identity. Sheesh.

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Musselman didn’t show up on Trifind I guess… but, yes, I have heard good things about it, so that’s definitely one to consider (assuming we’re not away on va-ca or something during that part o’ July). OK, I’ll add that to the list!

Doing EpicMan 5 days after any other race is kinda silly, moreso now that I’ve inadvertantly upped the ante by running “fast” there last year (which I credit/blame Rick Hellard for fully :slight_smile:

Getting more than one Spousal Approval Permission Slip for a weekend race / month is seriously pushing it, and could seriously overdraw my Marital Equity Account. The NSF fees for which are exhorbinant :wink:

Thx all for the great idears, keep 'em coming!

-M

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“idears”. LOL. Such a New Englander.

I once had a teacher in Massachussetts who kept saying “rader”, “thetar”, “antenner”, etc. :slight_smile:

15

I just read about the SOS a few weeks ago. I remember thinking that it was a runners race too. Doesn’t it break down to something like 20 miles of running, 30 mile bike, and a couple mile swim?

The Triple T is a great race at a great venue too.

I guess I like those non-standard distances and formats.

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Mikey

I agree w/Parkito about Musselman. Great race,did it as my first 1/2 a few years ago. SUPER FAST bike,pancake flat thru Amish-type country sans the shooter.

It gets hot after the bike though, so the run might not be a PR split,but you’ll appreciate the neighborhood crowds.

Jeff Henderson the RD posts on ST. Excellent race !

For your Sept race I spectated the Lake George Tri ( OLY ) this year. Dude ! this one rocks !

I plan on making it my Sept post IM race.

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The Devilman swim venue was disgusting. I was fortunate to be in the very first wave and first out of the water, so I got clear water; however, virtually everyone thought it was completely disgusting. I do know what they mean, however. The first 95% of the swim was fine, until we got back towards the start (it was a loop course). All of a sudden we went from somewhat murky–but OK–water to total darkness. Mud and shit everywhere. I would imagine that is what the swim was like for nearly everyone for the entire time–totally gross. It looks like they are going to keep the same venue.

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The Devilman swim venue was disgusting.

I e-mailed Neil, the race director for the Devilman, in August about the 2007 race. Here’s what he replied:

"Nick,

We’re planning it for same weekend. Some things I found out about the water
after the fact - all good. Of course, water quality was good as we had that tested prior. The kickup of sedaments we didn’t allow for. I was informed it was cedar wood that created the reddish murky water - so that’s good. Also, dive team will be removing more stumps in off season. And town said they could raise the water 1 more foot which would be great!!! In addition, town is planning on a cement ramp in/out of water.

Thanks for the input and continued interest. We’ll be posting information
around Nov. for the 2007 year.

Neil."

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No suggestions from here, just thought I’d comment that I think it’s awesome that you don’t want to screw yourself for Epicman (a training event) by racing the previous weekend.

Not to say that ML would brag but never underestimate the bragging rights associated with a win at E-man!!

My plan is to carry a short taper into St. Croix and keep resting through the month of May. Come June 8 I’ll be fully prepared to go the distance with you, mcoughlin, rick hellard…unless of course Dev has indeed convinded jonnyo to attend, then were all toast.

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Lookin good Mike. My sched looks about the same minus the EpicMan and add NYC marathon in Nov. July is a toss up between NYC and Musleman for me. Maybe throw in the Harriman sprint in Aug to tune up for Timberman. Wow, we may be going head to head all season next year. I better get on my trainer now! Oh yeah, stop fussin about your swim and sign up for SOS already. Look at my swim splits vs my bike/run splits…Yeah that’s what i thought… :slight_smile: