Concord YMCA Tri (Clough State Park 9-10-11)

Good luck at Clough.  I am doing the Winne Relay running race this year instead.  I like Clough, but wanted to try something different.

Uh oh.   I signed up for Clough about two weeks ago.   I was worried about not having any open swim experience for the Sherox sprint on Sept. 25 and  I thought a Y sanctioned event would be the  perfect training arena for my upcoming race.   But now after reading the threads from last year, I know my reasoning was flawed (co-ed field (no offense guys), hilly bike and hilly run).   But that is okay...I will get through it.

However, can someone please explain the swim to me.   That is my concern.  What is the course like?  Can you ever see or touch bottom?   Is help out on the swim course in case I just need to grab a breath?   Let me know.

Many thanks!!

Chrisann

Thanks, Offrhodes! I really appreciate the reply.  Knowing a little about the course helps out greatly.  Also, I was able to get in an open-swim at Glen Lake this  morning.   I feel much better about Clough and the swim this coming weekend.   Take care, Happy Labor Day, and enjoy Clough!

Chrisann

Another great race at Clough! It was GREAT to see the 83 year old man competing in the race. I hope I'm still doing Tri's when I reach that age! He was truly an inspiration.

I really think they need to change the date next year as attendance was down markedly this year. I'm sure Pumkinman has a lot to do with that. It's too bad because Clough is a really fun, well-run race. I plan to run it again next year.

P.S. Anyone else feel like the 1/2 mile swim wasn't quite a 1/2 mile?

The timing is really poor for me so I'll likely never do this one, but it sounds like a great day. I've heard others say the swim is short, but that's fair given the bike and run difficulty!

That 83 year old man was amazing! Was totally cheering for him as he rode in from the bike course and ran out onto the running course.   Very inspirational.

Glad the 1/2 mile swim seemed short to you L1011.   For this newbie on the otherhand, it seemed to never end.  I swam from canoe to canoe saying, " holy crow, I hope I am going to make it through this ."   I will be back again next year, also.  Had fun but it was challenging.

Chrisann Dalton

LOL! That's exactly how I felt last year when I entered this race as my first Triathlon, except I used more, ahh, colorful language while in the water. I had a very tough time last year in that swim (20:59 was my time).

The reason I felt it was a short swim is that my best 1/2m swim time in the pool is 16:22 but I finished the Clough swim in 14:12. There's no way I gained that much speed just due to a wetsuit. I think the swim distance was around 0.38 ~ 0.40 miles or so.

Glad to hear you'll be back next year!