Planning for 2016
As races tend to sell out fairly quickly, I am looking to choose a race for 2016. I am looking to choose between the races below...all within a decent driving distance from Michigan. Also, for background my strength is the run, bike, and then swim (in that order). Race doesn't have to be wetsuit legal but that would be a bonus! What do you think between the races below?
-Maryland
-Louisville (Currently signed up for in 2015)
-Wisconsin
-Chattanooga
-Lake Placid ( Still open as of today)
- Mount Tremblant
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Comments
Lake Placid and Wisconsin attract a ton of EN teammates every year. You can't go wrong with either one of those races if you want to be around the team.
Out of all the races on your list, I've raced WI ('12) Lou ('13) & LP ('14). WI was my favorite by far. 1st IM, so that's probably part of it. But, there is just a ton of spectator support during the entire race. Lake Placid is great because of the location in the ADK's and some of the views you will get on the bike course in addition to the history of the village and being such a long running IM.
Rumor has it EN will not be designating "key races" for 2016. But I suspect the Coaches will be at Texas, Placid, Florida, Arizona, Wisconsin, and maybe Chattanooga and one or two others. And every US or Canadian IM seems to have a least a dozen ENers showing up.
I believe the races you have listed go from as early as July through October. In Michigan, if you do Placid, How's the weather look in April? if its bad, are you ok with being on the trainer for the first part of your IM build? questions like that may help dictate which race you go for.
-Louisville (Currently signed up for in 2015) - Great course, bike is excellent for EN execution guidelines, flat run course, can only be better by being in October, I am considering revisit in 2016
-Wisconsin - Coach Rs favorite, says enough
-Chattanooga - fast bike, HARD run.. Looking forward to this :-)
-Lake Placid ( Still open as of today) - Can't say enough, will be a big EN contingent as always & Coach P says he will always be at LP when I asked him about focus races for next year. downside is that you get gouged on housing costs, everyone is full price & minimum 4-5 night stays, or 1 week if you rent.
- Mount Tremblant - can't say enough about this event. the local community has gotten behind it tremendously. The course is great, the roads are great, the vibe in the ski village are great, the entire course is challenging, but not overwhelming, to me, this has quickly become probably one of the top 3 venues in North America, and maybe the world. (Ok, flame me for this!)
Personally I am now starting to think about next year. I have MOO in two week's time however considering I have done it twice, thinking about moving on. Thinking LP, Mt Tremblant, or CHOO...similar to you.
Wonder if anyone has an opinion regarding run comparisons between them...this could help make a decision especially considering your strength is running.
Dawn