Gulf Coast Half -vs- Florida Half(Disney)

[Crockett B.]

I was going to switch my spring time 1/2 race over to the
new Florida Half @ Disney, BUt I have heard conflicting
reports that the race was not all it is cracked up tp be.
Was put on well but the coarse left something to be deisred.
I have always enjoyed the Gulf Coast 1/2 in Panama City but
live in Orlando ( close to Disney).

What have ou heard???

Thanks.

 

[Tom Henderson]

"Crockett B." <[email protected]> wrote in
news:[email protected]:

> I was going to switch my spring time 1/2 race over to the
> new Florida Half @ Disney, BUt I have heard conflicting
> reports that the race was not all it is cracked up tp be.
> Was put on well but the coarse left something to be
> deisred. I have always enjoyed the Gulf Coast 1/2 in
> Panama City but live in Orlando ( close to Disney).
>
> What have ou heard???
>
> Thanks.
>
>
>

A friend who did the race said the run course left much to
be desired. Imagine a run course every bit as hot as GCT,
but with less shade and more hills!

Tom

 

[Susan In La]

"Tom Henderson" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> "Crockett B." <[email protected]> wrote in
> news:[email protected]:
>
> > I was going to switch my spring time 1/2 race over to
> > the new Florida Half @ Disney, BUt I have heard
> > conflicting reports that the race was not all it is
> > cracked up tp be. Was put on well but the coarse left
> > something to be deisred. I have always enjoyed the Gulf
> > Coast 1/2 in Panama City but live in Orlando ( close to
> > Disney).
> >
> > What have ou heard???
> >
> > Thanks.
> >
> >
> >
>
> A friend who did the race said the run course left much to
> be desired. Imagine a run course every bit as hot as GCT,
> but with less shade and more hills!

Also when you race in PCB you get to swim in the Gulf of
Mexico......my all-time favorite swim
anywhere.....definitely beats a swim in some hot murky lake.

Susan

 

[Mike Tennent]

"Susan in LA" <[email protected]> wrote:

>"
>
>Also when you race in PCB you get to swim in the Gulf
>of Mexico......my all-time favorite swim
>anywhere.....definitely beats a swim in some hot
>murky lake.
>
>Susan
>

What? You got somethin' against swimming with
alligators? <g>

Mike Tennent "IronPenguin"

 

[Susan In La]

"Mike Tennent" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> "Susan in LA" <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> >"
> >
> >Also when you race in PCB you get to swim in the Gulf
> >of Mexico......my all-time favorite swim
> >anywhere.....definitely beats a swim in some hot
> >murky lake.
> >
> >Susan
> >
>
>
> What? You got somethin' against swimming with
> alligators? <g>

Well, yes, since you ask, I absolutely do. I used to live in
Southern Alabama and there was this 4-mile OWS in Mobile Bay
that I loved.......but I always worried a little about
alligators, which were somewhat common in the area. But
Everyone said "Don't be silly! Alligators HATE salty or
brackish water!" Then one day I happened to find myself
chatting with a Cajun gentleman from Lousiana who, of all
things, was recently retired from his (very manly, I
thought) profession of catching and relocating alligators. I
asked him about the prevailing Alligators-Hate-Salty-Water
wisdom. He snorted and said "Gators can live
anywhere....they LOVE salt water!" (This sounds a lot more
impressive with a Cajun accent, BTW.) Anyhoo, I still
competed in the bay swim after that but my times got a lot
faster. I even won the women's division one year when a
bunch of fast people forgot to show up....or maybe they ran
into the gator guy.

Susan in LA (no gators here, AFAIK)

 

[Ironic]

"Susan in LA" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:<[email protected]>...
> "Mike Tennent" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
> > "Susan in LA" <[email protected]> wrote:
> >
> > >"
> > >
> > >Also when you race in PCB you get to swim in the Gulf
> > >of Mexico......my all-time favorite swim
> > >anywhere.....definitely beats a swim in some hot murky
> > >lake.
> > >
> > >Susan
> > >
> >
> >
> > What? You got somethin' against swimming with
> > alligators? <g>
>
> Well, yes, since you ask, I absolutely do. I used to live
> in Southern Alabama and there was this 4-mile OWS in
> Mobile Bay that I loved.......but I always worried a
> little about alligators, which were somewhat common in the
> area. But Everyone said "Don't be silly! Alligators HATE
> salty or brackish water!" Then one day I happened to find
> myself chatting with a Cajun gentleman from Lousiana who,
> of all things, was recently retired from his (very manly,
> I thought) profession of catching and relocating
> alligators. I asked him about the prevailing Alligators-Hate-Salty-
> Water wisdom. He snorted and said "Gators can live
> anywhere....they LOVE salt water!" (This sounds a lot more
> impressive with a Cajun accent, BTW.) Anyhoo, I still
> competed in the bay swim after that but my times got a lot
> faster. I even won the women's division one year when a
> bunch of fast people forgot to show up....or maybe they
> ran into the gator guy.
>
> Susan in LA (no gators here, AFAIK)

Susan in LA--It would be nice to see you post over on the
Slowtwitch Message Board--not many women posting over there,
and I enjoy your posts. The Forum is at
http://forum.slowtwitch.com/gforum.cgi?forum=1

Greg

 

[Mike Tennent]

"Susan in LA" <[email protected]> wrote:

>"Mike Tennent" <[email protected]> wrote in message
>news:[email protected]...
>> "Susan in LA" <[email protected]> wrote:
>>
>> >"
>> >
>> >Also when you race in PCB you get to swim in the Gulf
>> >of Mexico......my all-time favorite swim
>> >anywhere.....definitely beats a swim in some hot
>> >murky lake.
>> >
>> >Susan
>> >
>>
>>
>> What? You got somethin' against swimming with
>> alligators? <g>
>
>Well, yes, since you ask, I absolutely do. I used to live
>in Southern Alabama and there was this 4-mile OWS in Mobile
>Bay that I loved.......but I always worried a little about
>alligators, which were somewhat common in the area. But
>Everyone said "Don't be silly! Alligators HATE salty or
>brackish water!" Then one day I happened to find myself
>chatting with a Cajun gentleman from Lousiana who, of all
>things, was recently retired from his (very manly, I
>thought) profession of catching and relocating alligators.
>I asked him about the prevailing Alligators-Hate-Salty-
>Water wisdom. He snorted and said "Gators can live
>anywhere....they LOVE salt water!" (This sounds a lot more
>impressive with a Cajun accent, BTW.) Anyhoo, I still
>competed in the bay swim after that but my times got a lot
>faster. I even won the women's division one year when a
>bunch of fast people forgot to show up....or maybe they ran
>into the gator guy.
>
>Susan in LA (no gators here, AFAIK)
>

Have you checked the sewers.... <g>

I guess swimming with gators is just one of the things you
have to accept if you're going to do tri's in the
southeast. They're there, but the odds are astronomically
small that you'll be bothered by one, and you just put it
out of your mind.

I'm not aware of any recorded incident between a gator and a
triathlete, though I have seen them in lakes where I just
completed a tri. That's a little unnerving, I admit.

We do take delight in bringing up the subject on the Great
Floridian forum. Just to shake up the yankees a bit. LOL

Mike Tennent "IronPenguin"

 

[Susan In La]

"Ironic" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> "Susan in LA" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:<[email protected]>...
> > "Mike Tennent" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> > news:[email protected]...
> > > "Susan in LA" <[email protected]> wrote:
> > >
> > > >"
> > > >
> > > >Also when you race in PCB you get to swim in the
> > > >Gulf of
Mexico......my
> > > >all-time favorite swim anywhere.....definitely beats
> > > >a swim in some
hot
> > > >murky lake.
> > > >
> > > >Susan
> > > >
> > >
> > >
> > > What? You got somethin' against swimming with
> > > alligators? <g>
> >
> > Well, yes, since you ask, I absolutely do. I used to
> > live in Southern Alabama and there was this 4-mile OWS
> > in Mobile Bay that I
loved.......but I
> > always worried a little about alligators, which were
> > somewhat common in
the
> > area. But Everyone said "Don't be silly! Alligators HATE
> > salty or
brackish
> > water!" Then one day I happened to find myself chatting
> > with a Cajun gentleman from Lousiana who, of all things,
> > was recently retired from
his
> > (very manly, I thought) profession of catching and
> > relocating
alligators. I
> > asked him about the prevailing Alligators-Hate-Salty-
> > Water wisdom. He snorted and said "Gators can live
> > anywhere....they LOVE salt water!"
(This
> > sounds a lot more impressive with a Cajun accent, BTW.)
> > Anyhoo, I still competed in the bay swim after that but
> > my times got a lot faster. I
even
> > won the women's division one year when a bunch of fast
> > people forgot to
show
> > up....or maybe they ran into the gator guy.
> >
> > Susan in LA (no gators here, AFAIK)
>
> Susan in LA--It would be nice to see you post over on the
> Slowtwitch Message Board--not many women posting over
> there, and I enjoy your posts. The Forum is at
> http://forum.slowtwitch.com/gforum.cgi?forum=1
>
> Greg

You're so nice!.....I'll check out Slowtwitch....

 

[Tom Henderson]

"Susan in LA" <[email protected]> wrote in news:E_VGc.33793$qw1.6601
@nwrddc01.gnilink.net:

> Well, yes, since you ask, I absolutely do. I used to live
> in Southern Alabama and there was this 4-mile OWS in
> Mobile Bay

Nothing in Mobile Bay is scarier than the water itself. I
did a sprint tri there on a windy day, and when the waves
washed over my head, which put my eyes only 6 inches under
the surface, the water was so murky that it was almost pitch
black. Gross! Can't imagine spending the time in thatwater
that it would take to swim 4 miles. I'll stick to the merely
semi-poluted Pensacola Bay swim. 3.6 miles is enough
distance for me anyway!

 

[Marty]

Mike Tennent <[email protected]> wrote in message news:<[email protected]>...
> "Susan in LA" <[email protected]> wrote:
>
<snip>
> I guess swimming with gators is just one of the things you
> have to accept if you're going to do tri's in the
> southeast. They're there, but the odds are astronomically
> small that you'll be bothered by one, and you just put it
> out of your mind.
>
> I'm not aware of any recorded incident between a gator and
> a triathlete, though I have seen them in lakes where I
> just completed a tri. That's a little unnerving, I admit.
>
> We do take delight in bringing up the subject on the Great
> Floridian forum. Just to shake up the yankees a bit. LOL
>
> Mike Tennent "IronPenguin"

I've had some trouble with gators in the past...it was out
at the swamp.... <groan

 

[Susan In La]

"Tom Henderson" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> "Susan in LA" <[email protected]> wrote in
> news:E_VGc.33793$qw1.6601 @nwrddc01.gnilink.net:
>
> > Well, yes, since you ask, I absolutely do. I used to
> > live in Southern Alabama and there was this 4-mile OWS
> > in Mobile Bay
>
> Nothing in Mobile Bay is scarier than the water itself. I
> did a sprint tri there on a windy day, and when the waves
> washed over my head, which put my eyes only 6 inches under
> the surface, the water was so murky that it was almost
> pitch black.

Oh dear. That sounds so much worse than when I swam there in
the early 90s. It was murky then but only greenish-
brown.....not black!

> Gross! Can't imagine spending the time in thatwater that
> it would take to swim 4 miles.

Yeah, it was somewhat terrifying.....esp. the part where you
climb in a powerboat, motor 4 miles out, and get left in the
middle of the bay. Landmarks were one sailboat anchored at
each mile. One of the braver things I've ever done in this
life, now that I think about it.

> I'll stick to the merely semi-poluted Pensacola Bay swim.
> 3.6 miles is enough distance for me anyway!

That's plenty far. Pensacola is great. I did an OWS at a
military base near there one time. I remember it because (1)
it was against the current and (2) I swam into a dead cat.
But that wasn't in the Bay or the Gulf; it was some other
waterway I don't remember. Should we start a "My Worst OWS
Experiences" thread or would it scare the newbies too much?

Susan

 

[Susan In La]

"Mike Tennent" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Have you checked the sewers.... <g>
>
> I guess swimming with gators is just one of the things you
> have to accept if you're going to do tri's in the
> southeast. They're there, but the odds are astronomically
> small that you'll be bothered by one, and you just put it
> out of your mind.

You're absolutely right, and I try, I really do
try......likewise with sharks........it's just that, well,
if I *did* just happen to get chomped by a large aquatic
carnivore, I doubt the odds would be very comforting.....at
least at that moment!

> I'm not aware of any recorded incident between a gator and
> a triathlete, though I have seen them in lakes where I
> just completed a tri. That's a little unnerving, I admit.
>
> We do take delight in bringing up the subject on the Great
> Floridian forum. Just to shake up the yankees a bit. LOL

Let 'em wonder.....

Susan

 

[Daveb]

> We do take delight in bringing up the subject on the Great
> Floridian forum. Just to shake up the yankees a bit. LOL
>
> Mike Tennent "IronPenguin"
>

I was on holiday at Byron Bay (east coast of Australia) a
few years ago and got talking to one of the local
triathletes who invited me to the daily training swim. He
said it was always funny swimming with newbies to the
area as they usually panicked when the saw sharks
underneath whereas the locals where used to it. Never did
join them (funny that) so I guess I'll never know if he
was joking or not.

DaveB

 

[Tom Henderson]

"Susan in LA" <[email protected]> wrote in news:_yFHc.43268$qw1.20563
@nwrddc01.gnilink.net:

> I did an OWS at a military base near there one time.

Perhaps the fort-to-fort swim? About 1.2 miles from Fort
Pickens to Fort Barrancas, held near the Pensacola pass?
Also a great swim, although they didn't have it this year
due to budgetary constraints.

 

[Mike Tennent]

DaveB <[email protected]> wrote:

>
>>
>> We do take delight in bringing up the subject on the
>> Great Floridian forum. Just to shake up the yankees a
>> bit. LOL
>>
>> Mike Tennent "IronPenguin"
>>
>
>I was on holiday at Byron Bay (east coast of Australia) a
>few years ago and got talking to one of the local
>triathletes who invited me to the daily training swim. He
>said it was always funny swimming with newbies to the
>area as they usually panicked when the saw sharks
>underneath whereas the locals where used to it. Never did
>join them (funny that) so I guess I'll never know if he
>was joking or not.
>
>DaveB

He probably wasn't joking. The Great Barrier Reef is the
most fertile shark breeding ground in the world.

The second most fertile, I've been told, is right off my
little island
- St. Simons Island in southeast Georgia. I've flown over it
and I can believe it. If the tourists on the beach could
see all the little sharksies swimming nearby, they'd never
go in the water.

Of course, 99% of them are small and non-threatening, but
the thought's the same.

BTW, I swim in a pool...

Mike Tennent "IronPenguin"

 

[Rtk]

Mike Tennent wrote:

He probably wasn't joking. The Great Barrier Reef is the
most fertile
> shark breeding ground in the world.
>
> The second most fertile, I've been told, is right off my
> little island
> - St. Simons Island in southeast Georgia. I've flown over
> it and I can believe it. If the tourists on the beach
> could see all the little sharksies swimming nearby,
> they'd never go in the water.
>
> Of course, 99% of them are small and non-threatening, but
> the thought's the same.
>
> BTW, I swim in a pool...
>
> Mike Tennent "IronPenguin"

I didn't see any sharks while swimming in the Great Barrier
Reef, but I saw clams that could swallow me whole. Off
Georgia, you're not counting the little sand sharks? Lots of
them, but they were more in danger of being eaten by me than
me by them.

rtk

(hi Mike!)

 

[Susan In La]

"Tom Henderson" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> "Susan in LA" <[email protected]> wrote in
> news:_yFHc.43268$qw1.20563 @nwrddc01.gnilink.net:
>
> > I did an OWS at a military base near there one time.
>
> Perhaps the fort-to-fort swim? About 1.2 miles from Fort
> Pickens to Fort Barrancas, held near the Pensacola pass?
> Also a great swim, although they didn't have it this year
> due to budgetary constraints.

That was it!