Gaining weight to race Clydesdale

Forget it... waste of time. Be all you can be at your natural weight. If you are that desperate to
win something go find an easier sport to win in. Putting on weight doesn't make the run any easier,
doesn't make you glide through the water any quicker... and you'll win what ? An award in a category
in which you don't really belong, and in which the competition wasn't as tough as it would have been
if you'd been in your normal age group.

I have nothing against Clydesdales, I raced both the last 2-worlds in the Clydesdale
category...putting on weight just to race in a higher category, or in Clydesdales at all doesn't
make you a better person... and being able to tell people you won in a Clydesdale category will make
you feel, err, Good ? Sad.

++Mark.

[email hidden] (Alex) wrote in news:6f128744.0308091354.1209161 @posting.google.com:

Quoted message said:

I am 25 years old, 6'2" and a very fit 190 pounds, all muscle. I could probably work out hard in
the weight room and at the dinner table and put on the extra 10 pounds to race Clydesdale, but am
wondering how much it will slow me down. Does any one else have experience racing Clydesdale even
though they aren't a "true" Clydesdale?

By the way, I did my first triathlon a couple weeks ago. It was a sprint, 1/2 mile swim, 15 mile
bike, 3.5 mile run. My R/B/S splits were 17:59, 37:55, 21:20 for a total time of 1:20:15. If I
could put on the extra weight without slowing down I could do quite well as a Clydesdale, I think.

Sorry, but I don't get it. Why try to get in clydesdale? To get a trinket? Race to see how fast you
can go. Prizes are secondary.

Of course, if you cut an arm off, you could score big in the disabled division...

Seems a bit silly if you look at it that way, eh?

Tom

as one of the unlucky people who have a life-long struggle with weight - why o' why would someone
want to put on weigh if they don't have to?

Compete against yourself, try to ignore those around you. Carpe Diem - you'll not get an ulcer
before you're 35 that way.

Tom

"Alex" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I am 25 years old, 6'2" and a very fit 190 pounds, all muscle. I could probably work out hard in
the weight room and at the dinner table and put on the extra 10 pounds to race Clydesdale, but am
wondering how much it will slow me down. Does any one else have experience racing Clydesdale even
though they aren't a "true" Clydesdale?

By the way, I did my first triathlon a couple weeks ago. It was a sprint, 1/2 mile swim, 15 mile
bike, 3.5 mile run. My R/B/S splits were 17:59, 37:55, 21:20 for a total time of 1:20:15. If I
could put on the extra weight without slowing down I could do quite well as a Clydesdale, I think.

Quoted message said:

could probably work out hard in the weight room and at the dinner table and put on the extra 10
pounds to race Clydesdale, but am wondering how much it will slow me down. >

Errr, you're joking, right?

Quoted message said:

If I could put on the extra weight without slowing down I could do quite well as a Clydesdale,
I think.

And what would you get out of it?

I think Clydesdale should be based on weight AND height. For example, anyone over 6' tall should add
5 pounds per inch (6'2" should weigh over
210) etc., etc. Just a thought.

I understand what you guys are saying - that I should be racing against time instead of to beat
other people, get awards, etc., and I guess I could have fun doing that. If I weren't going to race
against people though, I think I'd skip signing up for an event and just time myself doing a course
some where. For me a big part of the fun is trying to beat people, and if I can race against people
that have the same statistics as me, I'll do it. It's hard to know which guys out there are over 190
pounds, but I could certainly race against 200 pounders, because there is a Clydesdale division.

As for putting on extra weight, I don't get what the big deal is. It's not like I'm going to eat
snickers and get fat. I'll pump iron every day and fill out all my major muscle groups. I can be a
healthy 200 or a healthy 190, either way. The association with being disabled seems odd - weighing a
healthy 200 pounds seems more of a benefit in life than a handicap, so it won't be like cutting off
an arm, or anything else that I obviously don't WANT to do.

Maybe much of the Clydesdale division are people who struggle with being overweight, but the top
guys certainly aren't. They are tall, muscular, and fit, the kind of guys who rowed in college.
Those guys will never win their age groups in triathlons, but they are top athletes. Those are the
guys I would want to race against.

It sounds like many of you think Clydesdale is some kind of cop-out, snubbing your noses at anyone
who would want to race in the "fat" division to win an award. In reality, it is a highly competitive
division where athletes are able to compete in a sport they love. Winning Clydesdale will surely
never receive the recognition that winning the race receives, but if there is such a thing as an
elite lightweight boxer, wrestler, or rower, why not try to be an elite heavyweight triathlete.

So I'm looking for people who have had experience trying to gain weight and compete in triathlons.
Is there anybody out there?

I don't see any problem with that. I got older so that I could race against older people...the
same concept.

--
Rick Loggins

"Alex" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I am 25 years old, 6'2" and a very fit 190 pounds, all muscle. I could probably work out hard in
the weight room and at the dinner table and put on the extra 10 pounds to race Clydesdale, but am
wondering how much it will slow me down. Does any one else have experience racing Clydesdale even
though they aren't a "true" Clydesdale?

By the way, I did my first triathlon a couple weeks ago. It was a sprint, 1/2 mile swim, 15 mile
bike, 3.5 mile run. My R/B/S splits were 17:59, 37:55, 21:20 for a total time of 1:20:15. If I
could put on the extra weight without slowing down I could do quite well as a Clydesdale, I think.

(Alex) said:

I understand what you guys are saying - that I should be racing against time instead of to beat
other people, get awards, etc., and I guess I could have fun doing that. If I weren't going to race
against people though, I think I'd skip signing up for an event and just time myself doing a course
some where. For me a big part of the fun is trying to beat people, and if I can race against people
that have the same statistics as me, I'll do it. It's hard to know which guys out there are over
190 pounds, but I could certainly race against 200 pounders, because there is a Clydesdale
division.

Alot of the races I've done have the wave, adn thus the age group, marked right on the calf
and shoulder. Pretty easy to figure out who your racing against.

Quoted message said:

As for putting on extra weight, I don't get what the big deal is. It's not like I'm going to eat
snickers and get fat. I'll pump iron every day and fill out all my major muscle groups. I can be a
healthy 200 or a healthy 190, either way. The association with being disabled seems odd - weighing
a healthy 200 pounds seems more of a benefit in life than a handicap, so it won't be like cutting
off an arm, or anything else that I obviously don't WANT to do.

Maybe much of the Clydesdale division are people who struggle with being overweight, but the top
guys certainly aren't. They are tall, muscular, and fit, the kind of guys who rowed in college.
Those guys will never win their age groups in triathlons, but they are top athletes. Those are the
guys I would want to race against.

It sounds like many of you think Clydesdale is some kind of cop-out, snubbing your noses at anyone
who would want to race in the "fat" division to win an award. In reality, it is a highly
competitive division where athletes are able to compete in a sport they love. Winning Clydesdale
will surely never receive the recognition that winning the race receives, but if there is such a
thing as an elite lightweight boxer, wrestler, or rower, why not try to be an elite heavyweight
triathlete.

I think the problem lies in the reasoning behind gaining 10lbs to race cyldesdale. Making
assumptions based on your post it would appear that you feel you will never be competitive
in your age group. If you can't be competetive in your age group and you think that you
could be competitive in clydesdale that would appear to say that cydesdales are less
competitive than age groupers. I don't necessarily agree but it would be the only reason I
can see to want to race with them. In your words "For me a big part of the fun is trying to
beat people" My interpretation of this is "I can't beat people(or enough people) in my age
group so I need to race in clyesdale to beat more people" Why don't you try and lose 10lbs
and train a [censored] load more and see if you can beat someone due to increased training and
increased ability rather than "switching weight classes" Just seems much more honerable and
alot more fulfilling. I don't know about you but I'd feel like a cheater.

~Matt

Quoted message said:

So I'm looking for people who have had experience trying to gain weight and compete in triathlons.
Is there anybody out there?

Alex said:

Maybe much of the Clydesdale division are people who struggle with being overweight, but the top
guys certainly aren't. They are tall, muscular, and fit, the kind of guys who rowed in college.
Those guys will never win their age groups in triathlons, but they are top athletes. Those are the
guys I would want to race against.

It sounds like many of you think Clydesdale is some kind of cop-out, snubbing your noses at anyone
who would want to race in the "fat" division to win an award. In reality, it is a highly
competitive division where athletes are able to compete in a sport they love. Winning Clydesdale
will surely never receive the recognition that winning the race receives, but if there is such a
thing as an elite lightweight boxer, wrestler, or rower, why not try to be an elite heavyweight
triathlete.

So I'm looking for people who have had experience trying to gain weight and compete in triathlons.
Is there anybody out there?

As a "real" clydesdale -- 6'3", 200lbs -- I'm not sure I'm with you on this one. I've got a silly
little horse statue from winning the clydesdale division, and I can't bring myself to give a rat's
ass about it other than the humor value. I'd vastly rather win my AG, something I haven't done, and
am pretty unlikely to do carrying so much weight around.

I agree with you about the people that win the clydesdale division. But you _will_ be sacrificing
overall time to participate in the division. My weight fluctuates by around 10lbs over the course of
the season, and I definitely notice the impact on my running and on a hilly biking course. So you've
got a choice -- worse time overall, compete against clydesdales, or do better in the overall
standings. Expect a 5%ish slowdown from going from 190 to 200 in running -- perhaps 30-60 seconds on
your 5k time. Of course, extra muscle in your quads can help you out on the flats biking, but the
hills will leave you a bit more dead.

-Dave

--
work: dga - at - lcs.mit.edu me: angio - at - pobox.com MIT Laboratory for Computer Science
angio.netangio.netOpen ↗ (note that my reply-to address is vaguely despammed...) bulk emailers: I do
not accept unsolicited email. Do not mail me.

This is an interesting thread. I will soon be entering into tri's and I am
190. I am 6'2" and pretty strong. I could lose 5 pounds I think and I am trying, but I see where
this guy is coming from. I am 37 yo. I will NEVER win my age group at my size. I can't compete
with 5'7" 145-50's out there or at least I don't think I can. I am pretty competitive in
sports and win a few things in certain sports I have entered. I am looking at tri's as a
personal thing and hope not to pay attention to other people. I assume I will get smoked in my
first one and smoked in my 10th one too. I just hope I get a little better on each one I do.

I think, if he wants to race Clydesdale, that would be ok if he gains the right kind of weight. You
can't gain 10 pounds of muscle in a year, but you could gain 3-6 maybe. Then you only need a few
more fat pounds and you are there if you want to try and win something. I am sure there are some
really tough big guys out there however.

Interesting topic. I wouldn't want to gain weight for any reason at my age. I did that once to
compete years ago when I did Scottish Highland Games (weight throwing and such). I won't do
that again.

Enjoy, Curt

"doug" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

[email hidden] (Alex) wrote in message

news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

I am 25 years old, 6'2" and a very fit 190 pounds, all muscle. I could probably work out hard in
the weight room and at the dinner table and put on the extra 10 pounds to race Clydesdale, but
am wondering how much it will slow me down. Does any one else have experience racing Clydesdale
even though they aren't a "true" Clydesdale?

By the way, I did my first triathlon a couple weeks ago. It was a sprint, 1/2 mile swim, 15 mile
bike, 3.5 mile run. My R/B/S splits were 17:59, 37:55, 21:20 for a total time of 1:20:15. If I
could put on the extra weight without slowing down I could do quite well as a Clydesdale, I
think.

if it is competitiveness you crave, then embrace it fully! while beating people is fun for you,
there are a lot more people to beat in the age groups. how can you be so competitive, but be
considering gaining weight to move up in placings? wouldn't you want to do something about that
swim time instead? start climbing some hills, join a masters swim program, add some longer runs to
your training, climb a whole bunch of long steep hills, and you'll soon be down to 180 lbs, doing
that same sprint tri in 1:15, passing a whole bunch of people with a 'C' on the calf, a whole
bunch more with numbers there, and posting on this ng how to lose 5 lbs without losing power on
the bike. seriously, why would someone with such a competitive nature want to do anything other
than go the fastest you can possibly go?

Thanks for all the feedback. I've signed up for a half Ironman at the end of November, so I'm going
to focus on that (my biggest limiter is endurance anyway) and forget the weight thing for now. Next
season though - I may revisit the idea, workout really hard in the weight room for a strength phase,
and see what happens if I bulk up. I wonder if gaining weight and then losing it would make you
faster in the long run, or if you'd be better off just keeping the weight off.

As for Clydesdale, if I am over 200 I'll race in it... but maybe you are right, that making the
weight class shouldn't be a primary goal.

Interesting discussion... it seems like the overwhelming majority think that doing things to effect
your weight at the cost of absolute performance is a bad idea. I suppose that triathlons (and other
racing events) are different from some sports in that there is less emphasis on making the team,
making the cut, or winning your division and more emphasis on overall time. In high school
wrestling, it was extremely important for people to lose weight so that they could be the top of
their division. In college rowing, if guys could make it into the lightweight boat by losing some
weight they would do whatever it took. In triathlons, everyone can participate, and in general it
seems to become a much more individual sport. Maybe that's healthier... I don't know.

MJuric wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

I think the problem lies in the reasoning behind gaining 10lbs to race cyldesdale. Making
assumptions based on your post it would appear that you feel you will never be competitive
in your age group. If you can't be competetive in your age group and you think that you
could be competitive in clydesdale that would appear to say that cydesdales are less
competitive than age groupers. I don't necessarily agree but it would be the only reason I
can see to want to race with them. In your words "For me a big part of the fun is trying to
beat people" My interpretation of this is "I can't beat people(or enough people) in my age
group so I need to race in clyesdale to beat more people" Why don't you try and lose 10lbs
and train a [censored] load more and see if you can beat someone due to increased training and
increased ability rather than "switching weight classes" Just seems much more honerable and
alot more fulfilling. I don't know about you but I'd feel like a cheater.

Speaking of which, there is a woman I know who receives sponsorship (product) from several companies
for being a top Athena. A few weeks ago she was bragging to me at how she was weighing in at 138
these days (lighter than I am and taller). I thought that was great that she had lost weight until
she admitted that she continues to race in the Athena class. If there is a weigh-in apparently she
drinks tons of water (and prob wears heavy clothing) before getting on the scale. That just seemed
totally out of the spirit of racing Athena! Either she is lying to me about her weight or pretty
much cheating if she is racing Athena. Hmmm...

another good argument for doing away with this division...some of us wondered if it would come to
this....it has...

Quoted message said:

I am 25 years old, 6'2" and a very fit 190 pounds, all muscle. I could probably work out hard in
the weight room and at the dinner table and put on the extra 10 pounds to race Clydesdale, but am
wondering how much it will slow me down. Does any one else have experience racing Clydesdale even
though they aren't a "true" Clydesdale?

By the way, I did my first triathlon a couple weeks ago. It was a sprint, 1/2 mile swim, 15 mile
bike, 3.5 mile run. My R/B/S splits were 17:59, 37:55, 21:20 for a total time of 1:20:15. If I
could put on the extra weight without slowing down I could do quite well as a Clydesdale, I think.

(SBull10152) said:

another good argument for doing away with this division...some of us wondered if it would come to
this....it has...

Do they give IMH slots for Clydesale divisions? Just curious.

~Matt

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

I am 25 years old, 6'2" and a very fit 190 pounds, all muscle. I could probably work out hard in
the weight room and at the dinner table and put on the extra 10 pounds to race Clydesdale, but am
wondering how much it will slow me down. Does any one else have experience racing Clydesdale even
though they aren't a "true" Clydesdale?

By the way, I did my first triathlon a couple weeks ago. It was a sprint, 1/2 mile swim, 15 mile
bike, 3.5 mile run. My R/B/S splits were 17:59, 37:55, 21:20 for a total time of 1:20:15. If I
could put on the extra weight without slowing down I could do quite well as a Clydesdale, I think.

MJuric wrote in :"]news:[email hidden]:

Quoted message said:

Do they give IMH slots for Clydesale divisions? Just curious.

~Matt

No.

In article <[email hidden]>,

Rick Loggins said:

I don't see any problem with that. I got older so that I could race against older people...the
same concept.

And getting older sure beats the alternative!

--Harold Buck

"I used to rock and roll all night, and party every day. Then it was every other day. . . ."

- Homer J. Simpson

In article said:

Quoted message said:

could probably work out hard in the weight room and at the dinner table and put on the extra 10
pounds to race Clydesdale, but am wondering how much it will slow me down. >

Errr, you're joking, right?

Quoted message said:

If I could put
on the extra weight without slowing down I could do quite well as a Clydesdale, I think.

And what would you get out of it?

I think Clydesdale should be based on weight AND height. For example, anyone over 6' tall should
add 5 pounds per inch (6'2" should weigh over
210) etc., etc. Just a thought.

Do it based on body mass index, then divide everyone's final time by their BMI to determine the
overall winner! :-)

--Harold Buck

"I used to rock and roll all night, and party every day. Then it was every other day. . . ."

- Homer J. Simpson

hi

speaking from an 105 kg viewpoint, I think every competitor should be weighted at say, 105 kg, the
little people could get a backback or something with a few bricks it would make it all more
entertaining to see those fully developed bodies comming to the fore.

cheers mal

In article <[email hidden]>, "john howard"

Quoted message said:

speaking from an 105 kg viewpoint, I think every competitor should be weighted at say, 105 kg, the
little people could get a backback or something with a few bricks it would make it all more
entertaining to see those fully developed bodies comming to the fore.

And people over 105 kg should have helium ballons attached.

--Harold Buck

"I used to rock and roll all night, and party every day. Then it was every other day. . . ."

- Homer J. Simpson

When discussing this thread, actually laughing about the suggestion, at a training session monday,
one of the guys suggested, in jest, would you cut off a leg to race disabled....

++Mark.