2015 IM 70.3 Steelhead Official Welcome and Introductory Thread
Welcome to the Sign In Thread!
Please use this thread to introduce yourself to your fellow teammates, telling us a little bit about you, your goals for the race, etc!
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Welcome to the Sign In Thread!
Please use this thread to introduce yourself to your fellow teammates, telling us a little bit about you, your goals for the race, etc!
Comments
Hello Team,
I'm signed up for Steelhead. I'm flying in/out of Detroit because it's non-stop and was really cheap. I'm staying at what appears to be a dump of a hotel about 20 miles away (oh well). Just using this race as an end-of-summer distraction before my build to IMFL. If the lake is calm, the winds are manageable and temps are mild (good luck on getting all three), then I'll take a run at my 4:47 PR. But this one is mostly just for fun.
Hope to see a lot of EN red out there.
Mike
OK, at the risk of looking like a stalker Mike, I may sign up for this one. My Half at the end of May is looking somewhat doubtful with my hamstring tear...so this could be fun! Meanwhile...back in physical therapy land...
Hey Tom: welcome to the Steelhead group, I am doing this one for the first time, so I can't give a lot of help, I hope we have a good team of ENers racing so we can have a nice team dinner and encourage each other during the race.
Hi Team,
I will be racing Steelhead this year, I ran it 2 years ago and want to come back and do better. :-)
-Mike
Looking forward to have a lot of ENers in Michigan!
Ok I'm officially IN. Yikes!! See you all there!
Just signed up for TriBikeTransport. What a great deal!
Found my bib number... oh gawd. I think I just threw up a little... 58 women in my age group... GEESH!! This is going to be the largest race I've ever done. I'm not going to panic. Really. oy.....
Are there really 10 of us? That's pretty cool guys.
Didn't know there was 10 of us - nice!
my friend Brenda did the race in 2012 and said the swim was tough. Now that the swim is a triangle, out across and back, it should be better. there's only one hill on the run of any significance... then again, we DO live in Miami where there are NO hills.
SO, since Lake Michigan is surrounded by huge sand dunes, there is always the issue of coming up from the lake and OVER the dune. We'll always come up out of transition and then back down into transition. That's all I've got.
I'm in the first Swim Wave. Thank gawd. I think the worst thing for the swim terrified is to have to STAND there and get more nervous.
I just remember one hill on each loop. If you aren't a fast runner, I'd say plan to walk the hill. It is short, and your speed between walking/running probalby won't matter too much for that short a distance. I had a 1:49:xx run split in 2010 walking the hills.
Great town, great race! Enjoy it!
Hey Chris, sorry you had that experience, as I'm sure it somewhat dampened what was otherwise a great day. I didn't know the course and was kinda surprised by how long the path portion was. I took it easy and didn't even think about passing the guy in front of me. Had I known it was longer, I might have looked for an opp to pass. But probably not. If it was too narrow for two bikes and someone asked to pass, I'd politely advise him to pound sand and ride right down the middle. But I really do try to do everything I can to keep other people out of my race and my head on race day.
Similarly, I chatted with a young AWA guy next to my rack before the race. Then at around Mile 35, a peloton of around 10 (most of them with AWA numbers) went by, with my rack mate at the very end. He even yelled: "Hey Mike, hope you're having a great ride." WTF? After the race, he was excitedly telling me about his 2:18 ride. I asked if he was aware that riding in a pack like that, 6 inches behind 10 other bikes, is illegal. "Oh, it's only drafting if you get caught, and I didn't get caught."
For better or worse, our sport attracts a lot of me-first and win-at-all-costs ass hats. If I let too many of them get to me, it'll diminish the sport I love. Easier said than done, but . . .
Can't believe there was a train of athletes drafting on the bike - what satisfaction does one get from basically cheating. Like you said, ass hats. Never heard that term before, but I like it
Mike and Chris, great seeing you both before and during the race, I think the narrow path at the bike in should be considered a chute, there was not enough room to pass safely, I would have stayed behind a slower rider until the end. Overall this was a very nice race, I am thinking of doing this again next year.
Was good seeing you guys out there! What an absolutely gorgeous day. I managed to finish and not hurt myself. I knew there would be a lot of walking, but I was just thrilled to get across! First Half, First Wetsuit swim, just excellent. I've been spending time in the area for 20 years...where did those hills come from?
I saw a two different Wattie groups... 4 pack and a 6 pack pass me chatting and drafting all the way like they were on a group ride. Fun thing about the second pack is the marshals on the motor cycle pulled up next to them and had a chat, taking numbers as they chatted. Hope that makes you feel a little better.