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"The Wind, Boss, The Wind..."

Al TruscottAl Truscott
in Ironman Hawaii (Kona)

WTC sent us a link to their new sponsor, Best Bike Split, so I bit and started playing around with "what ifs...?" Specifically, I looked at the impact of the wind on overall time. I started with what I considered to be realistic targets for overall IF and maximum power: 0.64 0.85. I used today's temp, wind speed, and direction @ Waikoloa as a starting point, then added 5 mph for some extra data points:

Wind Speed             Bike Split                TSS

10 mph                     6:04                        247

15 mph                     6:21                        260

20 mph                     6:50                        273

25 mph                     7:26                        297

At that point, I figured, "Why make myself any more miserable", so ended the exercise. It does provide some level of reassurance that, on an "average" day, my target time of 6:40 is feasible. Of course, the problem is not the speed of the wind, or even the direction, but the variability in both over the course. EG, my last two times up Hawi have been into (a) a 25 mph headwind, coupled with stinging heavy fog droplets and (b) 30+ mph headwind. That's the opposite direction of the wind down @ Waikoloa.

I'm determined to make "Enjoy your day" my over-riding priority. Getting there means strict attention to a somewhat rigid eating and drinking schedule: 5-7 oz of sports drink every 15 minutes; 1 oz gel every hour; 90 cal clif bar every hour; plus water as needed from my BTA bottle which I am at last able to use. The end result should be "Don't blow up on the run". If I achieve all this, I'll consider it a successful day, no matter what my time or place. That's what I mean by "Crack the Kona code."

Comments

  • tim cronktim cronk
    BBS had mentioned a while ago about being able to put in 2 different weather reporting stations for those courses like KONA that are notorious for having 2 completely different wind directions at either end of the course.. But I can't for the life of me figure out if they ever launched such a product or how to do it if they did.... I think last year was very extreme in that respect ....

    I've played around with BBS quite a bit... I think a good bet for wind speed "average" on the day is 15... The real kicker is direction and have found the fastest splits with a northerly component... Unfortunately I believe that last 30 miles into a southerly pretty much trumps all... I settled for using winds 240 @ 15 ?

    My observation of the wind....
    Kaliua - almost always some southerly component
    Waikoloa- almost always southerly/easterly AM , late AM early PM swings to a more northerly sometimes west and sometimes east
    Hawi- almost always easterly and northerly
  • Paul HoughPaul Hough
    It will be what it will be. Your job is to execute accordingly and both of you have tons of experience. Good luck.
  • morpheusmorpheus
    "Why make myself more miserable?" ..... HA, gave that a good chuckle.

    "stinging, heavy fog droplets''.... WTH?!?! I thought you guys were talking about Kona, not Chernobyl.
  • Nemo BrauchNemo Brauch

    Not sure about Hawaii since I haven't been there, but around here the other factor you have to consider is the gusts. A day with 10-15 mph steady winds can be fairly tolerable and relatively easy to stay within your watt zone. But a day with 10-15 mph winds with gusts up to 25 (like, oh, today), is a totally different beast because you never know when the gust is coming and it's those gusts that cause your whole body to tighten up and flinch.  (Especially when you are a little peep )

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