I had to turn the alerts off for Beluga as well. That stupid thing never shut up! I'll turn it back on when I get into town on Thursday.
Had my last run this morning was going to do the 150 minute bike but the downpour outside made me rethink that. It's not worth crashing in the rain 8 days before the single focus of my training year. I will try and get a ride in tomorrow morning but I am sure my race won't be affected by loosing this one ride.
Tucker---Is there an EN Schedule for race week activities i.e. pre-race dinner, 4 keys, and post race activities and other cool things that might happening?
@Stephen, Wednesday bike ride? Fill us in. As for the Thursday ride, let's play it by ear. I may wait till my boy JT gets to town because I really need to get tapped on the hills by him a couple days out from the race. Good for the ego.
Gang: I spent a few minutes laying out a schedule for myself for the week. Thought I would share it if anyone is interested. Obviously it is going to be a very dynamic few days so could easily change, but at least gives me and the wife a starting point. P.S. Helped settle the nerves a little bit...
Checklists, checklists, checklists....I am starting to get the hang of this.
Taking Al's lead there seems to be 2 different groups forming for the bike recon ride. I have started a sort of signup spreadsheet for anyone that wants to join other EN members during the recon. Just add your name and you will be looked for, or just show up!
Pete, if it were me: No need to swim at 7a on Thursday. Since you'll be there at 1p to pick up your bike, I'd swim as late as possible so that you swim, get bike, reg (can your wife get your bike while you register?), then go out on the course all in one shot. I'd certainly get reg done before I went out on the bike course, so I wouldn't have to deal with coming back to the race site, find parking, etc again. Same for Thurs and Friday. In general, I like to be very loose and relaxed with my plans for early in the morning ("I'll get there when I get there") so I can be relaxed and not add pressure to the day.
Thanks Rich! I think some of us wanted to do an early morning swim so that we could see what the conditions might be like. Maybe keep that for Friday and adjust Thursday like you suggest.
If it were me...I'd just ask someone who woke up at 6am to do a 7a swim what the conditions were like .
In general, my theme for race week is:
Consolidate all admin errand, chores, etc. Whenever possible, don't have massive time gaps where you're waiting for the next admin exercise. Basically, get in, get it done, get out..
And get away from other athletes. When I'm racing, the downtown, expo, torqued up athletes everywhere with MDot kit from head to toe thing drives me nuts. I want to get far, far away from them as quickly and as much as possible.
@Rich what you need to rememb is for us east coast folk we wouldn't really be getting up early for a 7am swim! But you are correct. It does make more sense to swim, register and pick up bike in one trip. I think we may still ride later to wait for others though. This gives us time to bling our bikes out.
And get away from other athletes. When I'm racing, the downtown, expo, torqued up athletes everywhere with MDot kit from head to toe thing drives me nuts. I want to get far, far away from them as quickly and as much as possible.
This is precisely why we found a motel room in Hayden....less athletes, more restaurant availability, but still only 20 minutes away. Those staying at the Host Hotel are going to be M-dot cooked by the time the race happens!
I'll have to brave the M-Dot extravaganza. Host hotel was a necessary pre-condition thrown down by my wife if I was to do IMCDA again That and my youngest son saying he had to wait up too late to see me finish last year "Dad, can't you finsih while the sun is still out?" This year big boy. This year.
Rich - What's your advice for someone like me who has done the course (back in 2008) and is arriving late night on Thursday? Was thinking for Friday...
I kind of like the race venue energy for 24-36 hours, to get myself in the mood for the race, but after 20 or so, it may be that I've gotten blase and need a little boost to get energized. So I like being at the swim at least one morning early on, which is either Thurs or Saturday for me. The trick is to neither run around doing a lot of stuff, nor to let myself get too high too soon (6:55 AM Sunday morning is when I try to start revving up). But after noon on Saturday, then it's all business, dropping off bags/bike, eating lunch at the Greek restaurant downtown, current hot flick at the Riverstone in the afternoon (Super 8?), and then over to Jamba Juice for dinner.
While it's gonna be sunny on race day, I think we might miss out on the real heat by a day or two: Sun/Mon/Tue >> 72/82/92. But that could scoot forward by 24 hours, so be prepared.
If it were me (also raced in '08 and rode the bike course last year), I probably wouldn't bother riding it. Maybe drive it (the hills) to remind myself but that's it.
wow, just saw on the dashboard that 40 are racing from EN? that's a lot of people! i have never before raced with that many people from the same camp.
i hope everyone has a good race.
my plan is to stay pretty free form with everything on race week. the thursday 11am ride works well and the friday morning swim works well. for both, i'll aim to be there with my brother, but obviously don't wait around for us. we'll definitely be at the 4 keys talk.
@Al (or any other IM-experienced athletes)...so, I am a 1:35 100/m swimmer, probabaly making me close to 1:32 100/yards. I have gone back and forth on how I wanted to attack the swim course.
In Austin 70.3, I got in the very front out 2/3 of the way from the buoys, and it was the most quiet swim I have had. I debated, in this race, getting up near the front and closer to the buoy line (as you mentioned) and trying to go out fast with some people faster than me, tow some feet for a couple of minutes, and then settle into my real race pace. My guess or hunch is that most people will try to ease into the race, unless they are the guys up front hammering it.
If literally every second counts to you, then you want to have the best chance to shorten the course AND find a good pair of feet to tow you. The odds are best for that by starting with the sharks on the buoy line, and lining up about 1/4 to 1/3rd back - maybe have 2-3 "rows" of people in front of you. Your time goal is in the 60-65 minute range, right? That's in the upper 1/4th of the field for sure.
But if you are more concerned about comfort, and cruising into the swim, and then taking the time you get and are willing to "lose" a minute or two, starting to the right of the mob on the buoy line is your choice, at the post in the water I described above.
Me, I've lost 6-10 minutes from my previous times, partly due to weakness and partly due to lost endurance in my arms and back. So I aim to start out easy, with an equal # of people in front and in back of me on the beach, and then cruise behind the best pair of feet I can find after about 400-600 meters.
@ ;Al - The advice you gave me a few weeks ago on swim pacing might just save my day. I'm a 1:04-1:09 IM swimmer. At IMMOO and at IMSG I went HARD in the first 200-400 meters to try to get clearer water and a better inside line. I then settled into a pace and had two good swims...however, I think I paid for it later during the day. On Sunday, at IMCDA, I plan to approach this swim much like a first-timer during that first loop - "ez does it, don't get hit, smooth and deliberate, negative split"...that's my internal monologue for the swim. I am coming into Sunday with better Bike and Run fitness than ever before but I've been a little slack on the swim training. My threshold is not what it used to be and my RRs have sucked - I even think on my last RR (due to counting issues) I was about 500m short. As an MOP swimmer I think there's little to be gained from going balls out in the first 5 mins of an IM mass start swim.
@Al and Jim...that is what I was looking for! I really think I am going to end up being 1:07-1:10...and I have a lot more to offer on the bike and run. Judging by your answers (and the tone I interpret from them), I would be better doing what Al suggested. I will get probably settle in about 1 or 2 people back in line with the post.
On second thought, as one of the bigger guys who needs FTP effort to make it up some of the hills, I think I am going to skip the hill ride today. I'll probably just do the out and back along the course to knock the rust off... will be at the swim tomorrow though.
Yeah, Art, you're not going to learn anything new doing the course today. The big thing is kicking in enough effort to deal with the anxiety, but not so much you wear yourself out.
Comments
I had to turn the alerts off for Beluga as well. That stupid thing never shut up! I'll turn it back on when I get into town on Thursday.
Had my last run this morning was going to do the 150 minute bike but the downpour outside made me rethink that. It's not worth crashing in the rain 8 days before the single focus of my training year. I will try and get a ride in tomorrow morning but I am sure my race won't be affected by loosing this one ride.
Are we really supposed to ride 150 and do a 30 min brick run on Wed? If so, that is fine, but is SEEMS long...
Tucker---Is there an EN Schedule for race week activities i.e. pre-race dinner, 4 keys, and post race activities and other cool things that might happening?
Anyone know about what this bike ride is supposed to be on Wed?
As for the Thursday ride, let's play it by ear. I may wait till my boy JT gets to town because I really need to get tapped on the hills by him a couple days out from the race. Good for the ego.
Gang: I spent a few minutes laying out a schedule for myself for the week. Thought I would share it if anyone is interested. Obviously it is going to be a very dynamic few days so could easily change, but at least gives me and the wife a starting point. P.S. Helped settle the nerves a little bit...
Checklists, checklists, checklists....I am starting to get the hang of this.
Taking Al's lead there seems to be 2 different groups forming for the bike recon ride. I have started a sort of signup spreadsheet for anyone that wants to join other EN members during the recon. Just add your name and you will be looked for, or just show up!
Pete
No need to swim at 7a on Thursday. Since you'll be there at 1p to pick up your bike, I'd swim as late as possible so that you swim, get bike, reg (can your wife get your bike while you register?), then go out on the course all in one shot. I'd certainly get reg done before I went out on the bike course, so I wouldn't have to deal with coming back to the race site, find parking, etc again. Same for Thurs and Friday. In general, I like to be very loose and relaxed with my plans for early in the morning ("I'll get there when I get there") so I can be relaxed and not add pressure to the day.
If it were me...I'd just ask someone who woke up at 6am to do a 7a swim what the conditions were like
.
In general, my theme for race week is:
But you are correct. It does make more sense to swim, register and pick up bike in one trip. I think we may still ride later to wait for others though. This gives us time to bling our bikes out.
This is precisely why we found a motel room in Hayden....less athletes, more restaurant availability, but still only 20 minutes away. Those staying at the Host Hotel are going to be M-dot cooked by the time the race happens!
It's at every other time of the year that triathletes drive me nuts!!!!
Rich - What's your advice for someone like me who has done the course (back in 2008) and is arriving late night on Thursday? Was thinking for Friday...
9am - Swim, dry off, etc.
10am - Reg and get out of there
12pm - Bike techincal section of course
Run???
Or just SBR near CDA mid-morning and then Reg?
I kind of like the race venue energy for 24-36 hours, to get myself in the mood for the race, but after 20 or so, it may be that I've gotten blase and need a little boost to get energized. So I like being at the swim at least one morning early on, which is either Thurs or Saturday for me. The trick is to neither run around doing a lot of stuff, nor to let myself get too high too soon (6:55 AM Sunday morning is when I try to start revving up). But after noon on Saturday, then it's all business, dropping off bags/bike, eating lunch at the Greek restaurant downtown, current hot flick at the Riverstone in the afternoon (Super 8?), and then over to Jamba Juice for dinner.
While it's gonna be sunny on race day, I think we might miss out on the real heat by a day or two: Sun/Mon/Tue >> 72/82/92. But that could scoot forward by 24 hours, so be prepared.
If it were me (also raced in '08 and rode the bike course last year), I probably wouldn't bother riding it. Maybe drive it (the hills) to remind myself but that's it.
wow, just saw on the dashboard that 40 are racing from EN? that's a lot of people! i have never before raced with that many people from the same camp.
i hope everyone has a good race.
my plan is to stay pretty free form with everything on race week. the thursday 11am ride works well and the friday morning swim works well. for both, i'll aim to be there with my brother, but obviously don't wait around for us. we'll definitely be at the 4 keys talk.
see you soon or on the course sunday!
gh
In Austin 70.3, I got in the very front out 2/3 of the way from the buoys, and it was the most quiet swim I have had. I debated, in this race, getting up near the front and closer to the buoy line (as you mentioned) and trying to go out fast with some people faster than me, tow some feet for a couple of minutes, and then settle into my real race pace. My guess or hunch is that most people will try to ease into the race, unless they are the guys up front hammering it.
What do you think?
@ Stephan - Here are my thoughts on the swim.
If literally every second counts to you, then you want to have the best chance to shorten the course AND find a good pair of feet to tow you. The odds are best for that by starting with the sharks on the buoy line, and lining up about 1/4 to 1/3rd back - maybe have 2-3 "rows" of people in front of you. Your time goal is in the 60-65 minute range, right? That's in the upper 1/4th of the field for sure.
But if you are more concerned about comfort, and cruising into the swim, and then taking the time you get and are willing to "lose" a minute or two, starting to the right of the mob on the buoy line is your choice, at the post in the water I described above.
Me, I've lost 6-10 minutes from my previous times, partly due to weakness and partly due to lost endurance in my arms and back. So I aim to start out easy, with an equal # of people in front and in back of me on the beach, and then cruise behind the best pair of feet I can find after about 400-600 meters.
@ ;Al - The advice you gave me a few weeks ago on swim pacing might just save my day. I'm a 1:04-1:09 IM swimmer. At IMMOO and at IMSG I went HARD in the first 200-400 meters to try to get clearer water and a better inside line. I then settled into a pace and had two good swims...however, I think I paid for it later during the day. On Sunday, at IMCDA, I plan to approach this swim much like a first-timer during that first loop - "ez does it, don't get hit, smooth and deliberate, negative split"...that's my internal monologue for the swim. I am coming into Sunday with better Bike and Run fitness than ever before but I've been a little slack on the swim training. My threshold is not what it used to be and my RRs have sucked - I even think on my last RR (due to counting issues) I was about 500m short. As an MOP swimmer I think there's little to be gained from going balls out in the first 5 mins of an IM mass start swim.
Thanks guys! This is what makes EN so great!
On second thought, as one of the bigger guys who needs FTP effort to make it up some of the hills, I think I am going to skip the hill ride today. I'll probably just do the out and back along the course to knock the rust off... will be at the swim tomorrow though.
Yeah, Art, you're not going to learn anything new doing the course today. The big thing is kicking in enough effort to deal with the anxiety, but not so much you wear yourself out.