Al, interesting that a violent criminal would hide in a non violent place. But my due diligence found that of all American fatalities there in the last 10 years the overwhelming majority were from drowning in the dangerous riptides and the rest from traffic accidents. The swim is going to be at one of the safest beaches there with a large arc and point that precludes riptides. Another thing in the back of my mind is that first year races tend to have the "easiest" KQ times. Then everybody looks and says 'I can do that' and drive the next year's times down. I've seen it at Cozumel, Regensburg and Texas. With folks scared to go I may have a chance. Can't be as scary as driving down suicide alley in Baghdad with 100s of millions of dollars like I did in 2003! It's all relative.
FWIW - I was in Tahoe this past week and spent an afternoon reconning the the course. I didn't have my bike because this was a non-tri family vacation, but I did drive the whole thing and took plenty of pictures. I have a picture of King's Beach that is REALLY telling. The beach is very crowded, the sun is out and air temp is in the high 70's, but there is NOT A SINGLE PERSON IN THE WATER. Temp of the water had to be low 50's. It looked just like that seen in JAWS where the beach is packed, but NO ONE will go in.
I was there all week and never got in the lake past my crotch.... LOL. I saw a few drunks take quick "sober up dunks, but not a soul swimming.
September will hopefully be warmer after a long Summer, but not much! I am now planning a full suit, beanine and anything else the rules will allow.
Paul, I've given some consideration to doing that race. If it was a week earlier I probably would as my kid's spring break is from March 9-17. With the race being on the 17th it would make for a sucky vacation week for the family as I wouldn't want to do much of anything prior to the race... and he needs to be back in school on the 18th.
Training long during Jan, Feb and March would be a welcome change of pace. I normally start gearing up for the Texas 70.3 in January anyway.
Bob, my daughter's spring break is the exact same time. Travel always trumps IM so what I typically do is come early and get the walking tours out of the way first. Then I look for tourist things where I can sit down (e.g., whale watching), then shut it down a day and a half out...and hang at the hotel. I have never let my kids miss school for frivolous reasons but travel is more educational than anything school can provide, so if I do it, we would fly home on the 19th and she would only miss 2 days of school.
I hate to say it, because I know that many of you jumped into the IMHoe hype due to the venue, timing, location, etc, but I think this race has the potential to be a much more costly swim than IMCDA. I say CDA because in the last couple years this one has been the race that's had the toughest combination of cold to cold-ish water + iffy air temps on the first bit of the bike + a crowded swim.
I think IMHoe will be much tougher:
Will be guaranteed a cold swim, by all accounts vs CDA where you never "really" know until a couple days before since the local weather can dramatically affect the water temp
Swimming at altitude is tough. Swimming hard at altitude is tougher. Swimming very hard, in a mass start, in shockingly cold water is gonna be very difficult. I expect the kayakers will get a lot of bidness on race day.
Biking at altitude isn't that big of deal, as long as you don't follow your watts into a brick wall. That is, 6500-7500ft isn't "that" high. You might see a 10-20w difference if you were really paying attention, but it's not as if your breathing is restricted, etc. Same on the run. In short, you're just a little slower at altitude, but I wouldn't call 7k all "that" high for an extremely fit IM athlete, but the swim is another matter all together.
I raced Xterra twice in Tahoe in Sept, and while I don't know what the water temp was, I don't rmember it being worse than last year in CDA. I do know that one year, it was very windy with four foot chop, and my 1500 time was about 31:XX, compared to the 26-27:XX I was doing for Olys at that time. The other year was a minute slower than my normal. Starting SLOW is a key for me. Once I raced (another Xterra) @ 9000', and after the first 50 meters, had to breast stroke the whole way to be able to breathe. That's the only race I ever came in dead last in my AG: 4/4. The other three guys lived in the CO mountains, and that was my second day @ altitude.
are people for CDA and other cold water swims using this rule to their advantage? I've read lots of race reports talking about cold feet. 3. No Aqua socks (neoprene booties) unless the water temperature is 65.0 degrees Fahrenheit or colder. I would imagine that having neoprene covering every piece of skin possible would be to ones advantage in staying warmer
Found the above article with some decent tips. One that stood out to me is the petroleum jelley smeared on the face and exposed skin to act as a barrier. Definetly talks about getting the face out of the water by using backstroke...I'm thinking water polo style for 2013...
My interest in the water temp come this September will be pretty high. Just for the mental preparation. I'll be in tip top swim shape and prepared to dog paddle, side stroke, freestyle my way around the course. Makes me wonder how thick my not so expensive wetsuit is. However, cheaper could equal thicker right, because its not as flexible. I'm also not afraid to leave T1 looking like some 7 year old kid headed out to play in the snow if that what it takes for me to warm back up on the bike...I'll slowly strip down as I thaw back out.
I've seen the cold affect people in different ways, I think it's very unpredictable but certainly more predictable the longer you are in the water -- it becomes less of a swim and more an inevitable hypothermic situation the longer you're in the water.
My bigger concern is "BOOM, thrash, thrash, thrash, contact, contact....holy shit I'm out of breath! WTF!!!"
I think the best call is to just totally chill, if possible, on the swim. Chill in terms of pace, etc.
Comments
I was there all week and never got in the lake past my crotch.... LOL. I saw a few drunks take quick "sober up dunks, but not a soul swimming.
September will hopefully be warmer after a long Summer, but not much! I am now planning a full suit, beanine and anything else the rules will allow.
Paul, I've given some consideration to doing that race. If it was a week earlier I probably would as my kid's spring break is from March 9-17. With the race being on the 17th it would make for a sucky vacation week for the family as I wouldn't want to do much of anything prior to the race... and he needs to be back in school on the 18th.
Training long during Jan, Feb and March would be a welcome change of pace. I normally start gearing up for the Texas 70.3 in January anyway.
I haven't ruled it out.
I hate to say it, because I know that many of you jumped into the IMHoe hype due to the venue, timing, location, etc, but I think this race has the potential to be a much more costly swim than IMCDA. I say CDA because in the last couple years this one has been the race that's had the toughest combination of cold to cold-ish water + iffy air temps on the first bit of the bike + a crowded swim.
I think IMHoe will be much tougher:
Biking at altitude isn't that big of deal, as long as you don't follow your watts into a brick wall. That is, 6500-7500ft isn't "that" high. You might see a 10-20w difference if you were really paying attention, but it's not as if your breathing is restricted, etc. Same on the run. In short, you're just a little slower at altitude, but I wouldn't call 7k all "that" high for an extremely fit IM athlete, but the swim is another matter all together.
I raced Xterra twice in Tahoe in Sept, and while I don't know what the water temp was, I don't rmember it being worse than last year in CDA. I do know that one year, it was very windy with four foot chop, and my 1500 time was about 31:XX, compared to the 26-27:XX I was doing for Olys at that time. The other year was a minute slower than my normal. Starting SLOW is a key for me. Once I raced (another Xterra) @ 9000', and after the first 50 meters, had to breast stroke the whole way to be able to breathe. That's the only race I ever came in dead last in my AG: 4/4. The other three guys lived in the CO mountains, and that was my second day @ altitude.
are people for CDA and other cold water swims using this rule to their advantage? I've read lots of race reports talking about cold feet.
3. No Aqua socks (neoprene booties) unless the water temperature is 65.0 degrees Fahrenheit or colder.
I would imagine that having neoprene covering every piece of skin possible would be to ones advantage in staying warmer
http://swim.isport.com/swimming-guides/how-to-stay-warm-in-cold-water
Found the above article with some decent tips. One that stood out to me is the petroleum jelley smeared on the face and exposed skin to act as a barrier. Definetly talks about getting the face out of the water by using backstroke...I'm thinking water polo style for 2013...
My interest in the water temp come this September will be pretty high. Just for the mental preparation. I'll be in tip top swim shape and prepared to dog paddle, side stroke, freestyle my way around the course. Makes me wonder how thick my not so expensive wetsuit is. However, cheaper could equal thicker right, because its not as flexible. I'm also not afraid to leave T1 looking like some 7 year old kid headed out to play in the snow if that what it takes for me to warm back up on the bike...I'll slowly strip down as I thaw back out.
I've seen the cold affect people in different ways, I think it's very unpredictable but certainly more predictable the longer you are in the water -- it becomes less of a swim and more an inevitable hypothermic situation the longer you're in the water.
My bigger concern is "BOOM, thrash, thrash, thrash, contact, contact....holy shit I'm out of breath! WTF!!!"
I think the best call is to just totally chill, if possible, on the swim. Chill in terms of pace, etc.