HIM Week 12/20 - Eagleman!!!
Happy taper! Hope everyone had a great weekend and enjoyed the rest day yesterday (I actually made up Friday's run, but it was a Z1/Z2 so I consider it active recovery)!
The swim tonight looks good (although it's the same on Wed although today says 1800m, Wed says 1600m... not sure what's up with that, but still looks good to me compared to the 3400+ we've been doing). Tomorrow's brick actually looks like something I can do before work. Yay!
After another brutally hot and humid weekend, the weather in DC finally broke over night and it's gorgeous today... all we can do is hope and pray it stays like this over the weekend. Fingers crossed.
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I know what you mean, Nemo... it is so nice out... although they say it's in the upper 70's there's zippo humidity and it's so wonderful that I want to go out and play... but I KNOW my body needs the rest... so a nice walk at lunch will do me... Looking forward to the swim tonight, looks fun (gasp... I can't believe I said that)
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Patrick, any chance you can do for Eagleman weather what you did for Kansas 70.3? We really could use it to be a bit cooler on Sunday? Anything?
Oh, and did my bike today. Felt really easy holding 80-85%. I think I should have retested recently, damn Florida 70.3 getting in the way again. Run to come after Chelsea wakes up from her nap.
Word on the street is that the jellyfish haven't shown up yet- so that might be some good news.
Seems cruel that it's been so mild and pleasant the past two days and they're calling for 90s and humid on Sunday.
I also noticed the forecast calls for possible thunderstorms over the weekend. This year I'm bringing garbage bags to put over my handlebars and seat for the bike racking on Saturday. I saw people doing that during the bike racking last year and couldn't figure out why. Well there were huge thunderstorms overnight and my bike got thoroughly soaked, including the mount for my PM which may explain why it didn't work properly during the race. Covering up this year.
As for the taper week, I did the 60/30 bike/run brick this morning and it felt good. Holding 80-85% on the bike and MP on the run felt pretty easy. I just need to avoid any panicky urges to tack on any volume or intensity this week and I hope I'll be OK.
Definitley thinking about upping the fluid intake during the race and preparing for the possibility that I may have to alter my run pace depending on how hot it is. Planning for lots of ice cubes in the hat and down the back. Holding ice in my hand between stations also seemed to help last year.
I agree - the last few days have been amazing... of course it's too much to ask for this weather to carry over a few extra days! But we suffered through it for our last RR and through the race last year... we know we can do it!
@Chris - I was one of the ones who covered my bike, I used a tarp, need to add that to my packing list... very glad I did since I don't know much about bikes I'd be freaked about water in the downtubes and lube on the chain being washed away...
@Nemo- good news about the sea nettles. fingers crossed they stay away a while longer!
The swim last night was fun... 6x150s then 8x25s. It flew by. I'll do the brick (45/30) tonight - will be great in this weather! Happy tomorrow will be a day off!
Good idea about the trash bags Chris. Hopefully those storms go through quicker and it cools down like it is now. Probably not happening but we can dream.
I have a quick question about water intake and my fluid capacity on the bike. I have a profile design aerodrink which holds 22oz and one cage on my down tube which will hold my Infinit. Guidance calls for taking in 36-48oz an hour. I hope to be on the bike for 2:30-2:40. So that means I should be taking in 90-120oz, probably closer to 120 given the expected hot and humid conditions. Given that there are 4 aid stations on the course will I be able to get enough water in on the bike? How big are the water bottles? I remember at Florida they were probably 20-22oz but could be wrong. So by my math I am around 100z there and that is if I finish all my original water before the first aid station which looks to be around mile 10, which I think will be tough. So my question is how do I get all my water in? Do I pound some right before heading out on the bike? I have already decided to drink every 1o minutes instead of 15. Anyone have any good ideas or will I be all good?
I bring an old shower curtain to cover my bike overnight (with duct tape to tie it down). I'll also use shower caps (the kind you get at a hotel) on the extra sensitive parts (computer mount, aerobars). I've had my bike overnight in the rain on many occasions and this works well.
Getting enough H20 on the bike: Here's what I attempt to do (I say attempt cause I'm not always successful). Enter the aid station with the Aerobottle completely empty (or close). Grab 1 bottle and drink as much of it as I can- then toss it. Grab a second bottle and fill the aerobottle with it as I roll out of the aid station. I try NOT to fill the aerobottle in the aid station zone because that's an area where bad things happen if you aren't paying close attention.
Tucker, with 4 aid stations on the bike course you will NOT run out of water. I use the 32-oz Aerodrink bottle between the bars for water and a 22-oz aero bottle on the downtube with Infinit (feed bottle) and last year I just grabbed one water bottle to refill the aerodrink bottle and I was fine. I may grab a 2nd water bottle if needed near the end this year but there is plenty of water on the course.
Right now I'm on the fence about whether to wear my fuel belt with a couple of bottles for the run. Did that last year and it was nice to have the option of taking a sip when needed between aid stations. On the flip side the aid stations are well stocked so not really sure if it's necessary. Guess it'll be a game-time decision.
rest day! woo hoo!
i am on the fence about my fuel belt or my hand held water bottle, too. for OLYs (with only 1 or 2 water stops) I carry the bottle to be sure I dont' roast... will probably pack them and see.
as for water on the bike, I've never actually taken a bottle from a live person and opened it or drank from it or tried to fill my aquacell with it. The 2 RRs I actually stopped (briefly, but keeping my clock running) to refill - as I had a spare water bottle and infinit bottle behind my seat. That is on my list of things to learn how to do as I gear up for IMFL (I'm still a relatively new cyclist... so I'm happy with the progress I've made). The beau knows he has a few things to teach me as far as bike handling/skills go - and that's one of them... as is clipping in and rolling and throwing my other leg over the saddle, and reversing that to get off. Baby steps. Especially since my mojo has suffered after my crash (I had made huge strides last summer on the bike)... oh well, lots of time til my next HIM and even more time til IMFL.
Aid Stations on the bike. Just a little reminder to please be VERY aware of what is going on around you here. This is a section where crashes tend to happen because someone pulled off to fill a bottle and then just starts back up without looking back to see another cyclist coming through- or someone else grabs a bottle and moves left to get out of the way only to get clipped from behind from someone moving right to get a bottle. There's no reason to be worried about it- just pay attention and get those spidey senses in high gear as you roll through the aid station and you'll be fine.
FYI - I asked the coach about Friday's swim bc I won't be doing a race site recon swim... he told me to go ahead and swim in my pool either wearing my wetsuit or using a pull buoy and to try to work on sighting, etc.
Good idea Nemo. Grab one bottle to drink and dump over head and then grab another to fill after the aid area. And you are correct, the aid stations are a possible disaster area. People and volunteers have no idea what they are doing.
There's a lesson here- make all your mechanical changes (no matter how small or easy they may seem) early on in the week so you have time to figure out a work-a-round if something unexpected goes wrong!
@Nemo - oh no! fingers crossed but glad you have a backup plan! Glad I really don't have much as far as options go (no way I'll be riding my disk wheel on this course)...
Hard to focus... looked at my lists and made another - instead of packing this is a general to-do list in the order things will come up during the course of the weekend... working the days immediate before/after races is just so hard to do... speaking of which, I didn't see the transition open/close times posted - did I miss them? Kind of what an idea of how early I'll need to get up Sunday to head over. Is the school the same place we parked last year? I remember parking in a big soccer field...
Parking- Nope, that big soccer field you remember must be closed off for some reason. They say no parking on site except on the streets. The HS is on the course- you pass it around mile 50??? It's on the corner after that big long head wind. You make a left and then an immediate right to head back to transition. This is probably a great new feature for the race because parking is always a nightmare. Yeah, a little extra logistics, but it's far better than sitting in traffic crawling into town and just hoping you'll find a spot in time!
Good news- the LBS fixed the hub. Apparently it was a pretty easy fix. WHEW!!!
Eagleman Final Roll Call!!!
OK- I think this is the list of ENers who will be at Eagleman this weekend (and cell numbers so we can find each other). Report in if I missed you ( or someone you know) and fill in your contact info so we can hook up!
Nemo Brauch: 301-801-7804
Scott Feder: 917-499-6688
Cary Blanco: 516-770-4355
Kate Breen: 214-458-1027
Becky Hirselj:
Chris Walz:
Tucker McKeever:
Joe Ruiz:
Dan Kerr:
@Nemo - very good news about your bike! yay!
I slept in again this morning... sleep is key, right? since it's my telework day I'll get the ride in over lunch and will swim after work... the DB wants to join me and is happy to hear this workout is only 1800m! (he's been a trooper with doing most of my longer swims). At some point today I'll try on my wet suit
. Not looking forward to that since I'm up a few pounds from last year... heck, not sure what I'll do if it doesn't fit... so it better fit. 
See you Saturday!
Nemo Brauch: 301-801-7804
Scott Feder: 917-499-6688
Cary Blanco: 516-770-4355
Kate Green: 214-458-1027
Becky Hirselj: 703-863-9859
Chris Walz:
Tucker McKeever: 201-988-4912
Joe Ruiz:
Dan Kerr:
Bob Kalish: 516-241-1071
Wei Lu: 301-7920184
I am not looking forward to the race but am looking forward to meeting you guys!
By the way Nemo, great news about the bike! the last min. bike problem totally sucks...
Are you still going to use your rear wheel cover for EM with the predicted weather? I have mine on, did a practice ride and no problems. This will be me first race with it, a little nervous about how it will handle if we have high winds/rain? I have good bike handling skills.