HIM and Bad Weather

If it's raining, avoid the painted lines on the road as they can be really slick.  Also, you never know what's under a puddle, it might be a deep pothole!  As for covering things on your bike the day before, I never bother.  Lots of people will cover their saddle but you are going to come out of the swim all wet anyway...

I'm not worried about my saddle getting wet either - but I do care about the drive train.  I cover that up the day before, and if not I would dry and lubricate the chain in the morning.

Never thought to lube the drive train day of, but that's a great idea if it's raining.  I don't cover anything, regardless of weather (although I might try to tuck my socks somewhere they are a little more dry in T2 and put my glasses out of the rain in T1, but that's about it).

Ditto what Arend said on paint - those lines are slippery as ice when wet.  A bit more caution on corners, too.  Taking corners hard in the rain is fine, until it's not.

Clear eye glasses are both helpful and a pain in the a$$.  They can save your vision, as raindrops pelting your cornea are painful - but seeing well through them in a good rain is hard/annoying.  Pick your poison, I suppose, but I like to have my clear/amber lenses in foul weather (amber is nice, as it increases contrast on grey days - like skiing).

Swim and run, not much different for me.  My feet are soaked with sweat by half way through the run anyway, so no difference for me there.  If you don't wear socks on the run, just be sure your skin can handle that long a time being wet (I use socks when going longer than an Oly, but that's me).

Hope you get great weather and enjoy it no matter what!

Matt

Just remember, the rain will bother some of your competition and ruin their day. Don't be one of those guys. Rain makes YOU stronger.

A couple of years ago at Branson 70.3 there came a gully washer.  I had made it off the bike, but we ran in 6-10 inches of water in some places.......most fun I ever had in a triathlon.

I ran that race!  It was the craziest rain I had ever seen while racing, luckily I was off the bike when it hit. I remember it being ankle deep in some parts.

Sometimes it doesn't matter what you try and cover. everything gets wet.

I hadn't been on the run course for 10 minutes when it hit.....the second time I went through the campground the water was up to my shins across the gravel road right before you got there.  There was some guy running close to me who was barefoot.....I thought it was the craziest thing I'd ever seen.....there was no way to know what your feet were going to land on.

In addition to painted lines on the road, be very careful around anything metal (manhole covers, rr tracks, etc) as they get extremely slippery as well.

Reminds me of Redman the year transition flooded and the bike course flooded (mandatory dismount and walking around the river of a road). You just had to roll with it and have fun. The red Oklahoma dirt made everything a dark, deep red. None of those clothes were ever the same.

As for advice: stay away from painted lines on the road, SLOW DOWN on turns on the bike, stay in control, etc. Extra body glide on the feet because as others have said, you'll probably be running through ankle-deep rivers, so you'll be soaked and blister possibility increases. Expect the race to be called off at some point if it gets bad - this is a RD decision and varies race to race. Typically it's lightning and/or hail that makes the call. Or what's popping up on radar near by. Have a dry change of clothes on stand-by for afterwards. 

I have found that in conditions where I'm going to get wet anyway, I'd just as well get as wet as I can as soon as I can......then it's off my mind.   In fact, I think that convers most of life's circumstances.

Good thing the races start with a swim. 

Matt

I wiped my glasses with Rain-x for a rainy race once.  It helped a bit.  (I wear prescription glasses- so, kinda' need to wear them)

I don't mind running in the rain, but when I do, I always like to wear a running/baseball style cap.  Keeps most of the rain off my glasses/face.

Not sure what the temps will be for you- but stay warm.  

I also remember battling cramps on that run and a guy gave me tums to help with cramping, after that  I have always carried some with me. Was that you?

Nah....never heard of tums for cramps, or I would have eaten 3 rolls on that last little hill they threw in on the bike.

Yeah I have no idea if they helped, but in my head they did!  And yeah, that last little hill made me say "seriously?"  Cruel joke at the end. I remember hitting 51 mph on my bike on one of those downhills!  Very scary!

My legs completely locked up at the top of that hill and I coasted down into transition without being able to pedal.  They basically caught me at transition when I couldn't get out of my pedals.  Once I got off that bike I never had a single problem on the entire run......it was weird.

I honestly pray for rain on any race day. I thins the field as you get a slice of no shows due to the weather. Loads of riders are barely there with handling as it is and so being able to corner and descend in the rain is a real blessing. Plus it is virtually impossible to overheat.

You can get rain specific lube for your drive train which is well worth it. A visor helps more than glasses in my opinion.

Forget about the rain, go away lightning!  I'd actually be more worried if the sun comes out as typically does before Sea-breeze related action occurs later in the afternoon.  Regardless of the weather the air is going to be juicy this week and it the humidity will help lead to a death march of a run!

This is why I only do Sprints in the spring & summer in FL!