Ironman 70.3 San Juan : Official Thread

I am in.

bringing the boys with me going down a week ahead of time to try and somewhat acclimate to warmth.

I assume not wetsuit legal

My assumption as well, but I'll contact the RD a couple of weeks in advance to confirm.

I wish I could go down earlier than I am, but the Thursday before is as early as I can get there.

I'm thinking that I need to hit a tanning booth a few dozen times over the winter or I am going to be glow-in-the-dark pale and fry quickly in that sun before the race even starts.  It'd really suck to go through all the training, and then get there and DNS because of sunburn, lol

tanning booths will NOT protect you from what will happen in the race and just contribute to you later getting skin cancer

and yes this is medical advice.

I might throw my wetsuit in the bag to have it but the average water temp is 81 at that time of year

I'm not as concerned about what happens during the race as what happens in the couple of days prior to the race.  I certainly have no plans of being a hermit and avoiding the sun.   I don't plan to lay out and bake in the sun (prior to the race, anyway), but I'm not going to avoid it, either... that's why I chose a sub-tropical race.

If the RD says that there is any chance of it being wetsuit-legal, I'll pack it as well, but I'm betting that I'll just be leaving it at home.

This will be my second time doing this race, and I must warn those that haven't before, the run is very challenging and hilly. Be ready for it and train the specific muscles required for climbing, some of the hills are steep and there's a section of cobbles after Paseo de la Princesa where grip is diminished. The bike is pancake flat except for one overpass but it is usually a headwind as you head back to San Juan from Toa Baja. If you use too much energy fighting the wind you will start the run depleted.

It is a very tough race, ranking second in toughness to Buffalo Springs (in my list of past races) but it is beautiful. Each course (S/B/R) are stunningly gorgeous and you will get more cheers than ever, lots of people out in the streets (especially in the Dorado area) that will come out and make it fun.

For those coming from the continent, the heat will be a factor. It is humid and well into the 90s during the run part.

Can you qualify this a little for me?   I've looked at the run profile on MapMyTri, and according to that, the maximum climb is 80 feet, and it appears that while it looks like there a few small "bumps" in the run profile, it looks like most of those gains in altitude are more gradual over a distance of a mile or more (depending upon which direction you are going).

Seen here:  http://www.mapmytri.com/routes/view/25686266

The routes I've been run training on have gains in altitude of twice that amount within a span of 1/2 a mile (Cat 5 hills).  Do you feel that a run like this one prepares me adequately, or is there more to the San Juan course than I'm seeing on MapMyTri?

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/252363135 

This is, by far, my biggest concern.

Sweet

Just got FLO90's with a Wheelbuilder cover. This will be my first race with actual race wheels, I'm pretty excited about it!  Sadly, I probably won't get to ride the new wheels outdoors at all until I arrive in Puerto Rico because of how the weather in Ohio is this time of year.

Thanks for the feedback... sounds like I should double up on my hill work.

I may very well be walking those sections of the run - definitely going to be undertrained headed into this - but using it to get basework

90s

... but, that's a good way to look at it - basework.  I'm finding that it's kinda difficult to really, really train through a winter for a race of this distance this early in the season (as a northerner).

The way I'm viewing it is that even if I blow up and DNF, I'm still in a tropic paradise and NOT freezing my but off in the end of an Ohio winter

headed to florida tomorrow for 4 days which will at least give me some warm weather runs...and I can bring my TT bike outside - woo hoo.

I don't care if I am crawling I am finishing - after 2 years not doing tris I am using this to get me to do longer training - and yeah not so successfully....so this race is basework for the rest of the season

My older son promised to carry me back to the hotel from transition - lmao

there are 10 of us signed up to race this - should we try for a BT meetup?

dinner before/after?

That's a great idea.  I'd vote for before, if possible, so that we know who to cheer on and high five out on the course

By the way, I meant to ask earlier, how was the quick transition to running in the heat in Florida? Was it a severe adjustment, or did you acclimate rather quickly?

I'm hoping I won't be walking too much (or, at all), but I'm not going to beat myself up if I have to. Training just has not gone as well as I'd have like the last 5-6 weeks, and the heat is going to be what it is whether it is overcast or sunny.  

I've always acclimated to heat well in the past, but I'm not sure that there's a way to quickly acclimate to the effects of a change in latitude.  The sun is MUCH more direct and intense than we ever get up north.

It's a beautiful 82 degrees there right now that feels like 90 with the Heat Index.

I'm looking out my window at all of the cold and snow here and I am thinking that it'd be mighty nice to be running my tail off in that right now

I am so excited to get out of the cold for a week and run/bike/swim in hot and humid.  The boys are already asking about scuba diving so that is clearly on the docket 

My swimskin arrived today  

feeling ready to do this!

I hear ya!  I'm beyond stoked for this and can't wait for the hot & humid!  I wish I'd have gotten a swim skin, though I wouldn't have any idea what to get and I don't know that it'd really help me all that much, hehe

I'm looking forward to snorkeling, the forts, visiting the Arecibo Observatory... but, mostly, just doing this race   I hope that it's relatively easy to get around from the Caribe Hilton as I'm not getting a rental car (I figured that I wouldn't need one all that much).

I rented a jeep for the week as I know we want to go to the other side of the island - the rain forest has a zipline

and I need it for my bike box...