Ironman Chattanooga : Official Thread

I raced it the first time....I am doing Louisville this year so won't be in Chattanooga. My advice....squats & running repeats on hills. The back half of the run the second time around is brutal.

Good advice - Hill repeats is the ticket on the bike and run. I live in Fl so hill repeats have been a huge limiter for me - I found Clermont (about an hour away) and now have hill repeats. A lot of folks who understand hills had PR's at this race (not me),however they used all their gas on the ride the thing is the first loop of the run "seems" OK. The very first few miles are flat and I started pumping it on. got into the negirborhood (nice folks) and the hills started. I attacked them the first loop and this killed me on the second loop. If you know hills and have trained on hills - gun it.

I'm in! This will be my first full IM. Luckily we have lots of hills around here to train on!

This will be #4 for me. I did chatt last year, broke my clavicle/surgery in May and was finally cleared to run/bike in July, so I had a short training block. This year I have a head start so to speak!

Its a great race, swim is easy, no contact the whole time (I kind of like a rough swim though).
The bike course is nice, some rollers and 1 longish climb on the back, its either up or down, theres not much flat.
The run has some hills, I train at sea level, flat as a pancake, so It can be done by flatlanders but its tough. The support on the hilly side is awesome so its takes some pain away!

The weather was pretty good last year, if its hot it could be a really tough run! I would anticipate a non wetsuit legal swim, the RD is saying about 50% less flow than last year. I swam 55 min and 1:12 at Florida, so you can see how fast the current was.

In, will be #7. Being promoted to the 50-54 age group this year. No fast but fairly steady. Training out of central Illinois and can find nice hill repeats on the bluffs. Looking forward to a great day and if everything willing, plan on showing up prepared to go anything in the 12's but will take what the day allows.

But is the RD in charge of the flow? I would think he'd have no control over that.

Is it the same 116 mile bike course as last year? Just curious. I'm doing IMLou this year but planning on Chattanooga in 2016.

The RD said he has the agreement for them to control the flow for race morning, if there's lots of rain then they will have to open it more though.
The RD also said they are keeping the bike course the same, the only change will be to the run course, reversing the direction of the first half, the Amacola highway/riverwalk part.

I haven't done Lou yet but a friend that did Chatt with me last year has, he described Lou as having a little harder bike course but a much easier run than Chatt.

I love all the comments here and elsewhere about "The RD" having zero control over the flow of the river. Since when did TVA become some crazy agency that was unwilling to work with outside organizations on the flow of their river? IM is one of a dozen or so events in downtown Chattanooga alone that works with the TVA to control the flow when feasible. Head of the Hooch, Chattajack, River Rats Swim, Open Water Swim Champs,etc. The TVA has been a great partner for us and we expect that to continue. If mother nature cooperates, we should see a greatly reduce flow compared to last year. Be safe training, see you in a few months.

Brian "Some WTC Guy"