Whirlpool Steelhead 70.3 Triathlon (Page 11)

i did a little 30 minute run today and my wife was like "I thought you were taking it easy this week!".  I reply with I AM!

I'm running 90% of my errands with my bike and counting that as my bike taper.

jon: be jealous of the taper, but i'm a bit jealous of your upcoming IMKY.  When I do my first IM I wanna do Kentucky.

Edited by jtaddei 2009-07-27 5:02 PM

Massage Day! Awesome. Time for a short swim

So I will see you next year at IMKY?

that's been a sensitive subject around the house.  Im thinking 2010 may be a year to get faster at oly / sprint distance, but then again an IM would be pretty sweet

I think it's going to be a matter of $$$, how I feel after steelhead, and if i'm willing to dedicate the training time.

I'd REALLY love to do IMKY in 2010 but it might be more realistically 2011.

Question: So with the threat of rain/thunderstorms, how does that change the race for you? I've done sprints in the rain, but nothing at this length. Will you put on a rain jacket or just dress the same?

Curt

Rain won't change anything for me - except that I won't get quite as warm. *smile* 

I love racing in the rain. Bring on the buckets of water, the strong winds, and the lightening. When I was roadracing motorcycles, I loved rainy weekends. Put on rain slicks, and I could almost go as fast as on dry slicks. That mindset has carried over to just about everything. Hell, I even love swimming in the rain. I'm not even scared to swim during a thunderstorm, I mean, have you ever heard of ducks, fish, turtles or really any marine life being killed by lightening? I'm not saying it's beyond the realm of possibility, but I've never seen marine life struck by lightening. Yes, I know, it's probably not the brightest thing to do...

But, back to your question, I'll be wearing the same thing. I'll just make sure I have clean dry socks for both the bike portion, and a second set of socks for the run. I'll be wearing bike shorts for the bike portion, and will be wearing running shorts for the run. The only thing that may change, but I really doubt it, is the fact I am running 100mm of carbon love on the front and back of the bike. I noticed this week that 20mph cross winds just feel wierd. I didn't feel in danger, just like I needed to be careful. I imagine 30-40mph gusts would really suck. That would be my main change.

rain wont really affect what i'm wearing but it will probably me off because where there is rain there is wind.

I've been out there riding the course a TON lately.  The winds are strong there most of the time as you can imagine coming off the lake. I just rode in 20 mph winds with some 404's and was good. I'm also fairly light, so a stronger rider should be totally fine.

 

Hope this helps a bit.

 

ETA- and for what it's worth it always seems to be more of a head/tail wind out there than a strong cross wind...but of course that will change on race day!!

Edited by trixie 2009-07-27 7:13 PM

New to the board but having fun reading up on everybody's comments about Steelhead.  Was wondering what type of current there normally is.  I live at the base of Lake Huron and we have a decent current going towards the St. Clair River.  I've also done the olympic distance at Motor City -- just trying to fine a comparable current to compare it to as I don't think I'll be able to get in the water over there until race morning.
Thanks!
--Sax 

The current is very dependent on the wind.  It can be from the north or south.   Conditions are the worst if the winds have been high and have recently changed directions.  Under these circumstances, waves come from both the north and south and conditions are VERY treacherous.  This is when people drown.  I was body surfing a couple of years ago in such conditions and found the waves had pushed me a few hundred yards north.  I tried to make my way back through the surf but was unable to make any progress and had to get out of the water and walk back.  I haven't seen these conditions this summer.

I spoke to my parents yesterday who are 35 miles north of Benton Harbor and was told there weren't any whitecaps. 

I suppose to show the unpredictability of Lake Michigan, the past 2 years Ive done the Firecracker sprint at the exact same location, and have had water like a sheet of glass.

Looks like the bad weather has moved on to Sunday, so hopefully we will have perfect weather.

Curt

Found this on ST:
http://www.chicagonow.com/blogs/pace-of-chicago/

Scroll down past the first article to see the Steelhead info.

How many of you are planning on racking your bikes on the Friday?

I'll be racking mine Friday probably before we meet up for dinner.

I will be racking my bike Friday evening as well. I'm a bit reluctant about it, but I dont want to mess with it Saturday morning.

i'm racking friday as well.  As easy as it would be to ride to the race, I think getting dropped off early would be better I hate dealing with parking.

TRIXIIIIE!!  Glad you're smiling face is gonna be there

I have not decided when I will be racking my bike. Either way I will be there when transition opens on Sat. morning.

Depending on the weather I will be racking my bike on Friday.  This will make Sat. morning much easier, one less thing to worry about.  I can also get dropped off at the transition area and not have to worry about parking etc.  I am also not worried about my bike disappearing as my bike would not be first on the most wanted list!

Greg