Ironman 70.3 Racine : Official Thread (Page 12)

5:30am---Wow! it's cold this morning
5:33am---hmm feet not numb yet and they hurt
5:35am---this sucks, but could be race temps
5:38am---yep...I'm going to the Y

Seriously I'd say today was top 2 of coldestI've ever felt it in the last 4 years.

Going tomorrow with mental "A" game

don't flame me for saying this but i hope it's cold as an Eskimo's nose with 4 ft swells....makes the day more interesting.

that way, all the solid cyclists that hate swimming I'll get a head start on. 

i'm bringing the neoprene cap just in case...

that would be fine for the first 18 waves...  but i'm ordering up 65 and a reasonably calm but helping current for the last wave...!!!

I am #1105 Wave 12 at 7:46.  It is getting VERY real! Cool!

Thats a good site for lake temps, but my understanding is that those temps are a surface read and if there's cloud cover it gets thrown off.  I wouldnt doubt low to mid 60s though and in two weeks, the lake could turn again, you never know!

Good luck everyone!

Ben Cagle #128 Wave 3 7:10...yeah I'll make sure to pee in the lake for you bscharff maybe you'll be able to go suitless if I can get it warm enough!

I downloaded the pdf from the ironman site and it came up with sporadic pages that I could not  read.  Can one of you tell me if we have assigned bike spots in T1 or is it first come and first serve?  Also, is there pre race meetings and when are they?

thanks

I have a group coming on Saturday morning to do the swim at 6:30 am in Racine if you want to join us.  Also, we will be doing 25 miles of the more western piece of the bike course at 17.5 mph average if you want to join us after.  We will drive to the other side of the Highway and do a loop.  

Mark

Edited by hemsmar 2010-07-07 7:37 PM

I was at the beach in Great Lakes, about 20 miles south of Racine, on Saturday.  I agree my feet and legs actually hurt because the water was so cold.  After about 10 minutes the legs went numb.  I was not swimming, but the temps were in the 50's.  Should make for an interesting swim.

oh dear, i'm showing my age....

shannon used to have us check in at the end of the "expo" tent.

where DOES the time go?

I must go right before you and we have the same concerns!

ya but you are soooo speedy you will be done way before me!

we are in the same wave!

Mild case of HTFU was sighted his morning, gutted out a 40 min swim in the water and after 5-8 minutes it was not an issue.

Like many prior post suggest , get in the water early get feet, hands and face numbed up and you will be fine.

water was a bit warmer this morning , but current was going the wrong direction (South to North), light rain, and FOG

any way to gauge how strong that current was? It added 2mins to your time? 10mins? Never been in Lake Michigan before...

great question, I 'd would say it didn't have a negative impact when swimming against it, but helped when going with it. In other words I worked harder to maintain my normal snails pace when going against and used left effort when goign with it. So I guess it wasn't that strong.

hope this makes sense.

there was some chop and the angle of it coming in was something I had to adjust to, I took in some water and had to  twisting my head back more than usual to avoid it

Amen brother!

Recognizing that the weather is as unpredictable as the water current this far out, and just for kicks . . . the 10-day forecast now brings us to the Saturday before the race:

                        Sunny; High 82; Low 71; 0% Chance of Rain; Wind from the ENE 8 mph

Side bets anyone?
   -Over/under on 82 degrees?
   -Closest guess to actual temperature?
   -Closest guess to wind direction/speed?

I rode the bike course today in my car and can not believe the crappy conditions of the roads. Bump after bump due to the cracks in the roads. My stomach felt like crap and I had a headache even in a car. I suspect this will be a gripe amongst many competitors come race day and I'm sure the pros won't be happy. Oh well> Does anyone else feel this way.

my thoughts as of our course ride a week ago....there were only 2 places that were bad.  north end of main street and the frontage road along 94.  all the other roads were pretty normal country roads.

north end of main street is HORRIBLE and frontage isn't much better either.  good thing is we're not on them for that long but have to ride them twice. 

I'd agree.

Mixed bag for me, the last 5 miles of the course to me beat you up pretty good when you least need it. Need to keeep your focus and finish off the bike leg. Main street was recently made worse by the road construction and the section of 3 mile road and the frontage road are rough. Bright spots for me are the longer sections of Hwy H and V that are pretty smooth. H gives you more cross wind protection and good spot to make some time. 

Edited by RaytownPete 2010-07-08 5:50 PM

After the swim this morning , went to check out the $5.00 "parking lot" (and old industrial site South of the beach that was going to be redeveloped, but just has some dirt mounds) and saw that supplies have started to roll in for next weekend.

there was one semi , 3 delivery trucks, a forklift, pallets of Ironman Perfom and a hand written sign:

Ironman Receiving
9-3
Mon - Fri

Pretty cool
  

Edited by RaytownPete 2010-07-09 8:07 AM

I have to say I'm a tad spoiled living in Tallahasse, FL when it comes to the roads. The roads are not cracked every 10-12 feet and patched over w/ tar. I rarely experience even the slightest of bumps. Even my kids commented on the roads in the car. When I rode in Kenosha the other day I thought my bike was going to split in two. Oh well. In the end we all ride on the same roads and considering the brutal cold of the Lake, the bumps will be a minor blip on the radar.

Anyone doing in swims in Lake Michigan this weekend or next. I'm going to the Kenosha side of Lake Michigan in a few just to try to further acclimate myself. I went out the other day and my hands and feet were purple and felt like ice ready to break. I went out and bought a neoprene cap, we'll see if that helps.

Let me know about any rides, runs or swims, I'd love to meet some of you.

Wave #5 @718am-bib #381

tom

I may go down to north beach sunday morning if anyone is interested...  i'm scheduled for a 2h40m bike... but will probably tack a swim and run on as well...

Hey everyone, just checking in to see where you found the times/waves/race numbers you had. I am signed up but do not believe I was assigned a number yet. I just see on the ironman racine website the list of participants. Thanks for the help.