Ironman 70.3 Boise : Official Thread (Page 12)

Hi everyone!  Like everyone else I am also gearing up for Boise and getting excited.

I too am wondering about the "no swimming prior to race day."  Does that include Thursday or are they only referring to Friday?  What about Wednesday?  In reality, the day after the race is prior to Boise HIM 2013, does that mean there is only swimming on race day year round? lol.  I wish they were a little more specific on what "prior to race day" actually means.

Another question, and this may have been touched on earlier in the forum, but do I need to purchase shuttle tickets now or can I get them the day of?  I thought it was kind of odd that they charge the athletes for shuttle passes.  I went to the IM Saint George and there wasn't a charge for athletes or spectators.  I can understand charging spectators but after a $300 entry fee I would think that they could at least bus the athletes without charging.  That's really my only gripe.

I watched my brother at Boise last year.  Amazing venue.  Arguably the best race I've seen.

The other change I noticed was on the bike course.  Last year, on the in bound leg, to get from E. Gowan to Warm Springs we had to go on a short section of a narrow bike path.  It did cause you to slow down coming off of the downhill and you had to think about maneuvering through it, but looks like this year its just a straight left hand turn onto Warm Springs.  Anyone know anything about how that will be set up?

Ahhh, the details.  Not much time to tune the engine, now to agonize over the details!

How is it only 15 days away already????

Completely excited and nervous!

I had to swim last night instead of the morning like usual (pesky work getting in the way of training) and boy is the pool a different scene at night.  I had a group of high school kids in the lane next to me (only a 3 lane pool) and they kept swimming back and forth through all lanes  splashing and having a good ole time.  I was in my happy little world going back and forth (seriously good thing fish have small brains I couldn't imagine being stuck in a bowl) until a body came from above and landed a couple of feet, at most, in front of me.  Apparently they started tossing each other into the air.  I shared some "pleasantries" and they went back to goofing off but no more bodies flew into my lane. My body must have instinctively braced for impact because after that things were tight and my swim was not so good, but great lesson in swimming through cramps and discomfort.

So as long as people aren't body slamming the water mid way through I'll be golden LOL

I had to laugh at the elevation profile for the run course.  The scale is so misleading.  The profile should look like this:

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I just checked that fishing website was an informative post about interpreting the weather.

Hey guys! I have had several people ask me about the weather at LP near the dam. Since I am a Kite boarder as well, I have a pretty good grip on how to predict the wind. LP is a very windy place at times when the rest of the valley is totally calm. Why? Thermal and pressure differences created by the dam coupled with the large drainage area of the high mountains and the hot desert is the perfect recipe for wind. Here is what you need to know if you want to show up and have calm wind, or just not be surprised.

Look for forecasted west winds in the 5-10 mph range over night in Boise and mountain Home. This stops the Thermal Flow from forming.

If it is forecasted to be calm over night in boise then expect 10-15mph winds blowing down the canyon and over the dam.

If it is forecasted to be hot with light-medium SE winds over night, then expect 15-25mph blowing down the canyon.

These winds start about 2am and usually shut down around 10am. Maybe as late 1pm in the fall.

This only applies near the dam, Spring shores is totally different.

For those who were concerned about their number 'flapping' on the bike ...

It's worthwhile to purchase a 'race belt' for your number.  That way you don't have to wear your number during the swim (and get it soaked). 

Also, to keep the number from 'flapping' just wad it up so that it's wrinkled.  It won't flap.  Or at least I've never noticed my number flapping and I've been in some pretty windy bike & run races ... really, your number should be the least of your worries

Screw-top plastic bottles.  Since I only have two cages on my bike, I carry two throw-away bottles and as I empty those I toss them and replace with the screw-cap bottles on the course.  Works great.

They always plan the course to run up-river to the golf course and then not as far 'down-river'.  This is the fourth year of the race (my third time doing it) and they've had to alter the run course every year so far b/c there's an underpass (at Broadway) that always floods.  So, I would count on the run course being the same as last year ... unless the river doesn't flood as much as usual.

geauxtri - 2012-05-21 2:58 PM

PeteDin206 - 2012-05-21 12:21 PM I just entered your number into every porn/spam database that I could find... We'll will be arriving on Thursday hopefully before 3pm and may go straight out to swim.

I thought I saw in last year's guide that they don't allow swimming before race day.
Is this strict or is it mainly in reference to training?

I was thinking of swimming Friday around lunch.

I've swam in Lucky Peak on Friday the past two years without any problems.  I think they just mean that you can't get in and 'warm-up' after the course is set on Saturday morning.  The Boise Tri-Club swam out there regularly the past couple of years (not sure about this year since I now live in Boulder rather than Boise

My bike has bright orange handle bar tape.  Works great for finding it in transition. 

They actually close Capital Blvd completely between the river and Front Street.  T2 is on Capital Street in front of the Hampden Inn Hotel.  It's great b/c it's in the heart of downtown Boise so there are a lot folks just out and about and cheering you on!

Can we start obsessing on the weather now, please?  I'd really like to get this very important part of the process going. 

Accuweather.com offers up a meaningless forecast 14 days out for 81 degrees on June 9th. 

They are definitely messing with our heads for the run.  There are two different courses posted 1) the athlete's guide and the website..  Good thing that's flat no matter where we run around there.

14 days and counting!!!  Yes I agree we can start meaninglessly obsessing over the weather now

I was down there in April and under Broadway it was closed because of water but who knows right now.

It's clear under Broadway for the moment.  I don't think any part of the course -- whichever one is correct -- is compromised. 

The runoff should be quite a bit less than in prior years b/c of the dry winter conditions.  But, it just depends on how they manage the in/out flow from Lucky Peak, which could change b/t now and race day.  This will also dictate the water temps.  If they increase the flow, the water will be colder for sure and the underpass might be flooded again.  But again, runoff this year is pretty low I would guess.

This seems to be a good website for info on conditions at LP: 

http://www.kokaneefishingforum.com/fishing-forums/showthread.php?p=38845#post38845

One week, five days. . .

Whew!  Looking forward to the reduced training.  Don't know about the rest of y'all, but I'm tired!

Ya'AY!!!  I biked 43 (almost 44 yesterday) and then turned around and ran 13.1.

AAANNNND...  I PR"D my Half Mary time!!!!  Yippee!!!!  It was a flat and fast course and a friend helped pace me to mile 11.  I think I would have done better had I eaten that second gel around mile 9, but my stomach was giving me problems.  Did it all w/ the Ironman Perform mix and only took water at the aid stations.  And perhaps that was my problem, not enough hydration and nutrition on the course.

B/t knocking 14 minutes off an Olympic  course last weekend and PR'ing a half mary today, I'm SUPER EXCITED FOR BOISE!!!!

I had crazy weird race dreams last night must mean I'm officially in tapper.  Does anybody else get crazy dreams during tapper?