Ironman 70.3 Racine : Official Thread (Page 13)

its less than 100 yards long, map my ride says its about a 20 foot elevation gain in that distance. its only a "hill" in respects that it is not flat. dont worry about it. stay in your big ring and start off how you normally would.

i'll probably still leave my shoes clipped to my bike and ride up the hill with my feet on top on my shoes.

I do small chainring as sometimes my legs are a bit heavy coming out of the water and don't have enough blood in them. Big ring would be fine, but I just don't see a need to be in the big ring right away, especially if you have your shoes pre-clipped in. Last year I passed about 3 people on the hill (I was in wave 3 with a 33:00 swim) with very few people on the course already by simply spinning up on my small ring and getting my feet into my shoes after I made the right hand turn. 

Ride the hill before you check your bike in and see what is most comfortable for you. 

The only thing that really makes it a "hill" is that it is right out of T1 and you are mounting bike so you have zero momentum.  You will see people who racked bikes in huge gear zigging and zagging and even falling over because they cant get momentum going quick enuf.  Watch out.  What I do is rack my bike Saturday in a low gear.  Makes it easier to get on and up the hill.  Then upshift.

Also, remember the hill coming back since it is at bike out and bike in.  You have to dismount right at bottom, so watch speed.  Two years ago in the rain, it was like a sheet of ice too.

normally i rack my bike in the big ring and a bigger cog (low gear) because there is not as much slack in the chain then and its less likely to fall off from getting bounced around. i've never had it happen, but i really dont want it to happen either.

when we did the recon ride on saturday we stopped at the bottom of the hill to get out group together and climbed the hill with no momentum and it was fine.

you must have gotten in at a good time. the last 2 times i've been in it has been freezing. if i had to suck it up and do it in a sleevless i guess i would, but i broke down and bought a sleeved wetsuit...

Holy schnikies was it hot yesterday.  Did a 2 hour ride and then attempted to do a 1.5 hour run.  Only got in 71 minutes and slogged through 6 miles.  I wound up walk/jogging the last 4 miles.  It was brutal.  Couldn't keep the HR down.  I think I missed my nutrition (plenty of water).  Glad I figured it out yesterday and not in 2 weeks.

15th is still showing upper 70's and rain.  Won't mind the temp but really don't want rain.

I've only ever had a sleeveless and done swims down to 55.  From what it showed, it was up to 62 yesterday.  Basically, if it is over 60, I'm golden.

I hope not bc that is what I'm wearing!

I also did a recon ride and run on Saturday, didn't meet any of you guys, but I was with the CES group if you saw us. I didn't think any of the hills were bad, including the one out of transition, but the bumpy-ness of the roads got to me around miles 25-40. I had quite a bit of lower back pain, but it didn't hurt while running.My transition run was brutal. Not sure if I went out too hard for my ability on the bike (legs were pretty tired) or if it was not drinking enough water/taking in enough calories/lots of sun beating down. I'm going to have to give this some thought these next two weeks.

Collapsed into the lake after the workout. My body was fine, but my hands were freezing. Not sure what to do about that since we can't wear gloves. Any tips for avoiding cold hands?

Less than two weeks....first HIM nerves hitting a bit.   Question on the swim.  We have to deal with currents and swells in the Pacific Ocean.  Never having swam in Lake Michigan (or any lake for that matter), any currents to deal with, either having to swim against or, hopefully, to give us a ride down the swim leg?

(no rain, no rain, no rain.....)

Thanks for your help!

-pat

Yeah I think thats generally true as well, but Lake Michigan is its own beast weatherwise.  The biggest thing is the turn over and that can happen with wind from any direction rally.  If the cold deep water moves in, forget it.  Last year I think water temp was 61 at race time.

With Lake Michigan... nothing is out of the question  If you have a long sleeve then bring it and if not your sleeveless will be fine. It's unfortunately one of those we get what we get on race day.  We have been in 3 times in the last week and it was approximatley 55, 65 & 58.  It's anyones guess and the beauty is we all get to swim in the same temps.  We'll be back in there this weekend and give an update.  The one thing I can say is that I don't think there is any reason it would be below 55 at this point. We have had no rain and very hot temps here. Your body adjusts pretty well but tries to keep your core warm.  If it does stay cold and you blast out of the water be cautious of some pretty cold leg muscles for the first part of your bike. ? Depending on when everyone will be at packet pick up etc., you can totally jump in the lake and see what it feels like Friday or Saturday. 

Amy 

Yes it has.

Frankly, if it is 85 or below and lower humidity, expect it to be a ridiculously fast race and possibly some records challenged for the pro's and even for AGer's that have done it once or twice. 

I'm really hoping for cooler. 

Wow - huge drop off on accuweather from Wed. to Thurs next week - 82 to 68.  FWIW, weather.com's prediction for next Thursday (end of it's 10 day forecast) is 82/68.  Cool temps would be great, but I'll be happy as long as it doesn't rain.  I guess the weather watch is on!

Quick question, too.  With this being such a large race in terms of number of athletes, I'm thinking it's best to bring my own tire pump to transition on Sunday morning, but I'm not sure if my wife will stay long enough for me to hand it back to her before she goes back to bed.  Will it be safe with my bag on the side of the fence?  Or is getting to use a tech pump not as difficult as I'm thinking it will be?

there will be enougn pumps to borrow there. Just ask someone they will let you use theres. Keep things simple.