Ironman Florida : Official Thread (Page 13)

Dark....usually around 6-7 PM.  Its super dark in the state park and trust me at mile 20 of the marathon not being able to see your feet and having nothing but the light of a glow stick is NOT GOOD.  Plus makes it eaiser to see your watch if you do a run:walk thing. 

Welcome to everyone   Something magical about IM  

It will be my first one too and also for my husband. I am super excited about it but also scared as well. I know I will come up with a million questions between now and November 2nd.  Have fun training everyone!

The run course is two loops and the state park is at the turnaround, so you exit the state park just before mile 20.  So, if you're aiming for a 12 hour finish, I wouldn't worry about the head lamp.  When you're in the state park, it'll be light enough, perhaps just past dusk, that you shouldn't need one.  The rest of the course is on residential streets and it's fairly well lit, though a couple of spots are semi-dark.  I think you only need a headlamp for the state park portion, and Socks is right, that part is pretty dark, but it sounds like you're planning to be out of the park before it gets too dark, so I wouldn't worry about it.

Greetings group.  It sounds like everyone is starting to get their feet under them when it comes to training plans.  I've got a little bit before I can focus on IM-specific training.  I'm currently training for the Armed Forces national championships, which is an international rules (draft-legal) Olympic distance race in June.  So speedwork is my game right now.  I raced a sprint tri a couple of weekends ago and ended up winning the race, which was pretty fun.  And I raced (bike only) last night at a local race track but didn't do too well (must have been the bike and run workouts earlier in the day that didn't allow my legs to have the giddy-up they needed to finish strong), but got a chance to race a completely different way than we're all used to.  If you have the chance as you're getting settled into your training plans, you should look for ways to change things up every once in a while so that you don't get too bored!  And a little change here and there is good for your body too!

And to make things more interesting...I just found out yesterday that I will be moving away from Spokane in June (such is the life of a military guy!).  I think I'll be able to get some good training in my new home: LAS VEGAS!!!  This kid is super excited!

Hi all,

I am also in for IMFL this year! I am training for IMTX right now which is May 18th, then will take an easy month after and start gearing back up for this one. Super excited for Fl as that is where my family lives, so they will get to see me race!!

IMTX will be my first and what I am using to get my feet wet for the full IM distance so I can figure out what I need to work on so I can do my best at IMFL.

See y'all soon!!

I'm in for IMFL'13, which will be my first.  Just finished the Galveston 70.3 a week ago.  I've got a ways to go in training, especially the bike.  After the 56 miles, I would not have been happy about having to do another 56, but I guess it's what you gear up for mentally for each distance.

Just wanted to say hello to my fellow IMFLers.  Is there a good thread somewhere on good places to stay?  I volunteered on the run last year, so I stayed a few miles away from the beach.  Thanks!

Got a Shock yesterday..... I got a Legacy slot at the big show..... Still going to finish IMFL just I am going to try and use all the gas I can in Kona so it will be a slow go in Panama City three weeks later. 

Congrats!!!

If you don't mind, can you tell us how many IMs you've done?

12 to date.

Holy Cow!!  You are an IRONMAN!!!  You deserve the legacy slot for sure!!!  The IMFL/IMCoz double twice!?!?!?  You are the man!

The plan this year is:

Walt Disney World 5K DONE
Walt Disney World half Marathon DONE
Walt Disney World Marathon DONE
70.3 Florida
Ironman Coeur d'Alene
Disney Twilight Zone Tower of Terror
Ironman Kona
Ironman Florida
Disney Half Marathon

some local stuff throughout the year.

Hey I used to live in Plant City

Wow....how do you keep the motivation up to do 3 IM's in 1 year (you did it twice) whats your secret? and can I have your job....hahaha

I did my first 3 in a year just because - last year I was suppose to do Utah but my horse tossed me during a shooting competition and kinda hurt a region that made riding tough so i had to pull. Then I realized that if I completed 3 of these puppies in '12 i could toss my hat in to the Legacy program, so I did. And I got the slot and now I am going to do three this year as well (not planned but then again I can't stick to a plan anyway). 

Next year I am going to limit myself to only 2 (the plan anyway).

I don't work for the Government (Not any more - I retired 10 years ago with 25 years from the Navy Submarine Service). Now my job is one of those private sector jobs where the boss can't figure out the job but is please with the results (this job is where I got lucky).

And your sign-off is correct "Because 140.7 would be crazy" if it was THAT far no way I could do this stuff.

If you read earlier pages in the thread I think several people have made some suggestions.

I'm sure a lot of the places close to transition are full but I have seen reports of people having luck on vrbo.com.

They give you a shirt to wear while you volunteer. You were that shirt the next morning to registration so you can get into the volunteer line instead of the onsite registration line. All volunteers get to sign up before those onsite who did not volunteer.

The volunteer line will be quite long but don't worry about it. You will get registered.

For me, that shirt was the golden ticket.  I'm fortunate to leave only 3 hours away.  Volunteered the finish line for 2011 and 2012.  Signed up to race in 2013.

Don't worry about the loooooong line.  You will get in before the public.  They actually opened registration an hour early.  If you have to leave town early, get there earlier.  I know one guy that got there at 4am... which was really 3am because he forgot the time changed that night.

Make friends in line.  Exchange contact info and keep up with each other's journey.

Same here - volunteering this year (catcher) with an eye towards racing in 2014.