Ironman Arizona : Official Thread (Page 16)

If you are a fast swimmer, line up on the left - if you are slower, line up on the right (closer to shore).  We break up the swim start into four (4) quadrants - Q1 is front left (the super fast swimmers), Q2 is back left (fast swimmers, but not as fast as Q1), Q3 is front right (consistent swimmers, slower than Q2), and Q4 is back right (slower swimmers who would get swam over if they were in the front).

For all the talk about swimming along the shore (lake wall), be careful.  There is a shelf along the lake wall that protrudes out (under the water) a few feet, and you do not want to end up against it.  Also, along the lake there are a few docks, and these protrude out several feet, and if you are stuck on the far right you could have to maneuver around them.

If you want to swim along the right (lake wall), come in about 10-15 feet and sight from there - you will find it much easier and you will not have to adjust for the docks or any other shore line issues.

Once you get into the swim about 500m, it thins out and you should be able to move towards the center of the lake (it is a left turn around the buoys anyway).  I found clear water about 250-300m in in 2011, and only had one other crowd I hit at about 1500m (on the way back).

Wasn't talking about swimming along the wall just using it for sighting. You can easily swim 40 or 50 fifty feet out into the lake and still use the wall to sight off of.

I'm a FOP swimmer (out of the water in under 57:30) and I lined up last year (and plan on again this Nov) in the 2nd/3rd row of what 101abp40 referred to as Q3. Looking at the google map of Tempe Town Lake, it curves right and those on the right side have a straighter line path to the turn buoys than those who start on the left side.

In terms of sighting, with the curve of the Lake, there are some great landmarks to site off of. If I remember correctly, I used the north side of the overpass of Rural Rd. heading out and the center of the Mill Ave overpass coming back in.

I'm also trying to remember if the sun/glare was an issue. I want to say it wasn't, but it all seems like such a blur now.

Just chiming in, if you are under an hour sun glare is not an issue, as I recall the sun cleared the horizin about 1/2 hour into the swim.

Wow....good thing I asked.....I thought I could postion myself in Q3, but may have to play it safe and postition myself in Q4, I am a bit worried about the start, just becasue I never been involved in something like that.  Man all the logistics is crazy.....haha

You have every reason to be, congrats!

???My first IM was AZ last year.  I spent most of my training time on the bike and only ran twice a week and never more than an hour other than the two 1/2s I did as a build up.  i didn't want to end up with a knee injury and on the side lines.  My run time at AZ was just over 5 hours.  I was very happy with that. 

I think the wear and tear in pushing yourself to follow a plan is not conducive to chronic running injury ladden folks.  Make sure you get the bike time in and save the wear and tear is my thought. 

Of course, it depends on your goals -- last year I just wanted to finish in 16:59:59.  I had more than 3 hours to spare.  This year my goal is under 12 hours, but still, I try to avoid the long runs and just do an hour at a time, 5-6 times a week.  That seems to be working.  Anything more sets things to hurting.

I agree with the exception being......your bike split should be designed with one purpose - to get you to the run portion feeling strong.  Having a superb bike split means little if you cannot hold a good run pace.  You will lose far more overall time with a poor run than with a slower bike performance.

But that is what makes strategy in triathlon so much more exhilarating, right?  If all we had to do was swim OR bike OR run, it would be so much easier.  Planning to manage all three disciplines, especially for a distance like 140.6, is an adventure of its own.

Spent a lot of time riding up and down a hill this morning.  Had my motivation slip for a second when I questioned why I was pushing the hills so hard to train for Arizona.  The answer was simple, to be stronger! Hill work will give me an edge over my competition and load my legs with the power to cruise through Tempe.  Getting better everyday.  Keep pushing. 

What's on tap for the weekend?  I have a 3:45 bike tomorrow and 1:40 run on Sunday.  Short recovery run sometime after the bike and a steady 2k swim on Sunday. Leading into a recovery week.

Your logs are inspiring. 

First long ride of my plan today, 3:20, went well.  I have a brick planned for tomorrow, 1:15 bike, 20 run.  Feeling good now so if that continues I will keep that, if I feel too drained I will push that back to Sunday and go rest day tomorrow.  I feel really good right now!  Everybody get their countdown email?  I like seeing my name on the confirmation list, can't wait to get my number.

Everyone else's weekend plans?

Swim tonight,

Saturday - brick - 3 hour ride with a 30 min run

Sunday- 30 min spin than a 1:15 hour long run in the evening, though may switch it up if it rains tomorrow....

Not having a great training week, my times were alot slower than the past weeks.....not sure why... it is hot but still......trying to work through it and get out of this bit of a funk.....

Rode a loop on the Beeline Hwy (on the IM AZ course) yesterday as part of my century ride.  A little more debris on the bike lane than normal - I am sure they will clean this off many times before the race (plus mother nature will have her say and move stuff around).  I was pleasantly surprised when both downhill and uphill (if you can call it that) portions just seemed......shorter than I remember from last year's training and race.

I cannot explain it other than....maybe I am making progress on my bike efficiency (or perhaps it was that AFTER Beeline I still had 50+ miles to go).

Keep training hard everyone....countdown is at 17 weeks (sounds like a long time but the weeks will FLY BY).

I got in a 44 mile ride saturday, Im doing the BT plan tailored to my schedule so it seems like compared to most others I have it easy so far. Longest run to date has been 90 min, bike 2.5 hrs and swim about 65 min. I'm just looking to finish though so I think it will be enough.

Some days I think I'll finish well within the cutoff, somedays I don't. I just watched a friend finish IMLP with only 8.5 min to spare. I don't know the whole story yet, but certainly wasn't the race he was looking for. Last year he did it in 15:28 with one arm, yes one arm!

Last year he tore muscles in his shoulder only 3 weeks before, Dr. said he couldn't hurt it any worse so he did the swim with one arm inside his wetsuit, no possible way to use it even if he wanted to, and the rest of the course in a sling.

So to go from that, to having expectations of going much faster this year, only to being much slower, makes me wonder somtimes if I can do it.

I know probably not a good idea to try to guage what my race will be like compared to others, but to see a course do something like that to someone I would "think" is in better shape than me has me wondering.

Still gonna stick with my 13-14 hour range for the time I think it will take me.

Ditto, that was cool, first time I have watched one of those, besides volunteering at IMAZ last year.

Good luck with the training and the little one on the way!  I couldn't imagine trying to squeeze in the training coupled with the lack of sleep created by a newborn.