Ironman Coeur d'Alene : Official Thread (Page 18)

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Nice, everyone's long stuff looks pretty good. I am doing a different training plan this year than last year, so I wanted to see if it was too much or not.

Halfironmike - here is my opinion on your gear questions. I have only done one IM and it was CDA lastyear. A lot of the veteran CDA'ers say that disc wheels are kind of risky because it has been a little windy/breezy that time of year. I think it is safer with some 404's or something of that sort.

I think you're pretty safe with the other aero gear (TT bike and aero helmet). I rode my P2C lastyear and it was good. I would say that 80+% of people are riding tri bikes there. I think we have had the "hilly" discussion on here before and hilly is definitely relative. I love riding hills and have been doing a fair amount of training this year in the mountains in Colorado - so CDA won't be bad (knock on a lot of wood). Last year I didn't go out of my way to do hill-repeats or anything like that and the hills on race day didn't knock me out.

There are plenty of flat and fast parts on the course that you'll enjoy that TT bike! Especially looking at your race schedule, you should be in good enough shape it won't matter (or you'll be dead??).

regarding bikes.

i bought a trek equinox for christmas and am trying to convert over to it. Right now i am limited by the weather and day light. Its either to dark to ride outside or its crappy. I can't seem to get past 2 hours on the thing on the trainer, it sems like 15-20 minutes is the longest i can stay aero. I am hoping this changes soon. the weather is about to change to the good here. Its supposed to be mid 60's this weekend. So i can start back outside again.



ok so here is my comming deliema (sp) I usually ride the trainer after work on saturdays but with the weather getting better and needing to go longer i need to change the time when i ride.
I think i have 2 choices.
#1 Long run on Saturday afternoon after work and Long Bike on Sunday with Monday still a rest day
or
#2 Rest day Saturday Long bike sunday long run Monday. However on mondays i do have early morning commitments, taking the wife to the doctor every monday or going to the chiro. So getting in a longrun may be pretty hard that day unless i do it around 430 am. I would need to be home by 8 am.

Thanks for the info, triseattle.  I'll definitely bring the tri bike - and perhaps hold off on the full disc.  I usually race with 9.0s (a little deeper than 808s) front and back, but I just got a new pair of 5.0s for my road bike so maybe I'll put one of those up front.  I'm racing a sprint duathlon tomorrow and I'll test it out.  It's been a while since I've been on the TT bike outside and there are some fast downhill sections.  I'm not too concerned about the rear as I'm not a small rider, but the 9.0 on the front can get a bit squirrelly in windy conditions when you're down in aero.

Ericd - have you had a proper fit?  That's the first thing I would consider if your aero position is uncomfortable (forgive me if this has already been a consideration - maybe this will help someone else?).  You really want to be resting on your arm bones for support instead of working your core, which uses oxygen and elevates your heart rate.  The width of your bars can also affect the strain on your shoulders.

That being said, I also find it much easier to stay in aero position when out on the road instead of inside on the trainer.  It might have something to do with airflow.  When you're hunched over in a stuffy home environment, I think it's tougher to get enough oxygen to your lungs than when you're flying down the road.  I haven't seen any scientific proof on it or anything, but it reminds me of a shark - gotta keep moving to keep the airflow over our "gills" haha!

There is a lot of good info re: fit on slowtwitch.com.  It helped me find a comfortable, sustainable position.  One thing in particular stuck with me: All of the aero properties of a TT bike go out the window when you're not down in your bars.  If you're not in aero, you would be better off in the drop on a road bike.  So work to find a comfortable aero position that you can sustain.

That was one of the reasons for my question about tri bike vs. roadie.  If there aren't many sections where you have to come up out of your bars, then the tri bike should be the way to go.  If there are a lot of technical sections and long climbs, then the improved handling benefits of a road bike may offset the aero properties of the TT.  From what I've seen from riding the course on the CompuTrainer, most (if not all) of the riders seem to be down in their bars.

Here's to hoping the weather gets better and we can all get out and ride!

Mike i got what i think was a good fit. I just need to train the body to stay aero. It reminds me of when i first got the road bike. It seemed to take a little bit to get used to the riding. Hopefully with the sun comming out all next week i can get outside alot. I am bringing the bike to work and doing hill repeats afterwards.

I have also decided to switch to doing my long runs to saturday and long bikes to sunday. I figure this way my body will start to get used to running at night for a few hours since i will be running at night at CDA. Then i will have all day sunday to start getting in some longer rides.

A nice, sunshiney day here in North Idaho today. Got out and rode 45 miles this morning, and included the entire northern portion of the course. The roads are in great shape for the most part.

Any locals heading out should be aware that there is an unpaved stretch of road along English Point, just as you head down the hill toward the big sweeping right hand turn. It is passable on a road bike. Just stay in the packed down tire tracks and take it easy.

Turning left from East Hayden Lake Road onto Dodd Road, be aware of a significant gravel build up. You can be carrying a lot of speed here, and it is deep enough to send you sliding.

The only other thing to be aware of is East Hayden Lake Road, coming up on Government Way is very rough. Always has been, but seems to be getting worse. Again, this is at the bottom of a hill and you can be moving pretty fast. The only smooth part of the road is toward the center, so be careful!

Nice. I got out for a nice 45-miler today (biking...my long runs aren't quite there yet ). Colorado weather is hangin' tough. We'll see how the rest of Feb goes and March. Allegedly March is the worst month here as far as snow and variable weather....lets hope not.

We had a pretty good day here, too.  Tri Club San Diego race in the morning. Sprint Duathlon: 2¼ run, 11½ bike, 2¼ run.  Pretty hilly course, with the run on trails.

Bummer was that I had to leave the tri bike at home.  Ended up using the roadie 'cause I was fiddling with the brakes last night and stripped the lining screw on the rear hanger (at least it wasn't before a key race!).  Dressed up roadie with 5.0 front and 9.0 rear and went with it.  I guess it worked out, cause I held position on the bike.  Didn't catch anyone, but didn't lose any ground, either.

Afterwards, a group of us headed out for a 40-miler up the coast.  Too beautiful of a day to pass it up.

Long run of 13 tomorrow morning and 1st open water swim planned for the afternoon.  Water temp is 59° *brrrrr* but Good Oceanside prep!  At least the temp is supposed to reach 70 by midday.

Hope everyone is having an awesome training weekend.  We are definitely underway!

got in 1/4 mile for each year of my age and 1/4 for a piece of cake 11.25 mile run this morning. The sun is out and i am tempted to just go for a easy spin.

edited fo speeling

Edited by ericd256 2010-02-14 1:31 PM

Yay nice weather 50 ish today.  I got in my first hill ride today + 2675 feet over a 24 mile ride.  Was designed as a short ride.  I will get all the way to the top of that hill on longer rides. 

I should be doubling bike and swim time for Feb over January.  Run... well that will just come along as it comes along.  Probably back up to speed by March for all 3. 

Edited by Baowolf 2010-02-14 7:45 PM

In. My first full and I live only a couple blocks from the transition. Looking forward to it with all of you!

All of you CDA residents, are we lucking out with weather this winter or what?

Hopefully the weather holds till June . Just got the garmin 310xt, it's pretty cool. Very user friendly IMHO. Can't wait to get the bike sensor and hopefully a power meter. Anyone else doing Core Performance workouts?

Unleashed the hound off the trainer this week and everything went smooth!! No numbness and was able to stay in aero about 70% of the ride.

Nice work!  I will try it tomorrow.  We got some rain here overnight and today, so we bumped our long ride to Sunday.  Taking the train up to Anaheim and riding back.  Should be about 80 miles.  I'll take the TT bike and see how long I can stay aero.

Nice. 80 miles in California sounds pretty sweet right now. We've received about 5 or 6 inches of snow here in Colorado in the last 2 days - so my 3 hour ride today was on the trainer...umm...ouch.

Can't wait until June.

Anybody here live in Las Vegas? I'm heading there tomorrow for a week, looking for riding time.

Long day in the saddle on the TT bike yesterday.  Garmin had ride time at 4:25 for 85 miles.  Still a lot of work to do before June, but it was an encouraging ride.  Did a little brick run off the bike.

Oops - I'll have to look into the blog thing here.  I didn't know it existed.  Thanks for pointing it out

Hi all, new to the forums and to IM.  I'm a long-time runner who currently runs 50-65 miles a week with my huskies.  I am running the National Marathon in DC March 20, then it's focusing on swimming and biking (with daily running to keep the pups happy) until CdA.

I look forward to following everyone's training and learning from some of the more experienced triathletes!



Edited by MikeAndHuskies 2010-02-24 9:01 PM

WELCOME MIKE!!!

took the new tribike outside for some hill work this week and was surprised at how much easier that hill that kicked my butt all last year wasn't so bad this year. The tough part of the hill finishes with 180 feet of elevation gain in .25 mile. The tri bike has an 11-28 on it and when i stood up to climb felt as light as a feather. Still havent decided if it was the bike or the engine maintaince that made the difference yet.