Ironman Louisville : Official Thread (Page 18)

Yikes!

We're down to less than 120 days.

This thing is feeling more real by the minute.

Ahh reality indeed.  Gotta love it.  Anyone training in the Asheville area, feel free to reach out for a bike ride or a run - repete23 at gmail. 

My first full IM KY2010, finished half last year in SC.  Question for the group, especially those who do a good bit of training in the hills/mountains.  Do you have a method to compare training expectations for the bike when you are doing a ton of hill work vs flat work?  Right now I am going by time and and letting the distance fall where it may - sample ride might be 45-50 miles, 3 hours, roughly 5,000 feet of elevation gain.  I don't have a good barometer for what that equates to on a flatter course.  Here in Asheville you can't go much more than a few miles without having to climb another darn mountain.  thoughts?

I spent the first 3 years of my tri life living in TX, where it is pancake flat.  I recently moved to Wester PA where there is not flats and plenty of hills to climb so I think I can speak to this.

Honestly, my average pace has not changed from one extreme to the next.  In TX at least it was extremely windy and hot so that probably slowed me down some.  Personally I would take flats, heat and wind over hills, cool and no wind.  I am a big guy and hills can be mental torcher but so can the wind.  I say train with what you got and in the long run you will be fine.

I live in Central MD and have several rides just like you mentioned (about 45 miles, 5k climbing) but also can go another direction and get 50+ miles w/less than 2k or drive 30 minutes and get pancake flat with some nice winds or drive out to my parents in West Virginia and get some serious climbing (35 miles, 6k climbing) and what I have found is that it certainly affects my overall speed - and that I love living in central MD for the variability of terrain  

I don't know if there is a "method" per say of calculating what you paces might be but I can give you a rough estimate of what I have put out on the various terrains over the past month if that will help...

45 miles, 5k rides are usually high 16 - low 17 mph
50 miles, 2k rides are around 18-19 (I think this equates to the Kentucky course elevation)
50-100 mile, pancake flat rides are around 20
35 miles, 6k climbing (couldn't get any speed on the downs since it was all switchbacks covered in cinders from the snow) was 12.3 mph!

So I don't know if that helps but I've consistently found that if I push out high 16s, low 17s on the 45 mile, 5k rides, I can easily do 18-19 on the equivalent distance (or longer) with around 2k climbing.  Your best bet would be to drive a little bit on a saturday or sunday and get a flatter route to ride just to get a feel for yourself - if that's a possibility.  Or maybe even head out to Louisville and test ride the course?  Myself and a friend are going out July 4th weekend to ride - maybe we could get a BT Group together.

I LOVE climbing but the only downside is that you can't get used to the constant power output and constant cadence that you get on the flats (and as I learned in my century this past weekend over on the Eastern shore which is completely flat is that your tush doesn't get the break it gets when you climb and put more of your weight over the pedals when you climb so my saddle actually hurt the most by the end!). 

Hope this helps!

Hey Pete~  I live in Greenville, SC.  I have a crazy schedule, but maybe we could meet up sometime.  We have a pretty good group from Gville heading to Louisville.  (I'd say about ten of us.)  I'm sure you could hook up with the group if you are interested in heading this way for a ride or two.

I am coordinating four group ride/brick Saturdays for IM Louisville.  They will be May 22nd, June 12th, July 10th and July 31st. 

We will have SAG support and will provide water, Gatorade, energy bars, bananas, etc... at various points along the route.  For each ride participants can choose an 80 mile (1 LaGrange Loop) or the full 112 miles (2 loops).  Participants are asked to chip in $10 for SAG and refreshments.  Last year we had four rides (each with an average of 35-40 riders).  I already have 40 signed up for the May 22nd ride.  We will meet at the "Yellow Lot" which is 1/4 mile east on River Road from Tumbleweeds Restaurant (IMKY swim start), 1201 River Road, Louisville, KY  40602 (if you want/need to mapquest it). 

We ask all riders to be there by 9:00am for instructions and registration with the ride commencing at 9:30am sharp.  For the June and July rides we will also incorporate an 8-9am swim opportunity (behind Towhead Island near the swim start) into the training before the ride.  Some participants may choose to do brick runs following the ride....entirely optional.  The group will start out together and then usually splinter into 4-5 ride groups at varied speeds between 21/22 down to 13/14mph after the 15-20 mile mark.

To register (so that we will have enough SAG supplies) send me an email at [email protected] with you name or names of riders that will be coming and what date(s)you are interested in participating.  If you have questions just send me an email.  I'll try to keep an eye on this site.  We also have a 275 member group for IMKY 2010 over on www.iamtri.com where alot of good info is being shared.

I hope some of you can join us on May 22, June 12, July 10 and/or July 31.

Bob (from Lexington, KY)

Edited by BobbyB 2010-05-06 4:39 PM

Ironman thoughts consuming my life.

I live in Greenville, SC.  Average day in August is about the same temp, but higher humidity.  Last year while training for Augusta 70.3, I used to do my long bikes (50+) and long runs (9-10) between 12 and 2 to get acclimated.  Come race day, it was in the high 80's and it didn't effect me at all.  Especially during the run because of the shade from the trees.  Not to mention that I am a golf pro, so I'm out in it everyday anyway.

Question:  Do you have to wear a top when doing the swim?  In all of the videos many of the guys are not.  I thought it was a rule that you had to. 

Edited by Jeepguy2358 2010-05-09 4:33 PM

Don't think tops are required for the swim (guys at least). 

There was a tri-talk.com episode a while back (either that or an IMt-alk.me episode) that talked about heat training and mentioned that pro cyclists get in the sauna after their workouts.  If you are in AZ, that might be a good way to acclimate to the humidity.

That's a great idea and I would think that would do the trick. Thanks for the feedback!

Hello week five.

Week five!? Already?  Whaaaat

My plan (BT Intermediate) is kind of confusing about which period I'm in, but I'm pretty sure this is when we start Build 1.

Bring it!

This will be my biggest week until June. I am 2 weeks into Build phase. Going to be smart about rest, nutrition, hydrating, and recovery drinks (beer) this week.
Looking forward to pumping up the BT graph with lots of pretty colors

Low volume week for me, my A race of the spring is this weekend so I will be taking a slight break. Not to mean of course that I will be back at it next week!

5 weeks in already??? Wow, this stuff is starting to get real.

I'm in build also but hoping that after this one I don't have such a drastic cut back on my recovery week.  It was partially because my legs needed it and partially because my mind needed it but I feel like going from 19 to 5 hrs was a bit too drastic!

what race???

mine is also Texasman HIM in denton, TX

Can someone provide intel on how frequent aid stations are on the bike and run course?  I can't seem to find that info anywhere.

Peachtree International in Peachtree City, GA. A really great event put on by some amazing directors

I believe in previous years the bike course had aid stations roughly every 10 miles and every mile for the run course.