Ironman Chattanooga : Official Thread (Page 19)

yesterday was a simulation race training day for me since i'm not doing a 70.3 prior - so I did an hour in the pool continuous swim (it was at least 3200m, there may have been an extra 100 or so in there, since I lost count mid-way through my second set of 1000). Then heading out for the bike ride, did 101 miles with 5000ft of gain, mostly rolling which was good and topping it all off with a 6 mile run at a 10:50 min/mile - and felt good

made me so much more confident that I would survive on Sep 28

I did the chocolate coconut blueberry rice cakes. They were pretty tasty, but I think I'll need to carry a little variety with me. I'm thinking about doing the raspberry mint rice cakes next along with some of the cookie recipes.

cool

I liked the egg souffle things - they worked well on the bike, if you wanted something more savory

I'm sure you guys have already seen that the weekend timeline or athlete schedule is up online. I know that's not a super important peice of information but we're getting closer. How is everybody doing? I have a big training weekend this weekend.

Happens to the best of us. Those still aren't bad numbers as long as you get some long rides in!

I arrived in Chattanooga Sat after a 9 hour drive from Va Beach, did 2 loops of the run on the north side of the river, skipped the out and back on the river walk. Today I did the full IM bike, and with the exception of a few wrong turns here and there it went well. I made the mistake of starting at 530 am figuring daylight at 6 like at home. It stayed dark until almost 7 am. At least there was no car traffic that early. This was my longest ride to date so I did not push it too early. I was way slower on the way out (south) than coming back, no winds, so I guess it's more uphill heading south. Mostly rollers, nothing to get you out of the seat. Steepest was just prior the the turn around on Hog Jowl Rd (7% tops), they will wear on you if you push too hard. Good thing is after the turn around on the 2nd loop, it more downhill than up which your legs will love going into the run. The roads were OK except Riverfront Pkwy had lots of uneven pavement and bumps. Overall not a bad ride at all and as long as you keep your pacing even going up and down the rollers, it should be a good bike.

I will be here all week training on the course and am leaving after the 2.4 mile river swim on Sat the 16th. Hope to see some folks out training this week, stay safe only 7 weeks to go!

Any group rides on the course this coming weekend?

Day 2 from Chattanooga

I rode 1 loop of the bike today nice and easy, along the way I stopped from some pictures. One was a sign someone has on their wall on Cove road and a few showing the rolling course. Today I noticed on Cove Rd heading back toward Chickamauga there are mile markers starting at MM 0 crossing 193. Crossing 136 is MM 4, the town of Chickamauga is MM 9 and heading out of town toward the 2 loop/finish from MM 10-13 is a steady climb. Just after passing MM 13 its all downhill to the split for loop 2 or the finish. I got up to 38 mph on that section (1.5 miles) road is good and you can stay aero the whole time. Cars here have been very friendly giving me lots of room, no issues at all. Temps have been nice, low 80's, but humidity is off the scale.











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I saw some discussions on the FB page about a group ride after the swim I think

I'll be riding Saturday (16th) around 7:00am or whenever it's light enough to start. Riding 75 miles at around 18.5 mph with one stop at mile 37 for refueling/regrouping (10 min stop). Taking off from Bi-Lo on corner of Cowart St and W 40th Street in St Elmo. Four of us locals (live north of Chatt) are riding but anyone can tag along but also needs to realize this isn't a "no drop" ride. Included below is my garmin file for 75 miles on the course. It's one loop of the course plus a touch extra (non-IM course) just to get in desired mileage.

http://connect.garmin.com/modern/course/7521275

I plan on riding after the swim also

My run report from Chattanooga

Ran 18.5 miles on the IM course Tue, I did 2 loops of the North side (hills) and 1 loop of the riverwalk out and back (I skipped Amnicola Hwy). The 2 biggest hills are on Barton Ave a .35 mile climb just after crossing the Veterans bridge and a longer more steady climb back up Barton just after turning off Riverview Rd. the 2nd hill on Barton seemed harder because it was a solis 1/2 mile climb and it will be at miles 11 and 24 during the race. The rest of the run was OK and lots of shade on the Tenn Riverwalk. Some say the concrete on the RW will wear on your legs, but I did not notice it (I run in Hoka's, lots of cushion). A few spots to watch out for, on the Riverwalk bridges and on the Walnut St Bridge (all wooden) are VERY SLICK when wet, trust me on this and if you shuffle your feet when running or get tired, you can easily catch your shoes on the Walnut St Bridge, it is made of wooden planks and not even in places. there are also 3 small humps in the bridge you may not see when tired. I added some pictures of the run and don't forget to high 5 the Great Dane after crossing the Walnut St Bridge on the right! My Garmin had total elevation gain of 1022' for the run.



















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High 5 the dog!

Edited by godekjames 2014-08-13 12:57 PM






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my pup may get jealous, even if this is only a statue

Don't worry, I won't tell. I swam on the river Wed night with a local club (Cows. They meet every wed night and have a long and a short swim, if your in town they meet at 5:15 pm in Coolidge Park on the North side of the river next to the Delta Queen. They will be the ones in kayaks supporting Saturday's 2.4 mile river swim. Very nice folks and we went out for beers after the swim. I rode Friday morning at 05:15 to get an early start, dark until 06:45 but at least no car traffic. I see why they moved the swim start back to 0740, A new message will greet bikers this week on Cove Rd prior to the turn around. Locals are saying the bike course is not final and changes are likely, one being the turn from Cove to Hog Jowl. It's a downhill section with a very sharp turn. If your not ready for it, you can easily overshoot. The other rumor was Chickamauga Rd just past the town, it;s a narrow road and locals would have a hard time getting in and out of town. That's the word on the street, we shall see. See those swimming on Sat and stay safe, Jim









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I did the 2.4 mile river swim that uses the same course that IMCHOO will use. We started from a ferry, but saw where the IM will start. They are clearing a path through the woods to the river and will have a dock-like structure out into the river we will jump from. Notes from my swim: my best IM swim was 1:14 at IMMT which was a wetsuit lake swim. Today I swam 1:04 wearing just tri shorts. The weather was 65 degree air temp, 81 degree river water and a current less than 1 mph, you could not tell there was a current at all and expect the same on IM day. If you breath on your left side you will have the sun over your left shoulder for the first part of the swim until you get to the right bend in the river. It was very easy to sight as you stay close to the left side of the river the entire time. Swimming is my weakest part and I felt very good about it today, even with no wetsuit. 50/50 if the water will cool enough by the 28th. Visibility was about 1 body length in front of you and was easy to see enough to draft on someone, lots of room so those fearing getting clobbered should not worry. Thats my take on the swim, good luck. Jim

I felt the same way when I did the OWS down there in June - we were on the other side of the river, where the current is supposedly a bit stronger, but i did the 2.4 in 1:04 as well

40 days - everyone ready!

starting my last 3 week build period today - 3200m - long sets today

Hey aushokie, it looks loike we are the only ones left on this thread. From one Hokie (VT '87) to another, good luck!

Another Hokie here! VT '77

Hokies represent! VT'05 VTCC'05 here

it was a long weekend in June when I went down - drove down on Fri; did Swim/Bike on Sat; 10 mile run on sunday - and then drove back to DC - but was totally worth it in the long run for training/mental preparations

I'm still here just nothing new to add about the course. I did see the final run course is posted today with aid stations. And the comment that "special needs bags will not be returned". http://www.ironman.com/~/media/f7260949c01c40d59907fba1621c8ad0/cha...
That's really crappy that we can't retrieve our bags in some way. I'm not going to put dry socks or a long sleeve in my bag if I can't get back my tri top and other socks. How hard is it to leave the bags there so at least our family member can pick up after we pass by? I can't tell you how much it ticked me off to see some random person post on FB the photo of their haul from IM Boulder run special needs. She took home a year's supply of gu, nice bottles, sunglasses, etc. She said they dumped out all of the bags and took what they wanted. That's just wrong.

Special needs bags are generally set-up like this for IM races. I believe it's likely due to liability.

To your second point about IM Boulder - Can you direct me to the evidence exactly so I can use it when I contact WTC?