Buffalo Springs Lake Ironman 70.3 : Official Thread (Page 2)

That's the ol' Macca trick from Kona too I believe... Take a couple zip locks with ya and fill them and stuff them in your tri suit if needed... never used them myself but it could be a good back up plan.

Of course we could always hope for a cool front!  {yeah right!!!}

Just make sure you consume plenty of fluids and electrolytes.  Sweating is the body's #1 mechanism for dissipating heat.

Man, I'm getting excited.  It seems like it's been dragging...

That actually sounds pretty good to do right now.

It's in the mid to upper 90's around here...expect it to be hot I guess. It's been pretty humid too. Get more than one towel.

Just around the corner! 

How's everybody feeling???

Feeling HOT, HOT, HOT... oh yeah!  We would have to be having some of the hottest weather of the year going into this race... anything else would just be too easy, right?

It is what it is... copious amounts of sweat and pain are my new best friends!  I hope everyone else has met them and "likes" them, otherwise it might make for a Looooong day hangin' out with them!

Good luck everyone!  Safe travels to Lubbock and *cheers* to a great day on the race course!

I read this in a pro's race report and wondered if anybody else has seen / read this....


The most interesting aspect of the swim was the start. A few years ago, people started running around the edge of the start’s little horseshoe bay, rather than swim across. Mike Greer said he considered placing a buoy so people would have to swim out and around rather than run the first 50 meters. But he thought the little run was innovative of the athletes that started it, because although you are going further than swimming the straight line out of the bay, by running through the shallows around the edge, you could get a good 20 meter gap on someone swimming. This year, everyone took this little run to the extreme. When the start-horn blew, the pro field sprinted in the knee deep water around the little bay. About 30 seconds after I flopped into the water and started my post-sprint swimming, as I breathed, I saw others walking in thigh-deep water through the reeds on the edge, moving just as fast as I was. Forget swimming, I’m walking!!! So I moved over to the side to where I could stand and started wading though with about half the pro field while we moved at the same speed as the half who swam. We got probably another 25 meters or so before a dock forced us to swim. It was actually pretty humorous. After the race, I talked to a few friends who said they switched between running and swimming at the start three or frour times before they really started swimming.

Yep.  I saw that a couple years ago.  The pros were running on the shore out of the cove and into the lake.  It was pretty funny.  Then the AG'ers started doing it too. 

At the Buffy Squeky olympic tri last month they made us swim thru two buoys exiting the cove. Where does everyone park for this event?

I wanted to address the issue of cooling in a hot race. I wish I had more expert advice to offer but all I really have is a little research and a lot of personal experience. Let me start by saying that I am a Clydesdale, 6 foot 220 pounds, so I have a special dread of hot weather racing. I have also raced in some very hot races, probably the two hottest being the 2008 Vineman iron-distance at 98 degrees during the latter half of the bike and beginning of the run and the 2007 Soma half-iron at 101 on the run.

I would start by saying that throwing water or ice on top of the head is likely bad advice, possibly even dangerous. At the 2006 RedMan half-iron my wife ended up in the medical tent after the race and was hypothermic despite the temps being in the upper 80’s. The doc in the medical tent said she got that way because she used a hat full of ice as her cooling strategy. Apparently keeping the top of the head cool interferes with the body’s internal temperature sensing system. I tried to find some specific research that would describe this but didn’t, I probably just suck at effectively searching for that kind of info. However I did find this article that concluded “Cooling of the frontal portion of the head may thus be concluded to have the most effect on thermoregulatory response in a hot environment.” So basically cooling the forehead and face.

http://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/ahs/15/2/15_67/_article/-char/e...

I did read an article written by Jeff Galloway where he says to throw water over your head to keep cool but I’m not convinced that just because he is Jeff Galloway means that he is correct about every aspect of running.

Here are some articles I found that seem credible and discuss hot weather running.
http://www.runningplanet.com/training/running-in-hot-weather.html
http://www.runtheplanet.com/trainingracing/safety/heatsafe.asp
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0NHF/is_6_19/ai_86707353/
http://www.lifemojo.com/lifestyle/10-tips-for-running-in-hot-weathe...

The last article mentions sunscreen. I have read that the damage caused to your skin by sunburn significantly decreases your skins ability to perform its heat-dissipating function. I have some personal experiences that cause me to believe this whole heartedly.

So, here are the strategies I used in my two hottest races.
1. Lots of sunscreen.
2. Almost constant drinking for sure at aid stations but I also carried fluids to continually sip between aid stations.
3. High sodium intake. In my triathlons I use NUUN in my water but in some ultras I have run I will eat salt straight.
4. Wet sponges. At each aid station I would wet the sponges with cold water and moisten my face and neck. After doing that I re-wet the sponges and place them in my tri-top on my chest (they only seem to stay in place well in my tri suit and not my two piece) .

Another thing I have done in ultras is wear a Cool off Bandana http://www.zombierunner.com/store/product152.html
Though I have heard of some people in “short” races like a half-iron take a regular bandana or washcloth and soak and freeze it and put it in a transition bag until needed. I’m not sure how well the things would stay cool though.

As an aside, I don't recall BSLT having much access to ice. THere were cool fluids for sure but I just don't recall a lot of spare ice.

Nice post Pilgrim.  Thanks for the info.

Wow.... good info Pilgrim.  For some reason I said that with a John Wayne voice in my head. 

Parking for this event is madness. There is ONLY ONE road into the park / swim area which loops around the canyon and gets backed up for miles. When I did the sprint there two years ago it took us 30 mins from the time we entered the park to the time we got out of the car. Parking is at the top of the first hill coming out of transition (about 300 yards from transition). My advice - make sure you only make one trip b/c that hill is STEEP!

Question for the BSLT vets...    The racers meeting on Saturday (4:00 pm) is that meeting mandatory?  On the detailed event schedule, it lists the pros meeting at 3pm and then the regular joes at 4... between the two it lists mandatory.  Is that just for the pros or the AG'ers as well?  I may leave Houston earlier if it is mandatory.  I don't want to risk missing it.

Also... Do they allow you to swim the course on Saturday afternoon/evening?  Was hoping to get in the water and splash around a bit.

Thanks ~ good luck and see ya on the course!

In the past the meeting hasn't been mandatory in the sense that they check to make sure you went to the meeting.  I have been to other races where you had to attend the meeting, then get your hand stamped on the way out, then pick up your packet.  You couldn't pick up your packet without the hand stamp.  BSLT hasn't been like that in the past.  On the other hand, Mike Greer lead the meeting in the past and is quite a character.  It's worth going to the meeting just to listen to him speak. 

You can swim in the cove where the swim start is located.  I wouldn't swim too much further out passed the cove because there are usually lots of boats running around.  In years past they haven't had the swim course set up until race morning. 

Any decent restaurants near the host hotel?  Thinking about where I'm gonna chow Saturday night.

Orlando's - it's an Italian resteraunt near the host hotel (I assume it's still there).

In past years we have had BT dinners there.  We should plan a dinner for early Saturday. 

I'd be up for a BT dinner.  I'm traveling sans family this time, so no conflicts!

Brian

Sounds great.  Lets do it.

Does anyone know how many aid stations there are on the bike course?  Roughly at what miles?

Brian

It's still there. Highway 84/Ave. Q at about 21st or 22nd street on the west side of Q.

I'm disappointed that for the first summer in 4 years I won't be in Lubbock. I just recently got into the sport last Sept. and didn't know about BSLT. I've done Collegiate Nats olympic out there as well as Ransom Canyon sprint 3 weeks later. The water at Nats was 53* and then 66* at Ransom. It was very nice being able to train there weekly and have Greer as our sponsor. Good luck to all going! I'll be stuck in east TX this summer.

Dimeraider,

I think I rode bikes with you on a Wednesday about 2 or 3 weeks ago heading out of the Longview Bike Shop.  Or it could've been another Tech student living in Marshall for the summer...

Edited by jcbolton 2009-06-23 1:42 PM

Nope it's probably him (Bryce). I just sent him a message telling him to hook up with you.