Memorial Hermann Ironman Texas : Official Thread (Page 21)

I'm not surprised I'm not alone on this, but glad to hear it .  During my longest continuous swim to date on Tuesday I could feel my hamstring kind of "talking" to me.  I have had no real injury issues to speak of in my legs (knocking on wood)...no issues afterwards and kind of forgot about it until Wednesday morning when it kind of reminded me it was there.  Trying to block it out and convince myself that it's mostly in my head before my 15+ mile run this afternoon!  Back when I did my marathons a couple years ago, I started having little things happen to me where I'd slightly slip or barely roll my ankle stepping off a curb in everyday life and my reaction would be "oh, there goes the marathon!"...that's definitely changed to "Ironman"...and the feeling started a few weeks ago....praying for survival!

I am the aid station captin for run #3.  It will be mostly people from my sons school to get a donation for the Watch Dogs program there.  The program is Dads Of Great Students and it is geared more to have dads/gaurdians spend an entire day at school to mentor kids, patrol the halls, parking lots and show the kids we feel school is important.  If you have some time please contact me and I will give you the sign up information.  I will not turn you down for any time, but greatest need is late evening and night right now.

It things go right I will have some treats for the afternoon racers.  Maybe a pickel juice or perform snow cone or some fresh popcorn.  The last 2 years when I raced I sure could have used a snow cone in that area to get me to the next station so I hope it works out!

Thanks

TJ:

Can you keep us updated on water temps. Especially for this weekend for the open water swim and if it gets canceled because of rain. Last year you were on top of it in the weeks and days leading up to the race. With the cooler temps and possibility of rain the day before....could it be wetsuit legal/penalty free? What was the water temp last year?

If you follow Swim Shops on FB they've had the temps the last few days.

Sure. Now, of course would be a great time for me to suggest to everyone to "like" Swim Shops of the Southwest of Facebook. That's where I post the daily temps. (Shameless plug I know. Humor me people!) Today though (4/25) it's 69 degrees.

It could be wetsuit legal, but we are talking 7 degrees in a shallow lake over 3 weeks. All we need is a few warm nights and we are there. Last year the CB&I sprint triathlon had to ban all wetsuits b/c the water was 84, 2 weeks before the Ironman. A cold front that brought rain brought the temps down at the last minute. The reverse could easily happen.

If I couldn't change from bib number 666, I was going to have my wife wear a 'run like hell shirt' - but I do think the Tombstone reference would have been awesome.

If I could I'd ask IMTX for that bib number since you kicked it to the curb, although my wife would probably flip-out at that number. 

I am going to take my bike to get a final service and new tubes and tires for the race soon and started thinking about which front wheel I should use.

I am going to run the disc on the rear, but for the front it will be betweem the ZIPP FC 303,404, or 808.

I am kind of leaning to the 303 with all the talk about winds. I think it would keep me from "fighting" the bars if they are crosswinds.

Any thoughts? What depth wheel are you running/have run on this course, on the front?

The winds are usually tail or head winds. There is only a 10-15 mile stretch (after richards on 149 and then again on 2819) that might have cross winds. Last year did a set of 808's and was totally fine with front end stability. Want to say the winds last year were in the 10-15 range. A lot of time the trees block the wind for you. A lot of the wind talk is during April as it starts to warm up. In May we usually have hit the 90 degree change and they die down. The further north from the gulf you get the more calm the winds.

I'd go with the 808.  The winds are more headwind or tailwind, as the previous person noted.

Really?? Hummm, that was my last choice, but I will think about it more now! Thanks!

 Missed this post...Great info and thanks! I guess I will prep my 808 then!

In the end...ride what you are comfortable with and check the forecast before you pack up and leave if you are not local.

I am good with any of them really and have put many miles on each, I have just been wore out on 100 mile rides before with the 808 and good cross winds. I will bring the 808 and the 303 and like you said, see how the winds are. But now I think I will plan on using the 808.

Thanks guys!

These next three weeks are going to be miserable.  Between weather, nutrition, fitness, injuries (both real and imagined), equipment, etc., I'm going to go out of my mind.

Get here already!!

Dude don't start. 

I honestly haven't looked so forward to a taper in my life.  My legs don't want to go everyday anymore.  6 hours tomorrow and then the volume starts to come off.  Sweet!!

Comfortable pace on a long run yesterday. Only got half way at 10.5 miles before knee started locking. Went ahead and stopped to not push it. Definitely swollen today. Not mad but not happy i didnt complete the run. Only someone in IM training would complain about ONLY running 10+ miles and not getting a complete workout in. #IMtrainingissues

Yeah, I had a really bad trainer session last night. Mentally I was there, physically, the legs wanted no part of it. Just part of Ironman training. There are some days where you can fight through it, and there are others where you just step away, regroup and start fresh the next day. I chose to regroup and had a pretty decent swim this morning. Knock out a 9 mile run tonight, 100 on the bike tomorrow and a 16-18 run on Sunday and life starts to get a touch easier next week.

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Getting a late entry into the race and the move a month ago has not helped.  I'm so undertrained its comical.  I'm working with a one week taper as I haven't trained enough to take it easy for two.  Race day is going to hurt, but really it can't hurt more than the crappy race I threw down last year.  It was so bad that I still think I can beat last year's time with the crap training I've put out. 

Bike is going in on Wednesday for a tune up and cable trim, new Flo's will be here soon.  Gu is here, new GP 4000s' are here, everything is in place, I'm excited and getting ready to race.

Don't forget to post up your race ready bike as we near the start.

I feel your pain! I am going to do a 80/6 brick the weekend before because I have been out of the country and only been able to train on a staionary bike and treadmill the last 3 weeks (still have a week before I get home). We will just have to "be one with the pain" come race day lol.

Post up race ready bike?

I will be easy to spot (besides looking like I want to die), as I bought some bright orange 2XU calf compression sleeves so my family and friends can spot me (my kit is black 2xu)...I will look like 2 road cones coming down the road