Ironman Arizona : Official Thread (Page 28)

I did the same thing last year - changed outside the crowded tent, and had a towel in my T1 bag, so I quickly toweled off before putting on my arm warmers.  I cannot remember my hands and feet being that cold anytime on the bike, so if they were, it was nothing to remember.  Air temps were comfortable and the sun was out, so if the conditions are the same this year I will skip the towel and the arm warmers entirely to shave additional time off my T1 schedule.

I say, unless your hands and feet are unusually sensitive to cold, you likely will be ok and if you towel off a bit, should be fine.

You are so ok, and have nothing to worry about.  This is not your first hoe-down (cool southwestern term, eh?), and you have eight plus weeks left to train.  Get some build rides in up to a century (if you can, but not mandatory), and work in your runs, and you will be ok, especially with finishing set as your only goal.  Again, you know what this distance takes out of your body, and you will adjust your pacing accordingly to manage the distance.

If things go like last year, you'll have until about 8 minutes after registration opens to make up your mind.  Probably not even that much, because it'll take a few minutes to fill out the long registration form, even if you don't answer all their ridiculous questions.

I did that, in fact it's been about 4 weeks now with no activity, and even then my activity was a HIM, minus the HIM my August numbers were  3275 yds, 0, and 0.

Throw in the loose of an infant son, a contractor running off and disapering with a 3k down payment on a roof, a fifth wheel camper having 2 blowouts, one on each side @ 70 mph and having to fix all the damage from the tires tearing up the fenders, along with paying deductibles for a hit and run on a new vehicle, then 2 more deductibles for my son hitting one vehicle with the other in the driveway. Last week the AC went out when it was 95, that was a fun 3 days, spent money on a whole new unit and figured since they would already be here doing that, might as well replace the 42 year old furnace, so throw in another 8k.

That's not it though, we have other crap going on I'm not going to talk about, but that's costing us money in legal fees as well.

Originally the plan and reason why I picked AZ was because my brother in-law lives, well at the time, in Mesa so it would be a family trip out there to see him and do the race, was going to be me, the wife, 2 kids, and her other brother all satying at his house, for free. Well he decided to move back to Iowa a few weeks ago, so now it's looks like it's just me going it alone. Original plan was for 11-12 days, counting travel time. Now I guess I'd have to shorten that up to save on hotel cost.

I thought the day would be much more fun to share the experience with them and it would give me a boost everytime I saw them, which is a lot with the AZ course layout. Going it alone, not sure about that.

It's been a tough summer, emotionally and finacially. Luckily we have no cc debt, well at least prior to the AC going out, but we got that on a zero interest till next fall deal so no big deal.

Anyway's I'll toe the line, one way or another, but it might no be pretty. Thought I'd finish pretty easy (don't take the word easy the wrong way) in the 14 hr range, but after seeing what IM can do to guys much faster than me, it has me wondering sometimes. But I'll get er done.

Ohh yeah, forgot about my new job too up at 4am today for work, in at 5, hope to be back home by 5. No more lunch time swim or runs, no more cutting out of work early to work out. And I'll be gone in Oct out to the East coast for a few weeks training.

The trip out east i think wil actually help my training though I think.

Flatted in other races.  Never in an IM *knocks on wood*.

I bring two tubes and three C02 (in case I screw one up).  I used to pack an extra tube and C02 in my SN bag, but let that idea go.

Never done an IM.  But I always carry a spare.  Race wheels are tubulars so I carry 1 spare and two co2s.  I've been thinking about putting a second spare tire in the special needs bag, but those get tossed don't they?  This sport is expensive enough without throwing away a decent tire.

They TRY to save them.  They make no promises, but they collect all SN bags not used and you have to search through them at the end of the day.

I always carry a tube and 2 co2s with me. I put a spare tube and 2 co2s in my SN bag. I have always gotten my SN bags back too. I am really looking forward to AZ. The race is on my Birthday, and I cannot think of a better way to spend my day then S/B/R 140.6 miles.

Nicole

Thanks   Actually, AZ will be my 3rd IM this year. I did CDA in June which was a great venue, and it reminded me of WI a lot.

 I am hoping to have a good race in AZ, but no matter what it will be a great way to end a fabulous season.

Nicole

Does anyone else have massive mood swings, primarily on long rides that go from "I can't wait for the Ironman! This is going to be awesome!!" to... sheer and utter terror of "what on earth did I get myself in to?" That happened quite a few times on my 85 mile ride yesterday. But like most rides, and races, a few hours after its over I think "that wasn't too bad!  

I am also SO thankful for fall and cooler weather. The cooler temps and lack of humidity gave me 30-60 free seconds off my mile this morning. I needed that boost right about now!

Finally had a week where my totals in each discipline equaled the distances in an IM.  Now to get to the point where I can do it all in a day instead of 7

   Chris

Assuming they are the same type that you train on, meaning, clinchers or tubes, I would say race on them.  If you are switching to tubular race wheels, I would be hesitant to race on them until you feel comfortable you could deal with a flat on race day.

Yes, but definitely not limited to long rides.  I get similar feelings multiple times a day, with increasing frequency as the time until race day gets shorter!

The mood swings don't go away even after you have a few Ironman's under your belt.  You'll still be out riding and wonder how the hell it's possible to run after even though you've done it before. 

I had a huge weekend and am happily heading into a recovery week.  I wanted to get into an Olympic this coming Sunday but have to go to a wedding instead.  After reco week I'm into peak phase. 

As for the race wheels - two weeks is plenty of time to get use to them and then use them for race day.  When I did Florida, I borrowed some race wheels.  I had only ridden on them a couple of times prior to race day.  Like someone else said, just make sure you can change the tire/tube.  And make sure you have tubes with long enough valves for how deep your wheels are.

As for the mood swings - yep, have that going on right now.  Of course, it's not just training, but life with a teenager and job situations.  If it's not one thing, it's another - right?