Ironman 70.3 Boise : Official Thread (Page 3)

Ha ha!! No hotdogs here, my friend...as elizabethk so eloquently described, steak strips battered and fried usually served with some sort of spicy pink sauce. Any fried food will be nasty if not prepared properly...then again, I haven't had them since moving from Idaho in 1999. Who knows how my palette has matured since. All I know is after the race I'm hitting up the Pie Hole for a couple of slices and washing that down with a pound of finger steaks. I'll deal with the stomach problems later...

How goes the training?!?!

This is the 2nd week of my first heavy block.  Last weekend was my "walking on Sunday night is optional" block.  Friday was 3,000 m masters swim AM / 5 mile run PM.  Saturday was a long brick with a hilly 2.5 hr ride (34 miles) and a 5.5 mile run.  Sunday I decided to ride a route where it was all uphill (2,000 ft elevation) for the first 20+ miles out.  From the get-go, my legs were toast.  I managed to suck it up and ride almost 2 hrs out (uphill) before I turned around to the truck.  I was hoping that nearly an hour of rollery-decents would rest my legs enough to knock out 1 more hour of riding.  Nope.  I called it done after 3 hrs... should have been 4.  For the rest of that day (and that night) my quads were jello.  Job well done!

This is another big week and weekend.  Friday is Masters swimming and a 30 min run.  Saturday is hell day..... swim/bike brick (2k and 30 miles) in the morning.  Then I get to hang out for a while then go for a 30 min run in the PM.  I hate hate hate this workout, but its sooooo good for mental training.  And then Sunday I'm doing a half marathon race.  Thank goodness next week is a recovery week.

I bet we are at a similiar stage in our training.  Last weekend was tough with all the candy.  I managed to get a huge brick in saturday 120minute bike followed by 45 minute run and my distances in that time frame are growing which is good.  In the 120 minutes I was able to get 47 miles in with 2700' of climb and in the 45 minute run I was able to get 5.5 miles done which is race pace of my clow behind.  

Sunday I did a 11 mile trail run, but I grubbed it on mile 3 and my hamstring tendonitis crept in near the end. 

Hopefully everyone is staying healthy and doing good.  I'll hopefully be up for something to eat and maybe a drink after the race.  We're staying at the Hampton in so I think we are close to almsot everything. 

I see some crazy climbing training going on in these posts.  Yesterday I struggled with a 40 mile ride with only 725 ft of elevation gain.  Gotta ride more hills. 

Question for those that have done the Boise swim- being in the Southeast, I have a wetsuit with no sleeves.  Is this going to cause cold problems?

I would say, for me, its too cold for a sleeveless.  Last year, depending on the source, water temp was 52-54 on race day.  That is as cold as I've ever done a race.  Most of the races I've done are in the 56-59 range, and it was noticeably colder that day. It was cold enough that for those couple of minutes between the time you jump in the water and the actual start, many, including me, were holding their hands up out of the water to keep some feeling in them.  Now, once we got started, I was fine.  In a full wetsuit. 

Most of the discussion before the race last year was around whether two caps, neoprene cap, booties, etc are legal and necessary.  So, most were thinking of extra warmth, not less.  However, for full disclosure, I did see a very limited number of sleeveless wetsuits.  So, apparently, it can be done.   I imagine they were very cold.

I still haven't decided if I want to get an hotel or not...I'm from Boise originally so I have a lot of friends and family, but I was thinking the night of the race I may just want to kick it downtown and crawl to my hotel room. The Modern Inn is pretty cool...they took an old hotel from the 30's and revamped it to look super modern (hence the name). It was cheap and comfortable and had a cool bar/food atmosphere last time I was in town...when it gets closer to race day I'll probably PM everyone in attending this race with my phone # so we can try to catch a drink together.

Happy training...

I think the answer also depends on the general weather for the day.  In 2009, the day before the race was very warm in the upper 80's.  Race day was cool and it rained buckets.  I'd be more inclined to go ahead with the sleeveless if I knew I'd have an opportunity to warm up on the bike if the temps are higher.  If it was going to be cold and/or rainy I would not want to start out cold and stay that way into the rest of the race.  Given that you come from a warmer climate, the sleeveless in cold water would be a big unknown for you and we know what they say about new things on race day.

We're staying at the Grove so will be within stumbling distance of any post race gathering.  My training has gone way beyond expectations and I'm turning up the heat for the last few months so I intend to crush my goal and celebrate equally hard that evening.  Can't wait. 

23.5 can't be right (although I wish I could maintain that for 47 miles).  I must have something wrong on those numbers.  I looked and my average speed was right around 21, but I did hit 30-35 more than a few times on the downhills.  Where I am in Michigan I can get a lot of climb, but they are short (maybe 50-150meters) and always followed by a nice downhill which allows for some nice recovery.  I imagine the race will have much more long drawn out hills.  I guess I should pay closer attention to my numbers when I post.  I by no means am here to brag.  

In terms of swim and wetsuit.  The lake I swim in is about 50-55 here and I wouldn't dream of swimming in it without my full wetsuit and neoprene cap.  A few weeks ago we had a warm spell and I was able to get in and it was a cold swim to say the least.  Not as bad as I thought so I left the booties on shore, but I would have been toast without my full suit and neo cap.  I guess I might be a little wimpy about cold water, but anything below 60 is pretty cold in my world.

I think we're going to be cheap and stay with family for this race.  Either out at Nampa or at the family ranch past Mountain Home.  I'll be a slow finisher but would love to meet up for drinks.

Sorry to hear of all the cold weather.  We have been a little lucky in the Memphis area.  Due to the warmer than usual temps we have been able to ride outside every month except Jan.  

Feel better about my conditioning after this weekend.  Cut a little more than two min off last years 2 Run/15 Bike/2 Run dulathon.  Still need to do more hill work for Boise and heat training for Gulf Coast half in Panama City Beach FL in four weeks.  The run at Gulf Coast is 13.1 miles of no shade high 80's hell.

Might have a lead on a full sleeve wetsuit.  I am going to take everyones advice and NOT go sleeveless if I can help it.  Boise is going to be a challenge with the cold water and hills.      

I'm in the same boat.  With night lows in the 30s this week and highs in the 50s with wind I'm likely on the trainer.  I did get 27 miles in late last week on the road and it made me realize if I don't watch it it will be easy to push too hard on the bike and lose my legs.  I got all excited and stood for the big climbs to keep pace up, but in the end my legs were roached for my short brick run.  I'm still a newbie I guess. 

OWS seem very unlikly with water temps at 45-50 right now and the high is in the 50s it's going to get colder before it gets warmer.

The nice thing this week was I survived Tough Mudder last weekend injury free.  Fun event, but getting shocked with 10,000 volts was not fun.  I hope everyone is having a great week and getting excited.  We are less than 2 months away.  I'm excited.

I did a pretty good test workout this weekend.  I was expecting Sunday to be brutal, but for some crazy reason, my legs were awesome.

Friday - 3,000 m masters swim AM, 3 mile tempo run PM

Saturday - swim/bike brick AM (2,700 m / 30 miles of hills).  Then in the PM I ran 2.5 miles for "recovery".  Recovery drink, ice bath, slept in my compression socks.

Sunday - long run, so I decided to run a half marathon and get my nutrition down.  I was expecting tired, dead legs.  Instead I got legs that wanted to go go go!  It was crazy!  But really nice to see I had legs after a fairly intenst 2-week block of training.

I'm planning on staying in Nampa with friends. My family will be down to watch me and with a little almost 2 year old, hard to get out for a post drink type of thing but never know as there are a few bars very close by. Well in fact a lot of bars within crawling distance actually.  

The weather here in Spokane is getting better. Was out for a 60 mile ride last Sunday and got a flat at mile 42.5 which sucked. Decided to just call my Mom to come pick me up since I was riding to my grandma's for her birthday. 

Haven't done any OWS yet. I just got my wetsuit today .  I am hoping to get the liner in my pool done within the next 2 weeks and then fill it up with cold water and at minimum swim in the cold water. Short pool but I figure if anything getting in the cold water to swim will be helpful nonetheless. I don't really have anyone to swim with in open water so not really an option.

How is everyone's training going otherwise?

Hi, all. 

Just wanted to introduce myself as a local guy excited to be doing his first 70.3 in his hometown.  I've been getting in some rides along the course, and I run the greenbelt course several times weekly.  Happy to help anyone with questions, accommodations, etc.

Saturday Water Temperature Report: 

Taken from the canal by my home:  48.6 degrees.

*Brrrr*

I'm contemplating signing up for Boise after bailing on NOLA 70.3 this week.  I'm doing Syracuse on June 24th so a good race two weeks earlier and head into taper for 'Cuse would work for me.  My one and only concern is the water temp and it's a big concern coming from the Houston area where our water temps never get below 65 degrees even in the coldest part of winter.  Our June water temps will be in the 80's so 50-something degrees is very concerning.

How was the winter in Boise?  Was it warmer with less snow like most of the country?  Would that mean less snow melt into the lake?  What's a decent wilda$$ guess as to water temps in early-June?  Thanks!

Officially getting psyched for this race.  Work hours crushed my training in March and early April, but I've gotten back on track the last couple weeks.  Did a decent job in my sprint tri today and that was after yesterday's 4.5 bike.  Won't be breaking any records in Boise but will be in good enough shape to say I'm having fun. 

I'm combining this race with a visit with my mom, who lives in Boise.  Will be weird having family at the race.  I expect a flashback to high school days with my mom cheering me on at a sporting event.

That is cold.  The coldest I've ever been in was 32 and I only last 200 meters.  My hands were so numb it hurt to touch them and my face never made it into the water.  Here's to hoping for 80s throughout May so that water gets to at least 55-60 before the race.  Keep us posted on the temp if you can please.  I'm prepared for 55, but below that things might get dicey.

Thanks for the update.