Grand Rapids Triathlon - Half Iron Course : Official Thread (Page 3)

Bug spray, sunblock in spray form (for quick use in transition)  are always in the tri bag and look like they may both be used this week.

GR ABC Channel 13 has the high listed at 89, sunny and humid.  These will be tough conditions for certain. 

I'm doubting there will be much in the way of athlete tracking, I've never seen it much besides IM brand races or B2B which tried it last year with not so good results.

 I saw that too.  My only thought is that I'd rather have 89 degrees than 30mph winds we've beeen dealing with around here. 

Front moving through here tomorrow, should blow itself out.

Today, 30 bike, 30 run 30 swim

tomorrow, more like 20 of each,

thursday, swim 20

Friday swim + bike, 20 each

Saturday, 10 -15 minutes of each, low intensity of course, basically it's little more than an equipment check.

Being that I'm new to all this tri stuff, of course now is when I decide I need all sorts of new equipment and clothes and bike seats and changes to my bike fit.   But I'll probly wait until Sunday to experiment with these new salt tabs and such.

Good advice!  This forecast is a bad trick right? Shiiiiit, Since the weatherman is rarely correct I am hoping that stays to form.

Take the hot weather seriously and have a plan to deal with it.  As mentioned above, you need to definitely be drinking more and getting electrolytes. 

This type of forecast presents a lot of problems as none of us are able to acclimate prior to the race.  Be safe out there! 

Double post. sorry.

Seems like the 89 high will not hit until 4pm or so.  Should be 60s for the start and around 80 by the finish.  Any forcasts on the wind.  I live on the lakeshore and have been riding in 15-20 mph winds all spring.  Hope to be under 10mph for the ride Sunday.

Off today then 20' swim and run tomorrow and 20' on Saturday.  Taper has been nice.  Cannot wait until 0718 on Sunday.

If anyone is traveling on there own and want to join me for an early dinner (I'm at the Baymont Inn Airport) I was thinking of hitting the Branns near the airport across from Meijers for my traditional pre race chicken sandwhich.  Boresnik9 (Ben) may be coming down and joining me.  Shoot me a PM with cell # or any other dinner ideas.

I can't wait until about 1pm on Sunday!

Yeah thats not looking too bad...there are some shady spots on the run and hopefully with a little breeze on the run it will be good.

I was looking at your blog and your goal splits.  I will likely be seeing you on the run as you will likely come out of the water just ahead of me and not sure I will track you down on the bike! 

Hopefully we can share a post race beverage before noon!  Have a good race.

I'll try and hold your heels on the run then. Despite my running background, I always seem to fall apart there. Hopefully I can turn it around this year. Looks like you are in the 30-34 AG though so I don't have to worry about you stealing a podium spot on me. haha. I rode a bit of the course yesterday afternoon. The west wind and chip seal had me rethinking the bike a bit, but probably pre-race doubts more than anything.

I'll keep an eye open for you. I'll probably be hanging out at the Strider Tri Club tent wearing a Striders tri top. Not sure exactly where it will be but they are going to have one somewhere. 

"Sunday has to get here before I go nuts. "

I am so glad I am not the only one.  I hope to see you all finished as I start the run since I am not as fast as you all!  Looking forward to it and the end of the anxiety.

Thanks for everyone's help and all the posts.  You have kept me sane!

There has been a lot of questions about nutrition on the course so I grabbed a snapshot of what to expect fluidwise.

http://twitpic.com/9u9u6d

These are the bottles that they will be using the 70.3 bike course. Both have sport tops and should be easy to drink out of. The Gatorade bottles are 22 or 24oz (I can't remember) and actually fit in a water bottle cage very well.  I didn't see what flavors they had but probably lemon lime. The water bottles are 20oz aquafina water bottles that they put a sport top on. These too will fit in your water bottle cage, but probably not as snugly as the Gatorade bottles so keep an eye on them as you go over the rail road tracks.  If the bottle seems too loose, I'll generally shove it in the back pocket of my jersey if I am worried about losing it.

On the run course, there will be cups of both lemon lime and glacial freeze (blue) Gatorade depending on the aid station. There will also be water, chips, pretzels, gummy bears, and assorted fruit.

We loaded 800 gallons of water (160 5 gallon jugs) into the boxes for the run aid stations this morning with more coming in the morning. There should be plenty of fluid on the course for everyone so drink up and stay hydrated!

Posted on the GR Tri Facebook page, but will throw it out here too.  I'm in need of Glide to save my neck from my wetsuit.  Will there  be anything at the packet pickup or will the Ada bike shop carry Glide?  The only shop I know I can pick it up from nearby is through a construction zone from He!! and I wasn't planning on going that way to get to 96.  TIA

NEW WEATHER FORECAST:

Sunday: Sunny and hot, with a high near 90. South wind between 7 and 14 mph, with gusts as high as 22 mph. 

So much for 6-8 mph.

Thanks for the update Kevin.  Kinda of figured that's what we would see out there.  No Coke on the run?  It is the nectar of the tri gods.

Like others the nerves, or it may be the decrease in workouts this week has been felt all day.  I feel out of practice since I've been away from Tri's for over 20 months.  Looking forward to getting out to GR and seeing the course and relaxing at the hotel tomorrow.

Good catch. Yes, there will be Pepsi on the run. Loaded a bunch of 2-liters up this morning. Forgot about that one.

Did you see my response on FB? I didn't realize that was you. You should find something at the expo, but if not, Gazelle Sports is less than a mile down the road at 28th and East Paris.

Keven I read the response on FB this morning. 

Glad to hear they have a cola substance on the course.

Thanks again