Ford Ironman Wisconsin : Official Thread (Page 31)

I've seen two ranges of numbers for total climbing.  One set is around 5k feet for the whole course, the other around 7k feet.  I got the latter from BT's route tracker with elevation reset on data taken with a Garmin 305.  I find the climbing data obtained in this way to closely agree (~6%) with the estimate provided by the Joule 2.0's built-in altimeter.  

However, my buddy uses the connect.garmin.com site with elevation correction and tends to get numbers more in line with the 5500 number mentioned above.

I wish I knew what the reason for the significant difference was between the different approaches (my guess is that it's a sampling issue, but that doesn't seem to completely explain it).  Fortunately, the data I'm getting is at least repeatable, so I know that, using BT's route tracker, I need about 7k feet of climbing in a ride to simulate IMWI.

ETA:  Has anyone else used Route Tracker (with Reset Elevation) to estimate IMWI climbing?  I'd be interested to hear what you get.

According to my Garmin, it showed an elevation gain of 5640'.  That was directly from the race data from my IMWI last year.

If you look in BT's route tracker you can find several different routes which are just the Verona loop of the IMWI course recorded by different users.  

The climbing estimates obtained by these users for the loop vary significantly.  I just ran the elevation reset  function on several of them, and the numbers I got depended on how many samples each user had in their route record.  The more sparsely sampled the route, the lower the total climbing estimate (makes sense).  The differences between the different routes (even after resetting elevation) was larger than 1000 feet for the Verona loop (~42 miles).

So sampling seems to be a big contributor to the differences in elevation gain estimates provided by BT's route tracker, and I would guess it's also a significant issue for other methods.

Fred's comment above seems to be on target.

This is the best news I have heard all day! Thank you!

I bought a sleeveless wetsuit thinking it might be too hot for the full.  Going to try the sleeveless on the 20th to see.  I think I might like it more. 

As for elevation change?  My legs say it's a lot.

I'm sure the answer to my question is buried somewhere in this 38 page thread, but can you just show up at Law Park and swim in front of the Terrace without getting chopped up by a fishing boat? I'm in town Friday and was planning to swim for an hour or so around 8am. Any issue ( besides the huge snakes) that I need to be aware of?

Thanks!

Yes just make sure you have a swim cap on and stay between the orange buoys and the shore.

Here's a positive way to look at it...since you start and finish the bike ride at the same point in space, the elevation gain of the route is zero.

Does anyone have a good list or link to the turn-by-turn directions for the bike course?  I'm headed out there next weekend for the OWS and then I'll bike the full course.  I'd love to have some directions to throw in the jersey pocket. 

Steve

mndiver - 2011-08-10 11:27 AM Anybody check the forecast for 9-11 yet?

Not 9/11, but I've been keeping my eye on the forecast overnight lows and the water temp trends!

Its on the website, or here the link can be uploaded to a garmin or gps device.

The course is pretty well marked and as we get closer to race day, there will always be riders on the course who can give you directions if you miss a turn.

My Garmin file from the race last year says 4,500.

It sounds like there are a lot of people planning on doing the same, so you should have a lot of company as well.  It really is well marked, but I think knowing where the turns are is important too.  I took mine right off of the website.

You know, one would think I could have actually checked the official website before asking.  chalk that one up to my brain definitely being sidetracked lately!   

Thanks for the link!

double post