Ironman Florida : Official Thread (Page 31)

Check out Hammer Down Multisport.  I have some friends in that club.

X2

I was thinking the same thing...

In 2010...VERY cold.  At one point I had the spare socks from my special needs back on my HANDS.  I was wearing my bike jersey, the long sleeve shirt I had picked up in T2, and the jacket I had in special needs.  And I desperately wished I'd had something to cover my legs.

But 2010 was a very cold year overall.  I think it was in the 50s after dark.  Had I been able to run consistently I probably wouldn't have been so cold.  But due to multiple porta potty stops I was cooling off and my muscles tightened up...preventing me from continuing to run.  If it hadn't been so cold or if I had been dressed in better clothes I might not have tightened up so badly.

Last year I had a long sleeve top on for the bike and run.  I thought I'd go in short sleeves for the run but I ended up keeping my long sleeve top on.  I did switch into dry shorts though and my legs were fine.  At T2 I changed into a dry long sleeve shirt that was more color coordinated (for my pics) 

I also kept my arm warmers on the entire race.  Never got warm.  enjoy,

Duane

In '08 I took a long sleeve top and put it on about mile 18.  Added a skull cap (helmet liner) a little while later and was fine.

In '10 I froze to death..  ended up with two space blankets, and at times stopped in a porta pottie just to get out of the wind.   The cold wind really ate us up.  Some people were wearing trash bags that they got from aide stations.  At ~5:30 when I went through special needs it didn't seem that cold, but the wind got stronger and I had to start walking.

This year there will be a long sleeve tech shirt, a long sleeve sweat shirt, and a wind breaker in my special needs bag.  At special needs I WILL take some of those and tie around my waist.  It cools quite a bit after the sun drops -- Especially if you have to start walking more.  And especially if the wind get strong.  Walking does not generate nearly the heat for your body that running does.

If you have it tied around your waist and need it you'll be glad you have it.

I finished between 14 and 15 hours.

It's winter and can be cold, or it can be pretty nice because it's Florida on the Gulf.

You can buy 'throw away' sweats at Wall Mart for $7 (ish) and if you don't use them, or decide to throw them away at mile 23 - no loss.

The ten day looks about average to me.  I lived within an hour of PCB for three years...doesn't seem colder than usual.

Now, race day 2010 was EXTREMELY cold compared to typical season temps.  That was just crazy.

cold is not good, cool is good.. cold can be just as bad as too hot..

Well, there is a big difference between cold enhancing performance...and so cold that your muscles lock up. :D  The former being good, the latter being very very very bad and setting you up for a LOOOOOOOOOOONG day. :D

In 2010 I never took my arm warmers off (after having to scour my entire house LOOKING for them because I hadn't needed them yet that season!).  I also wore leg warmers, gloves, and a vest.  Gloves and vest came off at special needs, but I never felt hot enough to take the arm and leg warmers off...I'm sure there is a point where I didn't *need* them anymore, but they weren't uncomfortable enough to remove.  What I found ODD is that when I started the bike I am all bundled up and I saw SO many fast biker dudes fly by wearing just tri tops and shorts...and I had NO idea how they were doing that because it was WAY too cold for that!

I was fine until I slowed down on the run...then I just WAS NOT moving fast enough to stay warm...everything locked up and it hurt to walk, running was unbearable.

So, I really do think there is such a thing as TOO COLD and it's ability to impact your race...especially if you don't have appropriate clothing due to unexpected events (i.e. having to walk on the run and not realizing how cold that would make you).

IMFL is typically a happy medium...I doubt they will see temps as low as 2010 for a long time...that really was an outlier for the region.

Ha! I did Boise this year and I guarantee you that cold is NOT good. 37, hard rain and wind feels much worse than 95 degrees, sunny and humid. I've raced in those two climates btw.

It was absolutely perfect to me.  I rode with socks and toe warmers on my feet, tri shorts a tri jersey and arm warmers (which I kept on for the whole ride).  I took the arm warmers off about mile 1 of the run, grabbed a pair of gloves out of my SNB wore them for some of the 2nd loop then took them off for the photo finish.

Admittedly, it got much cooler the longer you were out there.

My goal in 2010 was to start the run by 2:30 so I could get updates on the LSU/Bama game.  My goal in 2012 is to be in front of a TV by kickoff at 7 pm so hopefully I can avoid some of the colder stuff.  If you gave me 2010's weather again, I would take it in a heartbeat over 2011 (warmer and headwinds coming back on the bike as opposed to our tailwinds).

It really wasn't that bad after mile 20 or so and the first 7 miles is pure adrenaline.

One thing to remember when chosing attire is even if the forecast calls for no clouds, the sun will be rising from the east making that long treck away from the beach in the shade, so it will warm up, but don't think, "Oh, by 8:30 I'll be in the sun"

More advice....socks with a whole cut in the foot make great arm warmers.  They stretch so they are easier to get on than arm warmers and if you ditch them at an aid station, who cares.  Also, newspaper (or paper shopping bags) make for great insulation under your tri/cycling jersey if you ony want something to last for a little while as you warm up.

here is a pic of my socks used as armwarmers:

THIS IS IRONMAN FLORIDA!!! What the hell are you doing out of your aero bars???

I was successful this year at Gulf Coast to "go on the bike".  It was warm and I did not have socks on so I just rinsed off with water.  Do any of you do that with socks on when it is cold?  Does it end up making you colder?

Sorry if this is too much information.

41 days! How is your training progressing? This is my recovery week (Swim: 3 hrs, Bike: 7.5 hrs, Run: 2.5 hrs) then I have to decide on:

Week 6: Big week of training

Week 5: Recovery week

Week 4: Big week of Training

Week 3: Big week of training

Week 2: 50% reduction of week 3

Week 1: Race Week

VS

Week 6: Big week of training

Week 5: Big week of training

Week 4: Big week of training

Week 3: 25% reduction of Week 4

Week 2: 50% reduction of week 4

Week 1: Race week

Thoughts?

I'd go with somethingmore along this plan, but I would make week 6 almost parallell week 4. 

Talking taper already - wow, this has flown by.

Sorry to go backwards in the thread, but this comments caught my eye.

The rule states: Athletes must ride single file on the far right side of the road except when passing another rider, or for reasons of safety. Side-by-side riding is not allowed and will result in a position violation.

The shoulder is not normally considered as part of the road and is not intended for use of travel by either automobiles or bikes.  Where did you recieve clarification that participants should use the shoulder?

Far right = as far as you can go and not be in the dirt....especially on a road not closed to traffic.  These shoulders are actually in very good shape so I don't understand why people wouldn't use them.  Why don't you think the shoulder is considered part of the road?  If you were out riding by yourself would you think you could ride in the middle of the car lane when there is a 6 foot shoulder farther over?  Bikes are only allowed to take the car lane when there is insufficient room in the shoulder (be it from lack of space or debris or whatnot). 

Bottom line...why be out in the middle of the road blocking traffic and causing people to have to go way over to the left to pass when you don't need to be?