Ironman Florida : Official Thread (Page 34)

Totally depends on the weather.  Last year was QUITE unusual.  Chances are REALLY good it won't be that cold again!

I wore arm/leg/toe warmers, gloves, and a vest on the bike.  The vest came off at special needs.  The gloves came off (ha!) maybe the last 20 miles.  I never pushed the arm/leg warmers off because I wasn't HOT.  I wasn't cold, I didn't need them.  I would have been OK without them, but they were not bothering me so I left them alone.  That's why you saw people still coming in with arms covered.  It got to that "you don't really need them but they aren't hurting" temperature and no higher.

I DESPERATELY wish I had left them (and the gloves) on for the run.  I thought that I would be warmer because I was running.  Well, when my GI system exploded and I had to walk a lot I was FREEZING.  I had a light jacket in special needs but that didn't help my cold legs.  It wasn't so much shivering cold legs, it was cold muscles and cold muscles are unhappy muscles.  And I ended up wearing my spare dry socks on my HANDS because my hands were so cold.

It was warm enough when I started the run but between the plummeting temps after 8 or 9 and then walking I was in trouble.  If the run temps are predicted to get under 60 I would carry my leg warmers or SOMETHING to cover my legs on the run....

So, moral of the story is...decide based on what the temperatures are predicted to be on race day!  If it's close to your "I need a jacket" threshold, pack one.  And if you are coming from far away, PACK ONE!  SO many people cleaned out wal-mart, etc. of cold weather gear in PCB because NO ONE expected temps that cold....

I'll be out there...planning to start around sunrise (0630).  Ride for 6.5 hours.

But I'm slower than dirt (i hope to average about 14mph), so not sure if you want to go with me.  And I'm skipping the out and backs (other than to recon the one with the compression cracks for folks on the board).

I carry two tubes and two CO2 on my person and/or bike.  I have another tube and 2xCO2 in special needs. 

A tire would be excessive, but I do carry a boot (if you have a 1-2" rip in the tire you can use the boot to limp to the next aid station where I assume they could call bike tech support).  Making sure your tires are not brand new but not old can prevent a tire issue in most cases.  But the boot is a very small (size of a credit card) piece of insurance.

I typically try to have a multitool too.  Never know!  You can't be prepared for EVERY contingency but you can be prepared for most!

Some folks put duplicate nutrition into the SN just in case something happens.  Or they put a "treat" to perk them up at SN like a favorite candy bar (not something that would melt!).  Extra butt lube could be useful!

You can typically get your SN back at this race, so I didn't feel bad putting $10 worth of supplies in there!  I even ditched my vest into the bag when I arrived at SN.  The bags are all scattered the next morning but you CAN get them.

DanielG - 2011-09-23 1:19 PM

jldicarlo - 2011-09-23 2:10 PM

DanielG - 2011-09-23 1:08 PM

jldicarlo - 2011-09-23 1:55 PM

nickblackmon - 2011-09-23 12:32 PM A few of us are riding IMFL tomorrow morning if anyone is interested let me know

I'll be out there...planning to start around sunrise (0630).  Ride for 6.5 hours.

But I'm slower than dirt (i hope to average about 14mph), so not sure if you want to go with me.  And I'm skipping the out and backs (other than to recon the one with the compression cracks for folks on the board).

Heyyyy, here's something to wear during the ride http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=924951&CatId=4451

You want to buy it for me?

If I send you mine, give it back when I get there?

What would you want me to record?  The IMFL course?  If so, let me see if I have another long enough ride before IMFL to do that.  Obviously tomorrow is a bit soon.   But I'm out of town NEXT weekend and then my century I'm training for is just a few weeks later.  I'll ask coach.

Nicole,,your blog is private so i am not sure you will recieve and of my responses to the message you sent me on my blog..  Was going to follow your training as well

awesome news.....this will work out

I am glad to hear you had no pain running, and hope you can continue that way.

Thanks! I peaked at 30 miles running before I got injured.  This week I plan on 15 miles, 2nd week 23 miles, 3rd week 30 miles, 4th week 36 miles. Then taper the last 2 weeks. Is this a conservative approach?  I would have liked my miles to be higher but it is what it is.  My bike is been lacking too because I was trying to take it easy.  I plan on my long rides to be 90 mile bike this week, 95 next week,  100 3rd week, and 105 4th week.  I am going to make a strong effor to swim 3 times a week for 1hr too! However, I am not too worried about the swim since I know I can do the 2.4 mile swim at a decent pace. 

I'd worry about the quick build up of your run miles over 3 weeks and get another injury.

Ride more and 95-105 doesn't really matter unless it plays big in your mind.

Not true...I will be more under trained then you....I've run 0 miles since May 7th.

So, remember how I said you should ride with a tire boot?  Yeah, you really really SHOULD.

I rode the IMFL course yesterday (I started from wal-mart and skipped the out and backs because I didn't have time for the full thing).  On Hwy 20 headed westbound and about 0.5 miles from the 77/20 intersection, I slashed a tire.  I saw a piece of debris that I avoided, but there must have been another one next to it.  A very rapid psssssssssssssssssssssssssss occurred.

Yep, I slashed a hole right through the tire.

I booted it and it honestly didn't look good.  I even posted the pic on FB and had my coach take a look.  I was low on options though.  Anyone that knows the course knows that I was in the BFE.  It was ride the booted tire for 2.5 hours or hitch.

Here's the pictures:

The course looked good.  The construction on 79 is completely done.  There was a lot of glass everywhere but I'm guessing that will be swept up before the race.  I did not do the out and back on 388 but did ride a few hundred yards down the road to check the road conditions.  Same as last year.  Compression cracks that are more mild by the white line.  Hug the line and you'll be fine.

Thomas Drive is interesting.  So, from the light at Front Beach by the Wal-Mart to the Shores of Panama is only half a road.  Half of it is completely torn up to the dirt and the other half is the same old potholes we always knew.  It looks like it COULD be ready to be repaved before the race but I wouldn't hold my breath.  The corner by Shores of Panama is really only wide enough for one car to get through.  That will be a mess.

From just east of Pineapple Willies until past the Boardwalk is half torn up and the other half (one lane in each direction) is newly paved...smooth smooth smooth.  They paved it to a "detour" to Front Beach.  It's not a big detour...just instead of going straight to Front Beach the detour curves to the left and meets Front Beach 100 feet more to the west.  The far end of the road where the plywood was last year is still completely shredded.  I'm hoping that instead of plywood they will just have everyone follow front beach until they get to the detour. I hated that plywood!

And finally...the half of the road that is totally torn up is the half closer to the water.  So, there isn't any paved way to get out of the Boardwalk parking lot and onto the paved part of Thomas.

Again, all of the construction looks like it could be finished up pretty darn quickly.  But who knows...as usual I think that road will be pretty difficult to drive on and ride on!

Anyone have any questions?  I did see just about the entire course yesterday.

Do you think I should cut my run miles that I was going to do (15, 23, 30, 35) in half and try the other half with water running?  Regarding my long bike miles, I was just estimating my miles on time.  Shouldn't I be riding 5-6 hrs for my long rides now?

Yikes!!glad you made it back..Thanks for the report..  them contis are tough, but sometimes they loose. Hope everyone is at peak training right now..I know I'm tired..take care!!

Substituting water running instead of running is solid. A BT friend who trained for most of her IM runs as water running would do long runs with some on land then quick get in the pool...so a 2 hour run may be 1 hour/1 hour.

I wouldn't set it in stone miles but see how your body handles running. 

How do things feel walking? If no pain you could walk then do runs to get more time on your feet which does help build resiliency or just do walks.

My longest ride has been 5 hours just over 80 miles and I did an IM AB this past weekend.