Ironman Louisville : Official Thread (Page 36)

I rode the full IM Louisville course on saturday and my garmin told me it was 4200 feet of climbing.  So I'm going with that.

Also rode the course on Saturday.  Actually missed one turn on the first loop and ended up with 108 instead of 112.  I'm sure that won't be an issue for me on race day.  Yep, it's filled with rollers and a few short "out of your seat" climbs.  Had a great time and it was very helpful to preview it.  If you can at all, try to get this one in before the race...good for the head as much as the body.    Thanks to Bob and the gang for putting the ride on.  Even had Infinit to refill my bottles!

When measuring the elevation, what programs are you using? Mapmyride shows around 2600 and Garmin connect shows around 3600 and I've seen up to 5000. My Garmin Training Center shows my ride today as 4250 feet of climbing. When putting it into Garmin Connect, it shows 1850. Not sure what is right. A buddy of mine rode the course and said what we rode today was similar to Lville. If I only climbed 1800 feet and Louisville has 4000, I won't finish the bike!

I'm just quoting the data from my garmin.  I am talking about total elevation gain throughout the ride.  This weekends ride in Louisville looks like this:

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/40069587


Edited by briant 2010-07-11 9:49 PM

Here is the historical weather for Louisville on Aug 29th from weather underground:

he Average High Temperature is 87 F with a historical range of 76 F to 96 F The Average Low Temperature is 70 F with a historical range of 66 F to 73 F There is a 29% chance of a Hot Day (temperature over 90°F / 32°C). (4 days out of 14 in historical record) Most consecutive days found in historic record: 0 There is a 0% chance of a Freezing Day (temperature below 32°F / 0°C). (0 days out of 14 in historical record) Most consecutive days found in historic record: 0

Daily Precipitation: The Average Daily Precipitation is 0.06  with a historical range of 0.00  to 0.38  There is a 43% chance of a Precipitation Day. (6 days out of 14 in historical record) Most consecutive days found in historic record: 1

Cloud Cover: Average Cloud Cover is mostly sunny There is a 29% chance of a Cloudy Day. (4 days out of 14 in historical record) Most consecutive days found in historic record: 1

Wind: The Average Wind is 5 mph with a historical range of 0 mph to 8 mph There is a 0% chance of a Windy Day (average wind over 10 mph / 15km/h). (0 days out of 14 in historical record) Most consecutive days found in historic record: 0

Humidity: The Average High Dew Point is 71 F with a historical range of 66 F to 76 F The Average Low Dew Point is 64 F with a historical range of 50 F to 70 F There is a 57% chance of a Sweltering Day (dew point over 70°F / 21°C). (8 days out of 14 in historical record) Most consecutive days found in historic record: 0

 

Here are the highs from 2009-1995 (newest first):

81

94

96

83

76

80

89

88

89

96

82

82

87

91

 

The actual highs show that it is either hot (88-96) or fairly moderate (less than 82) in Louisville on the 29th, but rarely between 82 and 87. 

Also, it's not very likely that we will face a strong wind or rain.  Most of the rain that they factor in were trace amounts around .1 inches for the day.  Once they had .39 inches for the day, and that is not enough rain to cause big problems.

 

 

 

Edited by brown_dog_us 2010-07-12 5:17 AM

Good info, Doug. I'm expecting (and training for) a high 80s to low 90s day. If I'm wrong, then the day will be that much easier.

Thanks Brian.  Looks like a good race just turned into a true sufferfest for me.

Looks like I'll be climbing more than I planned!  Time to schedule another hill ride this weekend, I guess.  That and re-assess the goals for the ride...

posted the largeset training week yet ever...

9040 meters swam (weekly record)
156.14 Miles biked (weekly record)
29.14 miles ran (2 miles short of week record)

Edited by tri-dg 2010-07-12 11:13 AM

I'm late to the party, but have been watching from a distance for a while.  IM Louisville will be my first IM so I've enjoyed reading about all of your experiences.

Anyway, here's an article from today's CJ that will get you even more excited for the swim:

http://www.courier-journal.com/article/20100712/NEWS01/7120304/

I participated in the Chattanooga Oly tri yesterday. It's too bad that my abilities don't yet match my expectations. My official time was 2:58:58, which isn't too terribly bad considering I got a flat tire at mile 20 and I did not taper for the race. I also had completed my first ever century ride 3 days before the race.

I got a 3.5k swim in earlier today. Need to get a 2+ hr run in tonight (still catching up for my "missed" long workouts this weekend). My next event is IM 70.3 Benton Harbor, and then IMKY. Good luck to all of you racing Cardinal Harbour this weekend.

Tennessee, eh? Ever done Showman Shooter? Me, my girlfriend, my dad, and my brother are doing it in a few weeks.

Honestly, I hadn't heard of that race before. I just checked it out...looks like a good race. Good luck & have fun.

I went up for the first two iamtri practice rides.  Only one of those included a practice swim.  Bob sent out a message saying that due to rain the practice swim on 7/10 was canceled.  Something about heavy rain and contaminants in the water.  I recall from the one practice swim I did that the guy from Vo2 said that when it rains more than an inch or maybe 1.5 inches that a creek containing sewage overflows just up river from the dock area.  Hopefully you didn't swim while you were there.  I'm responding so others will know that if there are heavy rains it may be wise to consult the locals about swimming or if the iamtri folks cancel a swim it may be best not to get in the river that weekend.

That course is a challenge for me too.  I routinely ride terrain similar but there is something about the fact that the rollers are spaced so close and there are so many in those 80 miles (32 of the miles are repeated). 

Question:  There's been some discussion about elevation and discrepancy between Garmin readings and Mapmyride readings.  My question is this.  If I wanted to compare the course to what I ride wouldn't I have a fair comparison so long as I use the same "tool" when measuring both?  In other words, measure my local route and the IML route with Mapmyride or measure both with Garmin.  Forget the difference between the two tools but look at the difference between two routes using the same tool.

I'm hoping this comparison will be valid because if it's not, I'm not adequately preparing either.  I used my average on the 80 miles of IML practice ride which was 16.5 (stop laughing at me, I do eventually get there) and compare that with my average on my local route that has about 1500 more feet of climbing.  I generally average 16.2-16.5 on my local route across 75-100 miles.

Thanks Brown dog us. I really needed to hear you say that. I'm exhausted and training not going well. Leg cramps, tired, sore, hot and worn out. But I'm sticking to my plan. I got my second hundred miler coming up in two Saturdays and then a gradual taper. It was just nice to hear your voice. I can do this. I'm on track. Thanks.

Glad to see everyone is suffering as much as I am in preparing for Louisville.  Kudos to everyone and all the hard you are all putting in.  I just finished my best 10 day training span ever which helped to elevate some doubts I've been having.

Thanks to briant for his Garmin info about the bike-course.  I heard it was hilly but could never get a definite answer as to how hilly.  I've even seen a site where they claim it's over 8000 ft of climbing:

http://www.trimaven.com/Ironman/ironman-louisville/Bike-Course

but I'm going with briant for his Garmin.

Keep up all the hard work...it will pay off when you cross the finish line!


Edited by amdimauro 2010-07-13 4:27 PM

As a follow up, regarding the 8000 ft of climbing as listed by trimaven.com, I saw they had Ironman Florida listed as 2,359 ft of climbing.  So I asked a friend who did Florida in 2007 and he said that trimaven.com site is completely inaccurate because Florida was totally "flat, flat, flat" and the only "hills" were over passes. 

I believe that briant and his Garmin data is most likely 100% accurate.  Other friends I ride with have Garmins, use the same site and their data is always 100% accurate.


Edited by amdimauro 2010-07-13 4:43 PM

Here is a little more information on the Ironman Louisville course elevation gain.

I have ridden the course with only one loop through la grange and the garmin said I had an elevation gain of 2,513 feet. One loop Data here: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/34325906

The two loop data that you have all seen says an elevation gain of 4,212 feet.  Two loop data is here: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/40069587

So by my calculations thats 1,699 extra feet of climbing on the 2nd loop through La Grange.  By feel going out to La Grange is not that hard but that's because you are fresh.  The two loops around La Grange will eat you up if you  push too hard and then the first 20 miles of the last 30 feel downhill with the final 10 being flat.

There is one fairly tough hill coming back in before wolf penn branch road that comes after mile 100 but if a bridge is fixed prior to race day we may not have to worry about that.  I rode the course both times on a trek ttx with an 11-23 on the rear.  there were very few times that I actually ended up out of the saddle but plenty of times I ended up at 23.

I'm aiming for 16.7ish myself, I didn't realize that was considered slow on this course! :-)

Amazed at briant for averaging 18.3, way to go!

Didn't realize that about the runoff after heavy rains. But when we got in & swam on July 3, it was pretty nasty too. That's just the Ohio. :-P

Thanks man. Even though the swim was pretty bad, it wasn't the unmitigated disaster it coulda been. So that actually gave me quite a bit of confidence. Still have six weeks to work on my form, balance, and swimming straight :-)

Hope you're doing better after your crash...

What can I do to make myself more visible during the swim so my wife can follow me.  I think it is important to her.  What about a bright orange arm warmer?

A little frustrated.  I sent an email about the Powerbar drink  for the race, I wanted to know about what flavor(s) would be available.  Now that I've been using the PB drink and feel confident in my race nutrition I'd like to start using (or at least try) the flavor that will be on the course.

Below is the response.  You'd think they'd know by now.

Hi, Jay!

Thanks for your e-mail. The nutrition for the 2010 Ford Ironman Louisville has yet to be finalized. Any updates to this information will be posted immediately on www.ironmanlouisville.com. Don't hesitate with any additional questions or concerns in the meantime. Best of luck with your training!

Regards,

Evan Brown
Athlete Services Coordinator
Ironman Headquarters - 2701 North Rocky Point Drive
Suite 1250- Tampa, FL 33607
(p) 813-868-5915|(f) 813-868-5930
(skype) ironman.evan
www.ironman.com