Ironman Florida : Official Thread (Page 37)

From my blog for tomorrow

Ironman musings......T minus 5 days: I have done this for many years now.  I was sitting in my now functioning tub Sunday and I had put on a bracelet I bought at my first Ironman Florida in 2006.  Its a green/blue clay thing that has a tiny swim-bike-run thing on it. That year we picked up my friend Christine at her house as she was coming with us to spectate and I bought one for her and KathyG as well who was also staying with us and was flying down for the race.  Christine is dead now.  Brain tumor.  She died in the summer of 2008.  She had planned on coming up in 2008 to sign up for 2009 but that didn't end up happening.  I looked at the bracelet and remembered her and my friend Terri who we lost to breast cancer in 2009.  She came to the race in 2008 and was so sick.  I have raced for so many people with cancer.  Both my parents that first year.  I probably started my Ironman journey early, but mostly I did because I wanted to raise funds for Moffitt Cancer Center where both my parents were treated.   My mom has been thru breast cancer and subsequently lymphoma.  My dad was diagnosed with lung cancer in 2005.  His form of lung cancer is quite deadly with a 5 year chance of survival of only 3-5%.  Knock on wood he is still alive and cancer free now in 2013.  And God bless Moffitt Cancer Center.  My friends Joan, Susan, and now my best friend from med school Gale.  My coaches son who, at 13 months old, was diagnosed with a brain tumor.  Its a strange journey.  To be honest I did my first in 2006 because I was afraid my dad would not survive to see me do it if I did not do it then.  Too many names, too many lives lost.  My racing is not just about me.  I mean I enjoy the fitness and the cool factor of doing ironman but its about more than that.  Its about the people who wanted to race but never got the chance.  Its about the people who never thought they could but did. Its about the journey not the destination and regaling in the fact that I am healthy enough to do this crazy sport even if I am dead slow.   Everyone comes to the start line with a different story and a different journey.  Please respect the athlete next to you and be happy you are able to do this crazy sport.  Don't freak out if your run time is slow or your bike is slow or its windy or rainy or whatever because in the grander scheme of life, lets face it, we are damn lucky to be able to toe the line regardless as to our results. 

Yeah..getting the last minute crankiness..fatigue..panic ..lol..perspective right now is a really necessary thing for me. thanks.

I am planning on using 808's for both the front and the back, although I will have with me my shallower wheels in cast it is windier than forcasted. 

I do.  It didn't help today that a pt who was inappropriately scheduled with me threatened to commit suicide if I didn't give him and epidural RIGHT NOW because he was in such pain.  The fact I don't do epidurals and I was not going to pick up that skill because he was stomping his feet was lost on him.  Fortunately I walked down the hall talked with his PC and dumped him back on him  {PPPPFFffhhHHTTTTT

Disc being harder to control is actually the opposite of reality.  It makes the bike easier to control despite the urban legend nonsense that gets promulgated.

The main determining factor for control is the front wheel and not the rear wheel. The disc stabilizes the bike in the wind. It counters the wind steer on the front of the bike. If the wind increases, it pushes the bike toward the wind, while the front gets pushed away, and vice versa. Think of a weather vane.  First, you have forward motion on a bike which is different than if you were just sitting still.  To use the weather vane analogy further: a weather vane has an aerodynamic shape (an arrow) in which the front end is obviously thinner than the thick back end of the weather vane (analogous to running a smaller dished front wheel like a 40 or 60mm to the full disc rear wheel).  These aerodynamics allow the front to point into the wind.  The shallower the front, the easier the aerodynamics are to get it to point into the wind.  So a real deep front wheel (like a Zipp 1080 or Zipp 808 or Hed Jet 9 or arguably a Hed H3) is harder to control than say a Zipp 404 or Hed Jet 6 because it's harder to "pivot" from an aerodynamics standpoint.  Therefore, the rider has to compensate for the "extra" pivoting... which is why a deeper front wheel is harder to control.

Personally, I think they ban discs at Kona or Cozumel not because of the disc but because of the stupid choices they know athletes will make when it comes to the depth of the front wheel.

A word of advice for everyone should you choose to take it.  They have been predicting rain in the days leading up to the race and currently there is a prediction of an 80% chance on Friday.  I strongly suggest investing a few dollars in large zip lock bags....the 2 gallon ones.  You things will be on the ground in the transition bags but if you put everything inside the ziplocks inside the transition bags then your things won't get soaking wet plus it helps organize your transition bag

Or since we have access to the bags on race morning one could just bring everything on race morning.  That's my plan.  I'll drop the bags off on Friday with some stuff in them but my shoes and socks won't go in there until Saturday morning.

you could do that too

Those 2 gallon ziplocks are awesome for T1 and T2 bags as well as SN bags.

I will pack my transition bags with like items in ziplocks. Some is stuff I know I will use with like items in a ziplock, another ziplock may have just in case items that I don't even open if I don't need to which makes transition easier. I write my name and race number on each bag in case they get mixed up, they know it is mine.

Only loose things in my T1 or T2 bag will be helmet and my bike shoes.

I normally have pockets in my tri tops and will make one bag with pocket stuff and sub bags for left and right pocket. I usually get a helper I change tent since I'm a slow swimmer and they will glady stuff things in one pocket and this bag in other. Or I can do it as I go toward my bike.

Any apps that you would recommend to track you athletes come race day?

This will be my first IM spectating with smart phone. The normal WTC website sucks for athlete tracking on my laptop.