Ironman 70.3 Rhode Island : Official Thread (Page 5)

Here is a link to a blog with some excellent, spot-on pics of Race Day at R.I. last year.  He also took some excellent pictures of the Monster Hill!  The pics of the hill are in three segments.  Put all three together and that gives you a little bit of an idea.  http://dcrainmaker.blogspot.com/2008/07/rhode-island-ironman-703-race-report.html

HILL REPEATS - HILL REPEATS - HILL REPEATS!!!  As soon as I am recovered from E-Man, I am going to incorporate a weekly dose of Hill Repeats into my diet.  And speaking of diet, everytime I want to eat something bad, I just think of that hill.  I don't want to have to carry an extra single ounce up that hill if I don't have to.  And I vow to run it this year and not walk a step.  The trick will probably not be running up it the first time, but running up it the second time. 

The Hill feels like it's a mile long, especially the second time!!  But seriously... if I had to guess, I'd say it's between 1/4 and 1/3rd of a mile.  It's pretty damn long. 

Despite what the elevation chart says here's the run course:  Come out of transition, run down a hill, make a left and run flat, then hit the MONSTER HILL, after that hill it's all pancake flat - you make a few turns, run a big loop, then come back and run down MONSTER HILL, run flat, make a right and run up the smaller hill to T2 to turn around and run it all again once more. 

So really there is only one mild/regular hill and one MONSTER HILL (four hills though cause you do 2 loops) -- the rest of the course is pancake flat.  But it was 85 degrees and humid last year.  It wasn't Eagleman '08 hot, but it was pretty darn hot and 80% of the course is not shaded.  On the back end of the course there is some shade from trees, but the vast majority of the run has the sun beating down on you. 

So what does everyone think, I will be doing my first 70.3 in Rhode Island.  This past weekend I rode 72 miles on Saturday and ran 14.25 miles on Sunday.  In both cases I had a good consistent pace and didn’t feel gassed after either workout.  I also feel I can swim 1.2 miles without killing myself.  I have 2 goals for this race 1) finish and 2) finish without walking.  Based on this past weekend do you think I will be able to accomplish goal #2? 

As long as you pace yourself correctly and get the last few long rides/runs in, I would say definitely.

RI was my first HIM, too, last year.  The best thing I did was take my time and stay within myself.  And I still ended up walking a lot of the Run!  I also lost my main nutrition bottle.  I forget where it is, I think it's about 20 miles in, right before or after the first aid station on the bike is a giant BUMP.  I remember I was riding, looking down and I was like, "Wow.  Threy painted the word BUMP on the road and it has arrows around it."  Then BAM!! I hit the speedbump and my water bottle with my main nutrition when flying and I never saw it again  

Just be prepared for a hot, humid run with little shade.  Put your sunblock on when you get up in the morning, make sure you have a hat or visor for the run, and keep hydrated.  Also, prepare to walk the MONSTER HILL.  If I had to guess, I would say well over half the field ended up walking some part of that hill.  It's absolutely BRUTAL - especially the second time around. 

I also recommend, especially first time doing this course, to take the bike easier than you want.  The entire bike from start to finish is a gradual elevation increase.  Despite what many including myself assumed last year, this is NOT a flat course by any stretch of the imagination.

90% of all the hills are rollers, you can see the tops of them.  There is just one killer climb toward the end and yes I could've used an extra bail out gear or two for that one! 

T-minus 33 Days!!

I vow to not walk that hill this year, I want to make it up bother times at around a 9:00 min pace... 

It's on like Donkey Kong!

ok - so I took the route from the H_IMRI website and mapped the hill portion on Map My Run.

http://www.mapmyrun.com/route/us/ri/providence/438124474168813710

the catch, the elevation feature doesn't work!

but, it looks like the hill is approx. 1/3rd of a mile in climb (based on attempting to view the elevation profile from the run course chart / image on the H_IMRI website)

maybe someone else can get the elevation thingy to work on that website...

kinda gives a new mean to the old math phrase "rise over run" 

actually, if you guess by the image from the RI website - it looks to begin around 30 feet above sealevel and finish at 175 feet above sealevel - putting it around 145 feet climb.

145 feet / 1750 feet = a grade of 8.

easy as pie!