Ironman Coeur d'Alene : Official Thread (Page 5)

I do believe that there is a no passing zone going downhill which really hurt times for people.  I too like to bomb down the hills. I did Lake Stevens this last summer and hit 46MPH and there is another person on here that said he hit 55MPH.  I didn't pedal down the hills either but when I raced I weighed only 140lbs so not like I have a lot of extra weight to make me go faster down the hill. Everyone I ride with when coasting down hills pulls away from me.

3rd time for me since Race to River Sprint July 29th. 1050 yards today and it sucked.

I took about six weeks off after the Cd'A Oly in August - then got in the lake and swam about a mile with a buddy (at a beach party, after a couple of beers - brilliant!).  When I stood up on the beach I had the most severe thigh and calf cramps imaginable - couldn't stand for 20 minutes and could hardly walk for three days... big-time suckage. 

Trying to get in two or three pool workouts a week, for the next three weeks, to prepare for my Masters class in November.  Haven't done Masters before, but plan on using it for the majority of my IMCDA workouts.  Definitely have lost a lot of endurance, and am worried about hour-long Masters workouts, but it seems to be coming back fairly quickly... we'll see.

I did the old bike and the new bike course. My time was faster this year than last but I was also a lot more ready for the race. I took close to 30 min off my time. I think based on how I did in a couple half's this year my pace would have been better on the old course. Then again maybe not, can never say for sure. There are two no pass zones that I can remember. One is on the last down hill on the way back only for a brief moment. Long enough to slow you down. The other is around the over pass before you make the turn down the on-ramp heading back. That one is longer and can slow you down a lot if you get behind a slower person. It is flat but if they are going a bit slower you are stuck. I took it as a good time to eat.

Also on the new course you have wind. You are no longer protected by the trees. It can get windy and this year it was very windy. I have heard it can be like that a lot on that course. The fun part has you climbing up hills with traffic coming at you down the hill. That was a bit crazy. Big logging trucks trying to slow down as they went down the big hills and the only thing between you and them was an orange cone.Fun stuff.

Haven't been on the thread for quite awhile but see there are lots of bike course questions.  I've done the race on both the old and new course and can tell you for the majority of riders, the new course is more difficult.  I've heard that sentiment from riders of all abilities here that have trained and raced on both.  Both courses have similar amounts of vertical feet of climbing; however, the climbs on the new course are far longer albeit fewer in number.  The old course had lots of short climbs and was more technical.  As some have noted, the times on the new course were slower overall than the old course.  From my own experience, my bike time was 5:54 in 2008 on the old course and 6:26 on the new course this year.  My fitness level was just about the same so I can't blame it on that.  I did have a mechanical issue this year that took a short time out and lost maybe 3 minutes total in the no-passing zones.  Those are really very short and don't amount to anything very significant in the overall picture.  I've ridden both courses a ton in training and raced on both and the new one was definitely slower for me.  The best advice I can give you is to ride LOTS of hills in your training and you'll be fine. 

As for the water temp, every year there's a lot of angst about it and, with the exception of 2011, it ends up not being a big issue.  If you're like me, you'll be watching the water temp about once an hour for the last month before the race!  Seems like it's always cold up until the last week before race time then it warms up and is tolerable.  Not warm, but tolerable, and for most it's not an issue that causes much problem. 

Enjoy your training and I'll look forward to seeing you all out here next June. 

Agreed... good to hear from you Stan.  Hope you continue to check in once in awhile, you're a valuable resource when it comes to all things Cd'A.

i'm fat and lazy......My training doesn't officially start till Late November, but I feel this need to start doing more than my run twice a week and bike one.  I hate swimming so no real urge to get in a pool yet.  I'm sure I'll have plenty of time for that as the race gets closer.  My last race was Steelhead in August and I've been in fake recovery/lazy time since then.   

I just wonder how long are the majority of everyone's training plans.  I can only handle about 30 weeks then I get really bored and I feel like I lose too much time with the family if I devote more than that.  Since it is my first full my goal for CDA is simple, just finish.  I hope to be in around 15 hours, but I have a bad history of blowing up so who knows what June will bring. 

Anyone else procrastinating about lodging?  I'm sure I'll be screwed in the end, but I'm trying to balance birthdays and getting the family out there.  I guess I'll get it figured out before the first of the year.  Have fun training everyone.  I'm strangly excited to read the thread talk this winter on here.

Chris 

does anyone know of a bike course video for CDA? The rain and dark have returned to the PNW, time to get real cozy with the trainer. Trainerroad just announced they will release the ability to create a workout and drop a video of your choice into it. Would be kind of fun to spend hrs on the trainer this winter riding a virtual CDA bike course.

Here's a video of one loop on the bike course that someone took last spring, but they did it in a car so it is only about an hour long.

http://vimeo.com/35802363

RacerMate for Compu Trainer has a CDA video, but it is to be used with their Computer Trainer and they are not cheap - neither are their videos for that matter. 

I need to start reading this to get some motivation for training.  My husband, 1 son, and myself have all signed up to CDA IM.  Looking forward to reading tips and inspirational info from all of you.

Cool. I downloaded it and am thinking of re-mastering it at 1/2 or even 1/3 speed. I might then try to create a custom workout on Trainerroad to match the video. Perhaps something with hill simulations at the right spots etc. I just need to think through what sort of workout parameters make sense. Perhaps just simple cadence work at a constant power level. Anyone have suggestions?

I looked at the computrainer site too.... wow, they are awfully proud of their videos. $99.00 for a dvd.

I heard that there was to be something released by someone but not sure who it is exactly going to produce it although I could be completely wrong about it all.

I am fortunate enough to live in Spokane so I will be able to ride the course before hand if I brave that road with all the traffic on it.  But if not I do have plenty of hills around where I live that I can do repeats on.  

I also don't have a power meter so I go by heart rate and cadence always keeping my cadence between 95-100 if at all possible which I think with a compact and 12-25 I will be able to do.  I guess people that don't live around here, try to find a hill that is at least a mile long with about 4-6% incline to it and practice that.  

That would be really cool - I do TrainerRoad too.  Let me know if I can help, I've driven that road dozens and dozens of times over the years - it's on the way to my parent's house.  Maybe a MapMyRide route with the elevations would help to figure out a way to replicate it with a TrainerRoad workout?  Haven't tried the new tool for creating custom workouts yet, so not sure how that would work.