Ironman 70.3 New Orleans : Official Thread (Page 5)

I'm missing some trainer hours in my log, but even so... yikes. Just not enough bike time last month, but I was aware I was avoiding. Not like I'm surprised by the low total. Ok, 7 weeks to fix it.

Nice work all!  Wish I ran as much as runswithcrazydog. Funny how we all get a greener grass effect when posting totals.

I just escaped from alcatraz. what a race! you have to do that one.

I would bet that the swim waves will be setup just like last year "only they didn't complete the swim last year".

Pro Men - 6:45am

Pro woman - 6:50am

Para Athlete - 6:51am

Men 50 & over - 6:57am

Women 40 & over - 7:00am

Relays - 7:03am

Men 40 to 44 - 7:06am

Woman - 30 to 39 - 7:09am

Men 30 to 34 - 7:12am

Men 35 to 39 7:17am

Men 25 to 29 - 7:18am

Men 24 & under - 7:21am

Men 45 to 49 - 7:24am

Women 29 & under - 7:27am

That would put me almost in the back. Oh well.

Two sides to that coin and I have been on both. I usually am early out of the water, but then I deal with lots of mad men that will buzz by me inches off my elbow to suck what little draft they can get off of me. It's unnerving and chips away at my focus as I become increasingly aggitated. That's usually just for the first chunk of miles and then I can settle in. I'm just really uncomfortable with another cyclist that close to me. When I have been in the last wave because of age group, I get to do more passing (even if it is the stragglers from previous waves, lol). Being out in front, I get passed a lot more than I pass. Kind of a mental game. It's how I entertain myself on the road.

I swam this location last year for 5150 and the start was by waves, kinda.  It was actually a time trial start jumping in from a pier, but it was done by waves if that makes any sense.  There is really no where to walk into the water so we jumped/dove in every three seconds (test your goggles if you want to dive in).

Last year, the swim was supposed to be somewhere else.  ALOT will be different this year.

I will assure you it will not be a mass start.  The RD is a hometown guy and he knows the amount of beginners in our area that make this their super bowl.  He will make it as swim friendly as can be as to not scare anyone off.  If it is not a time trial swim start, it will be a deep water wave start.  It's the only two options for the area.

Something else you might want to prepare for; from swim exit to T1 is around .45 miles.  For 5150 therw were a bunch of people who lined up their running shoes by swim exit and slipped them on for the run.  The USAT official agreed it was illegal when I asked him about it, but said they would not enforce it.

I do not know if this will be the case for 70.3 as well, but if it is something that interests you, look into it for the athlete meeting.