Ironman Lake Placid : Official Thread (Page 57)

Dream Chaser - 2012-04-03 8:01 AM So for all you folks who celebrate Easter on Sunday - are you trying to figure out how to squeeze ALL your training in before Sunday?  We have the kiddies do an easter egg hunt in the morning and then my family is coming over my house, so yeah, no training Sunday.  And have to get the house ready for Easter and get all my training in.  Fun times

I got an email response from team members saying "long run on easter??" I told them that it's a hilly run in a local park and we may find some eggs that the bunny left behind! I guess not having kids it is easier to get out and get it done on holidays.

I'll be thinkin of ya when I am out on the trails.

I'm using Tribike Transport (coming from Minneapolis). I have to drop the bike off at a designated local shop on July 13th or 14th and can pick it up in LP on the 19th. One of the things that I like about it is they ship your bike  (and a gear bag for an extra $35) without taking the bike apart, it will be ready to ride basically when you pick it up. After the race you drop the bike off right at the race site and it is shipped back to your LBS. Total cost with the gear bag is around $300. I've never used them but most of the reviews that I have read have been favorable. There are probably cheaper ways to get a bike to the race but other than being without a bike for the last week before the race it seems pretty painless. I hope I have the same opinion after the race...

We are flying into Syracuse and renting a car to drive up to LP.

Hope my hometown airport treats you well. If you have time to kill, check out Dinosaur BBQ (if you like BBQ)  on your way back. It is about 15 min from the airport. Good stuff.

I'm coming up Thursday after work. Staying right in town at:Woodlake Inn 

My family and I are driving up for a Wednesday to Wednesday vacation.  We found a house through Vacations By Owner website.  It is located right off the bike course in Wilmington.

I'm looking for kid/family friendly adventures, so if anyone knows of ideas please share...

So far:

www.northpoleny.com, the beach at Mirror Lake, hikes, did I read about kid's bungee jumping?

Dream Chaser:

I'll be home on LI visiting for Easter and looking to get a ride in on Saturday AM.  I'll be w a small group of 3-5 riders if you are interested...or anyone else who lives close to Riverhead.

I have 3 hours of saddle time scheduled!

Awesome!  I booked right away; however, this one was the most reasonable AND I was able to book the Apartment there.  The lady I talked to, Anna, claimed this may not be the fanciest place in LP, but it is super clean and very quiet ~ SOLD!

Yup, kids bungee jumping, on Saranac Ave.  It's two big poles on either side that the bungee lines attach to, and then attach to your kid,  they are a on a big mat and the attached child can jump up and down about 15 feet high and do flips & stuff.  Pretty safe.  pretty....

Also mini golf.  http://www.piratescove.net/location/20 

Thanks , but unfortunately I'm doing my Long Ride on Friday.  Saturday morning I coach girls soccer.  And Saturday afternoon I have to get the house (inside & out) ready for the family coming over for Easter Sunday.  Trust me, I'd rather be riding!

Thanks! We may consider the Tribike Transport option too--as well as flying. We shall see. The price seems fairly reasonable; plus, we'd have more time to relax/less travel in a car.

So my question of the day has to relate to the swim. What will you wear if the water is too warm for the wet suit. I don't plan on wearing a wet suit if they make the temp cut off and I don't want to waste precious time changing. Whatever I swim in will be what I race in, unless it's wet suit legal. I already have a singlet and tri shorts for the race. Do people swim in this type of gear or should I invest in one of those tri suits? I assume the tri suits are for swimming??? Is a swim skin the same thing as a tri suit?

Also, What type of Gu will be offered for the race? Is it going to be Roctane or regular?

Do they provide sponges , ice and Coke on the run??? Is there anything else they provide besides perform, water & bonk breakers (by the way I like the bars thus far-mmm good!)?

I am not going to make KONA even if I were to go sub 11 hours so I am wearing my wetsuit no matter what!!

If this water gets to 84 degrees I will be surprised. That being said if it is wetsuit ineligible I will still be wearing a wetsuit, not looking to KQ... and if I even come close it means that the 100+ in front of me had a very, very, very... (did I say very?) bad day... lol

I am wearing a skinfit Tri Speed Suit II. The thing is sweet, but I will still be wearing it under my wetsuit and for the whole race. Being a bigger guy I feel more comfortable without having tri shorts roll down, etc.  That being said, it is made for and legal by all governing bodies. But be careful as some do not have pockets for nutrition. I am only concerned about the bike since we have an aid station every mile on the run. Why carry extra weight and water bottles... gels...etc if  you don't have to??

not all tri suits are 'made' for swimming but you can swim in all trisuits.

They do provide sponges, flat coke and ice on the run along with other nutrition... I love the bonk breakers... peanut butter jelly time!!!

84 degrees??? I thought last year 76 degrees was the cut off if you were trying for Kona

that is the cutoff for Kona... but if the water is above 84 no one can wear a wetsuit, regardless if they don't care about qualifying or not. It becomes more of a health hazard than anything because the body will overheat. As long as the water is below 84 you can wear the wetsuit, only if it is under 76 can you wear one and qualify for Kona.

I went wetsuit-less last year, and even though I got pummeled like all the rest, I still think it was the right decision and would do the same again. Everyone is different, but it does not really make a difference to me physically or psychologically to go with or without. It is strictly a temperature and time in the water issue for me. Based on our friday preview swim last year i thought the water was just too warm for wetsuits (for me). I wasen't really surprised to hear after the race that there were a fair number of complaints about the heat and dehydration issues from folks throughout the day - based on my own experience I think that actually began to happen for most during the swim and they just didn't know it. Getting dehydrated early on by overheating a bit on the swim is tough to catch up on later. It is true that I gave up at least 10 minutes on the swim by not wearing a wetsuit. I believe I made that time up (and more) on the bike and run, but who really knows.

At any rate I am willing to bet that if the same thing happens this year they will have a plan to use waves, first wetsuit-less, followed by wetsuits. If so I would make the same decision again, and not because I think I have a shot at Kona. I just think it would be worth it to be that much closer to the pointy end of the race. Purely hypothetical, but if they used waves in such a case, would that change anyone's mind to wear or not wear a wetsuit?

Tank,

With wave starts I might consider it. I will be bring both my suits with sleeves and without sleves and seeing how those work out first. I  am not buying a swim skin thats for sure!

and oh, they will have all kinds of stuff on the course, but I guarantee that every time you take a hand-up for a gu, the volunteer will hand you a triple caffeinated, chocolate-broccoli-mint-aspic flavor. I have a cast-iron constitution which allows me to take the "live off the course" approach, but I still train with the broadest variety of products, flavors, etc. I feel this gives me the greatest degree of flexibility on race day. I do carry a couple of extra gels with me on the bike and run along with electrolytes (I think I need them, but I am willing to accept they may only be a placebo) on race day just in case I miss a hand-up. Which reminds me that you also asked about race suits. For sprints and Olympics I wear a one piece, for half and full I wear a two piece as it makes it easier to deal with a broader array of "issues" that may come up in longer races. My two piece kits have at least one pocket in the top. Either way I wear the same thing for the entire day and just keep it on under my wetsuit (if they are legal), but we don't have too many wetsuit legal races in the south. For sprints and Olympics I have a suit that is a little more hydrodynamic so I just wear that on the swim, but when I wear a two piece in longer races I wear a swim skin over my suit just to flatten it out and make it smoother in the water. I failed to bring it with me in Lake Placid (poor planning) but I don't think it would have helped. The issue there was getting continually swum over by the wetsuited hoard.

FWIW, These are all great questions to be asking now, as it is getting close to time to really begin training how you might think you will race. It takes some experimenting with clothing, nutrition, etc to get dialed in, and I just think you want to keep it as simple as possible. Just like we log our time and distances, I think it is also important to start tracking what you wear, eat and drink while training, especially during your longer workouts.

If the water is warm, I'm will swim without my wetsuit.  I won't give it a second thought.  I won't be buying any new kit just for the sans-wetsuit contingency but will just swim in my tri-shorts.  I know it is a hassle to put on a top when wet -- I've tried it -- but I'll probably do that rather than swim with the top of my two-piece kit knowing that it will be a long day regardless of how long my T1 takes.

The logic behind my thinking is simply experience -- albeit 20+ year old experience.  I grew up swimming in Illinois.  During the sticky summer months -- 5:30 a.m. workouts as well as mid-day scorchers -- it rarely mattered what the air temperature was RE: dehydration.  As soon as the pool water temps starting creeping up toward the fetid mark, the cramping, dry mouth and dizziness at the end of sprint sets would all hit nearly everyone simultaneously.  We didn't train with bottles poolside (like I do now) of sports drinks.  Every once in a while someone might wander over to a water fountain.

People sweat a lot when swimming we just never notice it.  Also, water is highly conductive so if your body is 100 degrees and the water is 75 degrees, you are automatically sending energy -- in the form of heat -- to get trapped by the thin layer of water inside your wetsuit and then to bounce back and cook your shoulders, chest, abs and thighs all the more.  These are big muscle groups that throw off a lot of energy when put to use throwing a body through the (relative to air) dense water. Warm water swimming in a wetsuit is like sitting in a broiler and not for me.

I don't discount the effect of the buoyancy, or the value psychologically of sticking with the same thing you trained with etc.  My advice is simply to be prepared for either contingency.  As was mentioned above, once you get behind on hydration it is really hard to get back on top if the situation.  Cooler morning air and the sensation on the skin that water is cool or refreshing trick the mind into thinking that we're not really revving our internal motors during a warm water swim.

Sorry for the rant.  I've got strong feelings here...

Are any of those with experience going to take a gel in between the loops on the swim?

Is there any way to drink gatorade or have access to fluids during the swim or do we have to wait until T1?

I know my current nutrition plan includes drinking a 12oz gatorade and take a gel about 1/2 hr before swim start time...

I skipped any mid lap gel last year and will likely skip it again.  Like you said, you are going to fully load up pre-race, I see the swim as a warmup and should only take just over an hour or so.  You can fully reload as soon as you get on the bike and I don't think it will be required, there is enough to think about starting the day off and I'll be moving on right to lap #2.  If you are looking at a 1.5-2 hr swim, then I would consider it, anything under 1.5 hrs, it's up to you but I did just fine without it.  I did a 1.25 hr swim last time.