Ironman Arizona : Official Thread (Page 6)

Booked my hotel, that's one less thing to worry about!

Now, on to the next.

I try to ride in aero as much as possible on training rides.  I am fortunate enough to be relatively close to the IM course, so I can add loops to my training, or just ride the IM course as a full training ride.

What amazed me is that in most longer (80mi +) training rides building up to IM AZ, I was in aero about 80% or less of the time - so being able to go 95% on race day was a pleasant shock.

For what its worth- I rode a road bike until training for AZ this year..tried to ride aero for all long training rides..I found the course as you describe-mostly flat, with the long gradual climb before the turnaround" noticeable" by the 3rd loop ...It was a big learning curve converting to the new bike position but I really did not have a problem staying aero at AZ for I am guessing 85-90 % of the ride. .also .we were fortunate with the winds not being a big issue in 2011 .

Core stuff & yoga were a consistent part of my training.

Glad to hear yoga and core helped.  I have done yoga on a fairly consistent basis for the past 9 years and I do think it helped when I got my tri bike.  I was comfortable in aero right from the beginning.  

I have a love / hate relationship with plank exercises.   But they seem to really make areo much easier. 

No, it's not a trail run, but there will be chocolate at the finish line and THAT is what matters!  

I actually have never done a trail run.  Need to try one at some point, but probably not this year.  Don't want to put myself at any more risk of injury than I need to.

Couldn't let this one fall off page 1!

Everyone started training yet?  How's it going?

And, when does everyone plan on booking flights?  Any travel experts have tips on finding the best airfare? 

Official training won't start until mid to end of April, but I did sign up for an April 1 HIM, so I am currently training for that.  Will take two weeks after that to do what I feel like and then jump back into training.  It's the same thing I did in 2010 when I did IMFL.

As far as travel, I will be driving, so I don't have to worry about flights, etc.  From what I have heard, however, Southwest sounds like the easiest to travel with a bike.

There is quite a large number of people riding the Beeline loop in the days leading up to the race.  A complete loop is 37 miles, and with only about 300 feet of elevation change throughout, you should be ok to ride an easy loop as a taper ride.  You can always cut the loop by turning around at Gilbert Rd or one of the canals as well (you also eliminate much of the uphill portion then).

IMHO, the only part of the loop you even need to ride is the Beeline from the bottom to the top.  the rest is all on busy city streets that you can easily drive, and as I recall there is not a particularly good shoulder to ride on. 

I don't know that I ever really stopped training... just adjusted milage depending on whether a race was coming up or not! 

I'm in Paris for the HM next weekend and then things get a little sketchy after that as I have no idea which country I'll be in or for how long so it makes planning races a tad difficult. 

We haven't booked airfare yet, but I'd be willing to bet the searching will be done through expedia etc. to find the best price on ticket as well as who will charge the least for transporting bikes. 

I'm assuming we are all so busy training, no one has time to post in our thread! 

I need the reminder to book airfare, with gas prices going up, I presume airfare will follow.  But, that is the biggest non-cancellable expense for me, with my whole family going, so I'm somewhat hesitant to commit.  Guess I can go Southwest so at least I could use the tickets to go somewhere else if I wasn't able to do the race for some reason.

For me it's more gearing up to be busy training! I'm going to follow the Be Iron Fit plan so I officially start training in April. Now, I'm still base building.

Even with gas prices, I'm still planning on driving at least for now. I like having a vehicle there. I haven't figured the cost difference of flying and renting a car vs just driving. I probably should do that in case it's substantially less

Swim done for the day. I'd better get my run in. The sky is looking a little dark.