Ironman 70.3 California : Official Thread (Page 6)

It might be nice, but I've always found T1 to be fairly bright, and it lightens up pretty quickly.  There will be people with headlamps though.  If you are riding over from T2 though, you might want one (I hate riding in the morning, dark, crowded, bags, etc.)

Looking at my logs a couple years ago it's a little over 2 hours, about 42 miles, from the parking lots over the pier to Cristianitos just south of clemente.  Have to see what my coach says about the ride and perhaps a run, as I might like to extend it up Cristianitos to the northern gate of Pendleton

Cool!  What would you say should be the longest bike ride you can get in before tapering down?  I'm currently planning on a 70 miler (with about 4500ft elevation gain) 2 Saturdays before and start tapering down after that.  Is that too much?

Got the OK from the coach, so depending on weather (which looks OK for now, for what it's worth), March 16, I plan on riding at least the frontside of the course north, then return south, with a short run on the first few miles of the course.   Tentative plan would be to leave the parking lots on Mission and Pacific (hopefully, as this is T2, if not then the lots at Mission and Cleveland) at about 8 am, and head north, followed by probably a :30 run on the first couple miles of the course on the pier/strand, maybe down to the Wisconsin turn.

Course will not be turn by turn of the race day course as the base access will be different, but close enough for government work....

Cycling is low impact so if you have the fitness the miles don't really impact you, I am doing the Solvang century this weekend, probably 2-3 hours the next two weeks with a week taper

Wow.  good eye!   It's a little confusing, the text on the main page says counterclockwise, but the pdf map text says clockwise, and the arrows show clockwise.   I pulled up the 2012 athlete guide and sure enough arrows were counterclockwise last year... Interesting.

Only thing it changes for me is that I liked to hug the right side on the return leg as far as they'd let me, and I really liked coming back right along the pier line.....

But as I breathe right primarily, this is probably better for me.

That was my first thought when I noticed the change. I've read reports where people say to stay right after the turnaround. If the swim was a bit long (per gps on some race reports) with that "short cut" in there how long will it be going clockwise?

Cool. Thanks for checking on that!

Right side only breathers better get their practice on left side breathing!

harumph

I cannot imagine how they would get a clockwise swim to work in the harbor.  Pushing the start waves out into the middle clears them from the swim waves coming into the boat ramp - having them tread water close to the dock would just be asking for a collision.

Someone asked about how long a ride before tapering - that really depends on you.  For some, longer aerobic rides are just part of on-going training, but that does not mean it is for you.  You undoubtedly have built a plan to prepare for the HIM distance - don't start questioning yourself now based on what others do.  Stick to your plan and adjust based on how YOU feel and the progress YOU are making.  Unless you have a coach, no one knows your fitness and situation better than you, so you and you alone should evaluate whether longer rides are going to be beneficial.

I looked at my strava from last years race and the first 2 climbs are cat 4.  The first one is a bit steep but both climbs are nothing to worry about.  You will see people walking up the hills but they are very doable.  Don't sweat them.

Thanks, Ive been training on a couple of steep hills cat 5 & 4 (classified by mapmytri.com). I'M new to cycling so it worries me a bit but was wondering what they were. Ill make sure to enjoy them. D

Suppose they could just swap the entry/exit boat ramps, enter the water on the ramp to the left, short(er) swim to start, exit on boat ramp to the right (facing the water).   But it's academic anyway

I don't put a whole lot of stock on the cats given by Strava, etc.  But that said, I might have put hill #1 as a cat 3 simply due to steepness, but 4 makes sense since it's really short.

As for hills 2 and 3, I am surprised 2 is even a 4.  I'd say a 5.  #3 is nothing.  total elevation over 56 miles is something like 2500 feet.  It's not a hilly course IMO.  Unless, of course, you destroy your legs on the frontside

Been thinking about it but good idea to write it down....

A.M.  Bagel and coffee on the walk to T1
Gel about 20 minutes before swim, water

bike - 1 three hour Infinit bottle in speedfil and water on downtube to be replaced at second aid station

run - this is always tricky for me and I end up just taking stuff on the fly.....  need to work it out.  Before I've done a gel every 3d aid station, water and gatorade at every station, add coke 2/3 of the way through.  But it's not scientific.

I haven't figured out breakfast, always an issue when I travel for a race.

I'm doing Honey Stinger Waffles and gels on the bike, with water and PowerBar Perform (just tried it within the last few days).

On the run I'll do gels or chomps off the course, water and Perform as tolerated and coke if needed.

Chris - How have you liked the Infinit?  That's what I've been training with and it seems to be great.  That said, I have two concerns that you may be able to expand on -

1) I feel like I should eat more solid food on the bike (Powerbar, Cliff Bar, etc).

2) Many have said that Infinit has too high a concentration of carbohydrates.  What's your thought on this?