Ironman Coeur d'Alene : Official Thread (Page 64)

Love it.  There is no better feeling than going long on the bike or run and feeling great in the end. 

I know you guys are racing, but if you have friends who want to volunteer, sign-ups are available:

http://www.doitsports.com/volunteer2/jobs-by-date.tcl?event_id=23879

self-tinkering with your fit is risky business.  Did you get professionally fit to your bike when you bought it?  If so, I'd ride that until you feel like something isn't right... for example if you lose weight you might be able to go lower in the front since a gut isn't in the way anymore.  You would remove a spacer, or flip your stem, etc... but also make adjustments to your seat to maintain basic joint angles.  In general, moving your bars lower will require the seat to come forward, and moving your seat forward will also require raising your seat (to maintain the same height from bottom bracket to hip).

There are two reasons to tinker with your fit:

1) you are uncomfortable.

2) you think you could ride more aggressively without compromising comfort (and perhaps power too).  However, sometimes it is faster to get more aerodynamic even if you lose some power in the process... although the reverse is also true: you can definitely be more aero but slower if you lose too much power (usually by closing the hip angle too much).  But almost universally, it's going to be very hard to maintain aero for IM distances if you aren't comfortable (which is why my number 1 and 2 are in the order they are).

The best money you can spend, if you haven't already, is a few hundred bucks for 2 hours with a fitter who knows what s/he's doing.  Otherwise, I'm afraid tinkering is just as likely to mess something up as it is to fix something.  There are so many variables that moving one can mess up 3 others unless you are thinking very much about the bike/rider as a system.  A good fitter will get you in a position that is comfortable, aerodynamic, and powerful, with any compromises in one of those being calculated for more gains (speed) by an increase in the other.  DIYing that, especially if you are inexperienced, is quite a gamble.

Just to drive the point home (and I defer to others who understand fit better than me)... but moving your seat forward and up, in isolation, will NOT open up your hip angle.

Just my humble opinion... I've read a good bit about bike fit and would never consider doing it myself.

This tune made me think of y'all this morning. Hope there are some British Indie rockers out there:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=riV77WoFCBw#at=137

The wife and I did a century this weekend.  Felt pretty good after our average speed (even with a strong headwind the entire way) was pretty good.

However after neither one of us wanted to think about running a marathon.  Still lots of work to be done.

jackson61802 - 2011-03-14 1:08 AM Welp...training race #2 in the books.  Ran the Sacramento Shamrockn' half today with a 7 minute PR of 1:42.  Pretty damn happy with where my run training is right now.  Bike focus week while my legs recover. 

AWESOME TIME - GREAT JOB!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

jackson61802 - 2011-03-14 1:08 AM Welp...training race #2 in the books.  Ran the Sacramento Shamrockn' half today with a 7 minute PR of 1:42.  Pretty damn happy with where my run training is right now.  Bike focus week while my legs recover. 

Nice Race- congrats on the PR.

Equipment questions:

I have a Garmin 305 for running, great tool.

1. I got a new bike (Felt B16) and need to get an odometer/cadence/speedometer for it.  I would like to get a wireless one.  I don't want to use my Garmin on the bike, it is too clunky to wear on the bike.  Any suggestions?

2. For the same bike, I also need to get a mechanism for holding my flat kit and maybe a water bottle or two.  Suggestion for this?

Looking for items that are economical yet effective.  :-)

Most economical bike solution will be to use the 305 with the quick release kit and the speed/cadence sensor... then you don't need to wear it... you just snap it on your bike.

For a flat kit, I recommend a small seat bag.  For race day, I had a tube tucked under my seat and taped in.  I also carried a tube, 2 levers, and a multitool in my back jersey pocket (slid in during T1).  Not having it in a seat bag increases aero... I have no idea how much.

For economical and perfectly practical water bottles, I'd recommend a standard bottle/cage one on your downtube.  Also have one between your bars (aerodrink style system, or bottle cage mounted horizontally with standard bottle).  You can zip tie the latter between your aerobars pretty easily.

Thanks Josh!

I hadn't even seen this version of release kit.

Having booked lodging for both, IMCdA is CHEAP compared to Lake Placid.  You also have a slightly larger window to find a good place without getting a second morgage.  Many LP regulars will book their house for next year the monday after the race. 

For CdA, just do your homework and book right away after the 2011 race and you can get something downtown for less than $150 a night.  Stay a few minutes outside of town (Post Falls) and you can pay even less.  If you check out the first 10 or so pages of this thread, I think there was quite a bit of conversation about where people were lodging, as well as open hotels weeks or even months later.

I have a 305 and have a question in regards to having enough battery for the bike and run.  I plan on using the full alotted time for the race, if I come early, great.  What is the best way to make sure you have a battery the entire race?  I also have a new bike computer, but haven't toyed with it much yet.  I'm looking for pacing and HR data from the garmin for bike run.

General consensus is that a fully charged 305 will last for 10 hours or so.  An older unit may not hold a charge as well and may have a shorter batterly life.  In my opinion, if you want to use a GPS watch all day you have four possible solutions:

1) buy a 310XT.  $350ish dollars to solve your problem.

2) See this link and use that setup on the bike... and just the normal watch on the run (the quick release I linked previously will make transition easier.  $20ish and a little McGyvering (to mount to your bars) to solve your problem.

3) By a second 305 as a gift for someone else (spouse, SO, sibling, etc) and "borrow it" on race day... they go for about $125 new... less used.  Use a separate one for your bike and run.  This is actually a far cheaper option than selling your 305 and buying a 310XT.

4) Use it 'til it dies.  If your bike and run combine to longer than the life of the 305, then chances are you are in survival mode by the time your unit dies any way.  At that point, you should be focused on doing what you can do, not expending the mental energy of obsessing about your splits/pace/HR.  The most important area to hold back (pace appropriately) is the bike... and your 305 will be functional then.  The next most important area to hold back (pace appropriately) is the first half of the marathon.  Again, your watch should be functional then.  By the end of the marathon, it's time to dig deep and not worry about the watch... you give everything you have for those last 10 miles... whether that is hammering home at 7 minute miles, or barely walking 15 minute miles.

Option 5 would involve using a bike computer on the bike plus RPE (felt effort), and your 305 only on the run... but I won't discuss the merits of that since you asked about using the GPS watch/HRM all day.

If you're going to use a bike computer, is there a way to turn the GPS off on the Garmin?  GPS is what chews up the battery... but if you have the bike computer then you really only need heart rate on the watch.

I'd only add that when it came to my first Ironman I figured I was not going to be frugal even if I had to crack into savings. There was so much time and $ invested via coaching, training,racing leading up to the big day, the flights/race ticket/hotel/etc that I wasn't going to go tight on a little expense like a garmin 310xt. Not everyone thinks that way, I understand.

However, my anxiety was alleviated by being over prepared and kitted out. If you can afford it, that 310xt with 18-20 hours of life? is one less hassle that may be worth it so that your training and raceday are easier. THis can be said on quite a few things and is all a matter of resource allocation.

If you wear the 310xt during the swim, don't wear it on your wrist.  Wear it between two caps.  Last year it was cold enough to wear a neoprene cap in addition to the provided cap so it worked perfectly. I have used the data from my Garmin as much or more after the race than I did during. 

I would post the link to my Garmin data from IMCDA 2010 if I was so afraid of the comments I'd get.