Ironman 70.3 Rhode Island : Official Thread (Page 7)

It was the same story last year. No news, no info, etc....all very worrisome BUT, on race day, it was a great experience. Plenty of volunteers, everything organized and just fine. For some reason, they aren't very good at getting race info out to athletes prior to the start of the race.

So there are a couple of nice developments with this race...please do not quote me as I have not confirmed them but the info comes from a very reliable source.

First - the area of the ride between Scarborough State Beach and the Pier was a chatter strip last year and on my rides this year. My dad did the course on Thursday and he said that they are re-paving a section of this street. This is a good thing. They are also paving an area of Division Rd between Rt. 3 and Crompton Rd. This road, I thought anyway, was in good shape before. I do not know how much work they are doing.

Second - the final approach on the bike into Providence supposedly has changed. Less crappy roads and twists and turns is the rumor. The "new" course has not been posted yet so take this info with a grain of salt.

Third - me, my wife and my dad (all doing the race) did a loop of the run course today. The hill at mile 1 and 7 still sucks a$$. It is still there. No act of god will remove it. It sucks. It is painful. Dig it...

15 days folks!

VM

Just to put you at ease, and as it has been stated in this post, last year everything went off smooth and without a hitch.  My experience and everyone that I saw and heard from was an extremely pleasurable one.  I've met a few people in the tri community who when they hear I've done RI say, "I hear it was a logistical nightmare with the transitions being so far away."  And my response is always, "Who did you hear that from?"  And they always stutter and ulitmately end up saying no one, they just assumed it.  So just know that I know of no one who had a problem with the separate transitions.

Seeing as it was an Inagural Race last year, I expected hiccups and glitches and mistakes ... I encountered none.  And I have not heard or read of any firsthand problems during last years race.

So relax and rest assure... everything is going to be fine ...well, atleast until you hit that Monster Hill on the run  

If you've got any questions about the race you could post here - a few of us did it last year and may be able to help.  Most common themes are the 2 transitions...everything was pretty easy. The tough part was waiting and waiting and waiting in line at pick up on Sat. knowing you still had to drive to the beach to drop off the bike. Hopefully they've gotten out the registration kinks from last year and it'll be much much quicker. At pick up, they give you a paper w/ a 20 or 30 min. time slot in which you'll be allowed to park at the beach and drop the bike.  You put the paper on your windshield for free parking. Last year they were pretty lenient w/ the times and it didnt really matter if you were early or late or whatever with your alotted time. The bike course was well marked with lots of friendly volunteers and tons of cops holding back cranky motorists. Food at the end was just ehhh. quite mediocre - for me who shuffled in after 6.5 hrs.  Crowds along the run course are great but they don't make that damn hill any flatter.

I will try to make a pic of the run profile from my Garmin...give me a couple of days!

We did the bike course today. Super slow going with a pretty stiff headwind....the roads are, over all, better than last year. Whatever apology I made last year for the last few miles of the bike course I take back. For whatever reason today they pissed me off...the west end sucks.

2. One around 20 and one at 45 - right after a "biggish" climb. Not a big bad climb, just more than the rollers we do from about 20 - 30 or so....(If I remember correctly)

I believe it was right at the First Aid Station, there is a HUGE BUMP in the middle of the road.  If memory is serving me correctly, and it may not be, but I thought it was right after the first Aid Station is a BUMP, like a speed bump, right in the middle of the road where you wouldn't expect it. 

I due 100% remember there being large spray painted letters on the road that read: B U M P  with and arrow pointing to the bump, but for whatever bonehead reason my braind didn't process all of this quick enough and my MAIN NUTRITION bottle on my downtube when flying off and sliding into some bushes.  The moral of the story is, look for this bump as it ended up costing me substantial time because I was not prepared to lose my main nutirition bottle; it happened right after an aid station so I had to wait some time before reaching another aid station, and ulitmately I ended up a little dehydrated for the run -- and last year this was a HOT and HUMID run. 

So how is everyone feeling?  Everyone ready?

I'm feeling pretty good.  I am going to really go heavy on the Swimming and Biking this week, with one 5k road race Saturday ... and then start Tapering Sunday with all shorter Z1 and low-end Z2 training.  I would've liked to have gotten more swimming in this year and more Long Bike rides, but I got in a decent amount of volume, and I'm pretty confident I'll beat last years time by a sizeable margin. 

I'm also ready and committed to run the Monster Hill both times.  I got in a lot of short Hill Repeats, but none of the longer Hill Repeats I wanted.  My plan is to hit the hill with a short, steady cadence and just climb to the top at an efficient but EZ pace.  Once at the top I plan to wait for my heartrate to stabilize, my breathing to recover, and the slowly start speeding back up to Race Pace. 

Unlike last year, there will be no (or less) surprises this year, and I'm hoping this fact alone will make for a better race.  Those surprises being: All the Rolling Hills on the bike ; the HUGE BUMP right after the first aid station ; the one killer climb toward the end of the bike ; the horrendously pothole-ridden roads through the bad section of Providence for the last miles of the bike ; the Monster Hill 1 mile into the run and the limited amount of shade on the run.   

Ah, yes - the bump. my airhead didn't register that either till I almost bit it from all the debris in the road.

Im getting excited! This year I've accumulated more 10+ milers than last year and way more biking time. My goal this year will be sub 6 as opposed to last year which was 6:28 (goal of 6:30) Did some hill repeats but not too many - gonna play that one by feel.

Yeah, last year when I sent an email to the Race Director it was answered within hours.  This year... not so much  

My guess is they are waiting on some type of decision or approval from the City on the Bike Route, and have yet to receive it.  As such, they 'don't know' so theyare waiting to respond to us and put the last touches on the guide.  Politics, go figure.

I Love the term "Bush League" ...but in this case I just think it's simply "unprofessional" to miss a cleadly defined deadline and then not answer requests as to why.  Tell us the truth.  We can handle it

As for bush league...  bush league would be Richie Cunninham tripping Oscar Galindez when they were running down the Monster Hill toward the finish line   

Hi All - Good luck for the race I did it last year 5:13 from memory. Not doing it this year as did Eman a couple of weeks ago!

A couple of tips to this race. The course is fairly challenging but fair it has a bit of every thing for everyone. Some nice smallish rollers some nice flat stretches on the bike and one stinker of a hill at mile 1 on the run. My top three tips:

1/ Fastest part of the bike course is the first 30mins then you hit about 5-6 rollers on a stretch of road for about 10miles or so I saw so many people nuking themselves here save your energy here because when you clear them you go straight into a right turn which goes downhill over a big bridge for some distance if you are patient on the rollers you then get to make up some speed here I saw so many people here from earlier waves just coasting down this hill resting I think I was pushing around 35mph here in my bars with no effort.

2/ Last 6 miles on the bike are sketchy, watch the potholes and the crosswinds. In all seriousness if you aren't a strong bike handler then just take it easy here...

3/ Run the first mile of the run very easy it slopes gently downhill for the first mile or so and I saw a lot of people running down here way to fast but got to pass them all up the monster at mile 1. My recommendation is walk this hill the first time unless you are a strong runner the top half of the course on Brown college is the place to make up the time flat and fast and the only bit of shade on the course.

Good luck hope the above helped.

Trishie-Great job, FINALLY someone got through.  Hopefully we all will have something to read before bed tonight.

This will be the first HIM for me.  I have say I'm not that nervous (minus the irrational fear of swimming in the ocean).  That being said I'm not going for any times just want to do it without walking on the run.

Good luck to everyone!