Ironman 70.3 California : Official Thread (Page 7)

Exactly.   Looks like it's coming from my area, as the rain prediction is pretty high in LA.  Hopefully it'll rain here but not there.

Athlete Guide is up.  Pretty interesting stuff to go along with the course change.  All bike gear to be in the bag at T1, nothing allowed on the ground.  Looks like run gear also hung up in a bag.  I foresee lots of yelling and instructing going on by race personnel on race morning, I am sure people will set up T1 like they always have

http://ironmancalifornia.com/athletes/athlete-guide/

Aid Station nutrition is a little different this year.   They are still using Ironman PERFORM but I see no Gels listed, just Bonk Breaker (a bar).

Anyone have experience with Bonk Breakers?

   Chris

FYI, I asked about the Bonk Breaker bars and if they had gels:

The Bonk Breaker flavors on the course will be peanut butter & jelly, peanut butter chocolate, and apple pie. There will most certainly be gels provided on the course, however I am not sure on the flavors quite yet.

Thanks for the info.  I can't imagine eating a solid bar during a HIM run though......  Maybe I'll grab a couple peanut butter chocolate for afterwards 

Saturday is still iffy.  Accuweather shows showers starting around noon, which would be perfect if it was at all accurate...  Definitely going to be windy.  Perhaps consider pushing it back 1/2 hour or so to 8:30?

Probably make final decision Friday evening whether I am coming down or not.  It's going to rain here for sure so if there's a chance I might as well, or its 2 hours on the trainer

Agreed.  I was going to post the same this afternoon.  Gas is too expensive to risk it   

Doug, I got in at Bayshore last weekend for a mile.  It wasn't as cold as I thought it was going to be.  I brought the neoprene squid lid but wore two caps instead and I was fine.  Of course, it was sunny out.  I'd say temps were mid to hi 50s.  I am told, and it seems true, that Oceanside Harbor gets a bit colder than the surrounding ocean since it is fairly deep and there are upwellings

For me, it's not so much acclimating to the cold as it is getting used to distance in a wetsuit.  Every year I am suprised how much more quickly fatigue sets in.

I may try to get down there Friday after work-ish and do another mile since the rain will ruin the water quality over the weekend.

ETA - o side offshore buoy about 57  http://www.ndbc.noaa.gov/station_page.php?station=46224

Have you done OWS's? I'm no veteran of triathlon but I've done a couple HIM's. I would say that with your pool times, you'll be fine as long as you just keep swimming. How much swimming have you been doing?

On the old course there was a very small shop at transition.  There is a larger tent down near the pier/checkin.  I had never gone there after the race, but will I guess this time with the finish there.  BTW, I saw a shirt I liked at the site shop but they didn'thave my size.  Long sleeve, think it was $40 (typical WTC pricing).  Went on line a couple weeks later an bought it for $15 from the IM site.  Just google ironman clothing or finisher's gear you should find it.  They have race-specific gear

Last big weekend in the books.  Time to drive myself nuts in taper.

Too soon to start the obsessive weather vigil?

Gonna try to get to Bayshore this w/e or just bag it?

Our course ride got rained out, but I rode it on the CT while watching Goodfellas Sat. morning.  Nothing like blood and guts and climbing.  Wanted to make sure I at least got the hills in, but ended up doing the whole thing.  It was an eye-opener /reminder - that section between the first climb and the second climb is the worst part of the course because it's a long false flat and IRL is a true mind fu** as I recall.  At least on the CT you can see it's uphill so it explains the slow pace.  Once you're past that it's a bit easier.  The third climb comes pretty much right after the second climb, and then it's relatively flat the rest of the way in. 

No, I'm blowing up accuweather every couple hours.  Thanks for the info on finisher gear.

I'll confess.  Me too.  That's how I know it's gone from "rainy" to "sunny" over the last couple days.  Although if we need a reminder as to how poorly forecasters do, we need only look to the forecast of massive amounts of rain on Sunday last....  when it was bright and beautiful (altho windy)

Found a photo of the ramp we run up and down onto/off of the pier.  Funny, I've run by it several times, never even knew a ramp was there....

we run up that twice??? how far up?

Is that about the same elevation change on the turn off the Strand onto Wisconsin?