Ironman 70.3 Racine : Official Thread (Page 7)

Just checked a couple of race reports from last year (including my own). Water temps were actually 69 at race start. Quite honestly, living in Kenosha, I've never seen the water temps above 70 every year I've done the race since 2007. 2008 may have a been a record low at 51.

Cyndi

Thanks cynner, I think getting into the 55 degree water this past weekend skewed my perception of the water temp on race morning. It felt like 76 in contrast.

Has anyone figured out how to enter multiple workouts on a previous day with the new training log? I got a few days behind in tracking my workouts and only seem to be able to enter one activity/day for past days. Current day entry is straight forward.

If you go to "Edit Activity" it will let you add another discipline or modify what you have on that day already.

Thanks for the details (although I am skeptical of a road in Wisconsin with no potholes). I am fighting the dreaded calf strain (calf heart attack) right now in prepping for Racine, but hopefully that will clear up by prime racing time.

Ok, I'll jump in.

I'm in for Racine this year. 1st of 2 HIM on the schedule this year. Really looking forward to it.

A quick question for the veterans of this race - regarding transition - I was told that the transition spots are assigned and that each athlete has a designated spot, so early arrival to get a prime spot is not necessary. However, I could not find that information anywhere on the race web site. Can anyone confirm or deny that?

Thanks, in advance.

That is correct. We'll rack the bikes based on race #. There are volunteers in transition making sure we also stagger the bikes properly (so handlebars don't bump).

How bad are the roads? Can anyone give a comparison with some of the roads on the IM WI course?

FYI - I have been checking on hotels in the area and just today the Racine Marriott opened up some more rooms. (or that is what I am assuming) As of last week they didn't show any available, but today they do have rooms. Just wanted to pass the information along.

45 Days, 22 Hours, 6 minutes

Did you call direct, Expedia, etc?

Travelocity had it as did the hotel direct.

Thanks so much for the heads up! I got in and got a room and it was sold out again 10 minutes later.

St

So how is the training going for everyone? For me:

Swimming: First tri in 2003, I was a complete non-swimmer. Plodded along for years, got some lessons this spring, did a 2 mile continuous this week, felt great, physically and mentally. Need to work on picking up the pace. No OWS yet, hoping it warms up soon.

Biking: Restricted to weekends so far, but with the wife and kids done with school, frees up my bike times alot. "Long" rides have only been 30 miles so far, but extending in the next few weeks.

Running: Still nursing a calf strain. Replaced run workouts with elliptical runs for the time being. Rehab stretch/walk/jog in-between. Frustrating after a couple of 13.1's and had a good run base to start. Might move my goal from "competing" to "finishing", but it's all good.

Logistics: Have a room booked for Racine. Sprint and Oly coming up, if the leg feels good during the Oly, going to register

Training volume has been pretty good though my A race is IM WI so I'm doing a lot more distance than you'd see for a half.

Did my first couple OWS this past week and though it was a struggle to get re acclimated to swimming with the wetsuit, it felt good to get out there.

Olympic this weekend followed by Horribly Hilly Hundreds (200K bike) next weekend will kick off the bulk of my intense training.

Here's where I am at:

Background - Did 2 sprints, Oly, and a Marathon (injury DNF... ugh) last year all as part of a multi-year plan/build to IM distance in 2014. Prior to that a couple Marathons and a couple sprints and one 70.3. Very comfortable in the pool, love being on the bike, and tolerate the run.

Plan: Using a modified version of the Gail Bernhardt 27-Week HIM plan. It has been modified to address my specific fitness needs and to accommodate "real life". I'm also very lucky in that I have a full fitness center and indoor pool in the same building as my office, so very few excuses to miss a training session.

Swim: In the pool 2- 3 days per week and only M-F as that is when I have access to the pool. On average about 60 minute sessions. I do some specific pull-only or kick-only drills, but a majority of the time I spend doing endurance build work. All is going well other than the pool gets really crowded, so it is up at 4:30am to be in the pool at opening at 5:30am to guarantee a spot in the lane. This requires a bit of muscling past the senior/70+ population as they do their water walking (aka social hour)

Bike: This offseason I invested in a fluid trainer and spent some good time on it over the winter. Also supplemented this work with the spin bikes at the Fitness Center. Just recently have I been able to up the mileage out on the road and am noticing the difference right away. Spend 2 - 3 sessions per week on the bike (both spin and on the road) with the long rides on the weekend. I have a 4 hour ride this Saturday. Overall, I feel very comfortable on the bike, but am trying to work through my nutrition strategy. I am notorious for "forgetting" to eat/drink on the bike and paying for it later, so I am instituting timing alarms on the watch and trying to dial in the eat to drink ratio and timing to hit my calories/hour intake. Still a work in progress.

Run: I am slow. Intervals and hill work helped during the off-season, but I am still not where I want to be. The next 8 weeks will be key for me as I incorporate more brick workouts. Currently doing 2 - 3 sessions per week with the long runs on the weekend. Weekday runs range in the 6 - 8 miles, weekends are done based on time and not mileage.

Overall: I am "ok" with where I am at. I am confident in my plan and am trying to stick to it as best as possible. Nutrition is my biggest worry. If/when I dial that in, I think my performance in other areas will improve. Still trying to find the sweet spot.

Hope everyone else is doing well with theirs.

Training is going well so far. This will be my 5th HIM. I'm REALLY looking to break 6 hours this time (PR = 6:02). I'm constantly working the numbers in my head to get this done. And, based on my ability, there is NOT much room for error....LOL.

As long as my training stays on track....I'm hoping for a beautiful day and a little luck .

Edited by marathongirl11 2013-06-09 7:49 PM

My training has been going pretty good as well. Just gone done doing 70.3 Kansas two days ago and hope to get back into some heavy training after a few more days of recovery. I feel like I have a pretty good base in all 3 disciplines but I'll be trying to focus on more bike miles in the coming weeks.

Went up to Racine yesterday to do a little swimming on the course. Lifeguards said the water was a balmy 54 degrees. With the wetsuit it didn't feel bad except on my face. Water was a kinda choppy most likely remnants from the storms the day before.

The Life guards let you in the water at North Beach? According to the news, the bacteria count was too high to let anyone swim. You must have snuck in before the water was tested:

http://www.jsonline.com/news/wisconsin/racine-beaches-expected-to-r...

Looks like it will re-open later this morning/today.

Cyndi

There was a yellow flag flying and a few other people in the water. It was around 2:30p when I went in and the lifeguards didn't say a word. That was the first time up there for me. What a beautiful beach!

I just read that article. I find it interesting, it certainly would appear that they were supposed to be closed when I was there but they definitely were not. Like I said there were a few other people in the water, not very far in though. I walked right past the guards with my wetsuit on so they definitely knew what my intentions were. After my swim I talked to them about the currents and water temperature and they never said a word about the beach being closed or high bacteria counts.

I'm shocked that they didn't say anything. I certainly hope the count was low enough so no one gets sick. Just keep yourself healthy. Racine is a few short weeks away!!!

Cyndi