LongHorn Ironman 70.3 Triathlon Festival : Official Thread (Page 8)

They'll have a bunch of volunteers - don't worry about that.

I'm heading to check-in after the bike shop opens up at 10.  Can't seem to get my rear derailleur dialed in after the last one was shredded by some road debris.  Hope my drop-out isn't bent b/c that means my frame is toast.  Good thing to find out day before a race, right?  Here's hoping that I messed up on setting the high/low limits...

Good luck Heather! You're gonna do great!

That could suck about your bike, Tyrell. But really, you only need 2 gears for the course, one for uphills and one for downhills!

Will be at the Expo between 10 and 11. This is gonna be great!

First time question here.  Do you put the full water bottles in the bike bag, do you put them on your bike when you check it, or do you bring them in the morning?  Same thing for bike shoes.

I was going to check bags today. 

Edited by 3Aims 2010-10-16 8:38 AM

I put mine on my bike so I don't have to mess with them rolling around during transition

Heather, looks like you have the same thoughts that I do.  I spent a bit of time in Austin last night.  Great city!  Went to Moonshine last night...it was good.  Carbo loading tonight, then will hit BBQ tomorrow at Salt Lick.

Reconned the bike course yesterday, I would agree with the other assessments.  A few rough spots, lots of turns and about 8 miles of total assent over the entire course.  I did hear at the race meeting today that beginning at mile 55, it will be a NO PASSING zone due to the fact that the bike and run course will be shared. It can lead to a DQ.

Left gear bags at check in, but will take water and nutrition tomorrow.  Did not want it baking out in the sun all day. 

Greg..thanks for all of the course reports and local information!

Good Luck to everyone!!! 

Any other important tips from the athlete meeting?

Signed,

She Who Did Not Attend :-)

Best of lucks to all the BT'ers that are racing tomorrow. Enjoy the race, we're doing this for fun! If you can't smile, you're going too hard.

Is there an athlete tracking link anywhere? 

Great job today everyone! I didn't meet my "best goal," but I' beat my time from last year, so I'm thrilled with today's race.

I was faster in the swim, faster on the bike, faster in the transitions, but a little slower on the run. I could blame the change in the run course (last year there was no off-road) and it did get a little warm today. But still, it was a hard race, but very fun!

Again, contrats to everyone who finished or attempted to finish the 2010 Ironman 70.3 Austin!

- Greg

Yes, congratulations to everyone!  For some reason running downhill was harder for me than going up any hill on the course?  Weird.  And it definitely got warm but not as hot as last year, I think.

My first HIM and I finished about 30 minutes faster than planned.  Hard, but gratifying.  Might try the distance again next year at Vineman.  Certainly not ready for a full distance.

Thanks to all the up front info, especially from Greg.  Very helpfull!  After dinner with bread and beer I am feeling much better.

Hey everyone.  I hope everyone had a great race.  My Sprint to Half experiment worked until mile 7 of the run.  Still happy with my time. 

Is there a place where you can get better stats than ironman.com?  It shows my rank but how many competed?  Also, I can't tell how many were in my division.  I'd love to get my hands on the raw file.  



 

Here is the raw file link:  http://www.ironmanusa.com/results/lhh2010res.html

Did anyone here see or was involved in any accidents on the bike course? I heard from my training partner that she witnessed a wreck right in front of her near at the water station on Monkey Rd, just after turning off of Littig Rd. She said a rider had just grabbed a bottle, and accidentally swerved left just as another rider was passing by. They collided, the passing rider stayed up, but the swerver wrecked right in front of my friend. She said she had no time to react, and actually rode over the front wheel of the woman's bike.

We are wondering if that person was OK, and if she was still able to finish. It happened right at the water/aid station, so we know that there were plenty of people there to help her.

I saw a lot of flat tires on this race, too. Many more than I remember seeing last year. I threw a spare CO2 cartridge to one rider who flatted on Hog Eye, just before the portion under construction. I saw her standing on the side, I asked if she was OK, she said she needed CO2. I had a spare in my food box, just in case, so I stopped momentarily, dropped it in the grass, then kept on going.

Its amazing how many challenges there are in these races!

I didnt see the accident but did see a woman at the finish line with some nasty road rash on her legs! There were lots of flats - a couple of times after I hit some holes, I just knew I was going to get one. Luck was on my side, this time!

Seemed like there were more flats in the first half of the course than than last half.  You're a good man for giving a CO2, Greg - hope it was the type the person needed (threaded/less).  I also saw a lady with some rash on the run.

I know, I hoped that too. My CO2 pump (which I just bought a week ago and have not used yet) can take either one. The only tanks I had were threadless, but I don't know which type she needed.

I just bought new tires about 2-3 weeks ago, because I started getting flats on my old tires during training rides. I'm very glad I was on new rubber for the race!

I saw a male biker down at mile 38.  He was either unconcious, or had his eyse closed.  I really couldn't tell what happened.  Pavement was OK and not much of a climb.  Lots of bikers were there to help and warn the oncoming riders.

Congrats everyone! Sounds like a lot of good race experiences!  My own experience was not that great. I was having one of those days where if I'd just been out practicing I would've come home early... Was tired for the entire swim and that's my best event. I knew then it wasn't going to be a good day.  Then on the bike ride the balls of my feet started hurting, they started to hurt so badly I was crying while riding... For the last 30 straight miles. I honestly don't know how I finished that ride. I have a high pain tolerance but they felt like someone had been beating on them with sledgehammers, it was insane. I stayed in T2 for 15 minutes trying to decide if I was going to continue or not. Ended up continuing figuring I can stop any time.  I walked a TON, way more then I expected. But, I finished my first HIM!  (yeah, so 1 hour 20 minutes slower then predicted, but I finished).  The entire race I was saying "I'm never doing this again", but already a day later I'm not so sure about that LOL.

Heather

Congrats to everyone who battled the environments yesterday!

The bike was rough and the run was hot and hilly.

Only things I had trouble with were: 3 bikes in the last ~20 miles... a chick on a road bike, guy on a bianchi, and another guy... I passed them, they dropped WAY back, then I got passed by a faster biker, and guess who was in tow?... Once they got like 20-30 meters in front of me, they'd lose the wheel and slow way down... I'd re-pass and drop them and they'd drop WAY back again and then a faster biker, and them right behind. PISSED me off. Another issue I had was in the last ~5 miles when we were on the coned road, someone swerved right into my front wheel because "there was gravel" we rubbed pretty bad and I hit a cone. Somehow managed to stay up and not get hit by the car that was passing at the same exact moment. I let out some choice words and he gave me the gravel line. Another one was at one aid station on the bike, the only person with gels wasn't paying attention, so when I pointed to them to signify I needed a gel, they had no clue when I tried to grab on the move... yeah, I didn't get the gel. Eh, Oh well.

I'm back to my hotel for my last night in Austin... Just checked out Quality Seafood Market for some fresh local grub. It was amazing. Flight leaves at 7:20 in the morning. Blah. I hate mornings!

Edited by Stickyrunner01 2010-10-18 9:10 PM

I saw the guy down at the 38 mile mark.  He was moving his head when I passed, but it must have been about the same time.  It clearly hadn't happened much earlier.

I didn't see any major drafting, but I was motoring pretty good (22.8 mph avg ), so not many people came by me and I passed most people at a pretty good rate. 

One major annoyance were two guys riding side by side.  This wasn't a passing situation, I watched them the whole time I came up on them and they were clearly riding together and taking up a LOT of road doing it.  I stopped not long after for about 30 seconds to check on my rear brake caliper.  That means I caught them again and they were in exactly the same position.  I yelled to the guy on the left that he was still riding illegally and blocking.  Not that they were the only ones.  But it looked like they planned to ride the whole bike course that way.

Congrats everyone.  That event blew my mind.  My first HIM!  My goal was to finish between 6-6:30hrs.  I came in 6:31:41 LOL!  I had a great time.  Thanks for all of the info everyone, you were all helpful. 

The only negative I have to report is the parking issue.  It took me 45 minutes to get parked.  Then I had to trek to T-2, etc.  Burned up energy and mental state dealing with that.  If this wasn't my 1st HIM, I would be pissed.  I spoke with other participants who shared my experience.

Overall, I was glad I set this goal and achieved it!

Have a good week

Lance

ps, I get to wear flip-flops to work this week.... blisters the size of quarters on my feet.  Slowed me wayyyyy down.

I heard from a couple folks before the race there had been an accident on the bus course, causing some folks to get off the bus and walk to T1/Lake. Didn't know about the parking issue, since I got there at probably 5:10am, and there was no line and plenty of space.

I finished in 5:52:30. Not bad for my 2nd HIM, faster than last year, and I'm thrilled with my bike pace of 19.4mph (without aero wheels or a dorky helmet!). My swim was 38:47, about a minute slower than planned, but it was super crowded the whole way! I never panicked, and felt comfortable the entire time, despite the mass of bodies! My run was a little slower than last year, at 2:14:52, as I tried to prevent my legs from cramping up. I haven't compared them to everyone else, but I'm proud of my transition times, too! (3:19 and 2:28.)

I'm going to keep training all winter for Galveston 2011, Longhorn 2011, and if my training buddies and I are crazy enough, perhaps even a European HIM in between those!

I had a great time and am already thinking I should try another HIM next year.  Can anyone compare this bike with Vineman?