Ironman 70.3 New Orleans : Official Thread (Page 8)

I'm almost ready.  Swim is fine, run in good shape and bike is almost there.  A few more long rides and I'll be ready.  I won't taper much for this race but my last real long ride will be April 7.  Have a 72 mile ride this weekend then we are driving up to Haines City to ride the course the following weekend.  Need to get used to hills before Florida 70.3

Have to admit I am not a fan of the TT start.  Just drags out the morning and being in wave 11 I won't start until around 8:45 or so. 

Duane

Slowtwitch has a thread up on 70.3 NOLA. I'm quoting a fella who seems knowledgeable

I'm definitely not a vet but can you do an open water swim before the race? I grew up surfing so I have never had a problem with open water swims but it is a lot different than swimming in a pool. Could you at least do a swim or two while you're in NOLA a day or two before the race?

Duane,

Me too in group # 11.  Wow,, I didn't realize how late we would start in that group,,We might as well take out time getting down there,,,long wait....

Best thing for you to do is search youtube for sighting technique. You should practice that in the pool to help when you get to your OWS. You want to make the most of your OWS time and get really comfortable with it. I swam in lakes as a kid so I never realized it was a real issue for some people.

Nice plans, guys. I haven't detailed mine yet. I'm too busy sweating the bike!

I'm absolutely excited for this race. A lot of my equipment was needing replacing around the time of the race so as a result: I have new Conti GP4000s, an aerojacket from wheelbuilder never used in a race before, my old aero helmet, a 2013 Orca Equip wetsuit (new, fits, and got it for a STEAL of a deal!!) and, wait for it

white bar tape

Hell yeah, white bar tape. Totally ready to look pro and finish fast :D If you are aesthetically pleasing its only natural you will go faster. Am I right or am I right?

Bike panicking averted. Finally got a good long ride in Sat and I think I will survive NOLA afterall. When all I get is trainer time or rides in the very hilly park, I'm thinking my bike split is going to suck horribly. I really needed that nice ride on low rolling terrain. And I didn't hurt afterward so that's fantastic. Doing 3 hrs on the park rollercoaster makes me sore for a couple of days and I've missed 2 long runs because of it. I improved my bike time, but I'm short on run miles for the month. After doing 6 HM's since Dec. I think I'll be ok on the run.

March Monthly totals:
S: 17050.00 Yd  - 5h 55m 26s
B: 321.00 Mi  - 20h 47m 13s
R: 66.15 Mi  - 12h 08m
Str: 4h 05m

Nice goals for the race!

That is a smoking swim time. I'm hoping I can come in at 28-30 mins. The only feedback I would give is make sure that you come out of the water feeling fresh. I swam 35 mins at Galveston 70.3 and still managed to finish in under 5 hours. I think the oft repeated advice, you can only lose the race on the swim is solid. 26:30 looks great, but a 1:30 Half-marathon is more impressive IMO.

T1: I don't eat anything until I'm on the bike and my HR has settled. I've received the advice to not eat in T1 from multiple knowledgable people and it's worked for me. The bonus is you have one less thing to worry about in T1, and you have plenty of time to eat on the bike.

Bike: I plan to go relatively easy, say 200-210 watts the first 5-15 mins, then build to moderate/hard effort. Key for me is to keep power numbers/effort consistent. The more I have small micro efforts, even for 1 minute, the more it zaps me for the run. I plan to build to 250-270 watts and stay there until the end. Especially with a TT start, there is no need to kill myself to keep up with another person in my AG. Much better to just keep effort consistent. The races where I've done the best are those where my effort was consistent the entire bike. I wind up passing alot of people on the run when i do this.

T2: same thing i do

Run: I try to make the last 5k my fastest part of the run. The key for me to do this, is to not go too hard too early. The first mile, I usually feel amazing and will often look at my Garmin to find I'm doing 6:30/mile. That's great, but not sustainable for me. My goal is to be able to do the last mile in 7:00 min/miles. I try to mentally relax the first 5k and repeat fast at the end in my head. The pain will come, no need to rush to it. Give yourself a chance to use the stubborness.

The best advice I've ever heard about long distance racing is, "a well paced triathlon is where you run to potential and have a lingering feeling that you could have gone faster on the bike."

Best of luck to you and everyone. ONly 20 days left before race day!

Mad-dog: So sorry that you will not make it this year. Some times our bodies just don't cooperate with our plans. Have you considered switching your registration to a relay? I'm not sure if that's permitted, but a guy in my cycling/tri group just mentioned that he wants to go to NOLA and will do any leg, just doesn't want to do the whole thing because he has a 70.3 a few weeks later.

March Total:
Bike: 460 miles
Run: 101 miles
Swim: 20250 yds

As far as race goals I'm hoping to finish in under 6 hours. For the swim I'll be around 1:45/100yd which will put me at 36 minutes. I'll average 19 mph (depending on the wind) on the bike, which will be a littler under 3 hours. The run will be around a 9:15min/mile so right at 2 hours. Those are the paces I train at and I don't want to go much faster so I don't blow up on the run. Nutrition will be a GU before the swim, perform/2 shot bloks on the bike, 3 GU's on the run.

Also, I finally ordered my wetsuit today.

Speaking of the swim, anyone think about sighting landmarks? The swim out should be okay, just keep the seawall to your left. On the swim back up, keep the docks to your right. But the diagonal and down middle section could prove tricky. Is there anything to sight off of, like a tall boat?

I guess if you find yourself swimming head on into people, you've drifted too far right. And if you're too close to the docks and waves of swimmers in the opposite direction, you've drifted too far left. 

ttsteve

I was looking at the extended forcast for the 21st. and i wonder if a wet suit is even a good idea.. Not sure of the lake temp tho but that air temp at night being around 65,,its gonna be warm.  all I have is a full sleeved wetsuit and am wondering if it will be too warm,.. I might forgo a little time on the swim to be comfortable rather than swim in what may feel like a sauna suit

runswithcrazydog,

Lots of people use Bodyglide.

the method to putting it on is to sinch it up as you bring it up so that when it up to where you are putting your arms through and sipping it up it is fitting like a glove.  Try not to use the ends of your fingers in grabbing it to pull it up but more palming it as you fit it to you on the way up.

taking it off it just peeling it off from the top down insideout,,gets a little stubburn around the ankles but most wetsuits are like just down to the midcalf so will come off easier..

i am hoping for a cloudy day at least in the morning so that the air temps feel good combined with some 71 degree water,, i don't want the sun beating down on that rubber if the air temp is like in the 60's