Ironman Florida : Official Thread (Page 86)

provided my flight out of buffalo isn't late wednesday morning I should arrive in PCB mid morning on Wednesday.  My plan is to register on Wedensday and do the expo thing and go for a short swim near our condo (about a mile and a half from the Boardwalk.)

Thursday I plan to be there for the swim.  I will swim before the 8 am meeting, Hopefully one loop of the swim course, so I'll be there by 7 and in the water by 7:15.  Later I will ride the run course and then go to the athletes meeting (and perhaps dinner?  still haven't decided if I will skip the dinner portion.)  Friday drop off my bike and my transition bags and drive the bike course (I will have my dad's van and will have room probably for two other people (me and my husband + 2 more) if anyone doesn't have a car.

I dropped off my bike with my dad last night  and a bunch of other stuff like CO2 cartridges (thanks for the tip Kathy!!!), helmet, wetsuit, etc.  My dad is starting to drive down on Saturday morning.


I have a couple of Canadian questions about stuff in the US.

1) can I get baked cheetos in 100 calorie packs?  I want to have that in my special needs bags on the bike and run as a treat, but don't know if I need to bring them down from Canada with with me (our junk food is different a lot of times).
2) will I be able to get diet coke in 710 mL bottles at the grocery store?  (= two cans of pop for those not used to metric).

Becky,
just in case it might help:

Each bag has a fairly self explanitory name on it:
Swim to bike
Bike to run

Special Needs Run Gear Bag
Special Needs Bike Gear Bag

After the swim you put your swim gear in the bag you took your bike gear out of and hand it to a volunteer.

for pictures you can look at my IMFL album : http://beginnertriathlete.com/discussion/photos/photo-thumbnails.asp?albumid=7057&Page=4&sortdir=asc

I did take picutres of the bags on my bed with and without the stuff on them that goes in them.  Also took pictures of the transition area showing how the bags are organized.  (the pics you want are on pages 2,3,4&5 - not organized very well - sorry)

I'd paste them here but they're too big.
Sorry you'll have to wade through the sunset pictures.

Yikes!, just been playing on the Ironman Florida site, my bib # - 1300 has been a non-starter for past 3 years

is it bad luck to be superstitious?

here's hoping 4th times a charm )

I'm coming down with a cold

I feel achy all over, sneezing and drippy nose. It is depressing to be so close to IMFL and have something stupid and minor come up. I'm in a cranky mood.

Just what I was trying to avoid. At least it shouldn't go into my lungs which is often the case as I'm on Zithromax for a month for Lyme's.

Next week my dad starts chemo.

I am bummed.  I wanted to get a MyAthlete tracker, but I had a fight with them, and feel like I lost, so I guess I won't get one.  I'm stubborn like that.  All I asked was that they combine shipping on two devices (one for me, one for J).  Same last name, same address, just ship in one package.  I even said we don't need two chargers, to reduce weight.  They still want to charge me $45 shipping.  Almost double the shipping for a single one.  I know that increased weight is increased shipping cost, but it does not double shipping cost.  I'm mad because I've now decided I don't want to deal with them, and mad because I really wanted one. 

You have too much time on your hands.  Taper madness!

Sounds like you were being completely reasonable and they were...not.  I imagine some of the shipping cost is insurance.  Could you guys meet somewhere in the middle?

That is weird...

You asked and they said no, so just pay the cost and get one. Obviously it doesn't cost $25 to ship one of these things so i'm sure a lot of their profit is from the shipping.  They draw you in with the "ohh it's only $20" and then hit you with the shipping. By then it's to late because you already decided you wanted it and you go ahead and get it.  It does include return shipping but still it's not $25.

The reason I think this also it because when i rented it at Louisville they were there on site.  To not have to pay for shipping BACK to them you had to return the device by 11pm the night of the race and it was at the expo which was like a 2 mile walk from the finish.  How many people do you think walked down there after doing an ironman to save $20??

Edited by ballyard7 2010-10-29 3:25 PM

Saturday, November 06 Sunny 74° 49°

Rise: 7:01 AM Set: 5:52 PM Rise: 7:31 AM Set: 6:08 PM Mainly sunny. Highs in the mid 70s and lows in the upper 40s.

UV Index: 5 (Moderate) Relative Humidity: 61% Precipitation: 0% Snow Probability: 0% Cloud Coverage: 0% Moon Phase: New Wind Speed: 11Mph (17Km, 9Kts) Wind Direction: 336° (NNW)

Me likie those temps.  And might I point out that the moon will be up all day?  Hunh????

And 11mph isn't very stout winds...not bad at all.  Just enough of a nice tailwind to push us home!

For anyone using Tri Bike Transport, do you know if we're allowed to leave our saddle bag on the bike, or if that's a bad idea?  I thought maybe I could leave it on with CO2, because they truck instead of flying.  Then I wouldn't need to buy more when I get to PCB.

With it being so dark at sunrise, I will be swimming Thursday morning at 7 a.m. (race time) to make sure my tinted goggles are too dark (since I have 2 pairs of tinted goggles) for the swim.   After that, relax time and finalize all my bags.

I still need a good sushi restaurant for Saturday.  I've been looking for something that isn't overpriced touristy or hibachi California rolls, but good fresh sushi.

One other question...

Has anyone received their shirt yet?

That is exactly what I did when I handed my bike over to them yesterday.  I left my saddle bag and non-carbon rear bottle cage on the bike and stuffed my CO2 canisters in the saddle bag, and will just travel with the tubes.  No issue at all from TriBike. 

And smooth water, me likie smooth water.   Like today:  http://www.schooners.com/multimedia/beachcam.htm

hello everybody
arriving monday night. Driving down from NJ. Staying on 6600 block of beach dr. Rented a house with 2 others doing the race. Im severly undertrained due to work issues. Had simular issues at IMLP last year but finished at 11:30 (yeah Im one of those). I had a blast at LP even though it really hurt at times. Hoping to just enjoy it, and have fun. I have been be training run .5 mile/walk .5 mile, Using my garmin with 1/2 mile splits. Was behind on miles, so figured this may get me through. (At LP blew up on bike at mi 90 and had trouble running, Im fat/but fast on flats. Mtns killed me at LP) Im hoping to find my wife on the run, and get my iphone to tweet pics and updates. Kinda corny I know, but wanna have fun.

If ya want to follow---- twitter.com/Fat_Ironman



Edited by Bry03cobra 2010-10-29 5:35 PM

Or, we can simply choose not to give a fledgling company with poor customer service our money.  We can also let others know that they pretty much suck and hopefully send them the way of Gap's new logo and Ironman Connect.  For the life of me I can't think of another company or product that has the inability to ship more than one item in a box / carton.

#422, M30-34

Stephen Swift (thegomer)

2nd IM (first was IMAZ in 2007)

Goals:

Swim :55

Bike 5:45-6:00

Run: who knows

Overall just make sure I race within my own means and have fun and finish. Don't want to destroy myself as I have IMCOZ 3 weeks later. If I can break 12:44 (my IMAZ time) I'll be pleased.

Edited by thegomer 2010-10-29 9:54 PM

Good luck to all the first timers doing the race this year. I was one of you last year, so I can relate to all the feelings you are going through.

I knew I was going to be doing the run in the dark so I had a light that clipped to the brim of my hat.  It is very dark in the state park.  I had people running along side of me since I was able to "light the way"..... Much easier to have the light on the brim of your hat versus carrying something in my hand...

Enjoy the whole event. 

Sad to hear that there is no Gatorade swim.  There was a bunch of us newbies that used that event to meet each other for the first time.

I wore arm warmers on the bike and missed a spot with the sunscreen between the arm warmer and my bike jersey. ended up with a nice triangle sunburn. 

Drive the course so you can mentally see what is ahead of you.  I helped me figured out where I was and what was coming ahead of me.  


I got up at 0530 and was on the line for finishing gear at 0545. I was staying at the condo right next door to the expo.  10th in line at that point.  Take a folding chair.  The lines to get into the tent with the finishing gear were extremely long all morning.  If think you want it, buy it.  There really is not a second chance to purchase your finishing gear.  I wanted a bike jersey with finisher on it and they did not have it last year.  They had it the year before when i was a volunteer.

I put a toothbrush with toothpaste in each of the transition bags. Gave me the chance to brush out the super sugar taste in my mount.  after sucking in gels and gatorade for 7 hours on the bike, it was nice to have a clean taste.

They bring back your special needs back to the parking lot the next day.  Hopefully your stuff is still in it. I heard of people who looked in their bag and found nothing.  My stuff was still in there.

I thanked all the volunteers since without them, there really isn;t any race.  the volunteers in return give you alot of energy back to you.

enjoy the aid stations along the run.  The groups come up with some great themes.

Finishing the Ironman is something that stays with you for the rest of your life.

Mr Steve
IMFL 2009 Finisher

Here is an email I just sent to my friends and family to let them know how to track us if you are interested in it. Feel free to copy and modify, as I did from marvarnett's from LP.

"Greetings

Sorry if I haven't been keeping as much in touch. Hope this finds you doing well. I have included you on this e-mail if I thought you might be remotely interested this Saturday.Hope to connect soon. Wish me luck!
Harvey "

Oh yeah, definitely look at jashac's photo album for a better sense of IMFL...

Interesting, I'll also be leaving Athens, GA Wed morning.  My brother lives there, and I'm staying with him Tuesday night.  So if you see a CRV with 2 bikes strapped to the back, gimme a wave!  :-)

Anybody need any help in FL???

My family and I along with another couple will be heading down on Fri to volunteer.  I have a condo at Sunbird which is right next to the boardwalk. 

If any of you are traveling alone and need someone to help in any way, PM me and we will be glad to help.

Looking forward to meeting some of you guys.

Easy 3 hour ride this morning....had a rabbit run out in front of me and almost end my IM dreams haha.  besides that ride was very easy but cold.  TXnick and I will be arriving wednesday!  Extra ready for the race!!

me and krashockey both could've been out. i had a mongrel of a dog up on my leg today then on my wheel for 20 yards. AND I WAS DOING OVER 22mph at the time. I think he could take Usain Bolt! Luckily he didn't take a bite.

jcnipper holla if you want a brew or need anything. enjoy athens!

stay safe everyone. less than a week! Monthly check-ins tomorrow. I am sure you will all blow your prior month's out of the water!