Manatees - 2019 Edition - Practice Maximum Enthusiasm - CLOSED (Page 92)

Originally posted by mtnbikerchk in other news, have you all been following IM Maryland? OMG some of the jellyfish pics!!! I hope no one gets stung too badly. btw, that's why I don't do ocean swims

My friend was there in a support capacity (she was supposed to race but bailed a few weeks ago, wisely it seemed with the jellies and heat) and sent me pictures of the jellyfish, they looked plentiful and awful!!

Did you see that they put "cooling buses" on the bike course?!

I saw talk of them pre-race, but haven't seen any FB chatter about them post.

It's also mentioned in this article.

Athletes and Ironman officials knew Sunday would be unseasonable warm, and everyone was doing their best to keep themselves and others cool throughout the day.

"I think we're having a great day," said Keats McGonigal, senior regional director for Ironman. "Obviously, it's hot out here, but most of the athletes are heeding the warnings and taking it a little bit easier. In these conditions, it's a hard day, but most of the athletes are ready."

As soon it became clear that the that the warm weather would be a factor on race day McGonigal said his team and local volunteer organizers began working to address the conditions and keep the athletes safe.

"We put some buses out (on the bike course) with air conditioning, so that athletes could jump on them cool down and then keep going," McGonigal said. "That's not something that we usually do. We also added some misting water stations on the run course.

"We saw this coming, and we're doing our best to manage it and manage the athletes as best we can."

Despite several reports of athletes dropping out of the race because of the warm weather and seeking attention for heat stress, there was no indication of any serious medical emergencies associated with the race.

Zealios fans, it looks like there is a 40% off end of season sale going on right now. If you are having problem getting a discount code, PM me.

Originally posted by fortissimo

Originally posted by melbo55

Originally posted by mtnbikerchk in other news, have you all been following IM Maryland? OMG some of the jellyfish pics!!! I hope no one gets stung too badly. btw, that's why I don't do ocean swims

My friend was there in a support capacity (she was supposed to race but bailed a few weeks ago, wisely it seemed with the jellies and heat) and sent me pictures of the jellyfish, they looked plentiful and awful!!

I have a friend who did IM Maryland this weekend. She put a picture up of her face that has marks from one ear to the next from stings. She said she put Vaseline on her face like they suggested, but that it did her no good. She said she cried for the first half of the bike because it hurt so bad.

Oh! How miserable!

Originally posted by fortissimo

Originally posted by melbo55

Originally posted by mtnbikerchk in other news, have you all been following IM Maryland? OMG some of the jellyfish pics!!! I hope no one gets stung too badly. btw, that's why I don't do ocean swims

My friend was there in a support capacity (she was supposed to race but bailed a few weeks ago, wisely it seemed with the jellies and heat) and sent me pictures of the jellyfish, they looked plentiful and awful!!

I have a friend who did IM Maryland this weekend. She put a picture up of her face that has marks from one ear to the next from stings. She said she put Vaseline on her face like they suggested, but that it did her no good. She said she cried for the first half of the bike because it hurt so bad.

That does not sound like fun!

Originally posted by amd723

Originally posted by fortissimo

Originally posted by melbo55

Originally posted by mtnbikerchk in other news, have you all been following IM Maryland? OMG some of the jellyfish pics!!! I hope no one gets stung too badly. btw, that's why I don't do ocean swims

My friend was there in a support capacity (she was supposed to race but bailed a few weeks ago, wisely it seemed with the jellies and heat) and sent me pictures of the jellyfish, they looked plentiful and awful!!

I have a friend who did IM Maryland this weekend. She put a picture up of her face that has marks from one ear to the next from stings. She said she put Vaseline on her face like they suggested, but that it did her no good. She said she cried for the first half of the bike because it hurt so bad.

That does not sound like fun!

Oh the up side, I've read several comments about Chattanooga being a great host city and the race director doing a great job keeping the aid stations stocked and keeping athletes out of the med tents.

I ran across this offer from Zipp when I was over on Slowtwitch and I wanted to mention it here.  You can trade in any wheels in your garage for money towards Zipp wheels. I'm not going to take advantage of this offer but I can certainly see where it could come in handy if you are changing from rim brakes to disc brakes. I know that I have like four wheel sets in my garage from various bikes that have come in and out of our household. If my next road bike has disc brakes, which I am thinking that it will, that's a whole lotta wheels that are good for nothing.  The wheels are worth next to nothing on Craigslist, etc. (I've tried to sell them, honest!) and they have just become backup/trainer wheels.

Anyway, if you have extra wheels in your garage *and* you are in the market for some Zipps, here you go.

Rinse off before the bike if you can. For many, the saltwater causes more chafing issues than fresh water.

Practice bilateral breathing.  If there are waves coming from one side, it's helpful to be able to breath from the other side.

Sighting should be the same as on Lake Huron -- you can see more from the top than the bottom ;-)

I believe that the Gulf is likely to be calm that time of year. You'll do great!

ooh, i had forgotten for a minute that Jim was doing IM Florida! Yes, if they have fresh water for you to rinse off a bit in, do it. I've never had an issue with the salt, but know some are more sensitive. Another thing, salt water in the mouth makes for a great taste :0 I don't know anyway to avoid getting some in your mouth, even with a calm gulf, but just don't swallow a ton and you'll be fine! They will probably have water for you as you come out of the water, use it to rinse out your mouth.

Ah! Good point! I know the first time that I did a saltwater swim, I had to eat or drink something pretty quickly to get the taste out of my mouth.  It didn't really bother me after that so YMMV.  I'd plan to swish your mouth on the way to T1.

I'm glad to hear that Michelle is willing to take one for the team and get you to Florida early!

Most of the time when I have done a saltwater swim, there are showers between the swim exit and T1.  I don't see anything on the course maps.  I'm pretty sure that Anne has done IMFL.  I'll ping her and see if she has any intel.

Hey friends! Checking in after the weekend - Augusta 70.3 was a rough one with the head index at 99 degrees when I finished. I had a great swim and bike, so there's that! My race report is up if anyone is interested 

Awesome job! I know a lot of people who just melted on the run.

Would you recommend this event to out of towners?

Thanks for the shower intel.

Fingers crossed for flat water in PCB on November 2nd.  We'll be talking about you in our van!