Ironman 70.3 Boise : Official Thread (Page 4)

I'm coming from AZ as well...I'll be flying in to Boise on June 5th to swim in that lake and bike at least a loop of the bike if you wanna exchange info and get together. I'm up for any training before then as well...Hit me up!!

The logistics of viewing the swim are very poor because of limited parking and not many opportunities to view the bike but the run is two loops so they would see you at T2, after the first run lap, and the finish.  With the late start, it may be more difficult with an infant because your wife will have all day to kill until the finish late afternoon or early evening.

My first time at Boise was every bit as thrilling as my my first IM.  The atmosphere around the core area (T2 & finish) is the most exciting I've experienced.  Very fun venue after the race.  Tough call with a little one though.

Midweek Water Temperature Report:

51.3 degrees.

Nice!

You're right, of course.  The temperature may well be different at the swim site.  I'll make it out there this week and report back.  

First time on this thread although I was on the IM CdA 2011 thread last year. I did IM CdA last year and have a few HIMs under my belt. Did Vineman 70.3 in 2010.

A few words on cold water:

With the expected low-mid 50s water temp I think a full wetsuit is a MUST. When I was in IM CdA the official water temp was 54.7 (although at the race start they said 'about 58'  ;-)). I wore a swim cap, then a neoprene cap, and finaly my race cap over that. I also added wax in my ears. I normaly dont use the wax but cold water on the ears can make a swim miserable especially when your head goes in and out of the water like open water swims do.

I also recommend to try one of those larger-sized goggles. I normally use the aqua sphere style but for IM CdA I started using the fuller faced ones. The benefit? It covers more of your forehead so less direct skin in the water. When I did my training swims a few days before CdA they started to fog so I stopped and put on the smaller sized goggles and got in the water. The difference was incredible. SOOOO cold on my forehead. Needless to say I changed my anti-fog routine and wore the larger-faced ones. Had no probs.

During the swim I had no issues with temp. One difference is that at CdA you start on shore so your not sitting in the water for minutes before the start. That will make it tougher.

Heres what I wore for the IM CdA swim: My time was 1:22 and I finished right in the middle.

Tri shorts. Long sleeve underarmor shirt. Blue Seventy Reaction wetsuit. Blue seventy bootys. ear wax. swim cap under neoprene cap under race swim cap. larger-faced aqua sphere goggles.

I also took a warm bottle of water to pour down the front of my wetsuit before the start. Rememeber that a wetsuit uses the water between your skin and the suit itself as a barrier. Your body heat will warm that water up. I just helped it a bit with my own hot water before the start.

Good luck everyone. I think its like less than 7 weeks until race day so really 6 good weeks left to train.

I should be finishing somewhere around 5:45 depending on conditions and any issues that arise. Theres always issures to deal with....  :-)

How young is your baby? When would they fly over? Does your baby sleep well at night?  

I am having my wife and kids fly in on Friday.  The youngest will be 22 months old and for the most part sleeps well throughout the night.  We are staying in Nampa and they are going out to watch the start of the race and start of the bike (taking the shuttle of course).  Then who knows what they will do the rest of the time.  There are multiple parks there, with the Boise Zoo close by also.  With you being so close to the finish, wife and baby can go back to hotel during your bike or if they don't go out to watch the start show up half hour or so before you expect to finish the bike.

So I think it wouldn't be bad to fly them in for it.  Nothing like having family waiting for you at the finish line after a HUGE accomplishment that is not only physical but mental.  Kind of a reward in of its own to have your family there at the end.

The start is in waves and it is a deep water start.

They get the waves off pretty quickly.  Barely have enough time to get in the water take a few strokes and off you go.

There is a boat ramp and dock which you swim out and around the dock to the starting line.

Water temp is going to be the story of the day.  This year is setting up to potentially be a chilly one.  Lots of good points made in one of the previous post.  They don't allow gloves but not having frozen feet would be nice.

Any word on the shuttle?  Should I purchase a pass before I get there friday or am I ok to wait?

Huge brick for me this weekend.  150 minutes on the bike followed by a 90 minute run.  Marks my peak for training.  Just sucks it's supposed to rain/snow here in Michigan means I'll be on the trainer.  Maybe I should just skip the brick and go for an OWS.  I guess it would be like race conditions right? 

We are getting close to th30 day mark.  Have a great weekend everyone. 

We were able to get flights from Spokane to Boise on Friday for 80/person.  Though they have a 4 hour layover in Portland. This was on Southwest. 

A great place to hang out on the race course when you come around would be where is says turn left at Anne Frank Memorial.  There they have a chance to see you coming in from lap 1 and then also again heading out on lap 2 a few minutes later. If they stood there and didn't watch you come in on the bike they could see you there going out on lap 1.  I guess you can walk around down there when you get there to figure out the best spot.  Where I am talking about isn't super shady is the downside.