Whirlpool Steelhead 70.3 Triathlon

Yes, I agree it is do or die time for the training.  I'm following the Olympic to Half Ironman Bridge plan.  I adjusted it so that the off day is Saturday.  I did a 3 hour 55 mile ride last Sunday and ran for 1 hour 41 minutes today.  I really wish I could ride the bike course but I don't think that is going to happen before the race.

Good luck to everybody.

Check the ride profile...apparently there's a serious climb right out of transition, and another getting back into transition.

And...this week is IT for my training.  Work and travel will preclude any further decent distance, so next weekend's 60/6 brick will have to do it.  It's go time....

Here is a profile of the course from the local tri club:

McFuzz,

 Nice work on the 56 miler.  I did 55 miles in 3 hours a few weeks back and then 60 miles in 3.5 hours on Monday.  My pace was slower on Monday but I'm blaming that on the fact that it went from raining to pouring during my ride.  I've done a 12 mile run and I have a 2 hour run scheduled for tomorrow.  I have slacked off on my swimming but I did do 3000 yards yesterday.  That said, I have two large achilles heels:  1)  Brick training:  I really need to start putting all of this together, and 2) OWS/wetsuit swim phobia/lack of confidence.  I think the bricks will get me through #1 and as for #2 I'm going to swim in Lake Michigan at least once a week until the race.

Might be fun to hear what others are up to in their training.  Chime in if you are willing.

Heh.  Training?!  I'm going to start off with a shaky base, add ill-advised speedwork, then taper.  Oh, wait, that IS my training sched. 

So far my swim training is basically maintenance...my pace is what it is, and dumping more time in won't yield much in the way of gains.

My bike pace has been steadily going upward.  I've never ridden 20mph in a tri, but on Tuesday I went 40 at 21.2 (2:42 pace).  The previous week, I went 58 at a 20.8mph pace (2:47-ish).  Every ride I get stronger....I'm just basically out of time.

My run is what USED to be my strength; that said, I haven't run in a week or two (other than today), so I'll start to step up the run mileage and hill work.  Starting (again) this weekend.

All that being said...I'll log a solid 3 days this weekend...

• Tomorrow - 13.1 mi run
• Saturday - 60mi ride (race pace) / 3mi run brick
• Sunday - OWS at Kensington, then another 60 ride (slower pace) / 1 run brick

Wow, that's making me nervous.  This is supposed to be a really good race director, but going from a 700 person race to a 1400 person race I thought was going to be challenging.  I didn't like it when they increased it to 1800 and now 1800+???  I think this is the same group that does the Chicago so I suppose they are experienced in handling large numbers. 

On a somewhat related note, I was reading the FAQs on the website and it said that there will be 50 to 100 participants in each wave with the waves being 3 to 5 minutes apart.  On the low end of 100 participants spread 3 minutes apart that is 54 minutes with 1800 participants (now more).  On the long end with 50 participants and 5 minutes apart that is 3 hours with 1800 participants!!!  I don't think they are going to be starting people until 10:00 a.m.  I have to believe the waves will be closer to 100 and you will start somewhere between 7:00 and 8:00 in the morning, possibly a little later?

Yes, I know I'm obsessing.

I've already been practicing with taking Dramamine Less Drowsy 1/2 hour before I swim.  First time went well but the water was very calm.  I'm in serious trouble if we get 6 foot swells.

Two posts from me this morning.  I was curious about the water bottle exchange/cup handout question so I sent a message to the race director.  He got right back to me (good sign), here was the exchange:

________________________________________________________

-----Original Message-----
From: [email protected]
To: [email protected]
Sent: Thu, 13 Jul 2006 3:56 PM
Subject: Whirlpool Steelhead

Hi Tom,  I'm looking forward (read: nervous) to doing my first HIM at Steelhead. 

A few of us that are in the race were exchanging information yesterday and the 

topic of bike course aid stations came up.  Will these be a water bottle exchange or 

a handout of cups?  I will pass along your answer to the others.  

By the way, I have only heard great things about the race.  I hope the increased 

numbers will be ok.  I'm sure it will.  

Thanks, Mark McKinley