Quakerman (again) (Page 2)

think it's a half mile long and very steep but you go down a huge downhill right before it so it could be worse. don't stress about it too much if I can make up it up that thing you can.

The swim start looks like will be the same as Steelman - rocky bottom, not very easy to get in. Hope to have a start from water and not from shore. The exit I hope will be on the boat drop which is slippery, but much easier to get out of than the rocky bottom, but we will see tomorrow.

Bike is a full loop around the lake. But first you need to climb like 0.3 miles out of the park - not an easy climb after being in the water for a while. But doable in the granny gear (at least for me). Then the 563 is very fast and before you know it you are climbing to 412 (it is easy climb, but quite long) the 412 is mostly flat with small uphill at the end before you turn right to South Park Rd. That one starts flat and goes into steep downhill - 40+ mph is doable there followed by a climb (not a bad one), little flat and then long steady climb. Then there is downhill and the road goes up and down a lot, but nothing major. It is repaired so you do not need to watch for potholes too much. Although I was riding there a lot and on the second downhill there is a big stone in the breakdown lane so watch for it it is huge and you do not want to hit it - that would be the end of the race for you. As Joe wrote the 313 has steep downhill followed by a steep climb. It is doable, but I usually have to stand up for the last 200-300 meters. Then back onto 563 which is initially downhill then a short climb, flat, down up and you are back where you started. Then repeat :-).

The run is nice and flat in the initial part, then there is a good climb from the park to the 563 and then you run down hill and up hill on the road before turning into the trail. I do not know how it looks on the trail, my brick was short so I did not get that far. Somewhere on the trail there is the turn and then back. It is a good course, but tomorrow will be quite hot. So save your energy on the bike you will need it for the run. Half does the run course twice so the second climb to the 563 should be fun.

See you there tomorrow. I'm the guy in 35-39 age group with black Specialized S-Works Transition bike, black zoot shorts and white 2XU top. On the bike I'll test the new Giro 2 helmet in silver color. It is not supposed to be huge field so I'm sure we will most likely see each other.

Jan

I just remembered that I posted the course profile on my blog few weeks ago. Here it is - it is two loops that you see in that picture. It does not have a proper calibration of the Polar unit (forgot to do that before the ride), but it will give you an idea of how the course looks like and what are the climbs like. It does not include the climb from Marina to 563 though.

http://runtotri.blogspot.com/2007/06/finishing-week-2-of-half-ironm...

Jan

Edited by kxux 2007-09-07 4:22 PM

I have a blk felt b2. I will have a purple transition towel, wearing a 2 piece wetsuit. See ya there...it's gonna be a hot one!

Nice to meet you Jan.  Missed you after the race and just wanted to say congrats on the AG hardware!

Thanks JohnnyKay,

good to see you and thanks for the sunscreen - it worked well for me :-). It was very tough race - the sun on the run course was little too much for everyone I think. But I enjoyed the day and that's what counts. Wanted to finish under 6 hours which was hard, but in the end it all worked. How did you do? I did not stick around for much after the race - I was too beat to be a good company and my son was very tired so we headed home pretty much right after the AG awards.

Jan

Well it was very hard day for everyone. Just look at the number of NDF/DQ people on the race day and compare it to the other years. I just looked at how the weather was in IMWI and they had a gorgeous 70s with no humidity. I wish we had that ;-). But weather is one of the factors you can not influence. We all did good to finish in such a grueling conditions. One thing I will remember about this distance (this was my first HIM) - it is very humbling - especially the run. Oh did you notice that not only we had 90+ F, humid weather, but also got good share of the wind on the southern part of the course. When I trained on it I was easily averaging 20.5mph on the bike over 80+ miles. Not during the race day - the wind was pretty bad especially during the second loop.

I hope you are recovering well. I'm starting my training again today with very easy 30 minutes swim and then I'll go for a short run with my wife if she feels like it when she comes back from the office.

Are you going to do the Patriot's tri in Bath on 23rd of Sept? It is a sprint so I need to get my fast twitch muscles ready ;-).

Jan