Yesterday was athlete check in and we made sure to get it done early. We walked right in and it only took about 10 minutes. They are very well organized and they explain everything in detail to you. Part of the check in is a weigh in at the medical station, if you end up in the medical tent the first thing they’ll do is weigh you to see how dehydrated you are by comparing your weight to your check in weight. After the check in we went through the expo and took a look at all the tri-goodies for sale! Received an excellent goody bag, actually an IM knapsack and including a Ironman cap and t-shirt.
In the afternoon we took a drive to a section of the bike course where the longest hills are and a rode that section. It was very hot and windy, but it felt good to get an hour in one the bike. Numerous other people out riding as well.
This morning was the first practice swim and Steph and I went down at 8:00am. It is sponsored by Gatorade and they provide a gear bag check and lot’s of freebies. We watched at the first 50 people hit the water and immediately started drifting backwards! The current was strong due to all the flooding in Ohio and the volume of water coming down the Ohio. They had to send a bunch of kayakers after the wayward swimmers. They had set up a one mile practice course and it was a tough swim against the current to the turnaround buoy. The closer we got to the buoy, the stronger the current, most people gave up and turned around before they made it. I was swimming with 2 other guy’s and we just kept swimming like mad until we made it around it, finally. The swim back took about half as long and you had to be careful not to overshoot the exit and end up down the river with the other swimmers!
As a result they have decided to change the swim. We will start about a mile up river, swim through a sheltered area and then out into the river and back with the current to the original exit point. The swim entry will be first come first served and they will allow one person per second into the water. The swim cut-off time will be 2:20hr after the last swimmer enters the water. Effectively giving the slowest swimmers extra time to finish. Hopefully it will mean a fast swim for me, maybe out of the water in 1:10!
The transition areas and tents are all in place and it is easy to see how the flow in and out will work. There are cyclists and runners all over the downtown area and the hotel lobbies are filled with people with bikes. Ironman has certainly hit town!
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