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!
Friday, August 24, 2007
Tuesday, August 21, 2007
Arrived!
We have arrived in Louisville, after a 14 hour trip. What was supposed to be a 9 hour or so trip ended up being an ordeal. We were sent off Highway 75, just after Dayton, Ohio due to flooding.
We watched the thermometer steadily rise as we travelled south. By the time we got to Louisville, it was still 87 at 8:00pm. I needed a shower after unloading the van!
It's going to be a hot one!
We watched the thermometer steadily rise as we travelled south. By the time we got to Louisville, it was still 87 at 8:00pm. I needed a shower after unloading the van!
It's going to be a hot one!
Friday, August 17, 2007
Race Hydration/Nutrition Plan
I've been working on my race nutrition plan and have come up with the following.
I'm aiming for 400 calories per hour and about 1000mg to 1200mg of sodium.
4:30am - 5:00am - Breakfast
2 Bananas or 1 Bagel
Vector Cereal – 2 cups
16oz Gatorade
1 electrolyte capsule
5:30am - 7:00am - Race starts
Sip 16oz Gatorade/Water
6:45am
1 Gel with 8 oz Water
7:00am - 8:30am Swim
Ingest as little Ohio River Water as possible
8:30am - Transition One
8 -12 oz Water
8:30am - 3:30pm - Bike
First :30 minutes water only
1 to 1.5 bottles Gatorade each hour
On the Hour, 1 gel chased with water
On the hour, one or two electrolyte capsules
Last half hour - water only
PowerBar every :90mins, @ 1:30, 3:00, 4:30, 6:00
12:00pm - Bike Special Needs Bag
2 Tylenol
3:30pm/4:00pm - Transition Two
8 - 12 oz Water
4 Tylenol & 1 Imodium
4:00pm to 9:00pm – Marathon
One electrolyte capsule per hour
Minimum 8oz to 12oz each aid station
6:00pm/6:30pm Marathon Special Needs
2 Tylenol & 1 Imodium
Mars Bar
Salty Snacks
7:00pm to Finish Marathon
Switch to Coke at mile 16 and continue to finish
Gatorade/Water/Coke & Pretzels
"When your attitude about the race changes, take in some fuel."
(Translation: Feeling sorry for yourself or angry at the wind is a sign of low blood sugar. Eat!)
"When you feel good, eat."
(Translation: When you feel good during the race don’t hammer, take advantage of this time to get more fuel onboard.
I'm aiming for 400 calories per hour and about 1000mg to 1200mg of sodium.
4:30am - 5:00am - Breakfast
2 Bananas or 1 Bagel
Vector Cereal – 2 cups
16oz Gatorade
1 electrolyte capsule
5:30am - 7:00am - Race starts
Sip 16oz Gatorade/Water
6:45am
1 Gel with 8 oz Water
7:00am - 8:30am Swim
Ingest as little Ohio River Water as possible
8:30am - Transition One
8 -12 oz Water
8:30am - 3:30pm - Bike
First :30 minutes water only
1 to 1.5 bottles Gatorade each hour
On the Hour, 1 gel chased with water
On the hour, one or two electrolyte capsules
Last half hour - water only
PowerBar every :90mins, @ 1:30, 3:00, 4:30, 6:00
12:00pm - Bike Special Needs Bag
2 Tylenol
3:30pm/4:00pm - Transition Two
8 - 12 oz Water
4 Tylenol & 1 Imodium
4:00pm to 9:00pm – Marathon
One electrolyte capsule per hour
Minimum 8oz to 12oz each aid station
6:00pm/6:30pm Marathon Special Needs
2 Tylenol & 1 Imodium
Mars Bar
Salty Snacks
7:00pm to Finish Marathon
Switch to Coke at mile 16 and continue to finish
Gatorade/Water/Coke & Pretzels
"When your attitude about the race changes, take in some fuel."
(Translation: Feeling sorry for yourself or angry at the wind is a sign of low blood sugar. Eat!)
"When you feel good, eat."
(Translation: When you feel good during the race don’t hammer, take advantage of this time to get more fuel onboard.
Holy Crap, I've Got a Lot to Do!!
Wow, time is flying and it's hard to believe that the IM is just around the corner. I have so much to do to get ready to go. I have checklists of my checklists of things to do and to pack and I check Louisville weather daily to see if the heat wave has broken. Not yet, it was still 100 plus yesterday, hopefully it will before race day!
Monday, August 13, 2007
Louisville Course Info
From Scott P, who went down and did some Louisville recon. He sent this to me a couple of weeks ago and I forgot to post! But, here ya go. Thanks Scott, for allowing me to publish this!
Hello, fellow Louisvillers-
I took a few days and went down to Louisville last weekend. I thought I'd write a bit about my impressions of the courses and whatnot, so I could remind myself later and so you guys can hear about what we found.
Hotels: The Galt House and the Mariott are both in great locations and look like nice joints. I'm staying in a new extended stay hotel right across the river. I'll have to drive to the TA on race morning, but saved about $100 each night. If you can swing it, staying downtown is the way to go because traffic in downtown was a touch screwy and will be worse before and during the race.
Bike shops: Only saw one downtown: The Bike Courier. If you need your fixie chain tightened, or a new messenger bag or radio, this is your place. Do not, under any circumstances, let them build your tri bike. I don't know of other shops.
The River: The river is very warm. There are online rumblings about if this will be a wetsuit swim-- my fingertip thermometer says there is no way we will be under 74 degrees or whatever, but there is no official info. Personally, I'm going to be doing some open water swims without mine. The current looks very mild, and they say they'll use locks to pretty much shut it down on race day. We'll see. I'm totally freaked about the current, frankly.
The Bike Course: I should mention that we had some serious and un-fixable mechanical issues. The lock ring on my cassette came loose, which, of course, needs the special lock-ring tool. There are no bike shops or anything that would resemble retail bike support on the route, so we had to stop a lot as it kept coming loose. Lauren got a flat. All these stops probably affected my outlook on the course. Also, if you're going down to ride the course yourself, it is basically on county highways so there is a scary amount of traffic.
Overall, I really enjoyed the course. It is quite hilly, with just under 7000 feet of total elevation gain on the whole thing. Grades tended to be in the 4-6% range-- like a highway onramp or a good bridge. The hills are rarely steep or long, but it's not a rhythm course. I found that I could stay in a good groove by staying focused on cadence and HR through the rollers and shifting a lot. I stood up for a couple of hills, but mostly because my butt was sore, not because I had to crank. The long descents are not broken by turns or stops, which means you can really let 'er rip (there is one notable exception-- the turn from Ballard Rd. to Old Sligo Rd.). There is a ton of time waiting to be made up on the downhills of this course.
The official profile looks smoother than the course really is-- you're pretty much always going a little up or down, but overall it's not as bad as I thought. The last 30 miles appears downhill, but it's so full of rollers that it was hard to tell, unfortunately. There is one huge descent back to the river, and then it's totally flat (and shady!!) for the last 10 or so-- that will be nice. Road surfaces were good to excellent, with some chip-seal that will be sticky as it heats up.
The heat, humidity, and sun are relentless and took a lot out of me. It was 90 when we rode, and will probably be a touch warmer for the race. Much of the course is shady, but the long stretch back southwest down rte. 42 is totally unshaded and it's going to be tough for a while. Once I got caught up on hydration, I felt much better. I used every gear in my 11-23 cassette, and will probably go to a 12-25 for the race. Hot, sultry, steamy, hot, wet, humid, oven, very hot-- these are words I would use to describe our ride.
The Run Course: The run is basically a two-loop out and back. It's just about pancake flat, with one underpass and a slight hill at the turnaround, which actually felt pretty good after so much flat. The course is really nice-- lots of trees and shade, big old houses, nice people that weren't yet tired of the stream of ironman practicers flowing by their houses. The turnaround near the finish will be tough for me, since you basically run down the finishing chute before peeling off to the right for another 12 miles. I dunno, maybe it will be motivating. The finish area is really cool-- Louisville has covered an entire city block with a glass roof, and there are tons of bars and restaurants right there-- lots of great spectating and some serious speakers for booming out our names as we finish. The Galt House and Marriott are both within a block of the finish.
Whew! that was a lot longer than I meant it to be. Oh well, I hope you got some good info. Overall, the most important factor in this race is almost certain to be the heat, I think.
Hello, fellow Louisvillers-
I took a few days and went down to Louisville last weekend. I thought I'd write a bit about my impressions of the courses and whatnot, so I could remind myself later and so you guys can hear about what we found.
Hotels: The Galt House and the Mariott are both in great locations and look like nice joints. I'm staying in a new extended stay hotel right across the river. I'll have to drive to the TA on race morning, but saved about $100 each night. If you can swing it, staying downtown is the way to go because traffic in downtown was a touch screwy and will be worse before and during the race.
Bike shops: Only saw one downtown: The Bike Courier. If you need your fixie chain tightened, or a new messenger bag or radio, this is your place. Do not, under any circumstances, let them build your tri bike. I don't know of other shops.
The River: The river is very warm. There are online rumblings about if this will be a wetsuit swim-- my fingertip thermometer says there is no way we will be under 74 degrees or whatever, but there is no official info. Personally, I'm going to be doing some open water swims without mine. The current looks very mild, and they say they'll use locks to pretty much shut it down on race day. We'll see. I'm totally freaked about the current, frankly.
The Bike Course: I should mention that we had some serious and un-fixable mechanical issues. The lock ring on my cassette came loose, which, of course, needs the special lock-ring tool. There are no bike shops or anything that would resemble retail bike support on the route, so we had to stop a lot as it kept coming loose. Lauren got a flat. All these stops probably affected my outlook on the course. Also, if you're going down to ride the course yourself, it is basically on county highways so there is a scary amount of traffic.
Overall, I really enjoyed the course. It is quite hilly, with just under 7000 feet of total elevation gain on the whole thing. Grades tended to be in the 4-6% range-- like a highway onramp or a good bridge. The hills are rarely steep or long, but it's not a rhythm course. I found that I could stay in a good groove by staying focused on cadence and HR through the rollers and shifting a lot. I stood up for a couple of hills, but mostly because my butt was sore, not because I had to crank. The long descents are not broken by turns or stops, which means you can really let 'er rip (there is one notable exception-- the turn from Ballard Rd. to Old Sligo Rd.). There is a ton of time waiting to be made up on the downhills of this course.
The official profile looks smoother than the course really is-- you're pretty much always going a little up or down, but overall it's not as bad as I thought. The last 30 miles appears downhill, but it's so full of rollers that it was hard to tell, unfortunately. There is one huge descent back to the river, and then it's totally flat (and shady!!) for the last 10 or so-- that will be nice. Road surfaces were good to excellent, with some chip-seal that will be sticky as it heats up.
The heat, humidity, and sun are relentless and took a lot out of me. It was 90 when we rode, and will probably be a touch warmer for the race. Much of the course is shady, but the long stretch back southwest down rte. 42 is totally unshaded and it's going to be tough for a while. Once I got caught up on hydration, I felt much better. I used every gear in my 11-23 cassette, and will probably go to a 12-25 for the race. Hot, sultry, steamy, hot, wet, humid, oven, very hot-- these are words I would use to describe our ride.
The Run Course: The run is basically a two-loop out and back. It's just about pancake flat, with one underpass and a slight hill at the turnaround, which actually felt pretty good after so much flat. The course is really nice-- lots of trees and shade, big old houses, nice people that weren't yet tired of the stream of ironman practicers flowing by their houses. The turnaround near the finish will be tough for me, since you basically run down the finishing chute before peeling off to the right for another 12 miles. I dunno, maybe it will be motivating. The finish area is really cool-- Louisville has covered an entire city block with a glass roof, and there are tons of bars and restaurants right there-- lots of great spectating and some serious speakers for booming out our names as we finish. The Galt House and Marriott are both within a block of the finish.
Whew! that was a lot longer than I meant it to be. Oh well, I hope you got some good info. Overall, the most important factor in this race is almost certain to be the heat, I think.
Tuesday, August 7, 2007
It’s all over but the crying!!
Well that’s it folks…for the hard training at least. I completed my final week of hard training on Sunday and it’s taper time from now to race day on the 26th. Last week was a 20 hour week ending with a 180k ride on Saturday and a 32k un on Sunday. It felt really good to get that run in, a real confidence booster for IM Lou. I switched my Garmin over to miles and jut concentrated on getting from one mile to the next, imaging what it will be like on the 26th. Aid stations are spaced approximately every mile at the IM and a common strategy is to view the whole thing as 26 one mile repeats and do your best to keep running from one station to the next.
Training volume is reduced by 30% this week and another 30% next week to allow the body to fully recover from and adapt to the training. Often people feel over tired and lethargic during this period, I know I sure do today Wanted to watch the 2006 IM on NBC on Sunday for some inspiration, and only got to see the last half hour, it was advertised to start at 4:00 and actually started at 2:30pm, dang!
The Athlete’s Guide was released on the Internet on Friday and I am now finding myself thinking about all the logistics of the event, special needs bags, pre-race breakfast, nutrition/hydration strategies, course details, final bike set-up, etc., etc. Checklists are great for keeping track of all the details, I’ve got lots!
Training volume is reduced by 30% this week and another 30% next week to allow the body to fully recover from and adapt to the training. Often people feel over tired and lethargic during this period, I know I sure do today Wanted to watch the 2006 IM on NBC on Sunday for some inspiration, and only got to see the last half hour, it was advertised to start at 4:00 and actually started at 2:30pm, dang!
The Athlete’s Guide was released on the Internet on Friday and I am now finding myself thinking about all the logistics of the event, special needs bags, pre-race breakfast, nutrition/hydration strategies, course details, final bike set-up, etc., etc. Checklists are great for keeping track of all the details, I’ve got lots!
Monday, July 30, 2007
A Little Taste of Louisville!
Yesterday was long brick day and I completed another 180k ride (4th) and 15k run, same distance as last week, but it was much hotter and humid than last week. (Also got a 4k swim in on Friday and another 2k on Saturday). It was an 8 hour workout and at the end of it, I was done, done, done and left wondering how to manage having to run another 27k in Louisville. Trust in your training, trust in your training and you’ll benefit from this exposure to the heat was all I could come up with! I guess most people just don’t know what lies beyond the 20k or 30k mark of the Ironman marathon, suppose that’s part of the Ironman lure. Total for the week was 9750m swimming, 240k bike, 60k running, total of 17:30 hours for the week.
This week is the final week to train before the 3 week taper period starts and should be the highest volume week on the schedule. Will be trying for another 17 hr week and possibly 18 hr. Weather forecast is for a hot and humid week, yeah! It will be 35 degrees plus all week in Louisville, plus the humidity so better star getting used to it!
This week is the final week to train before the 3 week taper period starts and should be the highest volume week on the schedule. Will be trying for another 17 hr week and possibly 18 hr. Weather forecast is for a hot and humid week, yeah! It will be 35 degrees plus all week in Louisville, plus the humidity so better star getting used to it!
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