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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 341
 
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| Steve - I did not know that about Atlanta and find it interesting. I'm sure they don;t want to shut the streets down any longer than they have to, even on a holiday. Ivan is in that camp of not considering people who walk marathons to be true marathoners. I think he gives a pass to a short walk or two but certainly not the run/walk combo a lot of people seem to do. My goal for the half is no walking! I can't believe it is in 3 short weeks, and that is really only 2 since Thanksgiving week will be a complete blowoff! | |
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Elite
Posts: 2465
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MINDY -
The organizers (Atlanta Track Club) explain it (at least in part) by saying that it is unfair to require volunteers to stay out on the course any longer than five hours -- which given that it is Thanksgiving, makes perfect sense. I suspect, however, that there is a significant component of ATC who take a dimmish view of the walk/run and walk walkperiod crowd.
As for me, i've never sorted it out to my complete satisfaction. I certainly give a pass to anyone who comes up with an injury mid-race and has to hobble/crawl to a finish. Similarly, i give a pass to someone who hasn't strategized correctly and blows up at some point. Those are two pretty easy cases, because they involve people who at least visualized running the thing......and presumably did the requisite training for it.
Beyond that, however, the gray areas expand, and at some point I leave it up to each competitor/participant/finisher to decide if they really are a "marathoner" -- using whatever standards seem appropriate to them. One of the common feelings expressed in that Slowtwitch thread was that many people don't even want to wear the race shirt, because it no longer necessarily reflects a significant accomplishment. That is, the shirt is the same for them, running, say, a 3:26, as it is for someone walking it in 7:04.
Moving on........yup, three short weeks. Yikes! Tomorrow is the planned 21.5-miler, but that might be postponed a day or two due to weather. Right now it is very cold and very windy, hinting at a snow squall or three, although none are in the forecast. Not only would I like to do that run at the three-weeks-out point, but tomorrow is ideal because Lynn is in Toronto and it's not as if I would be leaving her for a few hours to bop away 21.5 miles!
Run happily this weekend! (Is your running head in a better place recently?)
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Expert
Posts: 818
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 Silver member | In Tempe...
This morning I swam about 30min, water was a bit cold, but I went in sans neoprene hoodie and was fine after about 100yds...so just a swim cap for me. Goggles were fogging a bit so I need to figure a solution for that as it looks like we were swimming right into the sun (although now that I think about it that was at 10am...so maybe sun not an issue). COming out of the water the first step is really high, that surprises me a bit, seems a little dangerous...but I guess they ran out of steps.
I rode a loop of the bike course and was pleased when I rode the "hill". I have ben doing all this training along the PCH on big hills and now we get a little bity hill. It's gradual for most of it and I avg about 15mph going up and maybe 12 at the steepest part. tomorow we will do another loop...but so far I am liking the course.
Around 7am it was cold. By the time I got in the water it was maybe 60. I started the bike at 66, and 2hr later it was 76...so it does get a bit warm. Going to try and start the bike with no extra gear, I think I will heat up quickly so I can handle 30min of chilly.
Now its off to atlete dinner and meeting, then stretching and then...Bill Burr at the Improv. then bed, then do it again...pateintly waiting for Sunday and enjoying the days. | |
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Elite
Posts: 2465
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NEIL -
GREAT report -- thank you very much for it!
TYR produces little bottles of anti-fog stuff; AquaSphere, too, I think. They must be somewhere at the expo, so buy one and use it before the start. Just make sure you rinse out your goggles well, as the solvent can sting.
Are you a spitter? Spitting works well! Spit on both lenses, both sides, rub around with your finger, and rinse. Then repeat. Just make sure you don't use for a swishing finger one that recently came into contact with BodyGlide or some other lubricant that will do worse than fog - it will smear!
If you find that a swim cap will suffice, then eschew the hoodie. But if you are worried about your head getting too cold, go with a second latex cap. That way, if your head starts heating you can just stop for a moment, remove the bottom cap (don't by mistake, remove the official race swim cap!!!!!!), and carry on.
I don't know if I said this at any point, but a good mindset to have for an iron is to expect the unexpected. Don't try to define it, just be mentally ready for it. At IMLP '04 it was not only the yellow jacket that got into my top and stung me two or three times around mile 62/63, it was also the three times my chain dropped. Each of the chain episodes cost me only about 20 seconds, so it was ultimately no biggie. Unnerving, but not a major problem. And the bee thing happened on a pretty fast downhill, so I just hung on for dear life with one hand and swatted furiously with the other.
Keep us posted! You sound loosey-goosey and happy -- keep it going that way! (And "patiently waiting" is the best of best ways to wait out Sunday!) 
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stevebradley's Mentor Group FULL
