Ironman 70.3 Syracuse : Official Thread (Page 16)

drdking - 2010-09-19 4:33 PM 6:14:11

 In my opinion the weather was decently nice, at least compared to what was forcasted. It was low 60s at 5am, not the high 40s I expected. The water was really cold but nothing you couldn't get used to after a couple hundred yards. The bike was... foggy, really really foggy, I couldn't see more than a few feet in front of me going up the first 10miles of hills, then I'm pretty sure I took the descent after way faster than was safe. I ended up just riding in my Tri top and was fine. I did take the time to change socks after the bike due to them being a bit more water logged than I enjoy.

 

PinoTriGuy - 2010-09-20 8:13 AM So I officially finished my first triathlon and first HIM yesterday! Time was 7:35. Not the greatest but I just wanted to finish in under 8 hours... so I met my goal. I followed the BT training guide and it worked out great. I really surprised myself in the swim, I thought it would take me at least an hour to do the swim, but I ended up doing it in 43min. The bike course kicked my thought 4+ hours. Yup and I was one of the people walking the 2 big hills. Lesson learned though, I have a standard road bike, so I was maxed out on even the lowest gear... I think a new tri bike would be in order before the next HIM I do. The run was pretty straightforward, 2:05, so pretty much a constant 10min/mile. I was happy about that though, the first race I ever did was the Nasvhille 1/2 marathon, and my time was 2:30. So I PRed my half marathon time.... after doing the swim and bike.  Thanks for all the help and positive motivation guys, I'm sure if you guys passed me you had said some encouragement. There were tons of people doing that, and the crowd support was really nice too. I hope to do this race again sometime, but gotta train for those hills next time.

GMAN 19030 - 2010-09-19 4:46 PM Finished in 5:34.

36:56 swim
2:44 bike
2:01 run

The weather was terrible.  50's, light rain and fog for the entire bike ride.  The water temp was 62, so that was no picnic either.  I was so cold coming out of the water that my T1 was 7 minutes (including a potty break).  I had to completely towel off and put on arm warmers and socks to keep a bit warmer.  I literally never had to pee during a tri before (except in the water waiting to start the swim) and I had to go three times because of the cold.  T1, last aid station on the bike (mile 46 or so - I just couldn't make it until the end), and again at T2.

The bike course was definitely a challenge.  Very hilly.  I think I was going 5 mph up the biggest hill. Several hills in which max speed never hit double digits.  Saw several people walking up some hills.

Overall, a nice race.  They have no control over the weather and that was the biggest issue.

Things I would change:
- Move the race to August
- Make the run more scenic.  Syracuse is an ugly city (and I grew up here) and we got to see all the ugly.  Not sure how they can do that.  I would like to see them ditch the point to point run but I'm not sure running around the hills of Jamesville is a good idea as it would be a harsh, harsh run.
- Why no hats?

Best port-a-pottys I have ever used.  They smelled great (not a typo) and had pictures, flowers and Purrell.  I will definitely do it again.  Well run and organized.

msaskin - 2010-09-20 8:00 AM

Excellent work on the 1/2 marathon PR...at the end of the day!

Don't think that a tri bike would (or wouldn't) have helped you, especially on those hills.  That's more a function of gearing than anything.  If your road bike has a triple crank, odds are you had lower gears than if you were on a newer tri bike (or double crank road bike) with standard cranks.  If your road bike is a double, it's the same as most tri bikes.  Personally, I switched to a compact crank a few weeks ago and am very happy I did.

First 70.3 for me as well.  Ended up with 5:47:26. 
35:59 swim - slow for me (I should be at ~30 mins for this distance) but didn't want to push it to hard for my first HIM
3:01:43 bike - felt good, compact crank was worth it as I was able to spin up the hills at almost my target cadence (was below it on a few of the nasty climbs).  Nutrition was on-target, felt good overall, too bad I couldn't crack 3 hours
2:02:30 run - off target by a fair amount.  Was aiming for a 1:50 (8:30 splits) and was holding fine for the first 3-4 miles, then just started to tail off.  My knee was hurting (and was absolutely killing me by the end of the run) and that was a big factor.  I had the energy to run faster, just couldn't bear the extra movement/impact on my knee.

In any case, I'd call the race a success.  Excellent first HIM for me, and definitely a learning experience.  Finishing off this season with a sprint in a few weeks then it's off-season base building time for next year (Ironman Canada!)