Ironman 70.3 Steelhead : Official Thread (Page 4)

Sarah, hi! Firs of all, fantastic job at Steelhead! just read your RR and you killed it, girl! nicely done! you were in the wave before me, so who knows, I may have seen you

I'm a run-walker, I'm actually a pace group leader for a Galloway site out here in the Northwest Suburbs (we meet in Algonquin and run on the path).  So, we are also training for time (trying to beat 5 hrs), so our plan is a bit jacked up.  Normally, in Galloway training, we run the 26 miler (after a 20 and a 23) as part of training, to build endurance and not hit the wall...  This time, for Chicago, we had a 20, 23, 26 (that got shortened to a 23 bc of insane weather), 26 and 29 (Fox Valley day, so we'll run 3 miles+the marathon)...  so this weekend is 26.. I am volunteering at Danskin on Sunday (want to join us?), and my husband's work schedule got changed at the last minute, so I actually have to run the 26 tomorrow, all by myself, instead of with my group on Saturday.  Not really excited about logging that many hours in solitude, but what can you do?

Where do you live?

oh my, you picked the worst year to start your Chicago career lol  But hey, it can only go up from THERE, right????

How fun that you are so close to the marathon! I'm in Carpentersville, 40 miles west of the city.

Finished my 26.2 today!!! figured if i'm going to be out there for 26 miles, I'm making it 26.2 (even if that meant literally walking in circles in the parking lot for .2 mi hehe).. It was hot, man. I did have a friend from our group run with me, he is an older gentleman, so he struggled with heat and did 22 total.. another couple met us after we did 6 miles and ran 5 with us.. so you know, it helps to break up the monotony and I was very thankful for the company! it would have sucked big time to do this on my own completely....

We should totally get together sometime!  Are you running Chicago for a charity, by the way?

Enjoy your weekend! I hope you get your run in, but if not, hey, you know the concert and everything that goes with it will be fabulous!

Hey!  I said thanks and I will say it again!  You guys did a great job even though I almost got plowed into by a pickup on M-63 at about mile 52 on the bike.  He was dodging the spectators sitting next to the road and almost took about 4 of us out on the bike course.

The weekend was great and a perfect one for my first HIM.  BIG shout out to the volunteers.  You make the races great.

Here is a link to my blog/race report about Steelhead 70.3

http://musingsbymollye.blogspot.com/2012/08/second-time-around.html

Sarah, hi! Strangely, my legs have been fine after Steelhead... as in the, next morning after the race, I wasn't really sore.  On Tue, the quads were a bit touchy when my 6 yo tried to sit in my lap, but no walking backwards down the stair or any of the usual post-marathon-type-race business.  I guess I could have pushed harder? I don't know. 

I AM running Chicago for charity this year, as I did last.  This charity is called Holiday Heroes...I think it is pretty cool, started by 2 young sisters one of whom battles a disease.  So they go into hospitals at holiday times and spend time wit the kids and buy them stuff, anything to put a smile on the sick kids' faces.  I like that they do not require a fundraising minimum, but if you raise $500, they reimburse the Chicago reg. fee.   they are part of the charity village, so last year they had nice set up with after race food (and even beer kegs! not sure how they got away with that, but I drank it!) Last year they had a nice lunch for us the day before the race, too.  Check out their link if you like.  I am always happy to help them get new runners, since they are so new.  They are pretty clueless about race stuff, but hey, it's ok.  I can help them with that.  I was one of the first runners to sign up with them and the whole thing was a bit surreal/God-sent-you-my-way type scenario.. Anyhoo, that's that.

So, I have the FASTEST recovery after my 26 miler. (not really, but I like to joke I did).  After I got back on Friday and took a little nap with my little one, get a call from my friend down the street- my 6 yo was riding bikes with her son and fell and hit his head hard enough not to remember ANYTHING from Friday or Thur.. so needless to say, as soon as I heard that, I grabbed Lukas, and we ran down the street, and not one muscle hurt! as if I never ran! Lots of ER excitement for the rest of that day.  Nikita is okay, just has to take it easy (concussion), details are in my training log.   But boy, those 5 hours of ER and CT scans I had no pain and no tiredness in any part of my body.  Of course, it all came down on me over the weekend. 

My plan calls for 6.5 both Saturdays before Fox Valley (which is technically a 29 mile run on my Chicago schedule).  I will do probably 12 this Saturday and probably 8-10 the next.  You are welcome to come run with us, if you don't mind run/walking  

As far as running 20 2 weeks before the marathon.  I think it's okay to do, if you keep in mind 2 things: go slower than you would normally, and be super attuned to what your body is telling you.  Be prepared to stop if ANYTHING feels weird.  If you are ok with that, I think it's fine to do a 20 miler.  I mean, 2 weeks before steelhead, that Saturday (Aug 1), I ran 21 miles in 98 degree heat, and the next day, rode 57 and did a 5 mile brick.  So that is 10 hour weekend 2 weeks before a 70 mile race.  And I was recovered enough on race day.  So I think for we, being endurance athletes, are used to higher volume and train more than an average person only doing marathon training.. kwim?  If you were a new runner training for your first marathon, I'd say no, taper as a normal person, but you threw down a 6.5 hr half-ironman.  You can do it, as long as you respect your body and the distance.

Hi. I'm Ashley. Just read through most of the posts as I'm considering doing Steelhead in 2013. I did Racine 70.3 this past summer as my first HIM. I have been debating if I am going to do another one this year or not, but I'm leaning towards doing it. Has anyone done both Racine and Steelhead to share some comparisons? I liked Racine (except it was hot), but Racine is on my baby's 2nd birthday this year, so its not gonna work out. Bummer too, since I live only 30 minutes from race site.

Thanks in Advance for any input.

-Ashley

In response to the above 2 comments. I did Steelhead this year. it was my first HIM, and I loved it. Check out my race report for my thoughts on the race at the time. We lucked out with the weather, which you can never guarantee, but overall I thought it was an excellent first HIM.

SWIM COURSE: You walk a mile south on the beach to the swim start, there's a big area between the start and the pier where you can get comfortable with the water and shake off some nerves (at least that's what I like to do). The lake was very calm this year, but I heard that 2-3 years ago the swim was cancelled due to rough conditions. The one thing I didn't really like was the swim exit, and running up the fairly steep, very sandy, beach.

BIKE COURSE: I'm a big fan of this area of MI, and I liked the bike course. Sufficiently challenging for me (my weakest leg) without being overwhelming. Plenty of rolling hills on the south leg to the finish. Nicely shaded by the trees, too.

RUN COURSE: 3 hills of note. 2 of them you only run up (1x on each loop), but they're very short and mean the remaining part of the loop is flat/downhill.

Volunteers are amazing, and the start/finish area is well attended with plenty of enthusiastic spectators. I thought about doing it again in 2013, but opted for Racine in July, and my first full IM in August.

Thanks for the thoughts on the race.  I hope that the lake is calm this year  as I did hear about the conditions when they cancelled the swim portion

Hi everyone!

doing Steelhead as a preparation for IMWI.

Hoping to see you all there!

Alex

Hi there BT'ers.  My sister is doing this race on Sunday, and we've never been here, as we always race Racine.

For those that have done it, where is a good place to spectate for the run?

GOOD LUCK to all of those racing this weekend...I will be cheering you all on!

About what mile marker is that? Would we have time to drive to the finish?

Thanks so much!!!

GOOD LUCK!