Ironman Wisconsin (Page 8)

BUT WE RACE IN 13 DAYS!!! ARE YOU SAYING IT WONT BE READY IN 13 DAYS BUT IT WILL IN 14?!?!?  WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?!?!? 

I've ordered 5 and a half tons of chlorine to be dropped in the lake at 7 days out. That will provide the shock needed to kill all the bacteria, and leave plenty of time to clean out all the residual dead wildlife that resulted.

Seriously, I'm not wasting my first IM on a Du.. can't think of a bigger waste of time.. sooo the water better clear up.

Screw That.  I'll swim through anything short of solid sewage and, even then, its a question of whether or not its wetsuit legal. 

Worst case, I'll have Sue write me a rx for strong round of antibiotics on Monday. 

UPDATED INFORMATION FROM ONE OF LAST YEAR'S PARTICIPANTS (thank you to Agnes):

1). Getting out of the water/finishing the swim. It is not a level exit getting out of the water - there is a "ramp" - which might make it trying to get out and up. There are volunteers that can help get you out of the water to the ramp. If wearing a wetsuit (which I believe everyone will), unzip and get out of the upper torso area. Once on land, let the peelers/strippers help you. Drop on the ground and let them pull. They will give you the wetsuit and you will curtail it up helix (run or walk). From helix to Transition 1 is about 100 yards or so.

2). T1 - Transition bags are in order on tables with plenty of volunteers (so I heard). They will see you and call out the number for the corresponding T1 bag. Get to the correct changing room (just wanted to make sure that no guys go in the ladies area, and vice versa, we don't want you to get a penalty or arrested), do your change. The volunteer can pack it up for you. I don't recall where the wetsuit goes though, sorry. GET YOUR HELMET ON RIGHT AWAY!!

Things to look out for - rain, gatorade, gel, or anything that might be on the ground if you plan on running with socks and carrying your bike shoes to get to the bike.

3). Special Needs bags - 1 bag for the 1/2 way point of the bike (A). 1 bag for the 1/2 point of the run (B). Hand in the special needs bags the morning of. What to put in:

Anything you deem necessary, i.e. peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, saltines, Pringles, pretzels, quarter-pounder, extra socks, long-sleeve wick shirt, gloves, extra gel, water bottle, etc.
(A) 1/2-way point of the bike (starting 2nd loop) is somewhere on Whalen Road, possibly before Locust Drive.
(B) Just before the mats near the turn-around point.

You won't get your special needs bags until the day after (Mon.) if you want them.

Be ready to adapt to any changes and accept it! Anything can happen! If you plan on doing "x" minutes per mile pace on the run, accept it when your pace is slower.

Agnes was near the middle of the swim pack. Instead of fighting the pack/mob, she told me she literally stopped her swimming (was at least treading water, I would assume) and allowed others to go by her for a few minutes, just so she would feel more comfortable and swim better.

SOMETHING EXTRA COOL (but I can't post the attachment since it's size is more than 100 Kb).  I was provided a "freeware" Excel spreadsheet that provides predicted times of when you would be on certain points on the course.  You fill in some information into the light-blue required fields, and the macros automatically compute things for you.  On the right-hand side is a list of route points and their projected time of day.  There are two tabs on the bottom of the spreadsheet.  One is the Bike map and the other is the Run map.  When you look at those maps, they will provide the times that are listed on the route points.

Send me an e-mail to

[email protected]

and I will send you a copy of the attachment.

Thanks goes to Agnes for sending me this, and special thanks to the designer Steven Patton of Patton Athletic Club (provided in the spreadsheet)!
 

I hope this helps so far. 13 FREAKIN' DAYS, PEEPS!!!

Oh NOW!!!  Whatever are we going to do?!   The weather forecast has changed.  

Thickening clouds

Low: 38 °F

High: 63 °F

Just a little morning obsession to get your day started right. 

Ooh.  and a question, too. 

How many tubes will you have "accessible" to you on race day?  How many will you carry with you when you leave T1 and how many will be in your special needs bag?

I DNF'ed my oly this year because of 2 flats and only having one spare. I'm planing to carry 2 spare tubes and 3 CO2 inflators on the bike with an extra tube and CO2 in special needs. I know it's way overkill, but I would not sleep the  night before without knowing I'll have enough crap. And I'm also bringing a patch kit as well (small glueless one).

Ummm... if you are getting a couple of flats during a race please consider getting some new tyres for race day.  Typically when I start getting a few flats in a row I find my tyres have a bunch of small cuts in them.  When that happens it's time to get a new set of Michelin prorace².  If you are looking to ride 112 miles and you want to make sure you have as few problems as possible why not spend a few bucks on new tyres and tubes?  With all the time end effort you have put in training a little bit of insurance with new tyres and tubes will save you grams and CO₂.  Just a thought.  The prorace^2's Seem to be the favorite of most pro riders.  I figure if they are good enough for them then they are plenty good enough for me. 

 Ride like you have a greyhound chasing you...

Sprints with Eddie.  Watch out, he's a real son of a . 

Yes, taper brings out the movie quotes. 

I'm sorry! 

Hey, that's why the fishing is supposed to be great here!

I was quite hesitant when I did Spirit of Racine in Lake Michigan, but now I'm a little scared with that scenario.  Watch out for Swamp Thing! 

bib numbers are up:  http://www.nasports.com/participants/index.php

one zero three four.... 1034

that's me

http://www.nasports.com/participants/index.php

one-thousand three hundred eighty, thirteen eighty, one three eight zero, 1380, etc.

Dang, I was hoping to get a prime number. 

Good luck to you (and to all participants)! 

Six Hundred Seventy One!  671!

Which is good b/c it coincides with the number of hyperventilation attacks I'm having right now.