What did I just do?!
10-07-24, 09:15 PM
#1
Senior Member
Thread Starter
What did I just do?!
My first sprint was this past April. It was a super-sprint. I almost drowned on the mini 400 yard swim. Yet 10 minutes ago I registered for IW. I'm done for. I have a death wish. I must not like myself. I'm not going to tell my wife until the day before.
10-07-24, 10:37 PM
#3
December? Man, that's coming up fast! So here's my two cents. You're probably plenty fit right now. What you need to work on is a hydration/nutrition strategy. When I did IW last year, I was strong through the swim and most of the bike ride. But towards the end of the ride is when I noticed I started going into deficit. I did OK in the first part of the run. In fact, I was on track to finish with more than an hour to spare, which was like my upper level goal. But shortly after starting the second lap, around mile 8, that's when I started to get cramps. I just became too dehydrated and depleted my electrolytes. At that point I changed my strategy to a walk-run-walk strategy with stops at every aid station for gatorade and gels. I still finished with 45 minutes to spare, but that second half of my run was almost 30 minutes longer than the first half.
10-08-24, 12:07 PM
#4
Senior Member
Thread Starter
Thanks Jen. I'm a bit concerned that I'm jumping into this too quickly. It's just that I have this major even in my backyard! How do I not give it a shot? I can swim the 1.2 miles easily enough. As long as I don't go crazy. I've never biked 54 miles straight, but I figure it's all flat. So, I can just keep a descent pace. I'll be sure to put a few 50 mile rides in between now and then. It's the run that has me worried. The most that I've ever ran was this past Saturday: 6.6 miles. I had more in the tank, but I'm not so sure how much more. I'll take your advice about nutrition. I should also look into getting some coaching, as my swim and run times aren't great. Yesterday I averaged 1 minute per 50 yards in the swim (no suit or cap). On Saturday, I averaged 10:30 per mile. I suck so badly.
10-08-24, 12:30 PM
#5
Newbie
10-08-24, 12:34 PM
#6
Senior Member
Thread Starter
Valkyrie...yes, I have an Oly on basically the same exact course on 10/19. I'm confident about that one. I signed up for the Indian Wells 70.3 on 12/6. That one I'm not so sure about. I figured I can just take it easy and get through it.
10-08-24, 01:05 PM
#7
Newbie
That'll be great to be on the same course. Your tri bike should do well for the route, looks to be fairly flat and fast. Just my 2 cents (and probably not new info), I always try to keep a higher cadence on the bike portions for tri's. I find that if I can get the cadence to be close to my run steps per minute, I feel much better running off the bike and avoid that heavy leg feeling.
10-08-24, 01:48 PM
#8
Based on your swim and run pace, I really don't think you'll have any problems. You have 8.5 hours to finish. Figure 45 minutes for the swim and 2-2.5 hours for the run, and estimate 15 minutes for transitions (this are outside numbers). That still gives you five hours for the ride, and that would only need about 12mph average. Just stay hydrated and you'll be fine.
10-08-24, 02:04 PM
#10
Senior Member
Thread Starter
That'll be great to be on the same course. Your tri bike should do well for the route, looks to be fairly flat and fast. Just my 2 cents (and probably not new info), I always try to keep a higher cadence on the bike portions for tri's. I find that if I can get the cadence to be close to my run steps per minute, I feel much better running off the bike and avoid that heavy leg feeling.
10-09-24, 09:12 PM
#11
Are those 80mm wheels? I got a pair of valve stems off Amazon for mine. It's been about a year so I don't remember the brand but they're plenty long enough for 80s. Might even fit up to 88mm. If those are big enough for your wheels just check out Amazon, but at this point I would be more concerned about having the time to set up tubeless. It seems to be more of a PITA than it should be.
As far as IW is concerned, I rode that last year on tubed tires with no problems. At least for the 70.3, I think they take the time to run a street sweeper around the course before the race. At least I didn't see much in the way of road hazards. Hope the same is true for an Oly.
As far as IW is concerned, I rode that last year on tubed tires with no problems. At least for the 70.3, I think they take the time to run a street sweeper around the course before the race. At least I didn't see much in the way of road hazards. Hope the same is true for an Oly.
