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Ironman Austria 2014
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No Pirate kit in the locker yet. Hope to have some by the time we get to Austria.
Profile:
Are you doing the (nearly) half iron distance?
For the benefit of other forum users and for the avoidance of doubt, much as it may read that way, Chaney and I did not just turn this threat into dating website chatroom.
Awkward.
Will be wearing my aero lid simply because it should let less water in!
A pretender, yes.
Ahem, hope I'm not interrupting anything
I'm doing 2/3rds of Marshman on Sunday - the swim and the bike bit. Not risking the run. Was going to walk it but, given the forecast I'm not sure I'll bother. I suspect the bike may take me a while - half expecting to find myself going backwards.
PR I couldn't find you, sorry! Must admit tried to stay warm in car as much as possible!
Bad luck ChaneyBee but 4 is nothing. I don't remember which very unlucky pirate took punctures for the entire team - about 10 - at IM Switzerland (I think) a few years back.
Marshman was tough for me.
M shaped swim in water so murky you couldn't see your hand let alone other peoples feet. It was going ok till I started swimming head on into people coming the other way, heading for the middle turn buoy instead of the end which threw me completely. Ater the final turn wind seemed to pick up forcing me to breathe to one side only which made me feel a bit woozy for some reason.
Concious that I was going to be on the bike for a long time I'd decided that I needed to be as comfortable as possible so a slow transition to make sure I didn't get cold. Shirt, jacket, leg warmers, overshoes etc resulting in abuse from officiating Fat Buddah for being so slow. It was the right decision cos there were only a couple of points on the bike where I started to feel a little warm.
Encouraging words from Pedaling Petal at the mount line and off I went. Legs didn't seem to be working properly and after about a mile I glanced at the watch to see it wasn't showing any detail. Pressing buttons made no difference so stopped to remove gloves and realised I'd stopped it instead of pressing lap coming out of transition, doh! Few miles on, turned onto the main road and encountered the full force of the wind blowing me all over the road. Head down and dig in. Bike course is largely on main roads with lovely surfaces thankfully but there are quite a few long exposed stretches. The few 'hills' that there were didn't present any real problems though they did seem to require more effort than they should've for the gradients. Finally reached the feed station at about 30m and stopped briefly to top up with water. Seemed slightly easier for a while after that as the wind finally got behind me. At about 35miles a cycling club chain gang sweeping past at high speed with no word of greeting. A mile on they'd stopped for a comfort break and when they came passed again there was lots of encouragement to jump on the back. Sadly they were going significantly faster than I could manage. However, a couple of tailenders going a bit slower then passed. One had done won his AG in the marshman sprint the previous day and I think kept their pace such that I was acutally able to benefit which I felt a little- guilty about but not much! Sadly, we parted company at the point where I headed back into the open headwind alongside a major windfarm. Good grief!! Finally made it another turn and the shelter of the sea wall. Fantastic few miles along the coast road before final turn onto the worst stretch of road on the course and eventually back to T2 after a fraction over 4hrs on the bike.
Packed up my stuff and after a coffee and excellent bacon and egg butty headed for home feeling a bit battered.
Four punctures – wowzers.
I had a grim time out on the course yesterday. The bike leg was spent mostly clinging for dear life to the handlebars, whilst turning my legs at a sufficiently quick rate to avoid complete numbness in the lower limbs.
DNF may not have been too bad an outcome. In case you’ve not had feedback from others, you missed a horrideous run. The last three miles being directly into the coastal wind (allegedly 30MPH at time – it blew me off my feet once), along a broken footpath no more than a trainer’s width wide, with shin high grass at points.
I fell over the line in 4:50 but was a cold, miserable sh*t for at least as much time again afterwards.
Yesterday taught me that I am physically fit enough for IMA but I need to work on my mental resilience. Stopping to give the wind verbal abuse and occasionally flicking it the bird on more than one occasion is, in retrospect, pretty embarrassing.
I think I have it the other way around Robbie. Mental resilience is ok, fitness is somewhat lacking
good to see you yesterday Trogs - at least you made an attempt unlike a certain other couple we could mention.....
the wind was brutal - I've seen it as strong in the past but only in gusts, not the unrelenting battering that it gave everyone yesterday. Marshman always has some wind to speak of - the clue is the big wind farm just outside Lydd - but that was just awful. it was a bit lighter on Saturday but they had rain to compensate - and they were only doing sprints and standard distances so got off lightly in some ways.
Indeed. Haven't spoken to them yet but I'm sure they have their excuses lined up
The bit round the wind farm was the worst I think, mostly cos it's a long, straight, open road with no protection at all. Many of the other bad bits at least had hedges which gave a bit of protection; you just had to be aware of gateways and other gaps. I am sooo grateful we didn't have to contend with rain as well.
Did someone say something?
Jealous of the chat going on over on the PSOF Championship thread, I thought I'd breathe some life into this by confirming plans:
Thurs 26 June - Stansted to Munich (Easyjet). Drive to Klag arriving in evening.
Bike being driven over (in their van I hope) by Bike Box Online. Never before used or for that matter heard of these guys so fingers crossed).
Apartment booked just off Viktringer Ring (South East of Klag town).
Mon 30 June - International drink Klagenfurt dry day.
Tues 01 July - Limp back to Munich by car for return flight to Stansted in afternoon.
I've heard of Bike Box Online but don't think I know anyone who's used them.
Tue 24 June - Heathrow (silly o'clock) to Klaggers via Vienna (Austrian Airlines) arriving 1030
Hotel Plattenwirt - across the road from the Europark
Mon 30 Jun - rehydration day
Tue 1 Jul - mid morning flight from Klaggers - LHR arriving home early afternoon
We're driving down the Monday before with a planned stopover somewhere in Germany.
co-incidentally staying at the same place as Trogs.
Vague plans to ride the bike lap at some point Tuesday pm or Wed am.
Leaving Tuesday morning to drive back.
So excited. Can't wait now.
I can
Now I know the compact will be kind for the two big climbs we have on each loop in Klagenfurt but my question is whether, by not having a 'double-big' chainring on the front, I'm going to miss out on the benefits of the extra speed available on the long swooping descents on IMA course.
Thoughts please?
Dunno. Suppose you have to weigh up whether you're now strong enough to do the climbs on a double without battering your legs too much, against spinning out on the downs with a compact.
I know I'm going to need my compact for the ups and will be grateful for the recovery on the downs. Planning to go play on some hills tomorrow which will give me a good idea of how much it's going to hurt in 5 weeks time!
I'm no bike expert but I'm with Trogs here. There are enough climbs to get the benefit of a compact and I spun out of gears on mine at 35mph by which time I was happy to let gravity take over. So unless you are very strong legged id keep hold of the compact
I think I shall be keeping my powder dry. Just like my bike, which stayed indoors for almost the entirety of this weekend (rose a huge 13.5 miles yesterday!).
Last weekend's training gave way to boozy celebrations of Arsenal's victory in the FA Cup. This weekend, it was wet Saturday (so I did b*gger all) and Sunday and Monday saw my liver suffering more abuse whilst at mate's wedding.
The confidence I'm gaining from recent 'training' is that I'll have no problem going-long in Klagenfurt's bars!
"Now I know the compact will be kind for the two big climbs we have on each loop in Klagenfurt but my question is whether, by not having a 'double-big' chainring on the front, I'm going to miss out on the benefits of the extra speed available on the long swooping descents on IMA course. "
your compact will be fine for the descents with a 50*11 combo. tbh - the descents aren't as steep as the climbs so you never really get the chance to get a huge speed up unlike say IMCH. I had a 53*11 at IMA as my top gear but I don't recall hitting a good downhill speed - fast yes, but nowt special. you'll probably get more use of the 50*11 on the flats as the roads are lovely and smooth so you can purr along in a higher gear than you probably would on UK tarmac.
Cheers FB.
I am trying to qualify whether the kind terrain and superior road surfaces will translate into the "quick" course I've been told to anticipate.
In your experience did you find an extra x% or x.x MPH improvement in your speed over other courses? I appreciate it's subjective but I'm living in hope that I'll find my way around the 112M in Austria quicker than IMFL and Outlaw by virtue of the course (in additional to anything I've achieved through training).
I don't think you'll find the IMA bike course as quick as IMFL or Outlaw simply because it's more undulating, unless of course you're a lightweight and are quick going up hill. I'm a big unit (16+ stone) so flatter courses suit me better than undulating ones as I can keep my power going. for comparison here are my bike times:
I should also throw some qualifiers in there
IMFL bike was a perfect execution from me - all went right on the day. Outlaw I had a mechanical and my rear mech thumbshifter went uptits and I couldn't change gear and after 2 stops to try to fix it (no success) I was left with just 2 gears on the front mech for 40 miles! At IMA I had serious cramps on the bike due to salt loss (very hot and very humid) so had a few stops to try to relieve my muscles. If I'd had no-issue bike rides at Outlaw and IMA I still wouldn't be close to IMFL - probably 5:45 at Outlaw, 5:50/6:00 at IMA.
I'd put IMA closer to the Roth course for undulations and road surface - I did 5:40 at Roth but that was as part of a relay so I didn't have to run off the bike so could go that bit harder (my 1st lap was 2:30 - I suffered on the 2nd....
)
Thanks for taking the time to set that out. I am now fitter that IMFL 2011 (6:18) and on a more appropriately sized and sharper shaped bike than Outlaw 2012 (6:06) but slightly disappointed to learn there isn't perhaps as much (if any) 'free speed' available in Klagenfurt as I'd first hoped. My hope was to push for 19-20MPH average an pick up a sub-6 time. I guess it's back to working on the engine as best possible.
P.S. I have a similar size profile as you FB and so hope former Challenge, now IM, Barca will be the bike course for me to pick up a quick time on in October!
my other problem at IMA which also led to cramps was going too hard chasing my missus down - she came out of the swim about 8mins before me, but it took me nearly 120km of chasing before I caught her. but although she's a very good cyclist, she suffered for going so hard - she fell over in T2 and was taken to the med tent (dehydration and salt loss) so got a DNF. that was her 1st IM but she did IMFL with me where she did the bike in 6hrs. and finished the event.
good luck at Klaggers - have a great race!