It certainly wasn't for a shortage of ice. We were spectating at about 3PM when a guy in one of those 4 wheel utility vehicles drove by with bags and bags of ice and asked if we wanted one for our cooler. He said that they told him to deliver ice to the aid stations and the aid stations said they didn't need them.

Not sure of the logic behind the ice. Maybe it's hard to keep since the coolers in the trucks don't have electricity.

We did run out of ice. In the truck, we had two of those ice coolers like you see at a convenience store packed full of ice at the beginning of the day. We ran out of ice around 3:00pm. In year's past they have delivered extra ice during the day on those four wheelers you see on the course. In year's past we also only had one cooler of ice in our truck.

We had plenty of cups, we had cups left over after the race.

We also ran out of sponges, even after 'recycling' some of them.

Interesting. As I was in line to get my morning clothes bag, maybe 1:30pm or so, there was a semi trailer with at least 4 pallets of ice that the IronMan crew was unloading with a pallet jack and putting on to the 4 wheeler. It certainly didn't seem that there was a shortage of ice.

As far as why they would say not hand out ice, I can think of two theories. One, in the past they have run out of ice at many races, maybe they think people will take less ice and it will last longer if volunteers don't hand it out? The other is the cup theory, whether it has to do with cost, numbers, environmental impacts of all the trash, or some combination of the three who knows. For $300 you certainly hope its not them being cheap.

We observed the "recycling" and were intrigued. Was that standard operating procedure or did you guys improvise?

We just picked up the clean looking sponges off the pavement, re-dunked them in the trashcan with the others and 'recycled' them. If not, we would have run out of sponges before lunch. I don't advise drinking out of them!

In the couple time I have volunteered (IMLP) it has been standard practice. there just are not enough to throw them away.

Think twice about wiping your face with them. :)

Thank you Joe!

At this point, I have no plans to race pro.

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I would pick up a sponge(s) at one aid station, tuck it in my suit and hand it back at the next aid station. Rinse and repeat.

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What I do: http://app.strava.com/athletes/345699

I figured it was common knowledge that the sponges were re-used. I certainly wouldn't drink from them but they sure feel good tucked into a suit. I don't care it was already used by someone else, we are all already so filthy it really doesn't matter.

The volunteers are instructed to stay behind the athletes and they are not supposed to go ahead and "place an order" with an aid station. The reality is that some follow the rules others not. Staying behind the rider is a relatively new rule/directive, I believe 2015. Regardless there is little an athlete can do, you aren't going to be "rude" to a volunteer and dismiss them, but having a volunteer in front can certainly be helpful.

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This has been the "policy" for quite sometime now. Maybe 2015 in NA??? Regardless it is a pretty frequent question that comes up in the pro meeting, ie. ~"will there be ice". The standard line back is: ~"Ice is for cooling product"

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stevej,

I was a distant 2nd to you in the 30-34 AG (#humblebrag - is that still a # in 2017?) Anyways, very impressive race. I felt like the bike course was faster than the impressions I got from others who raced in prior years. What did you think overall about your day? Your swim/bike combo was crazy fast and I'm sure you probably had more to give on the run, but didn't need to push it.

There was a volunteer at your aid station who went above and beyond. On my way back after the turnaround on my first lap I was grabbing everything I could drink as I went through. One girl at the end of the station wasn't paying attention and completely dropped the cups as I went to grab them. It happens. I kept running and this guy chased me down with two cups of water and told me he saw the cups get dropped and wondered if I needed more water. A huge thank you goes out to him and all the volunteers.

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Instagram | Team Kiwami North America

I might be wrong, but that sounds like something Oldgeezer himself wudda done!

Cheers,

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thechromedome
http://www.favoritefinishlines.blogspot.com
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"there are no drafters in heaven" - C Bonner

Thanks man.

I don't think the bike course is wicked fast but it's not slow either. It's an honest bike course that keeps you on your toes (and it's my favorite so far). I just think in general people have this misconception about the bike course going into it if they haven't done it before. They then hit some of those hills in the back half and it throws them off. They work a little too hard on the hills and then are hit hard in the face with that run.

I was very happy with the day and kinda surprised how the day unfolded. I honestly didn't have the most ideal prep for the race (12 days off training for my wedding/honeymoon at the end of April/early may), so there was a bit unknown of how things would go. The heat/humidity in florida had also kicked up in early May. Running was becoming extremely difficult and I couldn't hit any of my key training runs that I hit a few weeks earlier for FL 70.3. I signed up for the race just for the race experience. I still think I'm new to 70.3's and I'm just trying to learn everything I can at this point.

I felt the swim was a bit easier than last year. Last year, you were hit with a bunch of chop right as you made the turn at the first turn buoy. This year, the chop came about half way on the back stretch. I still have no idea where it came from and I got mixed up with a bunch of folks right as we hit the chop which was difficult to maneuver. I did notice that a lot of people seemed to be swimming way wide which just adds distance/time to your swim. I planned to ride hard and just forget there was a run afterward. I rode the first few miles pretty hard as I felt good and wanted to get out of the park/masses as fast as possible. Within the first few miles, I noticed I was near the FOP guys in the 35-39 AG. I honestly didn't expect that and some of those guys I didn't expect to see until late in the bike or not on the bike at all. My power ended up a bit lower than I really wanted it to be but I was very happy with the bike split. I do think there was maybe 1-2 minutes left out there but that is easy for me to say now. I thought I was in trouble the first 2 miles on the run as I thought I was already working too hard. My hr worked on the bike but mysteriously it wasn't working on the run. I like to use hr to gauge my effort and especially for dealing with heat. I ended up settling in (got my rpe/hr down) and trying to keep things steady and save something for the 2nd loop. I folded on the run last year and had nothing left on the 2nd loop so I wanted to make sure that didn't happen again. I had a really slow mile 7 which I'm actually kinda mad about right now. I got too comfortable and should have been pushing the pace. I typically hit a wall around miles 9-10 but it never happened which was surprising. I didn't know it at the time, but I ran to the front of the AG race (I didn't know it until they said I was the first AGer across the finish). I thought it was hot out there but it was manageable for me (benefit to living in south florida). Sponges, water.... rinse, repeat. I do think I had a 1:23-1:24 in me. I said before the race if I ran 1:24-1:26 I would be happy with that. Overall I was very pleased and it was a big confidence booster going forward with 70.3 worlds coming up in 3 months.

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You and Steve both crushed it out there Sunday! Steve caught me by the end of swim, made up 6-7 min. I am very jealous of that swim time. Congrats guys......Bruce welcome back to WTC racing!

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2024: Bevoman, Galveston, Alcatraz, Marble Falls, Santa Cruz

Is there much out of the saddle climbing on the bike?

No. You could ride the whole bike without ever getting out of the saddle. I'm sure your back would hate it but its possible. I ran an 11-23 with a 53/39 and never shifted to the small chain ring.

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Okay, I will be running an 11-25 with a 52/36. Would you mind sharing your power file so that I could get an idea of how you attacked the course?

Swim Waves


Is it standard to have...in theory...the slowest swim waves go right after the pros followed by the faster swim waves?

I think the RD tries to rearrange AGs from year to year. This would prevent any AG from being penalized year after year.

For example, I've raced this event 4 times. If I was racing this year, I would start in the 4th AG wave (6th wave overall). I have typically started much further back in this event.

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Pink? Maybe. Maybe not. You decide.

Wave 15 here. Us Yankees are going to bake in that afternoon sun.

"Wave 15 here. Us Yankees are going to bake in that afternoon sun. "

Yikes! I've started late, but not THAT late!

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Pink? Maybe. Maybe not. You decide.

Wave 15.. HOOOOO Boy!

It is what it is...

But, M30-34 is usually the fastest age group...I think. When you have them that far back...it just think it could cause issues on the bike...

...at least there will be a ton of carrots along the way...I just hope we are not going to be called for drafting as opposed to a blocking penalty going the other way.