Thanks. Silverman was the best all around tri I ever.did..

I swam without the wetsuit and was real glad as the water was as warm as it was yesterday. Cannot imagine how people felt in neoprene.
Bike was nice but holy fucking headwind on the way back. The constant rollers took a nice bite out of me.
The run was just hard. Hills and descents, no shade, temps above 90s. I was glad to see the finish line. Was hoping to go sub 5:15, but the heat broke me. 5:28. Loved the race course though! Hard and unapologetic about it.

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Next races on the schedule: none at the moment

Don't feel bad. 11.7% DNF. I don't think that even counts the ones who finished after the 4:25 p.m. cut. Never seen a number like that at a 70.3 before. Chattanooga was 9.6%.

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Sylvan Smyth | http://www.sportstats.asia | sylvan@sportstats.asia | Starvas

My bike alone was 13 min slower than last year....75km out of 90k into a headwind and having lost some serious bike fitness all played in. Most people I know we're a lot slower than last year. While I ended up around 5 min slower, it could have easily gone to 45 min slower. As soon as I saw my power was down and legs were burning for the same power at all my 70.3's this year, I decided to just dial back on the bike and stay in control so that the run did not turn into a death march. I just held the run together, but barely....this finish line could not come earlier. Frankly that was the toughest 4 week stretch on "life outside triathlon" before a race for me. Silverman is not a race to play games with. I had years of base and residual fitness for the summer which I had pretty much milked to the fullest for Tremblant 70.3 WC's. Just glad to get the final rolldown in M45-49. Turns out I was 6th and we had 3 slots and the top two and fifth did not take it...speaking of top 2...the second place guy Jason Sanquist has a 9 hour flat guy at IMC in the 90's....just glad to be within a "quarter time zone" of an athlete of that caliber.

Dev it was nice to meet and have a chat with you after the race. Congrats on the slot to worlds.
I still say this was the hardest 70.3 I have done.

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2017 Cervelo P2
2017 Cervelo S2
itraininla.com
#itraininla

Beautiful day out there. Had my slowest 70.3 swim ever! Wore only a DeSoto sleeveless top and tri shorts. Swam 40 minutes (I'm usually 32-34 minute 70.3 swimmer with a wetsuit). Bike was as expected for someone who does minimal cycling and all of that in my garage. It was my first outdoor bike ride since the June Lake Tri back in July and I went over 3 1/2 hours on the bike. I found the bike to be moderately difficult. No super-steep climbs, but pretty much all up or down on this course with very little flat. After doing races with insane bike courses like last year's IM Tahoe and the old Magic Mountain Man half IM, this didn't seem too crazy.

Run was hot as expected, but I did a 50K a month ago with temps in the 100s and something like 9K feet of climbing, so again, this seemed tame by comparison. No super-steep sections, but again, either climbing or descending the entire course. Two things that amazed me on the run:

1. I was shocked that 99% of the runners were following the curve of the road rather than cutting the tangents to save distance. Some people probably ran 13.5 miles following the curve of the road.

2. I was in the 3rd to last wave and figured by the time I got to all the run aid stations, they'd be out of ice and everything else, but not only were they still fully stocked with ice, they had giant ice machines cranking it out. Awesome! I was filling my rear jersey pockets on my DeSoto Skin Cooler jersey with ice which kept my core cool for the duration of my 2:05 run.

I have to laugh at fast guys like Dev that lament about their lack of fitness and slow times while turning in finish time more than an hour faster than a regular schmoe like me! Congrats to everyone that finished today!

Oh, and I would agree that the water temp was about 80. I told my buddy last night that they would drive a boat around early in the morning looking for cold spots so they could drop the thermometer in and find a temp below the cutoff.

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My business-eBodyboarding.com

LOL...the magic spot for the magic thermometer was 6 inches from shore 1 inch deep...the water would have been 68F there given overnite lows...in the middle of Lake Mead it was easy 80F. Glad I had a sleeveless suit and I was hot in that. My main point about waning bike fitness is on a course like this you can gain a lot of time by cresting the hills at 100-110 percent FTP and then recovering on the fast decents at 50 - 70 percent or even at zero percent. But you can't ride like that without decent bike fitness.

Magali for the win! Plus an unabashed fan.

I was quite literally right behind her here.....

.... Of course I turned left to head out to lap #2

In other words, you're absolving yourself of being the unabashed fan by implicating yourself in following her for as long as possible. :-)

If, by "following her" you mean looking to my left as she ran past me like she was on fire, and I was having a sunday nap, then yes!

Good meeting you Dev! Congrats on the roll down! Guess you got what you were hoping for, qualify as a 49 ag but race wc as 50 yo guy.

If you ever want to ride the sf east bay, Mt Diablo or Mt Hamilton or other parts, let me know. Used to live on the peninsula as well so know the area, wood side, la Honda, etc. Interesting side note, almost crashed into the late great Steve jobs while he was riding his horse to larry's (Ellison) house.

Steve

Steve...what is next for you? By the way, here is the info on

IM 70.3 Taiwan: http://www.ironman.com/...n.aspx#axzz3FNpORJAC

IM Taiwan: http://www.ironman.com/...n.aspx#axzz3FNpORJAC

Both are in Kenting in southern Taiwan (70.3 in Nov, 140.6 in April). Closest major airport is Khaosiung near Kenting. You can fly to either Hong Kong or Taipei from SFO and connect to Khaosiung...then you are basically in Kenting. The area looks fairly challenging. Add in heat and a bit of Hong Kong style tropical humidity and races there are made for guys of our size!



I would like to take you up for a Mt. Hamilton attempt soon next time in the Bay, however, as I have already rode it, I would like to run it this time...we need a lift down as I don't want to ride down.

Another good race, challenging course and well run. I agree about the water temp, warm :)

I had a DeSoto speed vest and speed tube bottoms so my swim time was about normal for me. I was a little warm but ok, I would of been cooking in a full suit.

On the bike I was out of water in my speedfill at 15mi so when I got to the first aid station, 20mi, I stopped. I refilled the SP and drank a bottle of water then I dumped a bottle over my head. I repeated this at every aid station. As expected my bike time was slow.

It was getting hot by the time I got to the run so at EVERY aid station I put ice in my hat, down my shirt and had water dumped on me by the volunteers...also that guy with the hose was wonderful. By the time I got to the next aid station I would be almost dry. To be honest it looked to me like more people should of done this. I didn't push the run so I stopped to talk to the wife and friends on each loop. On the uphill sections I walked/run 40 steps and ran the down hills, there was no flat section that I could find.

With the heat, the training I put in my goal was to just finish feeling ok and I did that.

Great job to all that finished and congrats Dev.

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Train safe & smart
Bob

Hi Dev, still in SoCal but heading home today. Glad to hear you made it back safe and sound.

Will be taking another shot for a wc slot at oside next year. Are you planning to race that again? Can't believe it sold out in 24 hours. It used to take months to sell out.

Thanks for the Taiwan info. I am in deep discussion with my wife for a possible race in 2015. If we don't go to austria, then Taiwan is more likely.

The run up mt Hamilton would be really hard. I'd be game and agree, better to park up there. Let me know your timing and I'll work something out. Also, biking up mt Hamilton from the back side is much harder, would start in Livermore and summit Hamilton from the back side, then loop back around.

See you again at the races! Will make it to mont tremblant eventually. Can't believe oside is 5 months out.

Steve

I used an old sleeveless wetsuit and was fine, not too hot. I was lucky and got a roll down slot in the 55-59 age group. Going to World's.
Living in a windier part of So Cal, I did not notice the wind that much.
I did take advantage of the AWA early wave start and may have missed some of the wind.
Not sure I like the AWA wave start. I loved going early and missing some of the heat, but I miss not seeing fellow age groupers on the bike and run. Hard to gage where I was.
Great race, almost as good as St. George.

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Team Zoot So Cal

Congrats on your race and Austria slot!!!


Personally I liked the AWA wave....I basically raced solo for all but 5K of the bike. By the time I got to T2, there were barely 30 bikes in the racks including pros. I could just put my head down and ride. On a sparse course like Silverman, being in the regular wave would be an advantage, however, I feel that at most races where there is more congestion, being in the AWA wave would be an advantage. It is harder finishing the run, not knowing how many people in your age group will pass you (in my case they started 13 min later). I don't think in the case of my age group, 13 minutes made any difference in terms of heat or wind, but as I was not there 13 min later, I can't say for sure....if you got to race 45 min before your wave, then the heat would make a big difference.

I saw you come by a couple miles from the turnaround (even though we nearly exited T1 together.... :^), but I think that the "regular" wave crowd was HUGE on the out portion of Northshore. I would have found it difficult to navigate, primarily because the roads were pen and they made a point of saying ride single file. Would have played havoc with my power surging to get past people on climbs to avoid a draft. I was extremely happy to have been in the AWA wave, and simultaneously bummed that I likely won't be next year as I didn't buy enough product (only did 2 WTC HIMs)

I think Silverman circa '10 with 600 athletes full and half that wouldn't be an issue, as everyone would spread out quickly. With 1600 people on the course, I had on several occasions a car going east fully in my westbound lane, forcing me over the fogline to the rumble strip. At the aid sation, no less than four huge trucks trailering boats coming at me, pretty scary

Anyone else see the BMW that was buzzing us, then got pulled over by park police? I thought that was awesome

AWA wave gets a thumbs up for me. Liked being in the early wave. Swim was definitely combative through the first 6 buoys. Then kinda settled in. Water was warm but pretty flat. Felt very easy after initial scrum.

Felt kinda pro on the bike. There was virtually no one out there. Lots of marshals escorting the lead riders. Almost no drafting... Except for this one guy sucking the wheels of two girls. Yeah, the trio passed and stayed together for quite some time. Didn't see them in penalty tent tho. Bike was killa hard, like way harder than the wc course last year. The extra bit took its toll.

Yeah, did see the bmw that was pulled over. Felt pretty good about it. Passed him on the outbound and on the return, guy was still there. The ranger I think made a point to make him sit! Love it!

Like you, no awa wave for me next year. Only wtc race and imploded in the run.

Congrats on the slot Karl!!

I live here and fwiw, I didn't think it was very windy relatively speaking. Definitely on the low side of the scale for wind here.

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#WeAreTheForge #BlackGunsMatter

"Look, will you guys at leats accept that you are a bunch of dumb asses and just trust me on this one? Please?" BarryP 7/30/2012

Yes, I did like riding out there with the pro's being in the AWA wave. As you said, swim was only crowded fir a short time.
I saw the Park Ranger talking to the couple in the convertible. Were there any problems with all the boats being towed? I saw potential for some danger?

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Team Zoot So Cal

Anyone else see the BMW that was buzzing us, then got pulled over by park police? I thought that was awesome
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I was wondering why the rangers were with that guy. As I got to him they were just pull out, several people went around him. After the turnaround I noticed he was still going very slow with the Rangers behind him.

I liked the AWA wave too, clear swim and ride.

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Train safe & smart
Bob

Congratulations on your worlds slot. I wasn't all that fast in the swim and bike, but was fifth in my age group (M 55-59) on the run. I really enjoyed this course, although challenging. Is this a dumb question, or were we swimming downhill after the final turn? (I don't wear my Garmin in the swim). Any info is appreciated.