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IM Coeur d'Alene random observations, thoughts and pics
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Theory of relativity in terms of temperature...there always seems to be a lot of chatter about how cold the water is at Cd'A but when it's choppy and there are ~2700 people in the water temperature seems to drop down the priority list. Also, I think it maxed out at 80 degrees on the run and lots of folks from the northwest spoke of how hot that was - guess it's been a cool spring up there.

On Saturday while racking my bike I saw stumbled on this... road bike, no aerobars, a GPS taking up space to one side of the stem and a reflector taking up space on the other side of the stem....so how to affix the PowerTap head unit??Hmmmmmm???


Speaking of "~2700"...I heard officials make statements like "over 2200 athletes" and I saw in print "2200 athletes". Then I saw several numbers on the course that were in the 2700 range. Why the reluctance to simply state clearly how many people are registered or how many people start or how many people finish? I'd love to hear the thinking behind minimizing the real number.

Speaking of numbers....I saw this bike in transition as well: 12 gels on top tube. That's 1320 calories of potential knee rubbage. In full disclosure this guy rode past me on one of the climbs during the second loop, it was near mile 80 and he still had 8 gels on the top tube.


Speaking of climbs....we need a clearly define terms for hills on a bike course. The term "rollers" is used frequently to describe the topography at Cd'A but I think "rollers" are the smaller things like you might find at Vineman - while the Coeur d'Alene bike course isn't littered with mountainous sections there are still some climbs that aren't exactly rollers.

Another bike I saw in transition had these blocks of fuel on the top tube. My buddy Konrad was with me and he quickly verbalized his stream of thinking..."they're like bricks"....."maybe he's a mason"...."Mr. Gorbacheve, tear down that wall". That still has me chuckling.

Also, those are the Tacx bottle cages which always seem to me to be just slight bigger than normal cages (they may in fact be the same size but they look bigger) and in them are Arrowhead bottles that are a touch smaller then normal bike bottles so there is electrical tape around the top of the bottle holding 'em into the cage.

Saw a guy in an Elmo costume doing the race - that comment I made about 80 degrees being not all that especially hot - if you're in an Elmo get up, I think it's like racing IM China at 120+.

I saw a guy really pushing the limits of the "no bare torso" rule. He was racing in a red shirt with no arms, no sides and cut short - it was basically a long dickey that would flap in the breeze and briefly reveal his chest and back.

The pavement on that course is ~99% perfect. It's such a joy to race on a billiard table.

Coeur d'Alene seems to be like Penticton and other towns that are the perfect size for such a race: big enough to provide the services & volunteers (excellent by the way) but not so big that most folks don't know the race is in town. A really good venue.

Ian

Ian Murray
http://www.TriathlonTrainingSeries.com
I like the pursuit of mastery
Twitter - @TriCoachIan
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Re: IM Coeur d'Alene random observations, thoughts and pics [ianpeace] [ In reply to ]
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In Reply To:


"Mr. Gorbacheve, tear down that wall". That still has me chuckling.

Priceless.
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Re: IM Coeur d'Alene random observations, thoughts and pics [shumphries] [ In reply to ]
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Imagine trying to tear the duct tape of those bricks

All I Wanted Was A Pepsi, Just One Pepsi

Team Zoot, Team Zoot Mid-Atlantic

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Re: IM Coeur d'Alene random observations, thoughts and pics [ianpeace] [ In reply to ]
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Thats hysterical

And to think i've been stressing about the best way to secure 1 powerbar to my frame for IMFLA.
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Re: IM Coeur d'Alene random observations, thoughts and pics [ianpeace] [ In reply to ]
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Ian, you're clever... obscuring the gu man's number (or trying to anyway....) so ST can't have a crack at him? I was looking at it thinking it was the oddest seatpost I'd ever seen.... :)
Last edited by: ChrisM: Jun 29, 10 11:27
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Re: IM Coeur d'Alene random observations, thoughts and pics [ianpeace] [ In reply to ]
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Quote:
Another bike I saw in transition had these blocks of fuel on the top tube.


Maybe he was smuggling drugs!?!?

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B.Oliver -My Blog...triguywithavx.wordpress.com
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Re: IM Coeur d'Alene random observations, thoughts and pics [ChrisM] [ In reply to ]
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I didn't want to out the guy - and I think we've all see how resourceful some forum folks can be. We'd have the dues Social Security Number and ATM PIN up here in no time!

Ian

Ian Murray
http://www.TriathlonTrainingSeries.com
I like the pursuit of mastery
Twitter - @TriCoachIan
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Re: IM Coeur d'Alene random observations, thoughts and pics [ianpeace] [ In reply to ]
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Hey Ian,
Thanks for the pics and comments, I'm always amazed at some of the stuff I see in transition. If you don't mind me asking what do you carry for nutrition on the bike for an IM? I have Vineman coming up in about a month, and I'd appreciate any advice you can give. Just as a point of reference, I believe my swim will be under 1:10, bike under 5:30, run right around 4:00.
Thanks for your any help you can give,
Scot
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Re: IM Coeur d'Alene random observations, thoughts and pics [ianpeace] [ In reply to ]
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I guess I'm showing my ignorance now, But. Doesn't the actual powertap head unit need to be in the cradle to work for the bike? will it record just taped to whatever?
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Re: IM Coeur d'Alene random observations, thoughts and pics [ridindirtee] [ In reply to ]
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Scot,

Nutrition is a very personal thing whereby some folks have systems that tolerate certain types of...of...we'll I'm just gonna use the word "sugars" better than others and it's critical to discover which ones work best for you. I can also add this important note: it has a great deal to do with pace and heat. If you're doing an event and your effort is easy and the temp is cool then you can probably eat pretty much anything you like be able to digest that since you're going easy and it's not too hot. If it's hot and/or you're going HARD then there's greater risk of digestion issues. So it's not only critical to figure out what tastes good to you but also what you can digest when you're under specific race conditions.

You asked what I used so here goes:
Breakfast - 1/4 cup egg whites, 1 whole egg, half an avocado. Oatmeal w/ raisins and so much cinnamon that it stirs to look like chocolate. Caffeinated tea.
On da bike - primary source is an electrolyte drink (for lack of a better term) called "Super Charge" from New Performance Nutrition. I also drank some UCAN. I gobbled up a lot of Saltstick caps and snacked on a good ol' fashioned peanut butter and honey sandwich in special needs.
On the run - PowerGel chocolate is my choice and I can never depend on aid to have that flavor so I open 4 into a Gel flask and run with that. More Saltstick Caps and then after 13.1 miles I go cola and pretzels from aid.

Ian

Ian Murray
http://www.TriathlonTrainingSeries.com
I like the pursuit of mastery
Twitter - @TriCoachIan
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Re: IM Coeur d'Alene random observations, thoughts and pics [Garry] [ In reply to ]
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The cradle for the wireless version is just plastic and serves no purpose but to attach the head to the bike. His (or her) version is cheaper, though...
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Re: IM Coeur d'Alene random observations, thoughts and pics [shumphries] [ In reply to ]
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The cradle for the wireless version is just plastic and serves no purpose but to attach the head to the bike. His (or her) version is cheaper, though...


ahh.. gotcha.. My bad. I was thinking the cradle on the bike was like the cradle that transfers data to sync with, so the prongs on the back had to be hooked in somehow.
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Re: IM Coeur d'Alene random observations, thoughts and pics [ianpeace] [ In reply to ]
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Quote:
Speaking of "~2700"...I heard officials make statements like "over 2200 athletes" and I saw in print "2200 athletes". Then I saw several numbers on the course that were in the 2700 range. Why the reluctance to simply state clearly how many people are registered or how many people start or how many people finish? I'd love to hear the thinking behind minimizing the real number.

There were 2262 people who started the race...seems like that's about what they stated.
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Re: IM Coeur d'Alene random observations, thoughts and pics [ianpeace] [ In reply to ]
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You're right, nutrition is a very personal thing. The Cervelo with the "bricks" is mine. Those bars provide about 2400 calories. I spent many years with stomach problems on long workouts until I discovered that I need more calories than most people, and it needs to be solid. So I make my bars, and have slowly tuned it to meet my needs. Now I can race long, and not have stomach issues. I also don't waste any time with special needs bags.

They are taped to the top tube with electrical tape, with folds that create pull tabs. They actually come off quite easily. I rode a steel cyclo-cross bike to a 6 hour bike split at Silverman last November using these bars, so this is a strategy that works quite well for me.

And yes, the bottle presented its own problem. I have always had good luck finding some bottles of water at a local store that will fit well into a bottle cage. In CDA, all I could find were these, and the bottle did not fit. So I used a little tape to keep that bottle from launching. I used the bottle mounted on the stem first, then (using another pull tab from folding the tape) moved this bottle to the stem. It worked quite well.

Unfortunately, I broke a spoke in my rear wheel at about mile 30. The tire rubbed the frame, causing a flat, which I fixed. (At the time, I couldn't figure out what caused the flat, so I just put in a new tube and took off.) A mile or so later I went through a corner and realized how out of true the wheel was. I stopped, saw the tire had removed the paint from the seat stay; the carbon had just started to wear. I waited about 1.5-2 hours, then finally support came by with a wheel. It was a Dura-Ace 50mm carbon wheel, where the carbon was broke. That wheel was only slightly more true than my wheel, but it was good enough to allow me to ride back in, and I pulled out. I was just not mentally in the game after standing around that long.

2015 USAT Long Course National Champion (M50-54)
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Re: IM Coeur d'Alene random observations, thoughts and pics [Paul Dunn] [ In reply to ]
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Paul,

I'm sorry to hear about the mechanical at Cd'A.

Ian

Ian Murray
http://www.TriathlonTrainingSeries.com
I like the pursuit of mastery
Twitter - @TriCoachIan
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Re: IM Coeur d'Alene random observations, thoughts and pics [Uncle Phil] [ In reply to ]
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Uncle P - I ask this not because I doubt you but because I'm curious. Where did you get the number 2262?

Ian

Ian Murray
http://www.TriathlonTrainingSeries.com
I like the pursuit of mastery
Twitter - @TriCoachIan
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Re: IM Coeur d'Alene random observations, thoughts and pics [ianpeace] [ In reply to ]
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In Reply To:


there always seems to be a lot of chatter about how cold the water is at Cd'A but when it's choppy and there are ~2700 people in the water temperature seems to drop down the priority list.

Word.
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Re: IM Coeur d'Alene random observations, thoughts and pics [ianpeace] [ In reply to ]
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Thanks...

I realized that I really didn't drive home my point. The point is this: we all make decisions regarding risks we are/aren't willing to take while racing. Some people prefer a risk trade off that makes for a light and "clean" bike, but leaves them having to use more aid stations (where crashes are more likely) and/or dependent on special needs (which sometimes get lost or otherwise mixed up). This strategy also risks having to completely stop for a volunteer to get what you need, in the event they just handed someone else the product you want.

Others, like myself, tend toward a strategy that makes the bike a little heavier and cluttered looking, but frees us from many aid stations or special needs. We also get the exact nutrition we desire.

I choose a little extra weight, and know I will have the exact nutrition I want, and nutrition that works. Others choose to use more of the aid stations. I don't see this as right/wrong, but different takes on the risks and trade offs involved.

Paul

2015 USAT Long Course National Champion (M50-54)
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Re: IM Coeur d'Alene random observations, thoughts and pics [Paul Dunn] [ In reply to ]
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Paul, it's a very long race and getting through it requires that each athlete gets exactly what they need. You're smart for having made the decisions that are right for you and locking those down.

I can say that the second aid station on the bike was in an odd spot - a slight down hill/false flat and we had a tail wind there. I went through there in lap one at ~25 mph and the water bottle that I tried to take up bounced off my chest first then hit me in the nuts before rolling around on the road. That was just a low probability location that can lead to the issue you bring up!

Ian

Ian Murray
http://www.TriathlonTrainingSeries.com
I like the pursuit of mastery
Twitter - @TriCoachIan
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Re: IM Coeur d'Alene random observations, thoughts and pics [Paul Dunn] [ In reply to ]
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Hey Paul,

What are your 'bricks' made of? They look like chocolate chip banana bread...which is making my drool on my keyboard.

John
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Re: IM Coeur d'Alene random observations, thoughts and pics [Black Plague] [ In reply to ]
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They are: oatmeal, raisins, cinnamon, honey, bananas, apple juice, egg white, salt, and chocolate chips. They are similar in texture to an oatmeal cookie, but not as sweet. They have enough salt to provide all my salt requirements, and that reduces the sweetness some.

2015 USAT Long Course National Champion (M50-54)
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Re: IM Coeur d'Alene random observations, thoughts and pics [ianpeace] [ In reply to ]
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The way it works with the numbers when race weekend comes is this. Ironman does know how many registered for the event but that number does not mean a great deal on race weekend. We knew there would be between 2200 and 2300 at CDA. So I personally said over 2200 or under 2300 a few times during the week. The real number is the one I receive on how many athletes enter the water. We started 2291 and 2096 finished 91.5%. These are the numbers I announced at the awards ceremony. As a side note you would be really surprised how many athletes pick up their number and bags at the expo but do not start the race.
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Re: IM Coeur d'Alene random observations, thoughts and pics [IMVoice] [ In reply to ]
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Is that you Mike? Wow, I never considered an athlete who would pick up their number and bags and not start. That troubles me. We need a consult/psych tent in the expo where they can come and discuss it I hate to hear all that prep, travel, etc. etc. would end in a DNS.

By the way, your voice has now become synonymous with pain relief for me. I, like so many others, was hurting deeply in the last 5k and your voice coincides with the finish and the joy. It's pavlovian. Thanks for being there.....again!

Ian

Ian Murray
http://www.TriathlonTrainingSeries.com
I like the pursuit of mastery
Twitter - @TriCoachIan
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Re: IM Coeur d'Alene random observations, thoughts and pics [IMVoice] [ In reply to ]
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There should be some sort of penalty/ban for someone that picks up a packet and then no-shows (unless they have a REALLY, REALLY good reason). These races sell out and these people are taking a spot away from someone that wants it. Although, I guess it is probably unnecessary. If they trained, got there and then chickened out before even getting in the water, they probably won't be back anyway.
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Re: IM Coeur d'Alene random observations, thoughts and pics [Paul Dunn] [ In reply to ]
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I respect your ingenuity, and you seem like too nice of a guy to make fun of.

But.....man......ummmmm, if I did that, the bricks would come out looking very similar to how they came in. Granted, I guess they could then just be re-used on the run course...

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David Roche
"The Happy Runner" book: https://www.amazon.com/...Longer/dp/1492567647
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