rrheisler wrote:
Well it's about f***ing time! (I kid, of course). Alright, so let's break this down a little bit:
Pre-race stuff to know about:
- On training weekends, watch out for people who insist that you swim the swim course the "right" way. Heaven forbid you swim from the historic spot...
- Wait an hour or so after athlete check-in opens. It dies right down after the initial surge.
- Riding and running in town is, in my opinion, batshit insane. I recommend trying to get out of town going reverse on the bike course to spin out your legs down the bears, turnaround on River Road, and come back on up. For running, again, avoid the main drag and do stuff further out on Mirror Lake Drive.
- Bike check in is a gong show right at the start. I'd wait until a little later to go.
- You can't go wrong with some Saranac Sourdough at some point in the weekend.
Race Day
- Special Needs bag locations are a ways apart from one another. Somebody will usually offer to help run them for you.
- The line for the air compressor gets huge. If you run a disc and forgot your crack pipe at home, go early. They tend to overinflate.
- People start heading towards the beach bright and early. The area on the beach is small. If you want to be in the right seeding area, be prepared to head over early. Bring any last minute food/drink with you - the aid station doesn't get set up yet.
Swim
- The swim course I find is more crowded on loop 2 with the rolling start. If you want to be right on the line, you can be. Just know that 3000 of your closest friends are also looking to be right on the cable too.
- Breathing to your right is easier to keep an eye on the buoys.
- It does wind up creating a little bit of a whirlpool effect with so many people swimming at once.
- Water is super clear - so you can see the foot that is about to kick you in the jaw easily!
Bike
- The hardest part of the bike course, IMO, is the climb out of the ski jumps. On loop 1 it's easy to hammer this. You know you've paced your first loop well if you hit this on loop 2 and it feels like nothing.
- Look to your right at the ponds on the descent. If you see whitecaps, it's going to be an interesting lower part of the descent.
- The descent gets steepest and curviest at the bottom. There is one right hand corner that feels like it will never end and tightens up a little bit at the end of it. If you don't hit 55 at some point you sandbagged it. Try again.
- The stretch from here until the left turn in Upper Jay is false flat for the most part. It's easy to blow your race here. Don't.
- The left to climb up toward Wilmington begins the "what goes down must eventually go back up" part of the course. You really don't get to ever stop pedaling from now until you're back into town. Seriously. This is where I find having done plenty of work on the CompuTrainer helps - because, well, you never get to stop pedaling.
- Your first trip up from Wilmington will feel easy. You will regret that next time around.
- There's an unnamed fourth bear after the three proper ones. You make the right turn at the top of Papa and, well, it goes uphill again. I dropped my chain here and ruined my race by fucking up getting the chain back on. Just be ready for it.
- Special needs is at the skating rink. Be prepared - it's a right hand turn, and you'll likely need a lighter gear to come back onto course.
Run
- It is so easy to overcook the first couple miles of this run, just because of the downhill out of town. Be prepared.
- The ski jump hill is the devil.
- River Road can be a sauna and miserable experience. Stay positive. Stay shuffling.
- As other's have mentioned, the climb from Lisa G's doesn't stop until just past the brewery on Mirror Lake Drive. It is a soul-sucking experience.
- This finish line is, in my estimation, the best in all of triathlon. Big crowds, plenty of love from everyone. Enjoy it.
Post-Race
- You will feel like a truck ran you over. It's fine.
- Do not follow my diet of a half pint of Ben and Jerry's and two bourbons.
- You will wake up in the middle of the night starving. Have food ready.
I, too, will be at Quassy. Feel free to track me down and say hi (I'm pretty easy to spot with the Smashfest Owen Otter/Sonic aero kit. Quassy is the rare course where you can pretty effectively double the time and come close to what you're capable of for IM (simply because you cover so much climbing on the bike/run relative to the full at LP).
Ryan
That is about the best, most inclusive summary that I've read. Outstanding!
I'd also remind everyone that it's a LOOOOOONG way from the beach to the transition area.
I will look for you at Quassy.
Dale
