Hey Kevin!

I'm doing the Half this year - my first time doing the race in Whistler.
Not sure i'll have time to attend a meet-up (i'll be dragging along my 2 kids and mom all weekend)

As an aside - I have a question for one of the valley's foremost triathlon minds ;)
I haven't really started riding my bike much yet - haha and the start is in a month! I've been swimming 2-3 times a week and could probably do a stand alone half marathon in like 1:30 or so if someone put a gun to my head. But...... my bike has an actual layer of dust on it. What do you recommend for the next 30 days??????

Buy that 30. No make it a 32. Get Bruce to install it. Do the Mission Sportspark loop three times a week for two weeks. Get back to me. Write cheque.

---

http://www.fitspeek.com the Fraser Valley's fitness, wellness, and endurance sports podcast

Can I keep drinking lots of beer and eating chips though?

I have an 11-28 right now.....I'm hoping that will be enough?
And a cool new Bike Computer that will also make me SO much faster ;)

Does anyone has a strava segment of the new course.

I did race Tremblant last weekend, i as fine with 39 / 25. There is nothing steeper than 8-9% that last longer than few seconds over there...

I had a very different experience riding the course in training vs. race day (in 2016). In training, on the shoulder, dealing with debris and watching for traffic flying by, the highway was an unpleasant ride and I was taking the downhills pretty carefully. But on race day I found it much easier to maintain speed, except for a few spots where I was blocked (including the downhill going up Callaghan).

i did this using the route builder. it's close, but not perfect.
https://www.strava.com/routes/19647282

---

--------------------------------------------
TEAM F3 Undurance

Any chance you could make the Strava file public ?

Thanks in advance

Thanks for that! Really helpful.

It's gonna be my first 70.3! Pretty excited, although I suck at biking and doing hills, so it should be an interesting day!

just changed it, so it's public now. Not sure why it was private initially. should be good now.

---

--------------------------------------------
TEAM F3 Undurance

Nice!!! so nothing flat, but nothing steep!!!

Thanks for the information. This will be my first full, but I have done a handful of halves here in Hawaii...cautiously looking forward to the race!

Has anyone posted a video preview of the bike or run courses?

Weather: A few friends raced in 2015 and it was frigid....I am preparing for the off-chance that can happen again, but what is the "abnormal" heat like if that is the weather we are dealt?

First Full here, I have a place in Whistler and go every year. Very excited but have a lingering left knee pain when I run. Might be a death march but can’t DNF on the home course in the last race.

Bruce Wenting in Mission? Used his shop when I lived in Abbotsford in 2000-2001.

---

___________________________________________
http://en.wikipedia.org/...eoesophageal_fistula
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cerebral_palsy
2020 National Masters Champion - M40-44 - 400m IM
Canadian Record Holder 35-39M & 40-44M - 200 m Butterfly (LCM)

Yep - that Bruce Wenting. It seems like you moved to Alberta from Abbotsford about the same time I moved from Airdrie to Mission.

As far as weather goes, bring clothing for just about anything. 2015 was that UGLY year that Symonds dropped out because it was so cold and rainy. 2018 was super hot (folks say in the upper to mid 30s). Symonds did better on that day, but Brent M, did even better!

---

http://www.fitspeek.com the Fraser Valley's fitness, wellness, and endurance sports podcast

No Whistler for me, 70.3 Calgary. Funny you mention Airdrie... I work there and it's population is around 70k now, still only has 1 6 lane pool.

https://www.airdrie.ca/index.cfm?serviceID=485

---

___________________________________________
http://en.wikipedia.org/...eoesophageal_fistula
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cerebral_palsy
2020 National Masters Champion - M40-44 - 400m IM
Canadian Record Holder 35-39M & 40-44M - 200 m Butterfly (LCM)

They actually did a massive rebuild of the Airdrie L. C. in "recent times" - our daughter used to be the facility manager there when it was MUCH more intimate. That was the place where I didn't learn to swim.

Best of luck at the Calgary race. Maybe a bike PB?

---

http://www.fitspeek.com the Fraser Valley's fitness, wellness, and endurance sports podcast

They rebuilt the building around the original pool footprint if I recall.

---

___________________________________________
http://en.wikipedia.org/...eoesophageal_fistula
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cerebral_palsy
2020 National Masters Champion - M40-44 - 400m IM
Canadian Record Holder 35-39M & 40-44M - 200 m Butterfly (LCM)

Bike as much as you can the weeks leading up to the race. Back off the final week.

Looks like the weather in Whistler is unpredictable. Last year it was over 90 degrees. Other years, people DNF due to the cold.

Prepare for everything!

I’ll be doing the 140.6.

I’m hoping to do the swim course at least twice before the event. Will the swim course be open for swimming before the event?

You can swim in the lake any time you'd like.

The lake is open for swimming anytime, but I think the buoys for the course are typically not set-up until race weekend. Its a fairly basic 1.9km counter-clockwise loop though.

The race course buoys are not set up until race day (maybe the day before?) but there are swim buoys directly to the right of the pier year round. I think they are 100m apart. It's not the race course, but still a great way to get a swim in Alta lake.

I will be up there the 17th - if anyone wants to do a group swim let me know. I have a place above Alta Lake and will be doing some early morning swims the week before

I’ll be arriving Wednesday the 24th in the evening. I can join for a swim Thursday and Friday mornings. Will you be swimming those days? If so, let me where what time and where to meet.

Sure. I can swim those days. We should swim on the course. If you have an email you can share I’ll msg u

How are the road conditions on the bike? Decent pavement, I hope?

It would be awesome if someone who lives up there could post a preview of the bike course...


Pretty please!!

Yeah pretty good. Better every year

A major paving job a couple of years ago on the descent to pemberton patched up some big problems

No longer part of the bike course.

---

Favorite Gear: Dimond | Cadex | Desoto Sport | Hoka One One

i'll ride it again this weekend and post some details about meters climbed etc
i rode it last week and i thought the road conditions were very good. Mostly smooth pavement. Will be better on race day where you dont have to ride on the shoulder with the rumble strip.

You know, if you aren't racing... y'all can tango away by volunteering.
Just a thought!

..
(Edit)
Ignore this post as I thought you were talking about the Penticton course...My FB page is full of Penticton hype at the moment...Ooops..:-)

 
(Edit)
Ignore this post as I thought you were talking about the Penticton course...My FB page is full of Penticton hype at the moment...Ooops..:-)[/quote]
Can't wait for Penticton, the rightful home of Ironman Canada!

As a Whistler resident I should probably weigh in on the bike course. Pavement will be in good condition throughout, you'll be rolling along a smooth 2 lane highway most of the time. There are only a few areas to watch out for.

The descent on Alta Lake Road - potholes everywhere, narrow and winding plus it's straight after the swim so there will be a lot of traffic. I would recommend pre-riding this a couple of times just to get your line right. On race day the two lane road through the village will be made into 3 lanes so you'll be riding over the lane dividers going northbound, not a big deal but it can be tricky if it's congested. Really nothing else to worry about.

There is a lot of elevation on the course and almost no flat sections. The climb up from Rubble Creek (new this year) is actually a quite pleasant gentle incline and you're only using your full cassette for Powerline hill after the Callaghan turnoff. Most of the grind will be on Callaghan road, no shade and several steep pitches. if you haven't ridden this before, do it during race week.

Honestly, it doesn't feel as bad as the stats make it out to be (but that could be local bias). Will be a good, fair test with great scenery.

 
Swim: It has not been a warm July so far up here. We have had rain and more expected this week so the lake is not that warm yet (nothing like last years lake temperature anyway)

Bike: I rode what i thought was the half course yesterday - maybe i got my turnaround points slightly off but i think i got it close. Roads are in reasonable condition. There are a few potholes and bumps to watch out for but mostly good. I did lose a bottle behind the seat hitting some bumps descending Calighan. Distance was 92.5 km with 1134 meters of elevation gain on my Garmin

Run: the first 4 or 5 km of the run course is slow IMO and then quite fast the rest of the way (each lap) so dont get too upset at your first few kms at lost lake.

That false flat-invisable quicksand stretch in the last three k of run is disheartening. Maybe a three Redbull effort?

---

http://www.fitspeek.com the Fraser Valley's fitness, wellness, and endurance sports podcast

Rode the majority of the course this last weekend, the only part we didn't do was the bike from T1 to Village Gate.

The crosswinds on Callaghan are something else. Hopefully it won't be that bad on race day. The Callaghan climb is tough, but i found the grind from Callaghan rd up to function junction to be worse as it felt like it just kept going. Where with Callaghan you got some nice downhills.

Didn't have a chance to do the run course, but I've heard it's hilly to start.

Alta lake is still a little chilly, but not terribly cold. You'll warm up quickly. With the upcoming weather, I don't see the lake warming up much more if at all.

I was checking the official Whistler bike course map for the 70.3 and the details were back again to last years route. I thought they added a right turn after Callaghan instead of going back to Alta Lake a few weeks ago.

Yep. You make a right after coming down Callahan rd. Ride down to the dam at daisy lake and then ride back up to whistler.

What time of the day did you ride Callaghan and experience the crosswinds. I wonder because I want to know if I will be on the Callaghan around that time on race day.

Also, how long is the climb on Callaghan? What’s the elevation gain?

The climb up Callaghan is about 10km, around 320m elevation gain.

We hit Callaghan around 11:30am.

Their website is a mess! The IM course says it's a 2 loop course on the description but then on the map says it's a 3 loop course. I'm doing the 70.3 but was checking on that as I worry about congestion.

Furthermore, the course on the course page is not what is on the athlete guide (which is the strava route someone posted above, I assume that is the correct one) so yeah. A mess.

---

808 > NYC > PDX > YVR
2024 Races: Taupo

For the run course, a question about shoes. I have a pair of Vaporfly 4%'s that I've been waiting to debut for a race but they don't have too much tread and I can see gravel being an issue. Should I stick with my regular trainers, Pegasus 35, which have a bit more tread or do you think 4%s would be ok on the terrain?

I’ve heard the 4% are best reserved for occasions where you’ll actually be moving at a relatively decent pace. This is questionable for most Ironman racers.

I believe you should go with the most comfortable shoes you have and the ones least likely to give you blisters.

I raced in 2014 and it was 35*C in Pemberton and the climb back (for slower riders, at least). It was brutal. Two days before the race it was rainy, around 12*C and the wind had a really cold bite.

---

Long Chile was a silly place.

It won't make a difference. The "gravel" is just hard packed dirt.

I wanted to give people a heads up about the energy drink on course. Make sure you have tried it ahead of time or have a plan to not use it at all, don’t assume it’s like Gatorade or other energy drinks unless you are indifferent to taste. It is a challenge to drink in any quantity for me.

Assuming you are referring to BaseHYDRO for hydration as I believe Red Bull was concourse last year for the provided energy drink...

Looks like nice weather on race day, mid 70s.

Much better than last year’s mid 90s.

I believe to have read somewhere the run course has a lot of shaded areas. How accurate is this? Can anyone offer a description of the amount of shade.

Yes, there is a decent amount of coverage on the run course. I would say 50-50 per loop. The spots w/o shade are super exposed - especially the wooden bridge along the lake!!

See you out there!

First half of the loop is shaded, second half is pretty exposed, the run around the lake section along the highway and the wooden bridge is fully exposed but theres shade between the wooden bridge and highway section.

PSA: it is freezing in Whistler. I got here 2 days ago. It was 6 degrees (c) this morning

It is going to warm up a bit going into next week but in the morning it’s going to be coooold.

I rode Callaghan this morning at about 1030 and it was really cold. I had a pretty thick cycling jacket on and I was glad I did.

Coming out out of the water you are going to want outerwear unless it really really warms up

Big picture will mean cold morning but great conditions if its not windy

Sounds to me like ideal conditions. I’ve been tracking the weather and it’s looking really nice, mid to low 70s.

 
Anybody know about the 70.3 bikecourse? It seems to have changed back to last years course on the website? Is this accurate?

Id be surprised if it wasn’t one loop of the 140.6

But... im wrong it’s same as last year

http://m.ironman.com/~/media/72b334dec14041109d09452809fe4d90/im%20703canada19%20coursemap%20bike%2041119%20cc%20web.pdf

10 days ago it was one loop of the full course - now it seems to have gone back to last years?

As far as i know, it's the same course for the full an the half... (2 vs 1 loop for all 3)

People may be bored of this but in case you aren’t. Bike Recon:

I rode the bike from T1 to Callaghan and back to Nordic (about 65km) this morning (I live on Nordic) - I left at 6:35Am. It was 9 degrees in the village and going downhill from the 99 turnaround was very cold to me.

I had a trisuit on and a relatively warm cycling jacket. It was bearable other than my hands which got really cold with normal gloves. I will wear FF gloves I think

On top of Callaghan it was 4.8 degrees. The descent wasn’t as cold because the sun was out in patches and when it hit my black jacket I warmed up a lot.

They were painting the lines on Callaghan so you will have new center lines at least. One thing I noticed that Callaghan road isn’t in the best shape. The half of the road to the shoulder on each side has a decent amount of cracks and people will naturally not ride there so you will be getting some congestion. There is a massive pothole on the descent but luckily on one of the uphills on the descent so you won’t be going too fast probably.

Also there are sizable gaps between the road and the bridges so be careful descending in aero when you cross onto the bridges (i got a big bump and a scare). Got up to 69 KPH on the descent.

The highway is great and on race day you should be able to fly on the downhill legs assuming not too much congestion

I didn’t go down past Callaghan for the 20k “new loop” past Daisy Lake but based on my ascent meter it shouldn’t be too steep.

Thanks for the weather report... look like one more of those race where it will be hard to figure the layering. :(

Thanks - very timely info. Will be adding some arm warmers plus ff gloves to the bike bag, maybe a vest. But prob won’t wear the vest unless it is really cold after the swim.

Just did a practice swim 2500m

Lake had a little wind so going out faster than back. Little waves slipping water into my mouth

Really clear. It was sunny in the afternoon. Here’s the good news : Garmin says the water is 20 degrees so the swim won’t be cold. Decent chance sun is out at 830 or whenever you exit the water and it won’t be too bad

However if no sun it will be cold.

Super nice out right now

So where's a d when's the slowtwitch.com meetup?

---

http://www.fitspeek.com the Fraser Valley's fitness, wellness, and endurance sports podcast

I promise that it is 1 loop of the 140.6.
PROMISE.

There’s a swim on the 24th for starters. Two of us so far

Reading through the race day schedule on this year’s athlete guide, I noticed there is only mention of a pro women’s swim start, no mention of pro men. Does this mean there will only be a pro women’s field for the full IM?

Yes, IMC alternates Pro men/Women fields each year. At least, they have the last few. Women's turn this year.

Does anyone know the numbers of participant (full vs half, AG breakdown)?

Bib list for the full has about 1440 names by my count. Probably the same for the half.

Thanks for all the info! It's looking to be chilly on race morning for the bike. Do you mind me asking what you're wearing on the bike? Arm warmers? Anything else? I was thinking of gloves but that would be hard for me to eat my bars in the first hour. I know someone who has worn dish gloves on a cold IM bike.

---

Death is easy....peaceful. Life is harder.

just planning to use my sleeved kit (to the elbows). I'll likely have a plastic bag to stuff in the top half, covering chest and stomach. This helps block the wind and and easy to dispose of at an aid station when it starts to warm up.

---

--------------------------------------------
TEAM F3 Undurance

I’ll be wearing leg warmers and a jacket that I have had a long time and will toss

It’s warmed up a bit. Tomorrow morning I’ll be swimming at 7 am to see what conditions are likely to be like at race start and to see how cold it is with wet kit vs dry

It was very cold with dry a few days ago

To be clear I’m a mop and this is my first full so I’m not concerned at all about stopping at an aid station, stripping off extra gear and trashing it

You contenders may have a different view. 5 minutes is neither here nor their for me

I posted about this earlier on p.2, the Athlete guide has us doing one loop with the two out and backs. For some reason the website course reverted to last year's map but I think we trust the athlete guide.

---

808 > NYC > PDX > YVR
2024 Races: Taupo

Saturday night has a low of 46F/7.7C (coldest so far this week looking on my weather app) which means a cold morning but not sure how fast it will warm up.

---

Death is easy....peaceful. Life is harder.

Saturday night has a low of 46F/7.7C (coldest so far this week looking on my weather app) which means a cold morning but not sure how fast it will warm up.


Whistler is in a Mountain Valley with high mountains to the east and west. Thus - the sun is late to come up in the morning and warm things up.

Alta Lake is a reasonably cool to cold lake swim and then you will be heading out into cold (less than 10C air). For proper performance, you need to dress appropriately. Triathletes seem to be obsessed to the point of being crazy about "over heating" on the bike. The ONLY time in any triathlon race, I felt like I was truly over heating on the bike, was on the 2km uphill section at the IRONMAN World Championships when you climb back up from Kawaihae, to the Queen K, with a dead tail-wind, making it still and stifling hot!.

Back to IMC in Whistler - for conditions like this, and knowing that it will not REALLY start to warm up in Whistler until late in the morning and around noon. Here's what I would wear:

Over your race suit -

- full fingered gloves
- arm warmers
- Tight fitting wind or thermal vest
- Knee warmers
- Socks in cycling shoes and possibly over shoes
- Helmet liner

To put all of that on in transition takes maybe about a minute+ if you know what you are doing. It will be the BEST minute you spend on race day and you will be sanding me a note of thanks afterwards.

Just generally about the weather in Whistler - people seem to forget it's a mountain town in the Pacific Coastal Mountain Range. As such the weather can be very fickle and change quickly. Last year high pressure and heat were locked in. I was there 10 days before the race and every day including race day was full on sunshine and scorcher. But it could just as easily been a week or so of overcast, cool to cold weather as well!

I recall a hike we went on from the Round House up on Whistler Mountain years ago. Started off in brilliant sunshine and complete blue skies wearing t-shirts and shorts. However, by mid afternoon as we were arriving back at the Round House foreboding black clouds had formed, and the temperature had dropped precipitously. In a matter of minutes it started to pour rain, then snow! Fortunately we had brought along extra clothing gear with us (which you always carry in the mountains). The weather got so bad that they had to close the lift back down for about an hour, and many tourists caught out had to stand around in t-shirts and shorts, as the rain and snow came down! They got cold and miserable fast!

---

---

Steve Fleck @stevefleck | Blog

Still debating which front wheel to bring... what is the typical cross wind situation on fast section of the course?

Everything seams to be surrounded by trees... so i don't expect too much cross-wind but just checking ?!?

Regarding cross wind I was booting it down Callaghan last Friday going like 65 and I got a scary wind across the bike In aero and a scary moment

Quintana Roo PR6 with Zipp 454 front and rear

Then I did the same thing yesterday no wind at all and was fine

Slowtwitch swim Wednesday morning (I’ll likely do a bit Saturday too)

Departing rainbow park at 7 am

2 of us so far.

Leg warmers eh?
I dont actually own any and usually just wear tights with my bike shorts.

I will definitely take your advice on the arm warmers and full gloves though....

Leg warmers eh?
I dont actually own any and usually just wear tights with my bike shorts.



Knee Warmers


Way more versatile and can go on/off easily - If you are a good bike handler you can even take them off while rolling along the road and never have to stop!

But if it will never get over 15C - 17C on the bike at IMC, you'll never need to take them off!

---

---

Steve Fleck @stevefleck | Blog

lol - i'd never try taking them off while rolling
i'm usually too chicken to even do that with my arm warmers!

If it's the only section with cross-wind, i think i will take the deep wheels.

I'm a little more worry about a long section that is a constant battle to stay up right.

By 10 ish it will be warm if sunny

Raining And freezing this morning

Whistler weather changes quickly. If it is like this on race day please be ready with your really cold weather gear

It’s 8 degrees and seems colder

yeah that rain last night in the city was crazy
it was hoody weather when I left the house this morning

.....and i decided to listen to Fleck (maybe he kinda knows what he's talking about?) and picked up a pair of knee warmers at MEC on the way home yesterday. Just in case ;)

Hah, because it has been scorching last few years I didn’t bring all my stuff. I am receiving a fedex from home tomorrow with my Gilet, leg warmers, FF gloves etc.

I was standing outside this morning at 6 am in the rain - whoa it was cold and I was perfectly dry. I swam yesterday afternoon again (in the sun) and it was perfect swimming temp.

Rain predicted in the early morning on Saturday and mostly cloudy with a high of 70 and low of 48. Sunday is predicted to be mostly sunny with a high of 77 and a low of 49. Looks good so far.

Swim course is up. Lots of people going out into the lake from t1