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What to expect at first Ironman
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I'm sure this has probably been covered here, but I couldn't find anything in the archives.

IMLou is my first ever IM, and I don't know how different it will be from the other races I've done. Strictly venue/environment speaking.

What should I expect as far as the venue goes? (Athlete)Check in early to avoid long lines? When I check my bike in, do I leave it overnight? When do I give my Special Needs bags? How is parking (usually) for the family (I'm sure this is specific for each race)? Should I get a nearby hotel for my family to stay while I race (it's going to be hot and my wife will be toting our 1yr old), rather than get a hotel further away to save $$? This will also solve the parking question. Will be there be any entertainment for the family while I'm racing? Or should I plan out their day based on where to be and when to see me?

Anyway, I just don't want to feel too lost and out of place.

What do you suggest?

Thanks for your responses.
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Re: What to expect at first Ironman [applenutt] [ In reply to ]
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It seems like the check in lines are long right when registration opens, then they lighten up a few hours later.

You will leave yoru bike overnight but drop off your sepcial needs bags race morning. Read the athlete manual, it will have all of the fine details of what and where. Be sure to give yourself plenty of time so you don't feel rushed.

I would try and stay as close to the venue as possible to make it easier for your wife and kids. Sometimes there are kid's activites at the expo, but I think it pretty much closes down on race day as that is the main show.

Have fun!
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Re: What to expect at first Ironman [applenutt] [ In reply to ]
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OMG this is so cute. Not meaning to patronize you at all, its just that you have the guts to ask all these cute questions...it just brought me back to MY first IM, when I pulled into Lake Placid, saw the olympic oval, and puked..

first of all, no one knows the venue, maybe KY people do but its a new IM. The best you can do is get there early to register. I also used to register people as a volunteer when I did IMUSA and the earlier , the better. Get a place as near to the start as possible. As I do not know the area I cannot say, but ideally itd be nice if the hotel has a pool if you have kids and that kinda stuff that kids like. I dont have kids either so I have no idea but I hear they like pools, as do wives as they can put the kids in one place.
You will have to leave your bike overnight in the transition. Plan accordingly. Some people put plastic on their bikes and seats, me I never cared so never bothered. WHat I did do is pump up tires the next day and just swung by to say hello to the bike. If you want to be really popular, bring a pump race morning. You will make a lot of friends. I think it might be a hot race so I would not suggest pumping your tires til race morning.
You can leave your transition stuff when you leave your bike. Special need is left race morning.
During the race week you are going to be busy worrying needlessly about stuff and if you can get your family away from you during this, you will be doing everyone a favour. This is a good time to send everyone off to see a movie while you pack your transition bags. If there are any back to back matinees nearby Id take advantage of sending them all there. Everyone will get on your nerves and they are going to be bored with all the stuff you have to obsess about (that actually you dont have to obsess about, but you will anyway no matter HOW many people tell you to relax) so the main objective is to figure out how you can spend the least amount of time with them as possible before the race.

Yeah sounds bitchy but its totally true. But it is for the common good! It is realistic.

I do not know the area but it would be great if you found some cool stuff for them to do. Yes get a close hotel, itll cost more but its worth it. But you are right to think about them, keep everyone happy that way you will get to sign up again for next year!
Last edited by: kbee: Apr 30, 07 16:02
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Re: What to expect at first Ironman [applenutt] [ In reply to ]
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I've posted this previously, but here are the 99 steps of a typical IM trip...

enjoy your race and don't stress about things. it's a lot more fun that way.

J

The 99 steps of a typical IM trip
  1. Arrive in town.
  2. Find over-priced accommodations you are staying a minimum of four nights at
  3. Unpack bicycle, spread gear around room randomly.
  4. Attempt to reassemble bicycle, realize you forgot to mark your seat and handlebar position before disassembly. Guess position and tell yourself it won’t make a big difference.
  5. Drive bike course at slow speeds while making wrong turns. Annoy locals.
  6. Find swim venue. Put wetsuit on, stand around for 15 minutes. Swim 10 minutes, take wetsuit off. Look around to see if you impressed anyone.
  7. Walk around expo looking for free stuff.
  8. Go to registration tent, stand in line, get bag, check bag for goodies.
  9. Go back to hotel, arrange energy products into different piles. Stare at piles.
  10. Spend 2 hours preparing for bike ride with race wheels and drink systems. Go for 30 minute ride. Go back to hotel.
  11. Decide that this would be a great opportunity to learn how to rebuild your rear hub to fix the play in it. Disassemble hub.
  12. Drive to house where your club mate, the bicycle mechanic, is staying. Show him the pieces of your rear wheel. Beg for help.
  13. Go to swim start Friday morning. Look for tell-tale wrist-bands on other competitors; look condescendingly at all those swimming who aren’t participating in the race.
  14. Go back to hotel, spend 4 hours attaching numbers to your bicycle, helmet, and race outfit. Panic that you don’t have 8 pieces of reflective tape for your run outfit, even though IMNA has never been known to enforce the rule.
  15. Drive down to expo at the last minute, stand in line, pay $10 for a strip of reflective tape.
  16. Drive back to hotel, place energy products into various bags.
  17. Pack transition bags.
  18. Unpack transition bags.
  19. Repack transition bags.
  20. Drive to Carbo-dinner. Stand in line, proceed through buffet with poor food selection, sit at crowded table, remember you paid an extra $20 each so your family could enjoy this food. Listen to IMNA personnel tell same jokes as last year. Realize that Dave Scott has apparently discovered the fountain of youth. Stand in line to leave.
  21. Prep bike to drop off on Saturday, discover your tire has a slow leak. Drive to expo, stand in line, pay $80 for tubular tire. Get back to hotel, realize you don’t know how to glue on a tubular, drive back to expo and have them do it for you.
  22. Drop bike off, spend time covering bike with various plastic bags because everyone else is doing it.
  23. Drop off your transition bags, realize you forgot your salt tablets, drive back to hotel to get them.
  24. Drive back to hotel again, arrange race gear for tomorrow morning.
  25. Pack special needs bags.
  26. Unpack special needs bags.
  27. Repack special needs bags.
  28. Realize there is nothing more you can do to get ready. Sit down and relax.
  29. Panic.
  30. Eat early dinner
  31. Go to bed, lie there in a cold sweat.
  32. Wake up at 2:00 am for 1000 calorie bottle of nasty-tasting concoction, “because Gordo does it”.
  33. Lie awake listening to horrible weather move into town.
  34. Wake up at 4:00 am, listen to spouse complain.
  35. Get in car, drive to start. Stand in line to enter the transition area.
  36. Check transition bags.
  37. Stand in line to get body marked.
  38. Check bike, stand in line to get tires pumped up.
  39. Stand in line for porta-john.
  40. Realize you left your water bottles with special nutrition needs in the fridge at the hotel. Drive back madly to get them.
  41. Get back to start, wait in line for parking spot.
  42. Stand in line for porta-john.
  43. Get wetsuit on, stand in line to enter swim area.
  44. Realize it’s too late for a warm up. Stand in line to enter water.
  45. Stand in water with 2000 other people while sun comes up and national anthem is sung by local high school girl. Realize that few moments of your life have been this beautiful.
  46. Gun goes off, 2000 people attempt to swim on top of you, realize that you are in mortal danger or drowning and few moments of your life have been this dangerous.
  47. Get kicked in face, goggles come off, panic and tread water trying to get them back on while people hit you. Remember you paid good money to do this.
  48. Exit swim, stand in line to get into transition.
  49. Stand in line to get out of change tent. Get bike, stand in line to get out of transition.
  50. Start bike, realize that there is no way 1000 people can pack onto a course within 20 minutes without massive drafting problems. Hope that poor bike handlers don’t crash in front of you.
  51. Ride bike.
  52. Panic that you’ve already fallen off your nutrition plan that your coach gave you.
  53. Make up for lost calories and fluids in the next 15 minutes. Feel ill.
  54. Ride bike.
  55. Get saddle-sore.
  56. Ride bike
  57. Decide to piss while riding to save time.
  58. Spend the next 30 minutes soft-pedaling, coasting, and practicing mental imagery trying to relax enough to let it go.
  59. Give up, get off at aid station and spend 30 seconds in porta-john, get back on bike.
  60. Ride bike, feel queasy and bloated, take 3 salt tablets at once to make sure you’re not low on electrolytes. Throw up.
  61. Get off bike, sit in change tent wondering why you are doing this. Listen in disbelief to volunteer telling you you’re almost done. Proceed to marathon course.
  62. Realize that you should have practiced the 1000 calorie drink at 2:00 am before race day.
  63. Throw up, walk, jog, repeat for 26 miles.
  64. Start gagging at the thought of another energy gel.
  65. Sample the variety of food at aid stations. Discover Oreos, the food of the Gods.
  66. Invent the form of locomotion called the ‘ironman shuffle’. Feel proud that your 12 minute mile is technically not walking.
  67. Pass your spouse. Make them swear to never let you do another one of these.
  68. See finishing chute. Sprint madly down the road high-fiving people and cheering while announcer screams your name. Realize it was all worth it.
  69. Get to finishing chute, wait in line while a man takes his extended family over it with him.
  70. Cross line, collapse into arms of patient voluneteers.
  71. Spend next two hours in med tent realizing that you should have drunk more fluids when it got hot.
  72. Go to massage tent, eat cold pizza and wander around in a daze while wearing an aluminum foil blanket.
  73. Stick around finish line until midnight to share in “the ironman spirit”. Beat off 12-year-old to grab free socks thrown into crowd.
  74. Look in disbelief at fresh and bouncy professional athletes dancing at the finish line.
  75. Cheer last few athletes into the finish before midnight. Ask your spouse if you looked that bad. Be amazed that they spent 17 hours out there moving the whole time.
  76. Go back to hotel, collapse in bed.
  77. Wake up, go to bathroom, collapse back into bed. Repeat all night until the 6 IV’s the med tent gave you are through your system.
  78. Wake up at 4:00 because your legs hurt so much.
  79. Eat first breakfast.
  80. Sit around until spouse wakes up, eat second breakfast.
  81. Shuffle around town Monday morning wearing finishers T-shirt and medal. Smile knowingly at other fellow shufflers. Graciously accept congratulations from locals thankful you came to their town to spend money.
  82. Eat third breakfast at all you can eat buffet.
  83. Go to Official Finishers merchandise tent. Stand in line. Pick out $200 worth of clothing with prominent logos on it. Stand in line, pay $600 for clothes. Contemplate getting a tattoo to immortalize your achievement.
  84. Fall prey to peer-pressure and marketing techniques. Cough up $450 to sign up for the race next year - since it will sell out today, and this is your only chance to sign up!
  85. Proceed to IM Hawaii role-down. Hold out hope that, even though you finished 80th in your age-group, this will be the year everyone leaves early and you get the last spot.
  86. Eat first lunch.
  87. Go back to hotel, stare at the disgusting, sticky, smelly mess that is your bicycle and race clothes. Start packing things up to fly home
  88. Eat second lunch.
  89. Go to awards dinner, stand in line. Get poor food from buffet, remember you spent $20 a head so your family could enjoy this magical moment with you.
  90. Watch hastily-produced race video. Closely examine each frame hoping they caught a glimpse of you on the course. Be disappointed.
  91. Watch age-group athletes get their awards. Wonder how many of them actually work for a living, and where you can get some of the performance enhancing drugs they appear to be on.
  92. Realize that you have to go all the way up to women’s 70+ age group before you find an age-group your time would have won.
  93. Listen to long, excruciatingly boring thank-you speeches from various professional athletes.
  94. Stand in line to get out of awards dinner.
  95. Go to Airport, stand in line. Deliver $5000 bike to Neanderthal-like baggage handler. Pray. Reluctantly take finishers medal off to pass through metal detector. Proudly tell TSA personnel what you did on your weekend.
  96. Get home, contemplate unpacking disgusting bicycle, decide to leave it until tomorrow.
  97. Eat Bon-Bons and watch TV. Contemplate unpacking your bicycle and training again, decide to leave it until tomorrow.
  98. Repeat above step for 2-10 weeks. Step on scale. Look at your fat, disgusting self in a mirror and remember you signed up for next year’s race. Unpack bike, chip mold off of seat tube. Show up at swim practice again.
  99. Get ready to do it all again next year…


Ah, Ironman. Where else can you take your only vacation of the year to a beautiful place and spend the entire time either standing in line or sitting in a hotel room mixing drink concoctions and carefully placing energy products in various bags?
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Re: What to expect at first Ironman [JAM] [ In reply to ]
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That is awesome!!!!!!!!!!!!! roflmao
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Re: What to expect at first Ironman [JAM] [ In reply to ]
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very funny.
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Re: What to expect at first Ironman [applenutt] [ In reply to ]
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Applenut,

First off congratulations on the decision to train and enter an Ironman. It will be something you remember forever!

Buried in the humor, there is A LOT of wisdom in JAM’s post! The first thing that you need to realize (as JAM illustrates this well) is that you WILL make mistakes. Accept this and just roll with your mistakes and don’t let them ruin your positive attitude!

First off… MAKE YOUR HOTEL RESERVATION NOW. You may be too late to get a close hotel, but that is somewhat overrated. When I look for a hotel I look for a hotel that is 15 minutes or less from the venue that has a kitchen. The extra cost of a room with a kitchen is worth its weight in GOLD. See list below…

You family will only be bored if they allow themselves to be, an IM venue is an exciting place. A closer hotel may be nice for your family since you have a small child, but your wife should be able to find somewhere cool to hangout around the race venue… even if it is the lobby of an hotel etc. Recon this before race day so she has a plan and doesn’t have to figure it out by herself.

You will leave your transition bags overnight, but you can add to them in the AM. I usually tie a bright orange bandana to my transition bags so they are more visible.

My advice to all Ironman virgins is a simple list of 10 (this is by far not ALL inclusive but a good start):

1. Talk to someone who knows! I was lucky that my first Ironman was my Father’s 5th and he had already been to the race I choose for my first Ironman. You are already doing this by posting your question here at ST. Ask questions, LISTEN to the advice they give.

2. Train how you intend to race! You should have multiple long workouts using the nutrition plan for your race (in similar expected conditions if possible). Start testing your nutrition plan early in your training plan and give yourself time to adjust your plan. While I have my own specific nutrition plan I use for long events I also do some workouts using what will be available on course just in case (my 3rd IM taught me this lesson painfully). You should also have one long workout using the same equipment you intend to race with. BEFORE I leave for a big race I setup my bike exactly as I plan on racing it, race wheels, hydration system, tire pressure, clothing, etc and do longish ride (50 miles) with a couple 10 – 20min race pace efforts. Do this workout with enough time before you go to an event to bring your steed into a bike shop to fix any issues! While you are at it, ship you bike don’t fly with it. Have you bike shop pack it and ship it to the race bike shop… save your self some frustration! (Disclaimer: I don’t do this, I actually ship my bike AND my Park travel stand to my race hotel. Shipping vs. Flying is MUCH more reliable IME)

3. Make checklists! The few weeks before IM you will find you have SOOO much free time you will be going crazy. Use that time to add some mental prep to you race preparation. Make a checklist of what you need in each of your race bags (Race morning, T1, T2, special needs bike, special needs run and dry clothes bag) and what you need on your bike. Make a separate checklist for what you need to pack for the trip. Checklist are dummy proof (or amped up triathlete proof) if you actually use them!

4. Get to the venue early and check in as early as possible. I usually check in as soon as I get there, there WILL be a line just about anytime you do it. Do stress the line, make it a social event and make some new friends in our great sport! Check out you bag before you leave the check-in… if you don’t know what something is for ASK! Read the athletes guide and understand the schedule and rules. Attend the pre-race athletes meeting; IMNA usually posts their pre-race meeting as a podcast on NA Sports Podcast (iTunes).

5. Don’t over do race week. It is SOOOOO easy to get amped up and over do it the week before the event at the race venue. Have a training plan that extends to race day and follow it. Don’t let the energy of the venue and participants trick you into working out too hard. Don’t spend any more time on your feet then you need to, especially the day before the race. I personally plan things like going to the movies to keep me off my feet.

6. Preview the course. This doesn’t mean that you need to actually pre-swim, ride or run the courses! On two lap swim courses I usually swim the course easy the day I get to the venue. For the bike course driving the course is your best bet. This is hard if you don’t have a rental car, but I would be surprised if you can’t find a friendly fellow participant who is willing to allow you to ride with them as they drive the course. On two-lap run courses I ride the run course, nice and easy. Even a single lap run can be an easy ride if you let it, but I like to keep my rides under an hour the week before IM so I would rather drive those courses then ride them. At the very least, study the course maps and preview the confusing areas as much as possible! I also walk the entire transition area from swim exit to my T1 bag to the change tent to the exit to the bike course and then again from the bike end to my T2 bag to the change tent and to the run exit.

7. Be prepared for equipment failures! By now you have probably experienced a number of different equipment failures while training for your IM and hopefully you have discovered the quick and easy way to fix most of the common failures. The first step is to make sure your bike is in the best shape it can be. Bring you bike into you bike shop and have their best wrench go over it from stem to stern, have anything questionable replaced. I always replace my chain, cables and pedal cleats a few weeks before an IM and then readjust after a few rides (remember cables stretch). While the simplest and most common equipment issue is flats, this is easily remedied by practicing repairing a flat prior to race week. I personally know dozens of triathletes that race on tubulars but have never changed one! Heartrate monitors are another piece of equipment that for some reason seem to fail on race day. It is a good idea to replace all batteries in anything that uses batteries for big races, but you should learn how your race pace effort should feel in case your HRM fails. Don’t forget your running shoes. I have a new pair of my favorite running shoes around for IM; I usually try and get 10-20 miles of running in the new shoes before IM to break them in but running in old broken down shoes is a bad idea.

8. Don’t party the night before! I know a lot of athletes that have a get together the night before an IM. Get a hotel with a kitchen and go to the grocery store and prepare a proven pre-race meal the night before. You pre-race meal and race morning breakfast is part of your nutrition plan and should be practiced before your long hard workouts.

9. HAVE FUN! It is a long, LONG day… it is even longer if you have a poor outlook and attitude. Don’t set overly ambitious goals and don’t get discouraged when you don’t meet the goals you did set. Enjoy the day outside, enjoy the energy from the other participants and the volunteers and spectators. THANK the volunteers whenever you have the energy to do so.

10. Thank your family and those who supported you throughout your training for this event. The first IM is the most time consuming for most and that time is taken away from your family and friends. One of my friends have an “AI” list; this “After Ironman” list is all the things around the house etc that have been neglected during the preparation for IM. Your recovery time is a great time to get caught up and do something special for your family to thank them for all their support.

Hope this all helps!

__________________________________________________

"The nation which forgets its defenders will be itself forgotten." - (John) Calvin Coolidge
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Re: What to expect at first Ironman [JAM] [ In reply to ]
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I love #87. All have experienced it, but I have never actually seen anyone articulate how messy and sticky the bike itself gets.
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Re: What to expect at first Ironman [Alan Romania] [ In reply to ]
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These are great responses. Thanks for all the advice.
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Re: What to expect at first Ironman [JAM] [ In reply to ]
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Absolutely brilliant.


Behold the turtle! He makes progess only when he sticks his neck out. (James Bryant Conant)
GET OFF THE F*%KING WALL!!!!!!! (Doug Stern)
Brevity is the soul of wit. (William Shakespeare)
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Re: What to expect at first Ironman [applenutt] [ In reply to ]
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Jam, that was some vintage stuff! About 75 of those were me!

------------------
My business-eBodyboarding.com
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Re: What to expect at first Ironman [TriBodyboarder] [ In reply to ]
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"About 75 of those were me!"

All of the 99 steps came from the personal experience of either myself or my friends...

Glad people enjoyed it, I wrote that a few years ago when I was at a different job that had a bit of "down time" associated with it. i.e. I was in a cubicle all day with nothing important to do.

J
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Re: What to expect at first Ironman [applenutt] [ In reply to ]
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Thanks for asking the question...the responses are great!
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Re: What to expect at first Ironman [applenutt] [ In reply to ]
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Alan Romania's #4 is important.

Since this is a WTC event, I'm assuming they'll follow a similar protocol to IMNA/NAS. If So:

Take a copy of the Athlete Guide with you. Most of your logistics questions will be answered in there. I always print it off the website and take it with me to the race. They may have a Spectator Guide also, this has good info in it too. Both will likely be available on the website a few weeks before the race.
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Re: What to expect at first Ironman [JAM] [ In reply to ]
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In Reply To:
73. ....Beat off 12-year-old.....

Last edited by: TeamBarenaked: May 2, 07 10:17
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Re: What to expect at first Ironman [JAM] [ In reply to ]
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Great post Jam. Hilarious and a lot of truisms. I was wondering, do you mind mind if I use this in one of our upcoming series newsletters. I think a lot of our athletes would get a kick out of it.

Please let me know.

John Salt, Founder - MultiSport Canada
Canada's Largest Triathlon Series and Barrelman Niagara Falls
http://www.multisportcanada.com / http://www.niagarafallstriathlon.com
"Discipline Is What You Do When No One Is Watching You"
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Re: What to expect at first Ironman [JAM] [ In reply to ]
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Excuse me, I think I just peed in my pants... BRB...
That was bloody hilarious!

Cheers,
Fred.
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Re: What to expect at first Ironman [applenutt] [ In reply to ]
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JAM is right on the money with his 99.

I've only done two, but have a few observations and personal experiences/advice:

- Plan your race as the first part of a bigger vacation - something that rewards the family for putting up with your past year's selfish behavior. Get to know your family again.

- Remind your family of what you'll all be doing after the race. In the mean time, 'Shut the F up, leave me alone, I must concentrate on my race!' (Maybe not so harshly.)

- Someone needs to wake up with you early race morning to be your personal sherpa, photographer, etc. So if you have young kids and just your wife along, you'll need to find a someone for your kids or yourself.

- CAUTION!!! - Volunteer tire pumpers may be overzealous. I don't trust them. I've heard too many tires pop early in the morning. You don't need that!

- Learn to stand in a crowd, nonchalantly, while in your wetsuit and pee. Prior to donning the wetsuit, go for a 'warmup' jog and locate a reasonably private place to pee. If you must use a porta-potty, be prepared for, well, the most disgusting view and smell you can possibly imagine (or worse).

- Have a cell phone available post-race so you can call your parents, friends and siblings. I called my sister just ten minutes after finishing. I could barely talk because I had this huge lump in my throat and tears starting to stream down my face. It was hard to start talking, but once I did, I felt way better. In fact, I couldn't shut up!

- Watch that first bite of post-race food. Not that it's real food, but it's more real than anything you've had in the past 12 or so hours. You may invoke the gag reflex. Soften it up with lots of water.

- Get some warm clothes on as quick as possible. You won't believe how cold you'll be, even when it's 80 degrees.

- I've seen crazy, mad, aggressive people at shorter races, but at IM, everyone was on their best behavior and completely willing to help each other out... until the swim start (well documented on this forum).

Have fun and good luck!

Proud member of FISHTWITCH: doing a bit more than fish exercise now.
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Re: What to expect at first Ironman [John Salt] [ In reply to ]
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"do you mind mind if I use this in one of our upcoming series newsletters"

Go right ahead. Credit goes to Jeff Mitchell (former triathlete who stood in one too many lines) of Santa Rosa, California.

Sometimes you have to just sit back and laugh at this sport...

J
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Re: What to expect at first Ironman [HalfSpeed] [ In reply to ]
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Watch that first bite of post-race food. Not that it's real food, but it's more real than anything you've had in the past 12 or so hours. You may invoke the gag reflex. Soften it up with lots of water.

That was me at Moo '04. All I could think of was eating a hamburger after the race. Went to the Great Dane and got one. It tasted good, but MAN! That bun seemed DRY!


-------------------------------------
Steve Perkins
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Re: What to expect at first Ironman [JAM] [ In reply to ]
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Brilliant, JAM, Brilliant.
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Re: What to expect at first Ironman [applenutt] [ In reply to ]
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ONly done one, but.....here goes.

First! download the athlete instructions and read and re-read them at least once a day ;-).

I did a hotel search on Orbitz, etc. I compared that list with the IMAZ website and then called around.

I found a place that was pretty reasonable, about a mile and a half away. Close enough for us.

I went to the check in line early on Friday and waited for over an hour, but when I got out, the line was VERy short. I'd check in around midday, unless someone more experienced tells you differently.

You have to leave your bike overnight on Saturday night as well as your transition bags, but you have access to all 3 on the morning of the race. (don't make my mistake, arrange the stuff in your trans bags carefully, so as to minimize your T1 and T2) (Of course, the temperature predictions indicated a cold bike start so I took extra clothing in my T1 bag. That complicated T1)
Bring a cap/visor for the run. Check over our bike, computer/HRM, wheels, derailleurs, etc. before checking it in.

Check and recheck the stuff you will take from your room to the race. Food, drink, sunscreen, pump, extra CO2, lube, clothes, wetsuit, then pile it up neatly. Have several alarms as well as a wake up call.

Get up EARLY on race day to eat well and get organized. ( I got up at 3am. Recheck your gear. pack it and put it next to the door. Take your phone, just in case. Go to T1 early. REcheck everything. Pump your tires Get marked. Poop! Sunscreen. Wetsuit.

You leave your Special Needs bags on raceday morning. One of my bottles in SNRun bag leaked 'cuz I didn't close it well--learn.

Bring sunscreen with you to put on AFTER you get marked.

Plug your ears when the countdown gets to ...2...1...!!!!that damned cannon is small but it is incredibly loud.

Start out to the side and try to settle into a nice easy smooth stroke at the start. don't rush. Again, learn from me--Make sure you KNOW where the turn buoys are.

Again, learn from my mistake. Have the trans volunteers smear some estra sunscreen on your shoulders and neck (and arms) in T1 and T2. I used a VERY sweatproof sunscreen that usually lasts me all day, but I still got burned. Apparently, this application takes only a few seconds.

Get your name on the massage list ASAP after finishing. I didn't, and I ended up never getting one.

Rehydrate well after the race. I was thirsty for hours, even though I felt well hydrated at the finish and had urinated once on each leg of the race (yes, even in the middle of my swim.) and shortly after the finish. Apparently, deep vein thrombosis is not uncommon in IM athletes. Hydrate and move about. Eat. I had a recovery drink shortly after the finish. I drank more and then, after a little bit I began to eat, drink more, eat, drink more.

_________________
Dick

Take everything I say with a grain of salt. I know nothing.
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Re: What to expect at first Ironman [JAM] [ In reply to ]
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Classic!
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Re: What to expect at first Ironman [TeamBarenaked] [ In reply to ]
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In Reply To
73. ....Beat off 12-year-old.....
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I hate when that happens...


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you know my name, look up my number
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Re: What to expect at first Ironman [applenutt] [ In reply to ]
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Have you seen a race/spectator guide? If not, that would be a good reference for the week's activities.
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