What's the weather like this in late August? It looks like mid 60s for the high? I'm hoping so since I'm 180lbs! I almost died in my 100 miler this week at 90 and 95% humidity.

Anyone ride the course and compare to best bike split? It says I'll ride a 5:15 at 239w average at 180lbs. Yes I have sucky aerodynamics. But this seems fast for this course.

It will be very comfortable. Not much humidity that time of year usually. Dress for cool morning, warm day (22Cish), and cool evening. Special needs bags packing will have to take this into consideration.

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Jon Morton
President, Triathlon Muskoka (TriMuskoka)
http://www.trimuskoka.com

My Goal is 5:30 or slightly better on 210-220 watts


This year I was 2:42 for the half at 170 lbs and pushed 231 watts riding 2014 speed concept disc rear 50 mm front aero helmet, skin suit.
My full training ride on course (fox road not the new turn around)
were 5:58 at 175 lbs at 190 watts



last year I was 2:56 for the half at 176 lbs and 218 watts riding 2014 speed concept 50/50 wheels aero road helmet, skin suit.
I did two full length training rides for Chattanooga on the Muskoka course
6:05 at 181 watts
5:48 at 203 watts

2 years ago I was 3:00 at 179 lbs and 207 watts for the half on an old speed concept 7 with hed jet 9/9 and aero helmet tir suit.

Hope that helps

Ok seems about right. I could ride a few watts more but not sure about run.

I rode the course a few weeks back, BBS said 5:19 based on the power and weather that day, and I rode 5:24, but with multiple stops for construction, nature breaks, water etc so I think it would have been close. I was in full race kit, only difference was I had an extra cage/bottle on the downtube which I likely won't have on race day. I wish I could ride that course at 239W! That would get me we'll under 5h!

Haven't heard anything about the swim start in a while. Last I heard it was a "rolling" start (though not clear how it would be administered), but neither the Athlete Guide nor the course description pages (nor the trimuskoka site--Rich?) say anything about it!

Can anyone solidly confirm how the swim start will be administered?

Thanks!

Jason Kilborn
Forest Park, IL
(and at 140 lbs, I'll be pushing 165 watts NP max--I don't know how you guys do it at 200+ for over 5 hours!)

I was also wondering...I figure it will be much easier w 1300 or so than something like Louisville w 3000. Will there actually be an attempt to put faster swimmers up front or first come first serve?

I have a disk cover for my Flo 90 making it quite heavy

Would you use it ?

I weigh 156 ish so it's not like I am heavy

Cheers Steve

How much do you weigh? What was your average power and NP when you rode it a few weeks back? The 5:15 that I'm predicting that I ride is at IF=0.7. I think I probably ride more like a IF=0.72 so about 258w NP. However, I have a stages and I think my left side is stronger than right so my BBS predictions are usually off 10-15w when in full race kit. So in reality I could ride a 243-248w NP(with the assumption of 10-15w reduction from left sided power meter). But still wondering if pushing a IF of 0.72 is a bad idea on this course. I'm hoping to run a 3:10-3:15 marathon in hope for a Kona spot.

I ran it with and without my cover on best bike split, and it makes a 15 sec difference, to the good for the cover. For that little I'm going without in favor of lighter weight

The swim will be a rolling start. If you want a swim warm up then you will go to the back of the line.

Greg Nicol
Race Announcer

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World Endurance Canada Inc.
Vineland Station, ON
905.562.6670
info@trisportcanada.com

The best athlete information meeting to go to will definitely be on Friday night in Huntsville. Lisa Bentley and I will be hosting. The Welcome/Athlete Welcome on Friday night will give more information using pictures. There will be a QA after the meeting. Saturday is a day to get your stuff to the site and rest. Sunday will be a great day. Looking forward to seeing athletes meet or exceed their goals!

Greg Nicol
Race Announcer

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World Endurance Canada Inc.
Vineland Station, ON
905.562.6670
info@trisportcanada.com

I used my cover for my ride of the course despite BBS saying it only saved 14 seconds - there seems to be a consensus that BBS doesn't acurately model the advantage a disk has. I am still debating running mine, but I don't think the weight is a deal-breaker. Model some higher wind speeds on BBS and see if you get more time savings with the cover. Chances are the second loop could be breezy.

I weigh about 155 and rode 190 AP, 202 NP which I think gave me an IF of .72 and I wound up with a TSS of 278...so I pretty much nailed my race power. I really tried to ride as smooth as possible, and I swear I remember my garmin saying 202NP and 197 lap average power for the course when I finished, but when I uploaded to trainingpeaks I got 190/202 for a VI of 1.06.

I also hope to run in the 3:15ish range, but my run volume is a little behind where it should be so we'll see. I think more important than the IF is how you get there- a 0.72 IF ridden with a 1.15 VI is a bad idea on this course, if you can manage a VI of 1.04 you'll probably have no issues. With a 5:15/3:15 combo I just hope you're not M35-39...enough ringers in that AG already!!

Agreed, BestBikeSplit is a real let down...they really need to work on their modelling.

Yup 35-39 age group here. I guess I'm going to have to push the IF to 0.73 now...hahaha.

Why stop there? Go for .90! Kona slots are temporary, bike course records are forever ;)

The two rolling starts I have done (LP and Texas) you just lined up in behind the sign for your target swim speed and it was smooth as silk. So if you are a fast swimmer and come late you just walk past everyone to your allocated seeding area. There is no reason to show up at 4 am to secure a spot in line. Your time starts when you cross the timing wire and enter the water. I can't answer is Muskoka will do it this way, but I believe this is now standard procedure. Louisville is the only anomaly and hopefully WTC gets its act together and gets rid of the silliness of lining up at 4 am at Louisville.

I believe the rolling start at Muskoka will be good for early in the bike where there are some technical up and downs and a few spots with bad pavement at high speed where it will be good for there to be lower rider density. This will be win win. For the strong swim-bikers, you got your perfect race where the rest of the masses can't sit in massive peloton for half the bike and negate your entire advantage. You will have a fair race and your strengths will be rewarded.

is anyone fast on here not 35-39? I'm 35-39 as well, but I'm not 5:15/3:15 on this course...I thought something around 10 might have a chance at top 5, maybe not...

I think around 10 will still get you top 5. I know of two faster athletes Cl60guy and I think redtdi is pretty fast. I'm sure there are one or two others but not all of us are going to have perfect days.

Words to live by. Perform your own good individual time trial from start to finish and we'll all have a good day. At no point will I likely be "in a race"; I'll try and stay steady the whole way and not get too high or too low.

Ken

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"the trick is to keep losing weight until your friends and family ask you if you've been sick. then you know you're within 10 pounds. if they start whispering to each other, wondering if you've got cancer or aids, you're within 5. when they actually do an intervention, you're at race weight." - Slowman

Hi Greg

separate question - what type of gatorade is on the course so i can plan my calories

thank you

I am surprised by your statement regarding a swim warm up. IM has been encouraging swim warm ups as part of their SwimSmart initiative, and yet having athletes go to the back of the line, thereby seeding themselves inappropriately will discourage a swim warm up. If the rolling start begins at 6:45, is it not possible to allow athletes to have a swim warm up followed by appropriate seeding provided they are out of the water by a cut-off time (e.g., 6:30)?

I have been reading the Athlete Guide and a couple of points really stood out. The first being that special needs bags will not be returned. Is this correct, or does it mean that the return of special needs bags cannot be guaranteed. I really don't see why there cannot be a drop point for special needs bags. Most items that I place in special needs are low value items such as an extra tube/CO2 cartridge/socks/water bottle which I don't really care whether or not they are returned. I do, however, like to put an extra pair of run shoes in my special needs bag, especially if its raining, and this is something that I will not do if there is no chance of them being returned after the race. The second point, which is WAAAAAAAY more important is that Red Bull does not appear to be on the run course. How can this be possible? I'm still in shock.

I also noticed that it appears that bike shoes can be clipped onto the bike prior to the race so that there is no need to bring them from the change tent. Can you confirm that this is correct.

Hi Unkinny - the Gatorade that will be available on the course is just the normal Gatorade that is available in Canada. On the bike the Gatorade will be orange flavour in sport bottles. On the run course it will be lemon lime in cups at aid stations.

Enjoy your day - you will be an Ironman!

Greg Nicol
Race Announcer

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World Endurance Canada Inc.
Vineland Station, ON
905.562.6670
info@trisportcanada.com