Looks like I'll be missing the race briefing 'cause there's none on Friday or Saturday. I'll be arriving Friday afternoon. :-(

If anyone is in the mens 50-54 or 54-59 AG and is a weak swimer, they'll either be swam over by their own AG or be trampled over by the 25-29 AG.

Yes its a clean transition with transition bags however, in the bike section of the athlete guide:


So in theory you could have nothing in your T1 bag (assuming shoes on already clipped in, helmet on handle bars, nutrition on bike) you still need your T1 bag to throw your swim stuff into after the swim.

There is no explanation of the transition bags in the athlete guide but there are countless youtube videos and triathlon blogs that tells you everything you need to know. I've never done a transition bag race (also never done an IM) so its new to me but I'm not worried. It seems pretty simple. If people are still worried about it, they can go to the athlete briefing where they will likely explain everything you need to know and ask any questions.

You arrive in transition early so you can pump up your tires, mount water bottles, setup nutrition, calibrate PM, mount bike shoes (for those that do this), and deal with any last minute mishaps (flat tire, di2 issues, etc.)

---

blog

Actually, this makes a lot of sense logistically for a clean transition area. Since the women are racing Saturday, I bet they have them hand off their bikes after the bike and volunteers take them to a separate place for pick up post race along with their bags so that transition is cleaned out for the men's bike drop off Saturday afternoon.

Right.


Good Luck with that. These athlete briefings rarely tell you the hard details you really need to know. It's all course marking, cutoffs, inclement weather, and wetsuit rules. I'm sure they would answer a direct question though.

Vegas Worlds in 2013 was my first time with the gear bag transition. I didn't get it all figured out until I talked to volunteers the day before the race at gear check. And I did read the athlete guide and go to the athlete briefing.

---

Proud Member of Chris McDonald's 2018 Big Sexy Race Team "That which doesn't kill me, will only make me stronger"
Blog-Twitter-Instagram-Race Reports - 2018 Races: IM Florida 70.3, IM Raleigh 70.3, IM 70.3 World Championships - South Africa, IM North Carolina 70.3

There are separate transition areas for the men and women. They are completely independent of one another.

---

blog

The word "tent" appears in the weirdest places in the athlete guide. WTF are they trying to say? Seems they did a global find-and-replace on the word "individual"? Perhaps? But that pattern doesn't fit anywhere.

I have been working hard on my tent training. Hope to win my tent AG!

Whats the scoop with the Parade of Nations on Thursday?
4 pm at the Tennessee Aquarium.
Can families participate?
Seems like it might be kinda fun / interesting but I don't see much more on this????

Something like this:

http://m.ironman.com/...rade-of-nations.aspx

Stupid question I'm guessing, but the swim won't be wetsuit legal correct? Kinda hoping for no wetsuit....

---

___________________________________
MS: Exercise Science
Your speed matters a lot, sometimes you need to be very fast, where sometimes you need to breakdown your speed.

Everyone says there won't be wetsuits, though as a poor swimmer in this race, I wish they would be legal. I guess one of the two of us will be happy with whichever way it goes! :)

---

2018 Races: IM Santa Rosa, Vineman Monte Rio, Lake Tahoe 70.3

Hovering around 80 degrees right now. We have some cooler temps coming in about a week but I still dont expect the water temp to dip much below 78 or so. Brian

According to the FAQ:

How does that work? Or does it?

I've never raced an event that was over 70F ;)

Brian, do you have any suggestions for places to swim for those arriving early to town? (i.e. prior to the 3 River swim access sessions) Looks like the Downtown YMCA may be the closest option. Thanks to your swim course layout, I need all the panic swim training I can get.

Couple options for you to swim. Just across the river from our venue at Ross's Landing, under the Market Street Bridge, is access for open water swimming. It will be packed all race week. I think some folks will also go a few miles up river (to the east) and swim at the park above the dam. As far as indoor pools, you are correct in that the Downtown YMCA is your best bet. Brian

Well thank god for that....my 85+ degree pool is nearly killing me right now and I was starting to worry that the race may be just as hot (Chattanooga's weather has only been a few degrees cooler than Houston's weather recently, and our lakes are probably worse than the pool!).

Water temp today was 83 degrees.

Brian, do you know what the flow rate will be race morning, say 9:30-ish? :)

I know what Ive asked it to be at the dam up river... Should be right at about 6800cfs from the dam. As we saw at the 70.3 in May, that doesn't factor in any run off or rain water up river!

How are you feeling post-sickness?

I had a calf strain that stemmed from a cramp while swimming in a very hot pool. It took a full month to clear up, but it's cleared up. I'll be curious how I race in Chattanooga. Heading to Kiley's mountain place for a solid weekend and then another half week of solid workouts and then rest. I'm much more acclimatized to the heat vs Raleigh and I've actually been in the water vs the dozen swims for the calendar year prior to Raleigh; bike fit is much more dialed in vs Raleigh. I am having to ditch my 68oz bta bottle. It's been good to me, but fluid keeps getting in between the double layered steel and when I pull the straw plug out, the fluid that comes out from that double layer is bright blue, so the 68oz'r has been put into the recycling bin.

OK, as obnoxious as it is, predict my performance:

Raleigh was hot, swim course slow: a 30min swim (2nd in AG for perspective, 25min in other swims), 2:17 bike, 1:40 run walking through every aid station for ice - not acclimated to the heat at that point. felt great at the finish.

---

wovebike.com | Wove on instagram

Are flying mounts for AG athletes allowed? I thought IM banned that a couple years back...

I believe so. The athlete guide states that shoes can be mounted on the bike.

Ironman has never officially disallowed this. It's been race specific and/or RD specific.

---

blog

What does that mean in terms of current in mph or additional time in percentages? I generally swim only in lakes or ponds around me.

After dorkily looking into this for more time than I care to admit, I concluded that it will be very hard to predict.


Seems like the late waves do not get access to their Transition bags or bikes later than anybody else. Water bottles should be nice and hot, and we better turn off the auto shut off on the Garmin.