Is this thing going to be live streamed? I hate following these races on twitter.

It will definitely come into play for me....I'm coming up from Central Florida, so it will look like I'm running from it.
But by the time I head back Sunday, I will be driving thru it to get back home.

No effect for the races on Saturday and Sunday. But opportunity for a few tailwind KOMs when I return, lol

There won't be any effect on the race. It's projected to be on top of the keys 2 pm Sunday. I'm flying out of south florida Thursday morning. Looks like I won't be coming back on Monday like I planned. We'll see what happens. Not much I can do.. just hope for no major damage.

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blog

Hoping the best for your place and all
In the path of Irma

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Team Zoot So Cal

Water temp been holding steady at 77.9 the last two days. Be curious to see what it is in the morning after today and tonights rain.

http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/refresh/graphics_at1+shtml/085945.shtml?mltoa34#contents

The map is going to change every second over the next few days but yeah, probably not too worrisome. If it goes overland it weakens, although will bring some wind and rains on Men's day. If it goes back out to sea like they usually do, perhaps the fringes drop some rain but not too much wind.

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808 > NYC > PDX > YVR
2024 Races: Taupo

This is a bit scary. https://www.facebook.com/...eos/857468944418663/
Jesse Thomas's thoughts on the course.

It's tracking very far south (Keys). Not going to come up that far north any time soon. Current weather forecast couldn't possibly be better. 55ish for the start and highs of 78/79 for highs both days. Winds out of the NE at only 8-10mph. Might give us a tailwind up the mountain but obviously will be a slight headwind coming back

Does anyone know if the tracking app that was used in some Ironman races this year like the 70.3 Utah will be up and used for this race?

Jesse said it took him :42 to swim the course (and he's a normal 23-25' HIM swimmer).

WOW!

Where do you get that information? Race site? Website?

lol... was thinking the same thing. who knows at this point? fingers crossed we are good on race day!

But we don't know what the river flow was when he swam it. Above in this thread, it was stated the target for race day will be 6800cfs at the dam, and with no rain in the forecast I assume they'll get that. It would be nice to know what it was today when Jesse swam it.

25 to 42 would mean that quite a few AG won't make the cut off of 60min, especially in the older waves. That would be plain silly.

^ this

I'd say most wouldn't be able to swim faster than the current if race day current is the same as what Jesse swam in.

I did message the RD months ago about the physics of against current swimming and how it affects slower/older swimmers to a much greater degree. I got a quick answer back that they had people who "know this river" and that I didn't need to worry about it. Not 1 week later they had to alter the course for Chattanooga 70.3 because the current was greater than they had anticipated/calculated.

Hopefully the water is being let out faster now, after recent rain and in anticipation of race weekend, and will minimized in the coming days... And maybe it will be wetsuit!!!!

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Coach at KonaCoach Multisport

I'm a bit late to the party here. Currently packing up for this race. I'm an older/slower female swimmer. I learned to swim from scratch (blowing bubbles/barely getting across the pool) in my early 40s. My best HIM is 37 minutes with a wetsuit. I haven't gotten much faster in the last couple years. Seeing the last few posts has me worried about making the 60 min cut off. I did swim under 1 hour and 17 minutes recently at IMLP which is good for me. But that was with a wetsuit.

Should I be stressing right now about this swim? Normally I'm ready for a slower swim, a decent bike and a great run. But holy crap, now I'm worried about cut-offs for the swim! Hoping someone can calm my nerves :-)

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

I'm not even the messenger. I'm just relaying what Jesse said in his video. I think he swam the course yesterday or maybe even earlier today.

Well we usually stress about the wrong thing on race week, so I'd say trust that the current will be minimal or they will alter the course! And pack your wetsuit!!

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Coach at KonaCoach Multisport

To be fair in the video he said he was "swimming easy" to get 42 minutes. He said if he was swimming at race pace he predicts it would have been about a 30 minute swim (vs his 23-25 minute normal time)

I understand. I assumed the same.

I am not a extraordinary swimmer, but I don't doubt I'll make the cutoff. If I don't make it, it means a lot of people won't make it as well. Which kind of annoys me. Not on a personal level, but on a general level. I understand that this is a WC, but coupling a challenging swim to a shorter cut-off is a nice slap in the face to the older athletes. I was browsing some 60, 65, 70+ results and I can see that a few people here and there that will be having trouble making the 60min cutoff if the current is strong.

Why is there a need for a cut-off on the swim anyway, apart maybe as a general cut-off from the last athlete to enter the water? A cut-off at the halfway point of the bike would be more fair to everyone - it means jack to the very fast youngins, and it gives some breathing room to the older ones. Anyway...

I love the job that RD Brian Myrick does (endurathonrd on here). I've done many of his races in Chatt, Raleigh, and Muncie.

But every year at Chatt, he says he's "working with TVA to keep the flow low" and every time it is a total crapshoot on raceday as to what the flow will be.

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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

If you swam a 1:17 in July your chances of swimming 60+ minutes Saturday are very slim. you can take the swim cut-off off your list of stressors.

Thanks DBF. I haven't experienced swimming in a current yet so there are a few unknowns.

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

In this year's Muskoka 70.3, they relocated the swim course and the current in the 2nd half slowed me down from last year's 35 minutes to 43 minutes.