I’ll be there! Looking forward to shaking the Michigan winter off.

I’m hoping it won’t be wetsuit legal, but I bet it will be. Word I heard was that it was 74 degrees on Friday, but that was from a friend who said he saw it on a Facebook post so... take that with a grain of salt.

---

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

But I thought everything on Facebook was fact checked and verified....

I’ll be there but I haven’t seen any swim wave times posted.

It says rolling swim start in the athlete guide. Self seed

I'll be there

Is the road nice and smooth or should i dip my tire pressure a bit?

---

808 > NYC > PDX > YVR
2024 Races: Taupo

I haven't raced it since 2016. But, back then the road was completely smooth but for the last 5ish miles. The end of the bike course wasn't super rough, though. No major holes or anything, just a generally bumpier type of asphalt. I don't think it would've been as noticeable but for the fact I had on a new uncomfy saddle...which became about 1000x more uncomfortable those last few miles. I wouldn't be concerned much with dropping PSI.

As for the water temp, it's hard to tell in advance. The "lake" is so tiny that it heats up and cools off quickly depending on the weather right before the race. But, given the fact that it's not supposed to really rain or dip below 60 at night all week, I would bet it will be non-wetsuit.

thanks!

---

808 > NYC > PDX > YVR
2024 Races: Taupo

I’ll be there. Haven’t done it since 2015, is the road construction around transition done? Bike out and the hill on the run were torn up in 2015 and FL isn’t great about road work completion times.

A local on Facebook said she tested the lake on Saturday and it was 74. I’m bringing my suit but expecting non wetsuit. Happy to see a rolling start vs age group start.

I rode it 9 days ago. The vast majority of the bike course is in pretty good condition. The absolute worst is late in the course. While heading north on W. Lake Marion Road (lake to your right), the road is fine. At the very top of the road the road turns hard left and becomes "Marion Road". Shortly after making that turn, the road turns into a very rough chip seal. You are going to feel this for about 3 miles until you turn north onto 30th to finish the loop.

The only other road that is slightly subpar is on the other side of Lake Marion early in the course ... i.e., "Lake Marion Creek Road". This road has a nice pavement on it and looks fine, but there are slight ripple ridges all along it that adds to the rolling resistance. I was constantly trying to stay either right on the white line or perhaps a couple feet to the left of the line to avoid these ridges. These were more like a low grade annoyance compared to the road on the other side which sucks.

I weigh 150 and will probably go with 105 psi.

Yes, all those roads, including 10th avenue (the run hill) are nicely paved.

https://www.watertemperature.net/...eva-haines-city.html from this site it seems pretty safely wetsuit legal. Does anyone have a better source? I'd run down and check but Florida is a bit of a schlep from CT.

Ill be racing Sunday as well!

I'm a couple hours north but guarantee you the water is warmer than 64. Theres a facebook group for the race where someone said she checked the temp herself on Saturday and it was 74. Temps are supposed to be in the mid 80s-90 degrees with lows in the 60s from now until race day

I've seen that site and the photo is NOT Lake Eva, Haines City, FL and it is NOT in the 60s. The Gulf of Mexico off Clearwater is already 72 degrees and Tampa Bay is 76 degrees right now. That little lake is well above 70.

Lake Eva is too small for regular official readings. However, here is a report for Lake Hamilton which is just off Hwy 27 south of Haines City by about 1-2 miles. Estimated water temperature (now, not in the morning) is 81. https://www.fishingnotes.com/...Little-Lake-Hamilton

I’m in and really hoping the 70% forecast for rain improves.

Depends where you look. Accuweather is only saying 25%. Welcome to Florida, it'll change hourly.

Glad to hear. Having lived here for 24 years, I’ve learned never to cancel a workout if it’s raining because the sun can be out across the street.

Gotcha. Assumed you were coming down from Ohio with the name

I'm in as well; feeling spry and ready to roll! Now it if would just dip to about 65 as a high for race day...

I'll be there after a cold winter in NJ!

Guaranteed it won't be cold!! :)

This is my first time at the race since 2015, but not my first IM event since then. Not to beat a dead horse about drafting, but is there always a heavy Brazilian time trial group off the front at this race? Not 100% positive they were all Brazilian but there were two decent sized groups that passed me late in the bike and 6 or so of the top 10 were Brazilian. I forgot there were a couple hills in FL and the bike and run weren't as easy as I thought they'd be. Got lucky with the weather. Just looking at past results was this year a slower year, or field?

I've done Florida 70.3 in 2007, 2008, 2009, 2015 and 2018 ... not enough continuity to say what is normal at the Haines City venue. However, in any race I've been that had a sizeable Brazilian presence I have seen enough drafting to make me suspect that the culture doesn't perceive it the same way as most other countries. And although I've read a lot of reports of gross drafting at yesterday's race, I didn't witness much myself. I seeded myself at the back of the 35-37 min swim group and came out of the water at 37 mins and change; then biked my way through the field passing hundreds in the first half. I never saw a ref - not one - and the penalty tents were empty. Some strong riders passed me here and there in the second half, but again, I never saw a peloton. One person did report seeing a ref on the bike, but I'm guessing that without a pro field that Ironman skimped on ref salaries.

As to "got lucky with the weather", I would agree only with respect that Saturday would have been much worse and the timing of front was better than say, the start of the race. But really lucky would have been just about any day in March compared to the heat and humidity we had Sunday. I wasn't ready for that and suffered greatly on the run. I didn't race it last year, but those folks were treated to relatively cool and dry weather - nearly ideal. I remember kicking myself last year for not having been there. I've never caught a cool day at this event and after 5 times, I'm not sure I'll repeat it.

I came out of the water in 29 and change and seeded myself appropriately. Still surprised to see people seed themselves at the front that have no business being there, but expected it. Much smoother swim than the AG waves we had in 2015. I averaged 23mph and everything was clean until mile 40. I finally saw a moto and actually got a warning myself on the chipseal highway due to traffic. I had caught up to someone and we were going with traffic right before the turn at the school back to town. Nowhere to go. The new run course is harder? I normally suffer in the heat. It could have been so much worse that 80 and cloudy. Was just looking at times this year vs last and winner wouldn’t have been close.