IMFlorida 2002 - Raining on the bike. Raining and windy on the run. Tough to stay clear of other athletes draft zone b/c it’s just a long boring straightaway filled with bikers.
Relax2dmax
Worst Swim - IMMalaysia - pesky water mites & polluted water, Worst Bike - IMFlorida - can you say boring? Worst Run - haven’t done enough yet to have a strong opinion…
Best Swim - IMCDA - clear, clear water - Best Bike - IMMalaysia - riding on the wrong side of the road thru a tropical jungle and seeing monkeys - Best Run - IMCalifornia - beautiful sunset along the California coast.
IMFlorida 2002 - Raining on the bike. Raining and windy on the run. Tough to stay clear of other athletes draft zone b/c it’s just a long boring straightaway filled with bikers.
In other words, you had a nice shower, there was a nice breeze and lots of company from like-minded individuals. I’m IN!
The town may be ugliest town in America. It reminds of Houston in the 1970’s, but worse!
The swim was actually quite nice last year, BUT it can be a bear, so be prepared for anything. It’s right at the end of hurricane season, so anything is possible.
The bike is windy, flat, boring, and dangerous at the start because of the traffic. Be careful and always assume someone is going to ignore a cop. Some guy pulled right around a cop during my brief ride and fortunately I saw him in plenty of time. (I had a near terminal asthma attack about mile 10-12, but I rode a large part of the course earlier and did the Half in the Spring.) The roads are pretty rough in places. Unless they’ve recently paved it, it isn’t a course for high pressure tires. I’d definitely ride part and drive part of the course before the race this year.
The run is just awful. I did the one loop for the Half and cannot imagine having to suffer through two loops of the flattest, most boring, and ugliest run course short of doing a race at the county dump. And hot, hot, hot. I hope you are training in the afternoon down there in South Florida because the run is probably going to be brutal. I think for the Half last year the run temps were in the low '90s. I got a permanent sunburn. The temps were only in the mid to high '80’s for the IM.
After the race I had to wait an hour for something to eat. They ran out of food. Inexcusable. My buddy who finished was not too happy either. He’s never going back to that race, particularly since he’s seen Lake Placid, which he did about two weeks ago.
Good luck and I hope you qualify. Let us know what you think about it. Personally, I hope they move the course to someplace like Disney or Gainesville or Tallahassee. Even Jacksonville is better than PCB…
The temps were only in the mid to high '80’s for the IM.