IM Florida vs IMC or CDA

Triathlon Forum
1

I had a real good race in Pentiction and came within a half hour of qualifying for Hawaai - I believe I can make up that time on the run as I am doing a 10:50 odd race with a 55 swim and 5:30 bike - leaving a 4:15 run…best time by 50 minutes. Over the last few years the last slot has been around 10:15 to 10:20 in Penticton - similar in CDA…thought about Florida for next year however see on average the last slot is around 9:40 - hell of a lot quicker - for those that have done Florida plus a course similar to Penticton please let me know exactly how much faster you think Florida is at the same level of fitness…yes I know it is all up for debate however I know I can do under 10:30 but not sure about sub 9:45…

2

i’m not sure, but rumour is this is the last year for ironman florida (the current course anyway). also heard rumour it may move to disney, but with all the crappy race reviews i’ve been hearing about the current disney races, that may or may not happen either.

anyone else hear different?

3

I’ve done IMFL and CDA. We all know Florida is fast course, and so is the competition. A big German contention early in the year makes for little if any rolldowns. You are right about qualifiying there with at least a 9:45. I was jazzed with my 9:59 in '03 only to find out I was no where near qualifying.

IMO Florida is aprox. 25 min. faster than CDA with the same level of fitness. Plus CDA will have a little more rolldown opportunities.

Good luck and Aloha!!!

4

I’ve done IMFL,and IMC (as well as IMH,IMCali,IMLP). I think IMFL is probably worth 20 min. under IMC, but don’t underestimate how trashed your legs can be coming off a relentless flat, no coast, aero position ride with the same gearing for 5+ hours. Also, it can be quite warm there and rather humid. Olivier Bernahrd said it was the toughest course he ever did. ZERO roll down, as it’s Euro city (they can fly to Florida ceaper than you and I!). Note too that the pros are not really going all that much faster overall at IMFL, just on the bike, swim can be choppy etc.

FWIW I think IMLP is harder than IMC (rolls more, harder to get any real rythmn or pace going, times suggest this. Don’t know about CDA, looking to do it in '06 possibly. What was your impression?

5

I think that the swim is definitely faster at IMC than at IMFL (I was 2 minutes slower at IMFL than at IMC) and for me the bike would be about 10 or 11 minutes faster at IMFL (you get the flat course but you also don’t get to coast down Yellow Lake for the downhill leg rest near the finish) and the run is about 2-3 minutes faster at IMFL. The other difference I noticed was that T1 will take longer in Florida with the run up and the change area inside the building than the tents at IMC so your time would be a little off because of that. For me, I would guess about a 10 minute difference in overall finishing time.

6

Zulu,

I raced IM Canada and IM Florida last year. Also, IM Coeur d’ Alene this year. IM Canada - 10:18, IM Florida - 9:56, IM CDA - 10:29. Propotionately, I’m better on flat courses than climbing courses for both the bike and run. My swim times were within 1 minute for all 3. A conservative guess would be about 20 minutes faster in Florida (good conditions).

The slots didn’t roll very far at all in Florida. I got a rolldown in Canada, but was 10 minutes off in Florida and 14 minutes off in CDA. I hope this helps. Good Luck!

Geoff

7

So, I am reading that the opinon is that CDA (or Canada) have faster swims. FL is 1-3 min faster on the run. So, the diff is the bike.

How much slower would you guess CDA is than FL on the bike? I read Rich Strauss (somewhere) guessed about 15 min slower.

What y’all think?

8

For me, the bike course is probably more like 20-25 minutes slower at CDA, but I lose more time in the hills than some.

9

Some thoughts:

  1. You may go faster at IM Florida, but so will the competition, so I would suggest not going there thinking that it will be that much easier to get a spot for IMH.

  2. I have heard that roll-downs are minimal, because it’s qualfying for IMH the next year!

  3. The flatness of the course, while in theory should be faster, and it is compared to say, Lake Placid, does present it’s own challenges - one gear, one position, one speed, for 5 hours creates complete overload on certain muscles.

  4. If you swim 1:00 - 1:10, the traffic on the bike is challenging

I will going to observe IM Florida for the first time this fall and these are the thoughts that I have collected from vets who have done it in the past.

10

True about roll-down at FL. It seems that almost nobody is passing on a slot. For both reasons - lots of euros and the race is almost a year away.

I do feel the competition is very tight at IM-FL. People often cite how fast the course is (which it is to some extent if you do well just crank’in it) but often disregard how fast the AG’ers are at that race.