This Picture Is Not Mentally Positive For Me

Triathlon Forum
1

I’m being goaded—I mean goaded—into doing a half ironman, here in Arkansas, on August 17th. Its a good one, but a difficult one. Our regional USTA director, Fred Phillips, (great guy) runs it: http://www.dltmultisport.com/half_IM_Tri_home.htm. The site is having a bandwidth problem right now, if you don’t see anything.

If you are from Texas, Lousiana, Memphis, etc., some of you have probably done it, or heard of it, "The Iron Mountain Half, " at Lake Degray, in Arkansas.

But I’ve never done a half. And its got this bitch mountain, gradual five mile incline, you have to hit from both directions. And right now, I’m just not mentally ready for it, but I’m being goaded into this, and my manhood has been questioned: “What do you need a note from mommy, to not do this?” I wake up each morning, wishing just to get this over with. The dread of the torture overwhelms me.

Its this kind of macho bravado, that I fall for, that’s going to kill me.

So, maybe some helpful smiling pictures of this race would help, I think. You know…participants smiling, like, no big deal, piece of cake. Something to pep me up. Off I go, and, yeah, I found a picture. We got you a picture, Booth. Come here. Here’s your freaking picture. I go up there to look for some positive reinforcement, and I come back with this:

http://www.arkansasrunner.com/archives/photos2002/irontri02/ironman%20068.jpg

Some of guns walking at or near the end of it.

What a kick in the pants.

I can’t wait for this. No sir.

2

I know a few people doing the race. I understand that it will be hot and humid…sorry not so positive but at least it honest! And besides that guy was probably on the galloway plan, you know run a while, walk a while…

3

I’ve done it before. Actually it was my first 1/2 IM. The swim is nice because the water is pretty clear and you get some pretty nice scenery on the bike course. I can’t say much about the run because I hear it has changed, but its easier from reports of others that have done it.

If you are going to do a 1/2 IM this is a pretty good one to do I would say. Good volunteers/support and from my experience Fred did a good job of putting on a good race.

Matt N

4

Dude, race the race. Race your OWN race. You’ll never finish 100% of the races you DON’T run. You don’t have to KILL yourself on the hill.

Now if you’ve talked a battleship race, but only done a rowboat’s worth of training, be prepared to eat a little crow when the “goader” beats you. So what.

5

Thanks. What’s the five mile hill, like?

Whenever the site comes back up, you’ll see that Fred has put the nix on “SNORKELS.”

Not that I ever used those, but, apparently, there has been a rule passed on USAT, that Snorkels can no longer be used, unless there is a medical reason.

6

By five mile hill I guess you mean the hill right out of transition?

If so, its not that bad just put it in an easy gear and cruise up. Don’t be tempted to go with the guys pushing a big gear and pumping out of the saddle. Put it in your small chainring and roll on. Good news is that the last part of the bike is down hill and you can give your legs a break to get ready for the run.

I don’t think I noticed anyone that used a snorkel the year I did it. But I can’t say I was looking for snorkelers either. Although me and my brother did do some snorkeling at our hotel before the race :slight_smile: Its a nice lake.

Matt N

7

The run did change last year. You do not have to go back up the hill that you did on the bike. The run is flat but, it is still hot. Have a good race

8

Ahh, I think it’s the 14th. Or at least I sure hope so 'cause that’s when i’m planning to be there. :wink:

Quite yer whinin’, get training…from everything I’ve read and heard it’s gonna be a great race. And because it’s USAT’s long course Nationals, there is sure to be some pretty stiff competition. Looking forward to it!

Perhaps a little pre-race slap around session will help keep your mind off “bitch mountain”…nah, better you just go train on some hills. :slight_smile:

G

9

Trust me, don’t worry about the 5 mile hill…it’s climbing back up Brushy Rd about mile 47 that you’re really gonna love! I saw someone actually fall over on their bike when they lost all forward movement on the steep section of this road 2 years ago. But don’t worry, like the event website says, the bike course is faster than you would think it would be. This is a great 1/2 ironman race with lots of great volunteers making sure everything runs smoothly. I would recommend it to anyone that wants a challenging course in challenging conditions.

I prerode the course last Thursday, and am going back to ride it again tomorrow. Summer has not been kind to the first 8/last 8 miles of the bike course (Skyline Rd). There are huge potholes everywhere, several which require riding well to the left to avoid. Hopefully the officials will give a little leeway on enforcing the stay to the right/don’t ride left of the yellow line rules on this section of the course.

Don Starr

The Sporty Runner

www.thesportyrunner.com

10

Not to burst your bubble any further Booth, but it looks like those two on the right are walking downhill. I dunno, when even the downhills are that tough…

11

If you see a guy come in your place, named Mike Angel, who lives in your town, and does some of these triathlons, sell him some shoes, where the left one is bigger than the right. He won’t know. We’ll laugh about it later. Don’t tell him though.

12

The picture looks like the section across the dam—it’s what’s around the corner that should worry you (not really) The run now exits transition to the left, which has about a .4 mile climb up to the park entrance—where you hit the flat section. 2 loop course with little shade. Heat is a factor. The only race I ever quit, which was last year after the first loop of the run. I might give it a shot this year?

13

First thing is you need to delete the picture of the people walking and get it out of your head. Flush those negative thoughts down the toilet. I do not have any digital pics of people running, but I used the pic of Peter Reid from one of the tri mags where he was passing Tim DeBoom. The guy has the serious look of determination and the look like nothing is going to slow him down. Think positive - you’ve done the training and you will finish strong.

14

I know how you feel, I DNF’d last year myself. Mile 38 of the bike, had a flat. I tried to stay cool, take my time and do everything right. Got the new tube in, hit the CO2, and POP! That’s when I discovered the cut in the sidewall. That was the end of my day, last time I’ll ever do a race without a patch kit in my bag.

Don Starr

The Sporty Runner

www.thesportyrunner.com

15

Booth,

For some reason I’m having a hard time picturing Mike “laughing about it later”!

Don Starr

The Sporty Runner

www.thesportyrunner.com

17

I’m signed up for this one too. It’ll only be my second 1/2 IM (first one was Ralph’s earlier this year) and it should be challenging. I do a lot of mountain biking in the Ouachita mountains just west of Arkadelphia and the hills are not for the faint of heart. The scenery should be great, but the humidity and heat will just plain suck. Remember to hydrate a LOT.

As others have noted, I’ve heard the ride is faster than expected, but the run is hilly. I guess we’ll find out soon enough. No excuses.

I’m a standard MOP/BOP racer so it’s rather humorous to me to be entered in a long course championship race. I’m sure many of the racers will be halfway home before I even cross the finish line.

18

Since you’re obviously familiar with the course, any gearing recommendations?

I train on Northern AZ hills with a 54 and 12/27, but generally race with a 12/25 (650’s). How steep are these hills? Just had a good race at the 5430 with the 12/25 and am not really sure which way to go. Any thoughts?

There really is no info about the run course on the website. Is it hilly as well? Shaded or exposed? I’m not so worried about the heat, but the humidity, especially for an arid loving Zonie, is sure to be a killer. Does it affect run times that significantly? Times didn’t seem that slow last year.

Thanks for any info.

G

19

I would think that your normal race setup would be fine. Most of the hills are gradual climbs or rolling type hills where you’ve got some speed from the previous downhill. However there are some exceptions, in particular a 2 mile section on miles 8-10 on the way out and miles 46-48 on the return that has several short, steep climbs. I don’t know that I would change my gearing from what I was used to for this short section though.

The run course has one pretty good climb out of the transition area otherwise it’s small rolling hills or flat sections. There are some sections that will be shaded, but I’d say at least half the run will have nowhere to hide from the Arkansas sun.

Just got back from riding the course again today, looks like they’ve started to patch some of the potholes on Skyline Dr. Now instead of holes there’s asphalt speed bumps to dodge. The first 8 miles and last 5 or so miles to the turn-around are rough, power-sucking sealcoat, otherwise it’s pretty smooth asphalt, brand new in some sections.

Humidity can be luck of the draw this time of year in Arkansas. For example, it’s been a very nice 55-60 percent humidity this week, with lows in the mid 60’s. Not sure what effect the humidity will have on run times, my guess would be that if you live in an arid part of the country it might have an effect. There’s so many other things that effect my run times humidity is pretty far down on the list for me LOL.

Hope this helps

Don Starr

The Sporty Runner

www.thesportyrunner.com

20

Thanks for the course info. Now for the really important question…

Where’s the best place to eat in Arkadelphia? And how do I get there from the Holiday Inn? :wink:

G

21

Just ran across the following link http://www.arkansas.com/city-listings/city_detail/city/Arkadelphia there seems to be more selection 26 miles away in Hot Springs. I haven’t been able to sleuth grocery stores, health food stores and such but am assuming that Hot Springs will be the most likely area.