Tuesday, January 31, 2006
Transitions Bags.
http://ironm4n.blogspot.com/2006/01/transition-bags.html
This gives you an idea as to what all of those bags are when you register for IMFLA.
This gives you an idea as to what all of those bags are when you register for IMFLA.
Monday, January 30, 2006
PCB area radar
Another valuable link for you: the Panama City Beach area weather radar.
PCB Beachcam
Here's a beach webcam in Panama City Beach, just to make you long for summertime.
PCB buoy data
For those who geek out on weather information like I do, you can access weather data from a buoy just off Panama City Beach, site of the Ironman Florida swim leg, and look up lots of current weather information there, including historical data (in kludgy text format).Here's the data for November 2005.
My longest ever swim
I finished my lifetime longest swim this morning. 2550 m in 1:40. (Which is almost exactly 2/3 the distance of an Ironman swim).
If I do the Ironman Florida swim at that pace, I'll be finishing up the swim right at 2:30.
Ten minutes after the cutoff. Done for the day.
Not to mention exhausted.
Within that workout I did one 800 m straight swim in 27:41. If I could hold that pace for 3862 m, I'd finish the IMFL swim in 2:13. That sounds MUCH better. Now maybe with only 4 turns in the water instead of 4 million, and a wetsuit, and buoyant saltwater, I might really be close to making that 2:20 cutoff!!
It still looks like I have my work cut out for me for the next nine months to be confident of making it to T1 on time on race day! If you can make a baby in that length of time, surely you should be able to make a swimmer, too, right? Yep, it's 277 days from today until race day, that's 39.5 weeks. Go forth and train!
If I do the Ironman Florida swim at that pace, I'll be finishing up the swim right at 2:30.
Ten minutes after the cutoff. Done for the day.
Not to mention exhausted.
Within that workout I did one 800 m straight swim in 27:41. If I could hold that pace for 3862 m, I'd finish the IMFL swim in 2:13. That sounds MUCH better. Now maybe with only 4 turns in the water instead of 4 million, and a wetsuit, and buoyant saltwater, I might really be close to making that 2:20 cutoff!!
It still looks like I have my work cut out for me for the next nine months to be confident of making it to T1 on time on race day! If you can make a baby in that length of time, surely you should be able to make a swimmer, too, right? Yep, it's 277 days from today until race day, that's 39.5 weeks. Go forth and train!
Sunday, January 29, 2006
Finish line: the time to beat
IMFL clothing
I was browsing over at the Ironman gear store to try to find some inspirational training wear for this coming season. Something to get me out there when I come down with the "idontwannas". What I really want is this singlet - but I can't wear it due to that 2005 Finisher stuff on it:
This swimsuit would be great too, but once again, I am disqualified by that Finisher label:
They do have an "Ironman in training" t-shirt, but the blah gray and backwards-N design really does nothing to inspire me:
I do like this technical t-shirt, but I fear it might be mistaken for a finisher shirt too. Maybe if I wrote "in training" on it with a Sharpie?
What do you all think?
All I know is that I will NOT be wearing a shirt like Shelley's any time soon.
Thursday, January 19, 2006
Check out the good news!
News flash from the Commodore: "Team 'Tri-Geek Dreamers' and the Triathlete Alliance are going to be in the April issue of Triathlete Magazine."
That is unbelieveably cool!
That is unbelieveably cool!
Friday, January 13, 2006
New IMFL logo
This new logo for the Ironman Florida event was just unveiled which incorporates the sponsorship by Ford.Tuesday, January 10, 2006
Ironman countdown clock
I took the countdown clock off of this blog because it wasn't working, but here's a cooler version for you!You can download an Ironman countdown clock straight to your own desktop and set it to your choice of Ironman events so that you have a constant reminder of your BIG EVENT right in front of you every day!
You'll have to spend a few minutes downloading some different widget engines, etc., but it's all pretty user-friendly, and you can acquire some nifty little items for your computer.
Naturally, mine is saying 297 days, 15 hours until Ironman Florida. That's only 42.4 weeks. Uh-oh.
Monday, January 09, 2006
YEAR'S FIRST SWIM
Wow, coming the day after the year's first run.... I'm totally on a roll.
Until you consider that it was January 8 before my year's first run.
Today I really wanted to do laps with measureable yardage, rather than that stationary rope-treadmill I invented for the splash pool here, so I went up to my mother-in-law's RV park, measured the pool at 20 yards long, and got in. 40 minutes, my watch set for 10-minute intervals, and I changed strokes each interval. Breast, Free, Back, Free. First time ever with bilateral breathing the whole time. At first I thought I was drowning but after a while I started to get the hang of it. My shoulder, which has given me grief since ChesapeakeMan, wasn't nearly as tricky when I breathed to both sides rather than just one.
Oh, wow... I had multiplied 20 yards by 33 laps and come up with 660 yards, but I forgot each lap was out-and-back, 40 yards... so that makes 1320 yards. Wow, that sounds better, for 40 minutes. That's much closer to my usual 45-50 min/mile pace. Don't ask me my 100-yd pace. Too much math...
Tuesday, January 03, 2006
Gordo's perspective
"Ironman is a volume game. Anyone that tells you otherwise is most often trying to sell you something. In an over-scheduled society there will always be a profitable niche available for those teaching how to perform with less. You can become decent (better than you ever thought possible) but you will never fully tap your potential. Not the most popular message to some but a fact of life at the top level."
Monday, January 02, 2006
What makes a successful Ironman triathlete?
That was the subject of A. Mathew Luebbers master's thesis, published one year ago. Male, English-speaking non-elite, ironman-distance triathletes were surveyed using an on-line questionnaire for descriptive characteristics, race history, and training history. Useable results were then sorted into high, mid, or low success groups by their race time or their race place by age-group (n=39, age 35.0±5.9 y).
Successful athletes with lower finish times had significantly:
Successful athletes with lower finish times had significantly:
- Lower body weights and lower BMI values at all heights
- Higher swim distance in training
- Higher bike distance in training
- Higher run distance in training
- More experience (i.e., more previous non-Ironman distance race finishes)
So there's no magic key revealed by this study - lose weight and train hard with high volumes in all three sports is the key to success! If it points out any one discipline to focus on, total bike training mileage had the strongest (negative) correlation with race finish time. Ride long!
