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Post by Aussie Rob on Jul 21, 2007 15:20:07 GMT -5
As some of you know, and most of you dont (and why would you? who am i to most of you right?  ) - ive been spending most of this year getting in shape for the olympic distance GCT, and it's been going pretty well. Well here i am 3 weeks out, and im starting to have a crazy idea. Im thinking about stepping up to the HIM distance for GCT instead of my originally planned olympic, and i was wondering if anyone else had attempted something like this with any success? The idea entered my head the other day when i went for a long ride, and i got back realising that i felt good and just clocked 54 miles. So i thought about it and thought "1.2 mile swim isnt a problem for me, and i just did the bike distance.....i wonder if id be able to finish the HIM?" I honestly think i could (i dont care about time), but i havent really been training for it. Most of my runs are a mere 6 miles, with my "long run" being only 9. I was thinking about going for a 13 miler next week to see how i do. Assuming i get through it, is it a bad idea to attempt the HIM? I figure if i pace myself id be able to atleast finish (a big deal for a race this long to me). Am i dillusional? Or should i go for it? I look to the more experienced for some advice. |
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Post by gregnemes on Jul 21, 2007 17:35:22 GMT -5
Rob, ive ridden and swam with you and id think youre definitely capable.
My suggestion is to start doing some shorter length rides - maybe in the 12-20 mile range with a longer run instead of the norm -average distance ride with a quick run. Also, maybe go with an 11 mile run, and then 13. Doing two longer runs will have a much greater impact than one - and that 11-13 jump wont be as tough.
I think youve got it in you. Long run bricks, long runs, and a good taper, race pacing and nutrition should get you to the finish line.
disclaimer - the GCT will be my first half too - but ive learned so much in training for it this season.
ps walk breaks on the run will help a lot
doing huntington tomorrow?
greg
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Post by karming on Jul 21, 2007 18:06:38 GMT -5
Nothing ventured, nothing gained. . . huh. Only question I have is whether your 54 miles was on the east side on the course or was it in RRR? If it was a west side ride, it might be a little more difficult as the terrain could sap more out of you. But if you're not worried re: time, then go for it and good luck.
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Post by gregnemes on Jul 21, 2007 18:20:25 GMT -5
yeah i have to say that you should ride the GCT course before being sure. Its much more rolling than our side of town. And theres one big climb that sort of sucks. Im riding 3 of the 23 mile loops a week from tomorrow, be happy to have you.
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Post by Aussie Rob on Jul 21, 2007 18:31:17 GMT -5
Yeah most of my rides are west side, although on my wednesday ride we incorporate a number of hills and i kinda like em. You've both kinda given me what i want to hear. I think ill give it a go. Thanks for the training tips greg, ill def reduce the bike a little and get in a few long runs over the next 2 weeks, then do a week long taper or something...and yeah, ill be there tomorrow...should be fun  |
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Post by andrewjoyce on Jul 21, 2007 18:47:01 GMT -5
Rob
Check with Mickey first to see if he will allow you to change distances - I am sure there will be no problems - but he shuold be your first call/email!!
Good luck with it - I say go for it
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Post by Aussie Rob on Jul 21, 2007 19:31:33 GMT -5
I actually havent registered yet, so i got lucky there. I got in touch with him today and asked about cutoffs (plenty of time), he seems like a nice guy and was complaining about all the aussies, haha  |
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Post by Deirdre on Jul 22, 2007 5:17:13 GMT -5
Heck, Rob, you basically described my training for Eagleman this year. Follow the recommendations on stepping up your run and you should be fine. Hold back and have fun on race day -- can' t wait to see you out there |
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Post by Steve Babyak on Jul 22, 2007 9:44:47 GMT -5
Rob,
You are an endurance athlete and if you have been training properly for most of the past year you should be able to physically handle it. Start to focus on the HIM diatance to prepare your mind as well. You can do this. Have no regrets. Good luck.
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Post by Aussie Rob on Jul 26, 2007 21:53:37 GMT -5
I wanted to pick the brains of the experienced for a few minutes if i may. I have a couple of questions. 1) Wetsuit. I know they make you faster, more bouyant and all that good stuff, but what kind of time savings are we really talking about here? Im a pretty decent swimmer, nothing special, but im comfortable in the water, even when its rough. I did the Columbia to Huntington swim (1.8 miles) sans wetsuit in a tick over 1 hour and felt pretty good. To be honest, money is kind of tight in the household right now and im not all that keen to pay $50 for a rental suit if its only going to save me 5 mins over a 6 hour race. Is it a mistake to do the swim without a wetsuit? 2) Tri-shorts. Don't own any, and cant really afford a decent pair right now. I was going to do the oly in my swim jammers since they worked well enough for the sprint. A half is a lot longer on the bike though. Again, is it a mistake to do the bike without a chamois? Does GCT have tents to throw on a pair of bike shorts? I know i can run in bike shorts. 3) Nutrition. This isn't something ive really had to think about until now. I know i need to fuel during the race, and i know that i can supposedly only consume/digest about 300-400 calories an hour at a moderate pace. My tentative plan is to eat a Gu packet every 30mins (ive tried them a few times and they're not bad) and carry 2 bottles on the bike, one gatorade/one water. I'm going to give this plan a go on Sunday when i do my long brick and see if my stomach can handle this. If it can, will it be enough for a 6 hour race? Can i eat on the run as well as the bike or should i stick to fluids only while running? What kind of aid stations will GCT provide for those of you who have done it before? I couldnt find any specifics online. 4) Aero-bars. Again, don't have any (yes im the most ill equipped triathlete around ). Is it worth my time trying to source a cheap pair of clip-ons? I can ride 50 miles without them comfortably enough and im concerned about messing with my bike position in such a dramatic way this close to the race. What kind of time savings are we really talking about here at a 19-20mph pace? I probably sound like a mess with all these questions. Oh well, i guess that keeps me on par with every other aspect of my life Thanks guys. |
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Post by Chris on Jul 26, 2007 22:26:36 GMT -5
Rob -
1 - I have an extra wetsuit....you're welcome to it. I'll bring it to Columbia on Monday for you to try. 100% pee- free!
2 - You can swim / bike / run in bike shorts, I did it for years before owning a pair of tri shorts.
3 - good luck on your nutrition! I've done 6 HIMs and I'm still trying to figure that one out. It is short enough to just muscle through the run, HTFU as they say in slowtwitch land.
4 - I have a really old set of profile bars and a not so old set of short clip-ons....I'll bring them on Monday as well. They might work on your road bars, we'll see. I did my second HIM without aero bars. I was the only one, but I was only riding road bike at the time and I could not last very long down in the bars. Watch a tri closely and you will see many people out of their aerobars, so I would not worry about those either.
I was planning on the aqua bike for that race, but maybe I'll suffer the run as well...
Chris
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Post by MarkD on Jul 27, 2007 7:07:51 GMT -5
1. The wet suit will save you time, but not that much - a couple minutes max at this distance. If you can borrow one - great - if not - no big deal - you are plenty strong enough to do without.
2. Here's a thought - just put the bike short on over your swim jammer, then, at T2, take 'em off and put a light run short on over your jammer. Or - as Chris said - just wear the bike shorts the entire way.
3. No opinion - have never gone the distance.
4. If Chris' bars don't fit, you are welcome to borrow mine.
md
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Post by robreddy on Jul 27, 2007 8:07:51 GMT -5
1. wet suit - i hate them but it willl help. i have a long and a shorty you are welcome to use but they are NOT pee free
2. unless you got some sort of mega chamoie bike short - well a tri short is just a bike short with a little fleece in the crotch. you will be fine in your bike shorts particularly if you wear the wet suit.
3. you gotta figure out the nutrition - can;t do a HIM on water and gatoraid alone (tried that years ago - almost crumpled up on the side of the road during the run as i wanted to go to sleep sooooo bad). might want to try some cliff blocks also - i'll try to remember to bring some monday picked up a few at LP for free and you can have them
4. i got an extra set of aero bars also - one things i would say is if you are going ot use them you gotta get them on the bike NOW and get in at least a few rides on them. it is a drastic change of position
r
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Post by Kyle Amsdell on Jul 27, 2007 10:08:27 GMT -5
according to Mickey (The race director) the bike course for GCT was changed dramatically from last year. This year looks to be mostly flat.
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Post by MarkD on Jul 27, 2007 10:15:28 GMT -5
There one real good hill on the course and a few rollers, but its mostly flat - especially the front and back 5 mile ends of the loop.
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Post by philhock on Jul 27, 2007 10:18:31 GMT -5
I'm glad someone is in the same place as I am. I plan on doing the whole race in my swim jammers, drinking whatever is on the course, and don't have aerobars. I say, "No worries."
Disclaimer: My longest tri-race is last weeks Huntington Sprint.
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Post by robreddy on Jul 27, 2007 10:28:32 GMT -5
phil - are you morena's friend??? i'm her friend rob, but not the rob who wrote the original question.
only word of caution - if you are doing the HIM you gotta take in more food than what ever is ont he course - if you you will melt down!! ;]
r
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Post by Aussie Rob on Jul 27, 2007 10:38:20 GMT -5
Wow, thanks for all the offers of gear guys! Ill take you up on the wetsuit offer chris and wear my bike shorts under it. If it doesnt fit, maybe ill try Rob's non-pee free wetty and give it a good rinse first If neither fit properly ill just go sans wetsuit. Good to know that bike shorts work in water too! Gels and liquids aren't enough eh? I'll grab a few cliff blocks with the Gu and try them on Sunday to see if they agree with me before i take yours Rob. I think ill leave my bike setup alone for now. Im not very flexible and dont think i have the core strength built up to ride aero for long periods anyway. Ill experiment with aero bars later in the fall, but being this close to the race i think ill stick with what i know on the bike. Thanks again guys. I really didnt expect people to start throwing gear at me, but it really is appreciated. |
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Post by Paul Lentini on Jul 27, 2007 11:22:18 GMT -5
Rob-
e-mail (paul.a.lentini@uscg.mil) prior to 4pm with your address and I'll drop off the aero bars that I promised you. I live in Lakewood. Otherwise call me (440) 343-3010.
Paul
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Post by benmiralia on Jul 27, 2007 13:03:45 GMT -5
Rob.....I'm sorry but I have to totally disagree. There is no correlation whatsoever between an international distance tri and a half iron. What concerns me is that you are asking questions about a race in two weeks that you should have answered months ago. In particular the nutritional aspects of an endurance event like the half. This is something you need to hone carefully over a period of months. You can finish an oly with nothing more than a half a bottle of water on the bike. The half is a whole different animal all together and places demands on your body that you need to be well prepared for. How much and what types of food can you tolerate during the bike. A gel shot you take in an oly and the five you might need in the half could make the difference between gas, bloating, and nauseau and a smooth ride that will get you off the bike in shape for the run. 13.1 miles on a training run and 13.1 off a 1.2 mile swim and a 56 mile bike are worlds apart. They have absolutely nothing in common and if you have not trained specifically for this event the results can be catastrophic. Please reconsider. Compete in the race you have been training for then plan for and train for the half another time. No one would ever say that because they finished a century ride and could probably swim 2.4 miles that they can do an Ironman in three weeks. It just doesn't work that way.
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Post by Brandon on Jul 27, 2007 14:50:37 GMT -5
Ok, this is my first summer of tri's and GCT is my first half so I'm certainly not that experienced but I am opinionated so I thought I'd add my $.02 1. Not much I can say here. I don't have a wetsuit yet, might buy one this weekend. If it is choppy I'll be glad if I have one I'm sure, but it sounds like you are a stronger swimmer than I. 2. The only real question (in my mind) about using bike shorts for the event is do you have problems with chafing? Besides being "fast drying" the chamois in tri shorts is smaller so there is less rubbing going on. I'd go with the bike shorts with the smallest, thinnest chamois. The bike shorts should work fine, but if you decide, www.trisports.com has Desoto tri shorts on closeout for around 25 bucks. 3. This is the most important question IMO you are asking about. If you are doing a long brick this weekend come up with a nutrition plan and try it out. GU is good. I'll be taking them about every half hour on the course too. After a handful of them, things can get testy. I don't use shot blocks, but instead will carry energy bars that I will eat on the bike between the half hour and one and a half hour portion of the bike segment. This gives my HR a little time to drop out of the water before taking in solid food and also gives me a good hour plus before the run to digest all solid food. For hydration I'll have sports drink & H2O, a bottle of each on the bike (plus some help from the aide station) and 8 oz's of each in a fuelbelt for the run, along with the GU. I've been working on this plan for a while and still need to tweak it, but it's what I've got. 4. A month or so ago Charlie loaned me his extra pair of aero-bars (isn't this club great!!?) They definately increased my avg. pace 1/2 to 1 mph or so I'd say. As soon as I drop into them my cadance and speed go up. So, they are indeed useful. I am not all that flexible and my low back was fine, but my neck needed to adjust to the new position. My arms also needed a little adjustment time to get used to supporting more weight. Also, it took some practice to get down the handling of the bike with them. 2 weeks was enough time for me to feel quite comfortable with them. The GCT bike course this year has about 800 to 1000 ft. of elevation gain per loop. There is one short steep climb and a couple gradual ones that can test the lactate threshold a bit. Not too bad. The wind may be tougher on us than the hills. Best of luck!!! I'll see you out there. |
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Post by Aussie Rob on Jul 27, 2007 21:38:33 GMT -5
Ben, you could be totally right, which is why im holding off registering until after i do sundays long brick.
If it completely wears me down, then ill probably fall back on the olympic. If it goes well and i feel ok - only then will i pull the trigger.
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) - ive been spending most of this year getting in shape for the olympic distance GCT, and it's been going pretty well. 
