Thursday, April 7, 2005

Notes from the field

First let me say I usually feel pretty confident about walking into a room and feeling like I am in better shape than those around me. Not this afternoon. The AZ IM village was not packed it had a good vibe going. Lots of people bringing in their unbelievably tricked out bikes for check in. I saw some things I never knew you could do to or buy for a bike. Of course everyone was wearing their nascar inspired jersey tops. I had caught a glimpse of this throughout the day as the turn around point on the laps is just a 100 yards from my parking spot, so lots of riders where cycling past my area.

A large daytime JumboTron played the 2004 Kona Ironman for people to watch while they took a break from all the booths and the heat. It ninety-fricken-five degrees outside with 6% humidity for cryin' out loud!

Other than registration areas, where I wistfully thought about, but humbly declined entering- thinking it not befitting to enter an area that I am not qualifed to enter, maybe another year, I partook of many venders. Gatorade was sampling their new endurance drink which I think tastes great. I tried the new lemonade and it was so-so. I use the Recovery powder constantly which is in the same line as the endurance drink, its great stuff.

Two large tents covered the goodie areas. I picked up a new ChampionChip Strap for my timing chip, a new water bottle which I have a bad habit of collecting, but it was only $2.99 and a Ironman logo dryfit hat. I also picked up a new pair of DeFeet Air-E-Ator socks commemorating the race. I would have loved to have bought a shirt but couldn't find any that would signify the race but not racing. I don't like to wear shirts from races I didn't do.

Side note: I think DeFeet Air-E-Ators are great socks. The only pair I have found to be better are Nike Dri-Fits, but both run between $8-10 a pair. I was at Walmart last weekend and found that Starter sells the exact same sock as the Nike but at a price of 2 for $3.50. While researching a hyperlink for this sock, I found that Nike bought Starter Brand to sell Nike clothes at a non-swoosh bargain rate at Walmarts. Good to know.

Cervelo had a side area of about 1,000 feet selling their bikes and parts and doing quick tune ups. I heard that they cut a deal with Ironman to be their bike sponsor. I saw the suped up brother to the BP I used for the Scottsdale Triathlon last month, obviously on loan from Tribe MultiSport for their booth. It was on its way to Ralphs Triathlon the same weekend so I was unable to use it.

One of those fancy smancy swim tubs was on display. Wow. I watched a dozen or so athletes slip in and swim in place for several strokes. You can adjust the water flow based on your strength level. I see these in magazines going for about twenty grand.

The transition area is massive, at least a full football field. It is just feet from the water exit. The finish area in the photo below is a few hundred yards away from that. There are some bleachers but could not hold more than three hundred people.

I am going to go down for the start and beginning of the bike portion. As it stands Rett, aka White Salamander and I are going to hook up and mountain bike down to the village from my office for the start. We both should be able to get some great pictures and posts up the same day. Right now the forecast is for mid-80's but with 20mph wind. I pray that the wind comes after the swim.

5 comments:

Flatman said...

Great post and report. I can't wait to see the rest of the pics and here your account of the start.

Thanks!

soccerdad said...

great pics. here's what you need to do: on sunday morning, sign up for next year's race. then tell everyone. there's nothing like the motiviation to train for a race when you've already plunked down $400 and everyone knows about it. that's what i did with IM florida a couple of years ago. you won't regret it, trust me. the only thing that would be better than this is if you convince Rett to do it also!

Wil said...

I am SO jealous of you guys. I would love to see all this. Thanks for posting the pics, it's as close as I can get for now!

Comm's said...

Soccerdad,

It a tempting thought and believe me on my mind for a while.

Can I go from barely covering 300 yards in a pool during a race to 2.2 miles in 365 days?

Do I have the financing to afford a decent road or tri bike?

Do I have the ability to get a coach or group for support?

Most importantly, will my wife support me unconditionally with 15-20 hour training weeks?

Is my will greater than surmounting all these incredible obstacles before even lining up for 140 miles over 15 hours.

soccerdad said...

commodore,
when i signed up for imfl, i wasn't in nearly the shape required to complete such an event. the event is the motivator. one year is plenty of time. like i told rett, you guys already have a decent level of base fitness. one year really is more than enough time.
when considering a bike, remember that you don't need a $5000 trek or cervelo. i bought my specialized used on ebay for about $700, and it's more than adequate.
getting coaching or training in a group helps, but is not necessary. 90% of the training i did in the year leading up to imfl i did alone. there are alot of training plans available on tri sites that outline basic workouts. i would advise using one of these as a guide. i can help you with this if you want.
i can guarantee you that i do not have the most supportive wife when it comes to triathlon training. if your goal is like mine was, which was simply to have fun and finish, there really aren't that many weeks when you need 15-20 hours of training. most weeks you can get by with half that or less.
finally, i think you'll be blown away when you watch all of these folks complete their dreams at imaz. just remember: that could be you next year.
another thing to remember: if you do think you want to do imaz next year, you pretty much have to sign up on sunday. most im events fill up in a day or two after registration opens.
anyway, i hope this helps. feel free to email me (arn09@hotmail.com) if you have any questions. i'd be more than happy to help you in any way that i can.
have fun! enjoy the day! i wish i was there!!!