Month: July 2015

I’m always fascinated by the swim portion of triathlons and Ironman 70.3 Muncie is no different.  It may seem like a typical lake swim, but it’s a little trickier than you may imagine because of the shape and the sighting.

The course is an inverted triangle and 2 years ago after the race I made these changes in red to show what seem to be the shortest routes to the first turn and the Swim Exit.  Below that I’ve added some photos taken from that race that show why it may not be that easy and/or the best plan.

The photo below gives a good look from the starting box.  You can see the line of yellow buoys all the way out to the first red turn which is way out by that sail boat mast.  The first yellow buoy is just beyond that blue kayak in the middle of the screen.  You can even see the second red turn buoy in the upper right hand corner.

This shot gives you a better look at the first buoy and the two yellow balls that create the far right edge of the starting box that seemingly guide you away from buoy one.

That said, when the group takes off, it appears many are taking a direct line to buoy number one.

It seems more logical to swim toward the third (second big yellow) buoy like the left half of this group, but sometimes you have to go where the scrum takes you.  That momentum is even clearer in this picture with about half of the group aiming right at it or just to the left.

Here’s a higher perspective that shows the line forms pretty cleanly right along the buoys just after takeoff.  There is actually a large chunk of this wave on the inside of the buoy line which may be good for left-side-breathers.

Unfortunately we don’t have pictures from back half of the swim, but I remember watching while I waited to start and the range was about 100 yards wide.  Some people swam straight to the Swim Exit, others hugged the buoy line on the way in as well, which isn’t a bad idea because sighting is pretty wicked because of the sun.  I mean, it is coming up right over the transition area and you are staring right into it.  There used to be a shed, but now I hear there is a nice new building that is a good sighting point.

I’m no expert at this stuff, but I have to believe the man-made-current of the waves has something to do with why people get so bunched up when there should be a ton of open water on the way out and back.  I’m sure most people simply sight off the people around them as well.

Here’s a shot of the carpeted ramp (which they continually sweep) out of the water.  It’s a slight climb to your bike, but I don’t recall it being too far.  Please let me know if you have any other thoughts on the Muncie swim.

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Saturday will be my second attempt at Ironman Muncie and with 6 days left, I thought I’d put the top 6 things in my mind on the page.  Make sure to follow the Crushing Iron Facebook group so you don’t miss any of these powerful updates.

1.  Patience – Muncie can’t seem to get here fast enough, but I need to chill and recover.  I’m not sure how others feel during race week, but I will periodically drift off and “be” in the race.  I can feel the sand on my toes and see the guys in my wave standing next to me before the gun.  I’m sure it helps on some level, but my goal for the week is to try and not think about it as much as possible.  Good luck with that.

2.  Early Wave – Most of my races to this point had me starting in a late wave.  Muncie has me going off first around 7:10.  This is not my comfort zone for two reasons:

– I’m not an early morning person for one.  I’m already sweating my pre-race sleep and just hope I’m fresh that morning.  I’ve been known to race on 3 hours sleep and that is not a good strategy.
– I will likely be getting passed more than passing and that is a different mindset.  I have to remember to let it peak my performance, but not distract me from my pace goals.

3.  Swim –  Many prescribe using the swim as the “warm up” for the race and I tend to fall into that category.  It’s important that I don’t go out too hard and lose my breath.  The heart-beat-trade-off affects your swim time much less than the bike and run, so I can’t get caught up in trying to crush the first 30-something minutes of the race.

4.  Bike –  This is a fast bike course, so I’m trying to mentally commit to starting under control, but not so slow that it will be hard to get my average pace up.  It’s a fine line on the bike and I don’t use a power meter, so I’ll be listening to my legs, but sometimes they lie and you have to wake them up.  I won’t ride much this week, but I will definitely be reminding my legs how it feels to go fast (in short doses).

5.  Run – Yesterday was my last longish run and I can honestly say this is the best I’ve felt about my run going into any triathlon.  The ONLY goal I have this week regarding the run is to make sure my legs, knees, and ankles are not sore.  I think they are trained up pretty good, so I’m ready to see what they have on race day.

6.  Rest – It’s incredible to me how a few days away from swimming, biking, or running make you think you have totally forgot how to do these things!  I seriously think I’ve completely lost it, only to “remember” once I start moving.  The goal is not to forget and not be a total lazy ass.

* I’m about 10 likes from 500 on the Crushing Iron Facebook page, so if you’re not one of them, it’d be cool if you helped get me over the hump.

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There’s always a lot of anxiety over races on the cusp of being wetsuit legal and IM 70.3 Muncie is no different.  It’s considered a bit of a tricky swim, so most people prefer the security of a wetsuit. I have been on the fence because I really don’t like wearing them, but in the name of sports science, I decided to do a comparison test this morning to see how it affected my time.

This was the setting.

Variables:
–  Lake was smooth
–  Water temp estimated to be around 77 degrees
–  Air temperature about 69 degrees
–  Partly cloudy
–  Test distance estimated to be a 350 yard loop (roughly 1/6 of a Half Ironman)
–  I warmed up for about 900 yards
–  Swimming effort – Moderate
–  Total sleep before test, about 3 hours.

The swim skin test was first and I swam the 350 yards in roughly 5:56.

I then changed into my wetsuit and swam the identical loop in 5:31.  A twenty five second difference and I felt like it took noticeably less effort.

That’s roughly 2:30 difference over the course of a Half Ironman with, in theory, less exertion.  But heart rate and core temperature are other issues that should probably be considered.

One of the reasons I wasn’t sure I’d wear a wetsuit, even if legal, was body core temperature.  The last time I wore my wetsuit was Challenge Knoxville where the water and air temp were much cooler but I felt like I was burning up in that swim.  We’ve written about this before concerning Ironman Chattanooga, but that proved to be a different animal with the current.

How accurate these test numbers are is debatable, but what was most interesting to me was comparing a wetsuit immediately after swimming without one.  Today, the buoyancy was obvious and definitely had an impact on my confidence.

I’m glad I did this test and will be fine with or without a wetsuit in Muncie, but if it’s legal, I will definitely be wearing one.

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Here’s another test by someone who did longer distances and compared multiple times.

And for those of you having trouble distinguishing between a tri suit and a wetsuit, active.com has you covered with this insightful piece.