Thursday, September 9, 2010

gearing up

the obsessive weather.com and accuweather.com checking has begun. i don't like what weather.com is saying so i may stick with accuweather for a little while. regardless, looks like i should mentally prepare for rain, just in case. hopefully if there is rain it will come on the run. i also realize i need to bring some warm clothes, gonna be in the 50's when i arrive at transition at 5...

questions have started brewing in my mind.

CO2 or manual pump on the bike with me. my frame pump kind of gets in the way of my water bottles and i do not want to have a water bottle mishap. on the other hand i haven't ever used a CO2 cartridge so what if I get a flat and don't know what to do with it?

hat or no hat? i got overheated at my last (first) tri with my hat on and pouring water over my head was less effective with a hat on (not so easy to take on and off with a ponytail). then again it covers a mess of post swim/bike hair. also its going to be 20-30degrees cooler.

drink heed on the run? i don't train with heed but i have a few times without a problem, just don't like it as much as carbopro. if i use what they have at stations i wouldn't have to carry my handheld though and that would be nice.

ok. last day of work. i took friday (and monday/tuesday) off. gotta get this race plan nailed down. any thoughts - related to my questions or general 70.3 advice for a newbie much appreciated!!!

4 comments:

  1. Personally, I would go buy 4 co2, practice changing the tire and use one of the co2, one can is enough for one tire, then put 2 of them in your repait bag on your bike (the 4th is for practice in case the first one goes wrong)
    on you tube, search for fixing tire with co2, its just good to know anyways

    Visor maybe? I use a visor just for the reason you stated, overheating.

    Heed, well, the old saying is nothing new on race day but you said you have tried it and did not have any issues, thats a tough one, maybe as a last resort.

    Good luck, remember the race is the reward for all your hard work.

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  2. Definitely CO2 - I have a gun that you drop the cartridge in, put over the nozzle and then pull the trigger. Go with a visor - all the benefits of the hat but easier to cool down. Have a great race!

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  3. OK, you are going to laugh, but at my HIM I found the bike mechanics and got their cell numbers. They promised they'd come rescue me in case of a flat or some other bike problem (I can change a flat, but I am slow). I had a CO2 with me and have watched videos of how to use it, but had never used it prior to the race.

    About Heed...I assume they have water on the course. If so, I would stick with gels (I took 2 on the run).

    Have a hat ready just in case it rains. You say temps will be cool, and so you might not need ice. If the hat annoys you, just throw it away or give it to a volunteer or your husband (if he will watch), unless you are really attached to it.

    My advice is to remain calm and take deep breath. When I transitioned from the bike to the run, for about 2 miles I could not breath and had to remind myself that it will get better. It did. Also, when you hurt, just rememeber that everyone else is hurting. The last 6 miles of the run are going to be hard, but that is less than 1 hour of pain. The swim and bike are going to seem fun and mostly easy.

    Good luck! You are going to have a blast. You are prepared and strong! Get some sleep and don't stress too much about the little details.

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  4. i can't be of the least bit of help as i have 0 experience with these things. a hat/visor and heed are personal choices to me. weather schmeather, you're still gonna race regardless of what the interwebs say. good luck!!

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