Ironman Austria 2014

toomuchdetail

Body is tired at this stage ,swimming ticking over but never planned on anything major , long bikes are going ok now that the weather is improving and runs going ok too, did Connermara half yesterday so that was a bit of a kick in the hole but got thru it and I could have ran on .
Fatigue is a little worry now but I need to be smarter with the resting periods. My aims are modest at a 13hr-13:30 race .
I am hit or miss on the swims but from this week I plan on 1 hour+ swims , I hope to be in open water by the end of April .

Flying in Bratislava on Thursday and hiring a car and returning on the Tuesday morning , trying to sort out the bike shipping now too , its adding up !!

NeedsTraining

Training is going well, but the body is getting very tired at the moment. Nobody said it would be easy though.

I cycle a lot from Dunboyne to Summerhill and across to Trim, taking in some of the smaller side roads. Some good rolling hills but the surface is not great.
Can't wait for the smooth surface around Klagenfurt.

toomuchdetail

Has everyone booked their bike to ship seperately or are they bringing it on their flight ? If we pooled resources we might get a deal from the bike shipping guys.

Shedite27

toomuchdetail wrote: »

Has everyone booked their bike to ship seperately or are they bringing it on their flight ? If we pooled resources we might get a deal from the bike shipping guys.

I met them at the Dublin Marathon Expo last year and got a discount for signing up that day. I don't own a bike box so it didn't work out much more expensive than renting a box + Aer Lingus charges. They let ya take a gearbag too so they'll have my wetsuit/helmet etc.

NeedsTraining

I've booked my bike with those guys.

It will save be hauling it through the airport, into a rental car etc, plus I can have a few days break afterwards without carrying the bike around.

Shedite27

NeedsTraining wrote: »

I've booked my bike with those guys.

It will save be hauling it through the airport, into a rental car etc, plus I can have a few days break afterwards without carrying the bike around.

Handing the bike back to ShipmyBike guys in Klagenfurt, after (hopefully) finishing my first ironman, is a moment I am very much looking forward to. I'd say I'll never want to see my bike again at that stage

RedB

NeedsTraining wrote: »

I've booked my bike with those guys.

It will save be hauling it through the airport, into a rental car etc, plus I can have a few days break afterwards without carrying the bike around.

I got my bike brought over to the Tour of Flanders last weekend with ShipMyTriBike and found it a good service. They parked up beside Registration for you to collect it the day before and its racked just with the wheels removed so no need to put it back together like you have to with a Bike Box. Also they take a decent bag so less check in fees for the plane. It was very handy not to have to drag the bike around before or after the event.

Shedite27

Just over 7 weeks to go now.

Popped into Great Outdoors last week to get all the food they're handing out during the race. Might as well get used to them now. The gel's I've used before so they're fine. The PowerBar Bars are a bit strange - both gooey and dry at the same time. They're going to be very messy in the heat. I haven't tried the Energy drink yet. The "shots" are just jelly babies with caffeine in them.

Training's going grand, out cycling 120k most Saturday's now, and running a half marathon each week (building that up now for the next 6 weeks or so. Swimming's ticking along nicely. Not really improving my pace at all, just going further. Up to 3k now. All on track. Haven't had an open water swim yet, might try that in the next week or two.

Oryx

Sounds very positive. 7 weeks - where did the last few months go?

NeedsTraining

It's all getting very real now with just over 5 weeks to go.

How is everyones training going? Hopefully all are injury free.

Is there a 'spot' or location in Klagenfurt that the Irish tend to meet up pre or post race? It would be good to meet a few friendly faces, that is if you are friendly

miller82

NeedsTraining wrote: »

It's all getting very real now with just over 5 weeks to go.

How is everyones training going? Hopefully all are injury free.

Is there a 'spot' or location in Klagenfurt that the Irish tend to meet up pre or post race? It would be good to meet a few friendly faces, that is if you are friendly

thres an irish bar in klagenfurt (shock) in the village/town area. A load of us went there last year. The owner was sound enough and we had good craic

Shedite27

NeedsTraining wrote: »

It's all getting very real now with just over 5 weeks to go.

How is everyones training going? Hopefully all are injury free.

Yeah all still going well. Feeling good, although definitely beginning to get to the "have I done enough" stage. Cycling is still my main worry.

Will be using a converted road bike, and can't see how I'm going to go sub 6hrs (which this link tells me would be bottom 30% of the bike leg). I've done everything I've been asked to do training-wise on the bike, hopefully the open roads, smooth surfaces and nice descents will bring up the pace.

Swim and Run I'm happy with. Almost at the stage where I feel I should go from 3 to 2 pool sessions a week and use the energy for more running/cycling.

No major injuries to report, slight sprain in the ankle, but not keeping me out of training anyway.

Biggest worry at the moment is the damn Aer Lingus flight. Had a dream recently where my flight to Austria was cancelled because of a strike :mad:

How's your training going?

miller82

the roads are fantastic and will make a difference

Johnnio13

Good luck lads and lassies. Enjoy the weekend...

NeedsTraining

Shedite27 wrote: »

Yeah all still going well. Feeling good, although definitely beginning to get to the "have I done enough" stage. Cycling is still my main worry.

Will be using a converted road bike, and can't see how I'm going to go sub 6hrs (which this link tells me would be bottom 30% of the bike leg). I've done everything I've been asked to do training-wise on the bike, hopefully the open roads, smooth surfaces and nice descents will bring up the pace.

Swim and Run I'm happy with. Almost at the stage where I feel I should go from 3 to 2 pool sessions a week and use the energy for more running/cycling.

No major injuries to report, slight sprain in the ankle, but not keeping me out of training anyway.

Biggest worry at the moment is the damn Aer Lingus flight. Had a dream recently where my flight to Austria was cancelled because of a strike :mad:

How's your training going?

Training is going well thankfully. I think we all have those 'am I doing enough' thoughts.

I feel it is coming together so I just hope so.

Doing the double olympic next week so at least that will get me into race mood, although don't plan n racing it too hard.

miller82

NeedsTraining wrote: »

Doing the double olympic next week so at least that will get me into race mood, although don't plan n racing it too hard.

did the same last year. went balls out. just made sure i had a good physio massage a few days after and recovered well.
the proper way to do it is probably taking it easy though

knasher37

Hi,
Im new to this but also doing Austria in a few weeks...fear has gripped me!! Friend was to book the bikes with ship my bike but he left it too late and its full! Im just wondering if there is anyone who has transported their bikes to European events and could give a bit of advice what is the best thing to do - also considering hiring if we need to or if its less hassle - any advice very welcome!
thanks a mill

miller82

knasher37 wrote: »

Hi,
Im new to this but also doing Austria in a few weeks...fear has gripped me!! Friend was to book the bikes with ship my bike but he left it too late and its full! Im just wondering if there is anyone who has transported their bikes to European events and could give a bit of advice what is the best thing to do - also considering hiring if we need to or if its less hassle - any advice very welcome!
thanks a mill

hiring a car is worth it. get one of the big skoda estates or similar

getting it shipped by someone is obviously handier but i used aer lingus last year ( strikes will be well done and dusted). you just add the option to your booking. might have to ring customer servic. i think it was 80 quid. obviously i was gripped with fear and paranoid thoughts that it would not turn up, but no complaints and relatively stress free

knasher37

Thanks so much for that, had planned to hire a car but will go for something like you suggested. Will get on to Aer Lingus to see if i can book it on! Thanks again, K

Oryx

Aerlingus limit the number of bikes they carry and have a very low max weight for a bike. I noticed that my stuff got battered around more with them than other carriers as well. Not a fan of them when it comes to bike transport.

But flying with a bike is not really a big deal. Where are you flying into?

knasher37

Thanks for that - was your bike damaged with them? I spoke with a friend who had heard that when you go aer lingus its a case of wheeling bike up to desk and they give you a bag to put bike in and off you go! I had checked their website and they can only take 6 bikes on flights to Vienna so its possibly too late but might give them a call on Tues (don't imagine they are answering phones on a bank holiday!).

Its also occurred to me that can't take Co2 cartridges on the plane - assume that they are readily available at the expo?

If anyone has down this IM before - can you let me know what the hills are like on the cycle, the nerves are starting already!!

NeedsTraining

Knasher,

I don't think any airline provide bike bags. You are better off renting a hard bike box. You'll lessen the chance of damage that way.

As for the CO2 cartridges, they should be available easily. If you have purchased them already and know anyone transporting a bike, then ask them to take them for you.

There is a profile of the course on the website. Only one 'real' hill and we do that twice.

You have any halves planned before the big one.

You have the training done, so you'll be fine.

Nerves are good too

gilleek2

NeedsTraining wrote: »

Knasher,

I don't think any airline provide bike bags. You are better off renting a hard bike box. You'll lessen the chance of damage that way.

As for the CO2 cartridges, they should be available easily. If you have purchased them already and know anyone transporting a bike, then ask them to take them for you.

There is a profile of the course on the website. Only one 'real' hill and we do that twice.

You have any halves planned before the big one.

You have the training done, so you'll be fine.

Nerves are good too

If using a bike box like the Bike Box Alan make sure your skewers are not protruding too far out of the box as the baggage handlers will give them a good battering! Found that out en route to Ocean Lava half iron last November!

The one "real" hill goes up in 3 steps and typically has loads of people on it and music pumping so good for motivation. If it's gonna be a hot one i'd recommend a hotel room with air conditioning!! They dont all have it. It's a little thing that can make a big difference!

Oryx

Aer lingus broke a bike box on me a few years ago and ripped a suitcase last year. The bike was ok in the box. I've also been nabbed for excess baggage but only in a foreign airport, Dublin were ok about it.

I have seen people roll bikes up to checkin, I think you may need to remove pedals but not sure. I wouldn't chance it.

I also left a co2 cartridge in luggage by mistake once. It flew just fine!

The best thing about Austria is the last 30k of each lap is mostly downhill. I seem to remember two hills per lap tho, the second is the steeper one, but very short. Its really a very good bike course.

NeedsTraining

I really hope the long term forecast is wrong :eek:

Shedite27

NeedsTraining wrote: »

I really hope the long term forecast is wrong :eek:

Okay, now it's close!

That would be a lovely dramatic end to the marathon. Running through thunderstorms.

Shedite27

I see the coolest man in Ironman has entered IM Austria this year....

Dory Dory

^^^ Nice quads.

Oryx

Dory Dory wrote: »

^^^ Nice quads.

He has quads?

NeedsTraining

Folks,

In previous years I know it was possible for participants to purchase 2 'early entry' vouchers or tokens on the day after the race.

I've checked the website and it appears that you can now only register yourself.

Anyone know if this was advertised previously or if they have completely done away with it?

Thanks