Ironman Italy (Emilia-Romagna)

SucCes09

Looking for feedback on Ironman Italy - looks like a good setup but heard some mixed reviews about it. Not my first time doing Ironman - previously done Killarney, Wales, Barcelona, Galway and Denmark, so looking for fast, well organized course. Italy looks nice and logistics look good, but would be good to get some feedback.

Boardcore

Will be able to tell you in a couple of weeks.
7 from Sligo doing it this year.

trailrunner

SucCes09 wrote: »

Looking for feedback on Ironman Italy - looks like a good setup but heard some mixed reviews about it. Not my first time doing Ironman - previously done Killarney, Wales, Barcelona, Galway and Denmark, so looking for fast, well organized course. Italy looks nice and logistics look good, but would be good to get some feedback.

All here
https://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2057793420

RacoonQueen

Yep, was going to dig out that thread. If you have specific questions though, shoot.

SucCes09

RacoonQueen wrote: »

Yep, was going to dig out that thread. If you have specific questions though, shoot.

Thanks for that - swear I did go looking...
In terms of the cycle, what was the total climbing on the full route? The IM site has it at 700, but was not clear if that was one circuit or both.
What were the temps at? I can't run in heat....

trailrunner

Total elevation of the full 185km on my Garmin was 836m so 418m a lap !
Temp on the run wasn’t a problem I thought, 20-22d as far as I can remember

bt_ie

It was my first but i thought it was well organised. The bike was on a closed duel carriage way which was brill. two laps with the big hill at the half way point. the top the hill was brill thou - there was a small town where alot of people had gathered + dj etc. It was 185km or more on the garmin.



Didnt like the australian exit but thats nothing todo with Italy.


ohh and transition was circa 1km long!


agree with the above it was too hot and the run (I did 12hrs 15mins) was dark by the second/third lap.

RacoonQueen

I like the Aussie exit. Gave me time to give the watch a quick check and see if I was on target swim wise

lizzylad84

Is this just full distance or is there a70.3?

SucCes09

lizzylad84 wrote: »

Is this just full distance or is there a70.3?

Full distance only afaik

SucCes09

Any updates or race reports from last weekend folks?

rodriquez

I heard Boardcore snagged himself a Kona slot from it

EDit

I know a few local folks who did it and apparently the conditions were tough...about 35 degrees on cycle with zero wind on first loop and a hot head-wind on second loop. Although nearly all of them finished it, not many had much left for the run.

Boardcore

OK so quick update on what IM Italy's all about for me.

Build Up
Seven from Sligo Tri had ear marked this race for our late season Ironman.
Training went well for myself all winter and with half's in Donegal and Tyrone completed in the build up. I was feeling pretty good going in.

Travel and Accomadation
You have multiple options to get there.
I went Dublin-Verona, then 3 hours & 3 train journeys to get to Cervia(€85 return).
Others in the group went Dublin-Bologna then coach transfer(€160 for 8 seater each way). Rimini airport is also an option from the UK-Stanstead.

There are loads of options for accommodation but be careful as the resort is quite elongated, most hotels provided bikes, which if you didn't have could prove costly on the legs and pocket. I was 2kms away from the Athlete village and the bike was invaluable. Alternatively you could stay closer to Transition. Some of our group stayed at Residence Onda Blu (50m from everything and very reasonable).

Pre Race
I arrived on the Thursday night, too late to register, but the lads had picked up my bike from Shipmytribike, so i was able to get to work building and prepping all for the following day. Registration was painless Friday morning, same with the athlete briefing afterwards. Water temp was 25oC and falling at this point but there were concerns over a non wetsuit swim and the amount of Jellyfish in the water. I went for a quick swim in my wetsuit and found the temperature to be fine, no overheating in the water, loads of jellies and got a few stings on the hands and face from stray tentacles - but only a mild irritant.

Temperature were now 28oC and the weather forecast for the following day was hotter again at 29oC - this was 6oC warmer than normal - talk about unlucky. Rest of the day was spent out of the sun packing Bike and Run Bags, Racked the bike late in the evening. Transition was one of the longest i've seen and wasn't neutralized, i was going to have a long run with the bike both directions. I got my bearings and said goodbye to the stead - reducing the air in the tubs before i left.

We all met up for dinner that night, excellent Pasta and Pizza at Il Toro, then off to bed.

Race Day
Had a pretty good nights sleep- up at 4.30 for breakfast, i had porridge with me, so nothing new - 2 coffees and off i went. Race start wasn't until 7:45 for me, so plenty of time to fill bottles, pump tires, drop off street wear bags. Water Temp was 24.7oC but they were making it a Wetsuit swim due to the jellies. Happy days.

Position myself in the sub 60 lane, a little further back, as my swimming had been going well in the pool. My previous best was 63mins but always went out too hard, so this time was going to stay more relaxed and attempt to enjoy it. Found feet straight away and off we went, approaching the Australian exit at 2100m i got a boot in the face and googles ripped up but re adjusted and kept going, albeit with water in both lens. Knew it wasn't long until the exit, so waited to flush them out then. Next 1800m was fine, stayed on feet and pushed on. Exited the water in new pb by 4 minutes delighted. Swim 59.20 (Pos-305 (43rd in Cat)

T1 was 1km overall form swim exit to mount line, in and out in 6.10 so not bad.

The bike course was a 2 lapper, with one big hill at 50km and 140km (14% gradient). I had planned to push hard for the first hour or so until i found a good pace line. Lots of wheel suckers the whole way to the base of the hill, but a pretty active motorbike Marshall dishing out cards. The hill was tough and the first descent a little hairy. Temps where climbing on the bike and fluid intake important. At 70km I had a mechanical when the rear bottle mount broke and landed on my rear wheel, which i initially thought was a blow out, pulled over and shoved both bottles down my tri top. looked up and the paceline was gone, lost 80 seconds here and spent the next 20kms chasing on my own - first 90km 2:19 @ 260w average.
The second lap was a tougher affair all together - I kept pushing till about 120kms then had a really rough patch for about 20kms but a caffeine gel at 140km got me home well and strong. The heat and wind towards the end was really tough - sweat was evaporating on the spot and i was glad too have stuck to my electrolyte and salt tablet intake prior to getting off the bike. Bike:4:49 @ 245w (Pos-80 (Cat-7th)

T2 - Fast enough trouble free T2 - Legs felt tired off the bike but was expecting that. 4:15

The run plan was too go off at 4.30 pace, after going out way too fast in previous Ironman races. I kept this pace up for about 14kms and then it started to slip. The heat was relentless but my support had told me i was up to 3rd in my category and was closing on second at 28kms. I tried to pick it up again but my pace was slipping and now i had 14kms to go. I began walking every aid station trying to get fluids in, sponges and ice. Temps were now hitting 32oC in the sun, we were lucky that a lot of the run route is tree lined but the humidity here was really high, so no escape. Onto the last lap and i was seeing stars and just focusing on the next aid station or friendly face for encouragement. Pace had now dropped to between 5.30 and 6.00 kms, I turned off the laps onto the finish straight - a double back 2kms long. Amazingly, when you hit that red carpet all the pain starts to ease, i hugged my sister and support, running backwards across the line. Done. Run 3:30 (nearly 9% didn't finish the run - 13% drop out rate overall - which is well above average.)

Overall: 9:29.20 (75th Overall and 6th in my category)

All the Sligo crew finished strong (4 sub 10's) - and we congregated in the recovery area drinking beer and saying never again. We drank till about 4am and were warming to the idea of another one by the end.

Next morning, nervy time at the slot allocation, I wanted a podium but it didn't happen and now with only 5 slots in my category, I was sweating. The 5th guy didn't show and i jumped at the chance to hit the big island again, Roll on Kona 19.

Peace Out.
Paul

Kurt.Godel

Very well done, great report and fantastic you got your slot. Everyone's got a favourite discipline and it looks like you are savage on the bike... great splits on the swim and run too.

How will you train for Kona? What you are doing is obviously working great, just curious if you'll target time off the swim and run over your solid biking. (long way of saying I'd love to read a training log over the winter )

RacoonQueen

Well done Boardcore and congrats on the Kona slot. Nice to hear the motorbikes were active again his year, last year every penalty tent you passed had people in it.