Ironman 70.3 East London 2019

[IceCreamMan]

Was the swim shortened?

[Rocket-Boy]

Very possibly shortened, the wind is absolutely pumping at the moment.

Pretty terrible conditions to be racing in.

[fanievb]

Was shortened yes, but really don't know why. The conditions were choppy when the pro's started but I've seen it worse on this event.

 

Anyhow, I'm glad I'm not having to battle this east coming back, not talking about the humidity.

[IceCreamMan]

Thanks, busy following a few athletes and the swim time indicated a shortened swim.

[Wil6]

Was shortened yes, but really don't know why. The conditions were choppy when the pro's started but I've seen it worse on this event.

 

Anyhow, I'm glad I'm not having to battle this east coming back, not talking about the humidity.

By how much was it shortened? Looks like almost by half?

[Wil6]

Thanks, busy following a few athletes and the swim time indicated a shortened swim.

Also have a friend doing his maiden IM. When I saw his time, I thought there was something up

[fanievb]

By how much was it shortened? Looks like almost by half?

I think so. They only swam to the end of the West breaker

[babse]

Swim was cut to 1000m

[Roguemeister]

Swim was cut to 1150, so 1km basically. Was quite choppy and a half decent swell. Wind picked up big time on the way back on the cycle. Run was windy but nice. I'll write a long report after the beers wear off!

[Chris_]

Double post from another thread.

 

Xolani Luvuno, Swim 44 mins, cycle 4:16, run 3:02. 

 

What a hero.

[shaper]

Race report: Windy AF... earn't the medal this time.

 

As highlighted the swim was cut to 1150 and whilst the easterly was not at it's strongest it was picking up.  The swim whilst rough was ok for the experienced, sighting of the turn buoy's was quite a mission, especially the last before heading to the beach.  If the full swim had been done and we had gone out past the shelter of the harbour breakwater, the less experienced could well have got into difficulty.  Possibly could have done a 2 lapper, but many of the early swimmers were already out of the water before half the field had started, so could have been chaos trying to monitor who was doing what.

 

Cycle was tough... did i mention it was tough!! Cross/headwind on the way out to Berlin turnaround and one of the strongest headwinds in my 4 years of doing this race that have experience.  They only made the call the night before to allow disc wheels.  If I could have changed my front from a 50mm to 38mm I would have, the 88mm on the back was ok but handling with even the 50mm front was precarious at times and there were many times on the downhills that I felt unsafe staying in the extension.  Yesterday was the first time I was pushing over 200w on the downhill passed Hemingways just to keep a decent pace and moving forward!!  I was 18mins slower on the cycle than last year because of the wind.... which of course sapped the legs for the run.

 

Run was for me was good even with tired legs from the cycle and contending with the very strong winds. Managed 5mins better than last year, so some positives.

 

Finished in 5:36 and very happy considering the conditions.  

 

To see the times set by the pro's and the AG podiums is humbling, they are machines!!

 

Well done to all those that finished, was one tough race and a well earned medal !!

[Roguemeister]

Race report from my side.

 

Swim: the swim was shortened to 1150m due to windy/choppy conditions. It was quite choppy but I consider myself a strong swimmer so I was quite disappointed in the swim being shortened. Sighting of bouys and judging breaths in the swell would have been an issue for those that have only ever swum in a pool, so I understand the shortening of the swim, but I personally would have liked to have a full swim, as it would have benefited me more over the average guys. But such is life.

 

Transition 1: I used the wetsuit strippers. I was a bit worried that they might put a hole in my wetsuit but I made sure I had already pretty much taken it off. I should have packed a towel in my T1 bag, as putting socks on wet feet was not the easiest.

 

Bike course: the first 45km was not as hard as I expected, but that's cause we had a nice tailwind for some of it / crosswind, got to the turn on time for what I had planned. Turn around and I soon realized why the hills didn't seem so bad, big headwind/crosswind all the way back. But still, it was going well. The downhills got progressively more sketchy due to the winds, and there were a few nerve wracking moments. Note to self, deep sections on the front in big winds at 50km/h is not a good idea. So much so that the guy in front of me had a beeeg crash with about 15km left to go. I stopped to check on him and he was In bad shape, so I waited with him until help arrived.

 

People I can tell you this, wear your helmets, after seeing what his helmet and head looked like, I felt like I needed a new one!

 

So after waiting a good few minutes, and the wind having sapped my legs a bit, I decided to go out and enjoy the run, soak up the atmosphere and have a jol instead of pushing for a fast time.

 

The run: I felt as if the run itself isn't as bad as what people made it out to be, bunkers wasn't excessively steep and I made it up ok. Running along the seaside is definitely not a bad place to be running.

 

All in all, not a bad first 70.3, and I definitely learnt some things and will take them into Durban in June, as it would be nice to smash That one!

[amr63]

Thanks for the reports guys, really appreciate your perspectives, and well done on what you have achieved.

[_David_]

[Chris_]

Cunnama's bike is so hot!

[Chris_]

Is anyone here sick? I heard a bunch of people have picked up bugs from EL, perhaps all the rain washing the k*k into the ocean(?), I don't know.