Dun Laoghaire Ironman 70.3 2019

I'm doing it. The cycle leg looks really tough. Just aiming to finish under 7hrs myself.

Did it last year and finished in around 7 hours. Doing it again this year, so hoping to trim some time off that.

Said it before in other threads but, for me, this event is all about pacing the cycle. The swim and run are pretty straightforward (although a sea swim always has its potential issues) but the cycle is very up and down. Very important to have hill training on the bike done beforehand IMO.

Can’t comment on TT vs road bike (I only have a road bike) or travel from Dublin (staying in DL and stayed local last year too).

My only tip is to watch the road closure cut offs if you are a weak swimmer. The official cut off for the swim + bike is 5.5 hours from when you personally cross the swim start mat. However, last year, there was a defined time of day when they had to reopen the roads (If I recall correctly this was only mentioned in the race briefing last year and wasn’t in the FAQs on the website). What that meant is that some folks who self-seeded themselves right at the back for the swim start (as advised), where taken off the bike course due to the roads needing to reopen, even though they were on-track to finish the swim + bike in under 5.5 hours. I recall some angry comments on social media about this and it does seem a bit unfair to penalize someone for adhering to the self-seeding advice for the rolling swim start*

*i appreciate the need for a defined time for reopening the road, I just think they need to communicate this in a clearer fashion (ie, not just at the race briefing)

jspruit wrote: »

EDit - good tips to remember there.
I don't have enough hills here in Denmark to train for the DL bike leg, but I'll do my best with what I've got. I'm aware that it is a difficult bike leg and have biked it previously, but that was a decade ago and it wasn't part of a triathlon with a half marathon afterwards! I'm planning on arriving in DL on Friday before the triathlon and will take a spin through part of the bike leg to get a bit used to the course, particularly any tough ascents or descents.
Regarding the swim, in general I'm a strong swimmer and train in the ocean here in Denmark but I wasn't aware of tying the cut off times to road closures so I'll make sure to put myself near the front of the swim group. My usual open water swimming pace is around 2:00/100m.

Yeah, with that swim pace, you’ll be fine. Its more related to folks who are likely to need a full hour or an hour plus and seed themselves right at the back.

Good plan re: biking some of the route on Friday and hope your race goes well 👍

S_D wrote: »

agreed

I live on the doorstep of it and do it regular! I done it at a very easy pace the other day again and still legs were fried after it! Its the lough tay climb and stretch of road pretty much all the way to johnny foxes that is leg zapping! dont under estimate the drags... the main 2 climbs old long hill and lough tay are hard but the other drags can equally kill ya! (Especaially with a bad wind)

My first 70.3 having only done my first Olympic in June. The bike course terrifies me. Well I know I will get through it but I am not a fast or powerful cyclist so it's the cut offs that terrify me.

Have done the loop part of the route from kilternan back to Kilternan 3 or 4 times and found it a tough slog . As mentioned here it's not the 2 or 3 steep ramps that get you it's the long gradual pulls that go on and on. Done most of my weekend long spins since March in the Wicklow hills so have quite a bit of climbing done. Currently on a 2 week family holiday so spins are a bit flatter at the moment but hoping I have enough climbing in the legs.

No specific time goal except to finish inside the cut off time

Both looking forward to the event and kind of terrified at the same time !

TriNRun wrote: »

I'm doing this race, did cork 140.6 also ,any one else do Youghal? How will the hills compare?

Cork was 950 meters per loop and DL is 1200 so not a massive amount more. How did you find the Cork cycle route?

TriNRun wrote: »

I found a few of the hills a bit tough, particularly windmill hill which was a nightmare but overall I thought it was fair , DL will be more of a challenge for me as my hill cycling is a bit slow compared to others , I'm going with aero deep rims as I'm thinking I can make time back on the descents and flats that I lose of the climbs even though they will be more rigid for the uphill

Yeah windmill was steep but very short. The only section of DL that is steep is at luggla but it’s short. What was your time on the Cork bike leg?

Anyone here local to the bike route? Heard some rumors that several of the roads on the route have recently been gravelled and are ATM, quite dangerous...is this true?

Marty Bird wrote: »

Cork was 950 meters per loop and DL is 1200 so not a massive amount more. How did you find the Cork cycle route?

Pretty sure DL is 1400 ?

Marty Bird wrote: »

Not according to the IM bike map.

https://m.eu.ironman.com/~/media/97b70ff703864ae1b524b6899b7a5b24/imdl%20bike%20map.jpg

Okay, I was looking at the info provided here:

https://ridewithgps.com/routes/29151255

And here : https://eu.ironman.com/triathlon/events/emea/ironman-70.3/dun-laoghaire/athletes/course.aspx#axzz5v0y7jFpZ

where it states: "The course climbs a total of 1400 metres"

Strava clocked it at 1310 M for me in last years race. So say its in and around that.

Compared to Cork in my opinion its alot tougher. Contastly feels like your climbing, 3 big climbs and another few small ones, Nothing like windmill hill but was one that hit 19% up beside loch Tay but thats even shorter than Windmill. But whats fantastic is the last 25km is fast, very fast.

Enjoy it, the course really is gorgeous which helps on the cycle.

EDit wrote: »

Anyone here local to the bike route? Heard some rumors that several of the roads on the route have recently been gravelled and are ATM, quite dangerous...is this true?

Yep I saw from a fellow Strava follower; cursing the roads up there. Not sure where exactly thou. Worth a drive some time close to the race if you can.