Ironman Wales 2012 - Page 6 - Triathlon

Slagiatt

pirate

13/10/2011 at 13:17

edit to remove duplicate post .. grr

cant do the run or ride this weekend mate sorry .. which one are you doing. or you gonna try both

Edited: 13/10/2011 at 13:20

Canuck Kev

13/10/2011 at 15:10

Watched the French language video on the IM Wales FB page with my son last night. The swim looked ghastly. For someone who's not overly comfortable in the water, it's got me worried. Can someone over there order up some calm for raceday? How bad was it?

fat buddha

13/10/2011 at 15:13

CK - I loved the swim but I'm relatively at home in the sea (I live 400m from it so get in quite often). I think the hardest part for those not used to it was getting in and out with the big breaking waves but once you were swimming it was fine - the swell was big but there weren't that many breaking waves on top so it was easy to sight and breath. more of a rocking and rolling swim than anything too tough.

one tip - learn to spit not swallow...

Slagiatt

pirate

13/10/2011 at 15:18

it looked worse than in was CK ... once you got beyond the breaking waves it was fine really.. quite rolling but nothing scary, just made for some buoy sighting challenges ... trying to make sure you sighted when you were on a peak not a trough Very well supervised by the RNLI and lifeguards, so nothing to worry about .

Edited: 13/10/2011 at 15:18

Iron Pingu pirate

pirate

13/10/2011 at 15:21

CK, the swim was awesome. I'd only swum in the sea once before and that was in a harbour where the water was as flat as a pancake. (and about as deep as bath water).

The footage of the swim is amazing imo, yes the waves were huge and the swell was big but it was all perfectly manageable, I'm not a strong swimmer at all, slowest in my masters class and I absolutely loved the swim, would have happily swum another lap if it was required. Don't be put off by the swim.

Slagiatt

pirate

13/10/2011 at 15:21

ok maybe it was just me that struggled with sighting then ... but otherwise what FB said

Iron Pingu pirate

pirate

13/10/2011 at 15:35

Slag, I think on the first lap I went quite far out to sea between the 1st bouy and the 2nd and after that made more effort to sight. But tbh, I has having too much fun to try to be too precise!

CK, as FB says, the waves did make getting in and out quite difficult, I got knocked flat a couple of times, though not a problem, just made it more interesting

Canuck Kev

13/10/2011 at 16:05

Thanks for the votes of confidence...it should be interesting. I can see (mind the pun) how sighting would be difficult...good tip. Since you all seem to pretty familiar with the area, what are the must sees for the family when we're in South Wales?

fat buddha

13/10/2011 at 17:01

CK - depends what you want really and how long you have. there are some interesting castles in the area (Tenby, Pembroke, Carew etc); some fantastic coastline to explore west of Tenby (Pembrokeshire National Park); go visit St Davids, the smallest city in the UK (basically a village with a cathedral); the National Garden of Wales is not far away with the largest single dome greenhouse in the world (I think).

if you go further afield you have countryside like the Brecon Beacons National Park with cave systems (Dan-yr-Ogof), or you can explore the history of coal mining in Wales at the Big Pit in Blaenavon (you can go down into the pit). The Gower coast near Swansea is just gorgeous.

And do visit Cardiff - capital of Wales - it has a superb city centre.

lots to do really

Bouncing Barlist pirate

pirate

13/10/2011 at 17:28

I also loved the swim and by the accounts ive read many others did to.

It was a bit unnerving when we turned the first buoy and got hit by the swell but it didnt really hamper progress. Just took a bit of used to swimming along a rollercoaster.

For me the swim made such a change from the monotony of flat swims, there was variety all the way around. Getting flattened by the waves getting in and out was great

Golden Boots pirate

pirate

13/10/2011 at 20:32

Slag - I'm just doing the run, hoping to get my running legs back in case I don't go long in tri next year

The swim - the best fun I have had in rubber in a long time

Iron Pingu pirate

pirate

13/10/2011 at 21:05

GB, you not doing Outlaw?

joddly

13/10/2011 at 23:10

CK - two things;

When I saw the video of the swim there was a part (taken from a boat, I think, near the first buoy) where it looks horrific, with dark grey water, huge swell, and the swimmers being pitched around all over the place. If I'd seen that before entering, there's no way I'd have gone ahead. But it really isn't nearly as bad as the footage makes it look. I'm a pretty nervous swimmer in the sea, and I promise it was genuinely almost fun!

Secondly, if you're looking for a hotel, try the Atlantic (phone them as the online booking is blocked). It's above South Beach (where the swim won't be) and v near the finish/transition. We stayed there this year, and they were great (though it sounds like all the hoteliers etc made a huge effort).

seren nos

pirate

14/10/2011 at 08:15

i loved the swim............brilliant all around..............even getting thrown to the ground before it started

M..TRIumphant pirate

pirate

14/10/2011 at 08:57

I'd agree with the above, the swim was generally good fun, and looked a lot worse on the TV than in reality. Slightly lumpy, but not waves breaking overhead, or too many white horses, just a well formed swell. I think most people were surprised by their swim times, either the course was slightly short, or it was swell / tides assisted. Certainly, the swim into the beach from the last buoy was easy. Fears from the week leading up to the race weren't necessary on the day, and exiting the water, running up the zig zag path and through the town and crowds to T1 was just fantastic.

Hope

pirate

14/10/2011 at 09:30

Even I enjoyed the swim and my swimming is rubbish!!

I worried loads about the sea swim in the run up to this race, but really you just have to deal wth what's in front of you on the day.

It's got to be unlikely that you will be racing in the tail end of a hurricane!

Golden Boots pirate

pirate

14/10/2011 at 10:34

Iron Pingu wrote (see)

GB, you not doing Outlaw?

No!Definitely not.maybe.

waving not drowning! pirate

pirate

14/10/2011 at 10:41

CK even my swim was entertaining. i lost my googles getting knocked over at the very start and only managed 1 and a half laps without them. Once you get past the surf it's all good and the views back to Tenby are great.

next time i'll have another hat over them and spare pairs strapped to my arms and legs.

not planing on repeating the 12 hours of clapping others round this year my hands got quite sore. but i always find people supporting round the course help me along so it was good to pay that back.

the support at tenby was great i thought.

good to see GB i'm just gutted i didn't survive to see slag come over the line. clapping people down the finish shute in a soaking pair of jeans seeing the joy on peoples faces got to be hard work.

Golden Boots pirate

pirate

14/10/2011 at 10:47

waving not drowning! wrote (see)

clapping people down the finish shute in a soaking pair of jeans seeing the joy on peoples faces got to be hard work.

It was made much easier by the 6 or so beers I managed to have before the very end

Slagiatt

pirate

14/10/2011 at 10:55

alright i take the hint ..... i'll try and get round quicker next time