Ironman Pace Charts!
I have been a race spectator countless times and know how difficult it can be to catch a glimpse of an athlete I'm trying to watch. Ironman races are especially difficult given the number of people, the distance covered, and the duration involved.
Now in their 9th year, my QSHEETS! will aid your "support crew" immensely. You simply enter a few parameters and the program generates two maps, bike and run courses, with estimated times of (your) arrival. At last your support crew will know where to go and when to expect you. Plus with the estimated times, they can tell if you're ahead of or behind pace -- keeping them involved in your journey to the finish line! I would suggest printing out several versions: best case, worst case, etc.
These QSHEETS are valuable to the athlete, as well. In my past Ironmans I printed out the time column (pictured below), laminated it, and used it to check my pacing during the race (example below). It was very cool to see when I was a few minutes ahead of or behind my goal time at various places on the bike. Most importantly it served as a sort of "Energy Management System" for me: it usually saved me from being overzealous in the early part of the bike and reminded me when and what to eat.
Details
The program will generate two maps, a BIKE map (shown below) and a RUN map. All that is required are 7 parameters that you input, based on your expected speed and pace. The maps can then be handed out to friends & family so that they may better track you. |
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 click to enlarge |
Note that your expected pass-by times are automatically embedded in the map! |
In addition the program will generate a list of times (shown below) that you can print out. I recommend printing, shrinking, then laminating this column and carrying with you. Here is a real example of how I used this as a 'cheat sheet' during IM Wisconsin. It lists the points where to eat bars and when to take protein. These reminders helped me tremendously because usually when I'm in the heat of the action, I forget otherwise. I used color and highlighting to make it easy to see. On the back, I wrote a few bullet-point reminders and inspirational messages to help my psyche.
Here's an unmarked version for you to see (different parameters):
click to enlarge