Trying to pick a full WTC next year
IMTX still open. Any feedback?
IMLou still open. Feedback?
even considering IMWisc at the Foundation price.
Having a hard time deciding.
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IMTX still open. Any feedback?
IMLou still open. Feedback?
even considering IMWisc at the Foundation price.
Having a hard time deciding.
Comments
Maybe check out Coach P's report on IMTX where he put up mad numbers.
Good luck with your decision
I've never done any of the races but assume the logistics to the race or time of year is not a big deal.
IMLou has the TT start on the swim. I can't remember is IMWI a team event? Perhaps that's a draw for the foundation slot.
Gordon
If you are big and powerful, flat bike texas would be best.
I can only speak to LOU:
Factors to consider about the swim: probably non-wet suit legal, TT start (i.e. less of a washing machine effect), channel effect seems to offset time lost from non-wetsuitness.
Transitions: Run into/out of T1 and T2 are flat as a pancake, and fairly short
Bike: Rolling hills, nothing brutal, but there's a cumulative effect if you don't pace yourself. Almost entirely in the sun, and LOU is hot and humid that time of year.
Run: two loops, flat as a pancake.
Volunteers: AWESOME, volunteer to to athlete ratio is incredibly high, great support throughout.
Logistics: Easy. You don't need a rental car in Louisville b/c everything is walkable, many, many options for restaurants and hotels and it doesn't appear that they jack up the prices for IM week.
In short, if timing and terrain work for you, I'd highly reocmmend Louisville!
I can't speak to Louisville or Wisconsin as I've never done them. I did IMTX in 2011, was out there as a fan in 2012 and will be racing again in 2013.
The IMTX swim sucks. It just does and I'm not going to sugarcoat it. It's very narrow and crowded. The lake is typical for a man made Texas lake in that there's zero visibility. It's my least favorite long distance (1.2 or 2.4) swim I have ever done. Game day water temps are about 80 degrees.
I really like the bike course. It's not a hilly or technical course but it's not flat either. It's "flat-ish" with some rolling. The part through the national forest is awesome! Expect southerly winds so the last 40 miles or so heading back to The Woodlands will be into a headwind. Our springtime winds during March and April are brutal. Thankfully, the winds start to calm down in May. It will start to get really warm towards the end of the bike ride.
The run is equal parts awesome and okay. It's three loops. The Market St./Waterway/Pavilion section back near transition and the finish line is fantastic. The crowds are awesome. The other half of the loop you'll be running on roads and into a high dollar residential area. Not a lot of crowds around those parts. There's also no shade in the residential neighborhood. The Market St./Waterway/Pavilion area more than makes up for it though.
The max temp in 2011 was 91 and 89 in 2012. It's also very humid so expect the heat index to get in the mid-90's on the run. Probably not a PR run course. It was overcast most of the day in 2011. There wasn't a cloud in the sky this year.
There are maybe five hotels within walking distance. All of them have been sold-out for a long time. There's ton of other hotels in the area though, just not in walking distance.
Good luck...great to meet in last week
Yeah, but IMMOO or IMLOU mean lomg runs and long rides in the GA summer. I lived in Valdosta for a couple of years and it is far worse there than in Tampa.
I'd pick IMTX and early season training in a heartbeat over training in the Georgia summer for Wisconsin or Louisville. There's a reason I have never signed up for a summer IM and it's because there's no f'n way I want to run and ride long in the 100+ heat.
Can't go wrong with any of them.
I know that they all have pros & cons.
I don't have any real strengths that one race would be better than another. I have weaknesses and none of these races will allow me to hide a weakness, so I can't look for that 'one'.
I should be spending more time figuring out how I can spend my OS and 2013 training getting accurate test results and figuring out why my nutrition plan was working with race rehearsals but went thru race day with GI issues and not peeing a single time.
This is not at all an apples to apples comparison based off of the individual merits of the courses. Doing a full Ironman in in May is going to be a fundamentally different experience than doing a late summer IM such as IMLOU or IMTX. Remember that that the race is just one day of the multi-month process that consists of your overall time commitment to a race.
Living in GA, I would guess that you will have the weather to support being out there doing your longest training very early in the season when the days are still short. Conversely, IMLOU or IMWI offers you much more time to prepare, however you are going to be dealing with the height of the GA summer heat.
So between the choices listed above, I think you first need to make the determination of early season or late season. From there, if you decide to go for late season, between the two I think IMWI will clearly be a better overall experience being the team-focus event for next year, but with the obvious caveat of the increased financial cost.
In my work world, we pick our vacation weeks a year in advance. And, I usually skip years between full IM's. So, I didn't plan a week. I'm in the process of trying to trade for both Wisc and Lou week. If one of those works out, that'll probably be the WinnerWinnerChickenDinner.
Lots of overthinking to have it decided by such a simple, obvious factor.
Thank you to everyone for tossing in the thoughts. I feel like its a huge commitment, both time and money, and I'm lucky to have such choices weighing on me when there are so many others out there dealing with 'real' concerns.
Thanks again, Friends!
The reasons why Patrick and I chose IMLP and IMWI as the team races were:
My strong recommendation is IMWI over Lou. Madison is a cool town, awesome bike course, we have the camp on the course in early August, etc. We'll have close to 100 people in the race, for sure.