IMSG: a True Destination vs Performance Ironman Course?
Hi,
I got back last night from IMSG. I took a couple days after the race to explore southern UT, one of my favorite areas of the country. I've cycled, motorcycled, and explored UT several times over the years. My plan was to stage my truck Monday morning outside Bryce Canyon, ride 112 on Hwy 12 over Boulder Mtn to Torrey, get a room, return via same route. 31 degrees, ice and snow on the road to Bryce put the kabosh on that plan so I spent the day exploring some backroads in my truck, got to Torrey around 1pm, changed, drove down into Capital Reef and rode the scenic drive out and back on the bike. Yesterday I reversed the route on 12 but went west to the 15, driving over a 9000ft pass, getting on at Cedar City. On Friday I drove to Springdale and cycled the park road in Zion Canyon, followed by a delicious steak salad and Guiness at Oscar's Cafe.
My notes:
IMSG is truly on a level apart from the other races on the US IM calendar. It is something like a World's Toughest or Wildflower of the Ironman world. I'm about to do a podcast to record some thoughts about the race as a race, pacing strategies, and stuff like that, but SG really does need to be raced differently, in many respects, than other US IM's. A large part of this is just having different expectations for this race regarding time, the experience of the day, etc. It's legit, pure and simple.
Very early on the calendar. I know a lot of people had significant training challenges preparing themselves for this race over the winter. In the end, the date of IMSG is only two weeks "better" than the "old" IMAZ date, which was a challenge for people for years.
However...IMSG puts you in the middle of one the most unique parts of the country and I feel is likely the only true destination race on the US calendar. While CDA puts you sorta close (about 4hrs?) from Yellowstone, I've never heard of many people using the race as an opportunity to schedule some tourist time in the west. Madison...Louisville...Florida (not)...LP (I suppose you could explore the Adirondacks but I don't know anyone who does), AZ (could drive north to the Grand Canyon). I've never been to IMCanada but have moto'ed in the Banff/Jasper area...but that's a good 170mi east.
IMSG offers easy transportation to and lodging at the race. More importantly, you can easily do a two day trip after the race and see country you'll never forget. My recommendation:
Sunday: do the AM finisher gear, awards thing. In the afternoon, drive to Springdale/Zion, get a room, and take the shuttle buses into Zion. Or...you can do this as a recovery ride (8 miles in, 8 miles out) on probably one of the most scenic routes you can ever do. No cars are allowed in the park and buses have to wait for you to pull over before they can pass you :-) Dinner at Oscar's, recommend the garlic burger and sweet tater fries
Monday: drive Hwy 9 to Hwy 89 north to Hwy 12 east. Check out Bryce Canyon. Continue east on 12 through Tropic, Escalante, to Boulder, stopping at the Kiva Coffee House along the way for the views. Stay at the Boulder Mtn Lodge in Boulder and have dinner at the Hell's Backbone Grill. If the hotel is full, drive over Boulder Mtn to Torrey, lots of empty hotels there. Jump on your bike and ride (all downhill, or just drive :-) from Torrey to Capital Reef NP, ride the scenic drive into the park (20 miles total, very easy)
Tues: reverse the route, with breakfast at Hell's Backbone Grill again, coffee at the Kiva House. From 89 south, go west on 14 to Cedar City and the 15. Catch your flight from SG or Vegas. I did the above yesterday and was home in LA by 6pm, including some dirt road exploration outside of Escalante.
My point here is that I know a lot of people have likely taken, or are thinking of taking, IMSG off their IM to-do list, based on the experiences this weekend. At the risk of sounding like I work for the UT tourist board or something, I encourage you to think outside of the standard box of IM racing, and consider IMSG to be a total adventure: a fookin' hard course on unique terrain followed by an easy-to-do opportunity to visit the parks and unique areas of southern UT. I know I'm personally looking forward to using training camps and the race as a jump off point for road/mtn biking, dirtbiking adventures for years to come :-)
Pics from the area, taken this weekend
Zion Canyon rawks, see below :-) 
Capital Reef NP below 
Kiva Coffee House on Hwy 12 between Escalante and Boulder 
Comments
Seriously, there is a lot of great stuff to do and see in southern Utah if you like being in the outdoors (and not just from the seat of a bike either). 3 days doesn't even come close to doing it justice. So even if you never do IMSG- consider taking the family there for vacation some time- you won't regret it.
So does that mean you'll be toeing the line next year? I don't think there's any possible way I'd do that race living in Minnesota. That said, though, I was surprised how many people from Michigan, Wisconsin, and Minnesota were crossing the finish line when I was watching. Granted I didn't tune in until 14ish hours into the race, so maybe there weren't so many at hours 11-13.
As for the cold water, I was dinking around on the Total Immersion site the other day, and theres lots of chatter over there about swimming in 50ish water. They seem to think it's no big deal even WITHOUT a wetsuit. You just have to do it a lot...and probably develop a good walrus-like layer of blubber.
I dunno....this is one of those events where while I would absolutely love to play out there and explore, I don't know if I'd want to toss the race into the mix. I put it up there with the non-US IM events. Would be really cool to get out and see the world, but a logistical hassle.
Of course...if I could get out of NH for parts of the winter I'd probably be plotting.
FWIW, I've been plotting how I can blatantly use the numbers and cool vibe of EN to put together some epic cool adventures for myself. Something like "I want to do an unsupported 500-600mi loop of UT the last week of September, a five day ride over many passes in CO, a 3 day ride from SFO to Morro Bay, 3 days of riding the eastern Sierras based out of Bishop, etc. Who wants to join me?"
How about our own Tour of Utah?
Lynne
Good stuff Rich. My family and I have been looking at this race for a while, and I think I will hold out for CDA and Arizona. Just going to be impossible to train for it in Montana. Stunning pics.
Still holding out for someone to ask me to organize the Montana Glacier Park EN camp.
Also, does anyone know of any predictors of hypothermia amongst triathletes? I will have to do a literature search on the journals later. Could be fascinating read. Im just thinking about last year at CDA where a lot of folks had problems with the water temp, but I was pretty hunky dory. Quite "refreshing" I actually thought.
Two things:
@rich, if you do come to Utah for a multi day ride, be sure to add some riding in nothern utah, in particularly in the Park City area. As it is in the south (locals call it Dixie, I have not clue as to why) the northern mountains are just as scenic and you can have fun wtih the altitude.
@greg & @olivia, the bodies reaction to hypothermia is going to determined by many things. I'm a big guy and I once raced in Ft. Collins, CO where the water was 49. I was "OK" with the temp, cold but OK. Other racers were in hurting pretty bad. I was talking with an ex-pro after the race and mentioned the water temp. He said the coldest swim he did was a race in France where the water was a chilly 43.
Greg and Chuck, my travels to/from CDA offer me many cool stuff opportunities every year. Last year I turned it into a 4k mile motorcycle trip. This year...I'm flying
. On my radar:
In other words, depending on how I decide to get up and back from there, I can make a detour to MT, WY, UT, etc to get some cycling in. In '07 I rode over Beartooth Pass, into Yellowstone and out the west entrance to CDA. And I've been to Glacier NP a couple times.
Go to "Media" on the top menu and select the "Podcast" drop down
When you get to the Podcast page, look for the heading instruction that says something like "subscribe to get our podcasts here" with a link. That link should take you to the Itunes subscription page.
@Jason, I found them by searching before but couldn't find the option/menu settings on how to subscribe to them.
But having lived in SLC for 6 years and spent quite a bit of time in Southern Utah, I can tell you that there is no better place to get away from it all, get great exercise, and have amazing views. The hiking and mountain biking are incredible. This is what I miss about the SW every day that I am on the crowded east coast. Someday I hope to get back there, or else move really far SW (Australia).
Good luck to all in 2010