70.3 Branson Course Review
I just got back from Branson, MO. For those of you that intend to race it and are not familiar with a course and will not have time to preview it, I will try to be brief and to the point.
The scenery is breath taking and it is rather shocking being South Central Missouri. I live in KC area. I do travel for living and have to admit that Branson area is a beauty..
Tablerock Lake/ Moonshine Beach:
I raced a 1mi OWS on Saturday. Water is clear, clean and beautiful. Mostly calm, some chop, no boats. Easy to see feet and draft. A joy.
Little run up the sand and uphill onto the parking lot for T1.
Bike Course:
My Edge 500 shows 4652ft of climbing but a net negative gradient. Last 7mi are downhill to T2.
This is a tough bike course, make no mistake about that. It is very heat and wind sensitive. I rode it in 2:45, IF .80, TSS 171, I split flat courses in 2:25-2:30. Climbs are at 3.8-4.0% grade, 1.2-1.8mi long. For me not fall over the bike during some climbs took FTP or over, just to turn the pedals. Ride it the EN way, all the way. It will pay off.
There is a 1.8mi climb almost straight out of T1, on 265 North. Hold it back and let the blood reshuffle here or you will be pushing your bike on foot between mi 47 and 49. From 49 to T2 downhill, recover.
Run Course:
Flat and nice, spectator friendly. I love it. For me it is a real treat getting to this run course that runs along the lake/river, some shade and a lots of spectators.
Hopefully this helps. Be glad to answer any specific questions. Ride the bike course the EN way and keep repeating HOLD BACK, HOLD BACK, HOLD BACK, you will pass a lot of people walking that specific half marathon.
Comments
I am curious whether I give up my ability to pace with my PM (53/39) with a 27t cassette or use my non PM compact crank, so as to maintain rpm up the hills?
Coach, thank you. I can provide more detail based on team members request.
Gary,
please reference the latest, corrected bike and run courses. The first flat section of the bike has been taken out and replaced by a section just West of 65, Sunset Drive to Buchanan Road to Branson High Shool parking lot, turnaround........Again, this section has a steep down .5mi followed with short steep up, it is all up and down. You come back out on 465 and back to76 twice. Check the website.
I don't know what to advice you here on that. If I ever needed a PM, this is the course where it will completely pay off:
Here, you can use it in two ways.
A: a valuable tool to set the ceiling constantly on current power produced as every excursion outside the EN guided box on gears will cost not only time on the run but time in the last quarter to a third of the bike course
B: as a stupidometer recording device that will record the spectacular implosion
I am on 53/39 with Cinqo and 12-25 in the back. I spin up the hills, but here I had to trade some of that spinning here for lower power during climbs. Obviously, ideally here you would have a compact and a power meter. For me that is way cost prohibitive.
Also, folks, here is the bike course that is heat and wind sensitive. Since there is a good amount of climbing and a solid chunk of it barely turning pedals at FTP at 12-13mph, cooling becomes and issue that can manifest itself just like creeping heat during the run causing an unplanned slowdown. This is even more of a reason to hold back and maybe adjust the power targets down to allow for less than optimum environmental conditions. Prevailing winds here are from the South, plug that variable into your calculation as well.
Gary, looking forward seeing you there. I don't have an EN jersey, but if you see a white Argon18 E112, good chance is that it's me. Not many of them out there. Come and say high. Looking forward seeing our team members and will do my best cheering for everyone while racing too.
If our kits come in before raceday, I will be wearing the skin suit with a giant Jayhawk on the front. Hope to see you and any others out there.
Saw the course change. I wish they had left that flat early section in. It would have been great to get the legs warmed up.
Interesting to read about this course, thanks for taking the time to report. I had no idea there was that much climbing, 4k+ climbing for a half sounds incredibly hilly for me. I won't be doing branson this year due to Wisconsin, but definitely had been considering it for next year.
Re: the Cinqo debate. I'm in the same boat, I have a 53/39 with my Cinqo built in. However, I switched from the 12-25 to an 11-28 a month or two back after riding the IMWI course a few times and realizing what I was in for. The 11-28 makes an appreciable difference up hills but the cadence gap bugs me and it's still no Compact. For next season I'm considering selling of my double and building a new Cinqo into a compact. I got mine used so I would not take a huge loss on it, but building up a new one would still cost a prettty penny.
Yeah, I think this particular race RD is sadistic and deceptive advertiser. He originally advertised Branson bike course as faster than Kansas. That is how I signed up without checking the profile on the web. Than they went on to drop the only flat section of the course and the one that metabolically means the most and that is the early miles. Instead they added more steep climbing. Oh, well. Needless to say that I had many training sessions on Kansas course between 2:24-2:30, where Branson attempt went at 2:45 with a serious effort, in heat of 95F though, but nevertheless, still way slower.
I fully understand the compact logic and agree with you. However, I am done investing in equipment as I have already dropped major money in the last 2 years. I will just choose my races where I can use what I have effectively. I love my Cinqo but cannot go down the compact road due to that. I spin uphill at about 95 cad, Branson course had me well under that at about 82-84 on some climbs just to tame the power down and even than I was at my 276W FTP or a bit over. It felt as if I am going to tip over at 12.2mph up a 4% grade.
I like the idea of 11-28 but don't know how well it works in reality. Branson does not have a single foot of flat road, it is either up or down. I ride 12-25. I was descending into the wind on the final 7mi and was not even close to use 12. On the other hand mid course descents I was spinning out and coasting at 35-45mph.
Again, this course begs for EN style execution and I will be disciplined enough. The only fear I have is not dialing back enough if the heat or wind creep up. Usually, I just find myself fading not realizing that the heat has risen substantially and it is beginning to affect power and pace generation.
Trevor, good luck at IMWI. I will follow you on the tracker. You will do well, I am sure. Keep in mind, the night prior a jar of Nutella straight with a spoon and you are good to go.
Gary,
Thank you very much. I will let you know as soon as I get it. Looking forward to it.