IM St George
Did/has anybody done a reckie report of this course and posted it ??
If not somebody who did it this year ---can you give me a idea of the bike course --undulating/hilly--looks like it goes up for 15 miles steady then comes down,twice ! Can you compare it to say Canada or Louisville as I've done them.Also confusing is the swim water temp on the race site says 60 deg but the video of the race shows non wet suit --which is it ??
Thanks--any comments useful as I've entered but so has my son number one and he's going for 10 hrs --I need to keep him honest !!
Cheers
Eric Blakie
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Comments
Yes Coach Rich and the gang did a weekend Recon there last year and Rich did a whole write and pod cast. Search in Wiki or old posts. It was a great summary.
I raced this year there. Cold swim of around 54-55 degrees, I froze my arse off. Yes wetsuit legal. Hilly bike which I loved. Has a whopper of a hill you do twice. Very doable bike course. Issue there is the wind. The Run is a beast. HILLY! Big big long hills. Train on hills or trails is my recomendation to get strong on the run. I had to throw pacing guidance away and run on feel as I ran slowly up the hills and faster down. It all balances out. But you will slay yourself if you try to run goal pace up those monsters:-).
Carrie " I survived IMSG 10 and lived to tell about it" Chavez
Thanks Carrie I'll look for it.Water temp doesn't phase me --that's normal for races in NE of UK !!!
Eric
Eric,
Eric,
Won't lie, St George was tough.
The swim was a fairly straighty forward if a little chilly. I think my biggest mistake there was not having enough warm stuff to wear before the swim. It was down right cold for a bit there and I think that hurt my swim time.
The bike was tough, but fair. The first bit from T1 to St George was relaxing. I loved watching everyone attempt to hammer up that first little climb knowing the big climbs were later in the day. The part after the water stop, heading into the Reservation was bad. Big headwinds, steady 1-3 degree climb. The cattle stops were fun. Practice your bunny hops while staying areo... The wind made it hard to judge what the wear. Started off too cool, but by the 2nd loop it was too warm. The "Wall" was brutal the 2nd time around as once you made that turn the wind died right off and it got hot fast. Even the zippy downhill just past the pie shop wasn't relaxing. The cross winds kept pushing me around. When you start to feel the back wheel wobbling about at 45mph, it bothers you deep down inside. The last little "screw you" climb before hitting T2 was just mean on the RDs part.
The run.. oh, man, the run. Or should I say controlled walk? That little false flat leaving T2 before making a right on the highway was nice. Then it got hard with some short, steep climbs. Then a big, long up that just drained you mentally. The part that really got me with the hills wasn't the distance, it was the grade. I got nasty, nasty blisters around the outside, back of my heels from my foot sliding against my shoe. It hobbled me. So, hard run, but very ,very pretty.
IMHO, if was hot out that day it would have been a lot harder. Talking to the locals, the wind was unusal and made it a lot cooler than normal. I personally wouldn't want to do that race in the hot...
Overall, worth doing, but be prepared to bring lots of clothing options as the weather is variable at best.
Thanks Dan --gives me a good idea of what to expect---I don't move around too much in the cross winds as I'm a big guy and as for hills I'm ok as I do a lot of mountain running (but not off a bike after 112 miles !).Enough info to make me cautious and come prepared.
Thanks again
Eric