Ironman St. George - Utah : Official Thread

Yay...our own "official" thread...I feel all validated 'n' stuff. 

I'm 6 1/2 weeks from my first IM (Vineman), so IMSG feels a long ways off...but I have to admit I told my wife that my training ride on Saturday (85 miles with 5000' of climbing after a 1.5 mile ocean swim) was not just a Vineman workout, but also my "first workout for St. George".  Am I scared of the hills?  Yup...my bike fitness is my Achilles heel...so training hills now to beat the rush...

Wow...I guess we are all official now.

Sweet!

I'm in the final weeks before taper for Vineman 70.3...then all focus goes to Utah. Good thing I'm a mountain goat on the bike!

Yeah, I am hooked. Just finished Kansas 70.3 for my first race, got home and registered for IMSG. Now I look at the profile maps and cringe a little.

What else can I do besides ride more hills to prepare? How about more time in the weight room?

My big focus this fall/winter will be the run, which is my weak link.

When I first saw the maps all I could do was laugh.

Sneakily, as I'm at the end of my peak phase for Vineman (August 1), I'm adding in extra hills on both bike and run.  Did a 19.5 mile run yesterday with 4000'+ of climbing.  Last Saturday was 5 1/2 hour ride with about 5000' of climbs.  Figure as long as I'm going long now for one IM, I might as well start acclimating myself to the hills I'm facing on the next one.

Weights won't do much for you. Bike and run A LOT!

This next few weeks is going to be light training with family vacations and summer baseball and then the fun will begin in August. Lots of time in the saddle and lots of running.

Anyone put together a Course for the Garmin yet for that bike?

Mike

Well, one thing's for certain:  Any "benefit" time-wise from what's probably going to be a comparatively slow course will be offset by the fact that there will only be 65 Kona slots at St. George (compared to 72 for the other US M-Dot 140.6 races).

I'm nervous and excited. This will be my first IM. I've got 5430 oly and HIM coming up. I was also planning on the Tucson Marathon in early December. Then it is all St. George! I'd feel a lot better about the bike if I could be disciplined enough to lose the last 10-15 I need to lose!

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Edited by bctri21 2009-07-21 10:52 AM

Absolutely. I will purchase the Garmin download and let everyone know when I have it.

Mike

And for what it is worth, it was time for me to get some race wheels so I picked up the Ksyrium SL's from Mavic and had the shop put a 12-25 cassette on them just because of the ride up the canyon at St. George...

Mike

This will be my first IM too! I picked it only because I'll be able to train during the "winter" months in AZ. I wish I could do IMAZ, but the summer time training will kill me. Looks like I better find a lot of hills to work on!

I plan on previewing the course sometime this winter, but looking at the elevation profile it looks like there's some climbing involved...I was going to purchase a tri bike specifically for this but now I'm thinking just toss some aero bars on the road bike as it may be better for the climbs and downhills.

first IM for me too....time to head for the mountains here in Georgia! I'll be doing this with a bro in law in Hurricane. Another factor may be the wind as well. This could be fun! He did recommend getting a climbing cassette but I can't remember which one he suggested.

I put a 12-25 on my race wheels. I think with the right training it will be enough for this race.

Mike

Drove the course after IMCDA. A group of us 6-10 people are going to do a pre race training weekend sometime in March / April. I'll post the dates when we firm it up. Just in case anyone wants  to join us.
We all live in So Cal.
BTW: The course has a lot of rough roads, tire pressure will be critical in my opinion.

was in St. George and drove the route too! Really impressive..gulp! The toughest hill starts at a switch back with a steep ascent for ??mile then flattens and goes into a slow long climb. Pretty cool looking over the edge at people approaching the hill. Incredible scenery all around if my eyes get that high. Will also do a training there in March. Really focused now that I saw the course. Also, the run starts from town and immediately goes into an uphill..no mercy!

Just remember... in the Ironman... it doesn't matter how good your run is, if you can't get to the run feeling good. Makes the bike really important.

Should be... I use a 12-25 on my race wheels and it has worked fine at Silverman (55x42) up front.

I used the cassette on the ULCER this weekend -- a local century. There are some rollers on the backside of the ride and with the wind, I kept thinking to myself that the conditions were pretty close to what they will be in St. George. I never got into my bailout gear, so I was very happy. I was even more happy to have it there just in case I needed it!

Mike

Just found this and thought I would chime in that I will be there - all signed up and paid for.

It has been crossing my mind recently.  I plan to drive up to St George at least a couple times and do the loop section twice (just like the race).  I will probably leave out the portion from the res into town unless I feel like doing the entire 112.  Obviously, that will be next spring...

HOWEVER, if anyone is planning a trip into Vegas and wants to head up there for some biking, I can be talking into it...