BT Forum

Thats good to know. I have been looking for a place close to St. Louis to swim, but haven't found any (not that New Town is close).

I thought they only allowed people to swim out there during the training sessions...

Hey guys! We are getting close!

I am planning on another OWS this Saturday early down in Branson at Moonshine beach followed by a short bike on some of the course.  Will probably start 5:45-6:00am with 30 min swim followed by 1:30 bike trying to finish by 7:45-8:00.

Just think, 5 days from now at this time, the race waves will be starting!!!  

Weather looks to be AWESOME!   http://www.weather.com/weather/wxdetail5/USMO0099

Aso... 9/14 water temp high 70s from the fishing reports on the main lake.   I actually decided against getting a wetsuit since the one I wanted was out of stock, as well as, I plan on losing at least 20 pounds from  now till next season so hopefully I saved money not buying something I would use once.   

So, since I have never biked on something with hills like this that was just constant hill, downhill, hill,downhill for the entire course I have no idea how to measure my success but to come up with some estimates and ranges I'm shooting for:

my stats: height: 5'10"  weight: 208 lbs

Swim: Under 40 minutes

Bike: 3:15
(definitely want under 3:30 but who knows..I could pull out a 3:00 or a 3:30, very hard for me to tell on this one)

Run: Under 2 hours( would love to get 1:52 ish but I think that is pushing it)

I'm a transition nut so I'm thinking my transition times will be very small but lets say 4 minutes for T1 and T2 together.

So looks like I'm wanting to be under 5:59:00      I'll round up and say if I'm under 6 hours i'm super happy, if i'm under 5:45:00....AWWWWW YEAH!!!! 

I'll report back my times after the race so we can compare.....

SO HOW ABOUT ALL OF YOU?!!!  What times are you shooting for?

This is my first 70.3 so shooting for 7:30:00 as a goal time.  Which considering Clydesdales hate climbs (6'3' 240) means I picked a heckuva spot to do my first 70.3 (4500+ feet of climbs on the bike leg).

And tapering makes me feel really lazy even though I need this before such a long race.

Good luck, Jarv!!!   This is my first 70.3, as well.  I wish they had clydesdale divisions

Likewise, I feel the same about tapering.  I actually followed my own training plan and looked at the peak and taper at the end of a half iron plan I found and calculated when that was in my training and so when I peaked I let that other plan take over cause I have a hard time cutting back and wanting to go too hard.

Good luck to you as well. 

May the sky stay blue and no rain this year. 

Water temps anyone?

What suits are you wearing-long? sleeveless?

See this post that I started...someone does verify if. (you can also read about my experience in Branson!)

http://www.beginnertriathlete.com/discussion/forums/thread-view.asp...

I raced the 70.3 in Branson this weekend.  Great medal, perfect weather, and awesome volunteer support and fans....but I was dissappointed that this is a branded Ironman 70.3.  Aid stations on the bike were sparce and not adequately stocked, the hills were killer for this TX boy, and the transition/shuttle logistics was a nightmare.  

Overall, I wouldn't likely do this race again and can see why others don't do it.  I've heard the same rumors that this was the last year for IM Branson 70.3.

Yeah, this event didn't get as much love as other 70.3's. I did Racine in July and there was a huge difference with how the race was ran and the variety of nutrition at the aid stations. The shirts were even made of a higher quality - I know that sounds weird but I compared the two last night and the Racine shirt is just nicer - fits better and feels better. 

Keep in mind, Racine had over 2200 participants so it's safe to say the quality is directly linked to the number of participants.