Texas 70.3 in Galveston

I'm copying and pasting some of my previous comments on the Texas 70.3...

The Texas 70.3 has slower average finish times than many races that are far harder than it "on paper" (like Syracuse, Buffalo Springs, Austin, and many others).  It's actually in the top 1/3 for slowest finish time.  Don't make the mistake thinking it's easy because it's flat and looks easy on paper.  I've done it 4x (every year it has been an Ironman branded event) so I know the race really well.

1. It's early season and it tends to be the hottest day of the year up to that point.  Nobody is acclimated to running in mid-80's heat in early-April.

2. The bike course is very windy and that causes some chaos on the bike course.  It would be a very, very fast and easy bike course if the wind weren't a factor.  Galveston is an island and it's windy and there's zero protection from the wind as there's no buildings or walls or trees lining the bike course.  Winds usually come from a southerly direction which normally means a cross/headwind going out and a cross/tailwind coming back.  This past year saw almost all crosswinds with very little head or tailwind.  Riding 56 miles with a 10-20 mph crosswind is generally not a lot of fun.

3. The swim is not that fast.  It should be fast given the fact it's in saltwater and wetsuit legal but it's just not.  It's just an average speed swim, IMO.  There's always a little bit of current that you fight that keeps the swim honest.  The current was real choppy in 2010 and swim times reflected that.  I'm normally a 32-33 minute HIM swimmer and my swim time in 2010 was like 41 minutes.

All that stated, I think my two fastest HIM times were done on the Texas 70.3 course in 2012 and 2013.  I attribute that to knowing how to ride the bike course, which is mainly dealing with the wind.  People tend to destroy themselves the first half of the bike fighting the headwinds.  A power meter is your best friend on this course.

It's a very well run and managed course.  I will do it again and again.

The swim is in a protected "bayou" that's more or less part of Galveston Bay.  It's salt water and wetsuit legal.  The water has a slight chop to it (some years worse than others) and it's generally not a real fast swim despite the salt water and wetsuit.

It's a bit of a hike from the swim exit to transition so don't expect a super fast T1 time.

The bike is really flat.  It's pretty much an out and back type course.  The course is not easy despite being flat.  The wind is the great equalizer on this course.  Southerly winds are the norm that time of the year so you can expect some sort of headwind/crosswind the first half of the bike and some sort of tailwind/crosswind on the trip home.  You can bank on 15+ mph winds and there is no protection from the island winds.  The key to the bike is keeping your effort in check during the first half into the wind.  A power meter is an incredible asset on this course if you have one on your bike.  A huge percentage of people will overcook the first half of the bike and fubar their race.  The roads are generally good with the exception of the couple of miles of roads from Moody Gardens to the Seawall.  Those roads got tore up by Hurricane Ike and were not really repaired well.

The run is also flat with lots of twists and turns around Moody Gardens.  It's generally warm and humid. There's pretty much no shade on the course so plan on getting baked by the sun.

Texas 70.3 sold out for the first time this year and will probably do so again (although closer to the race).  It has become a very popular race.

IMTX will sell out before the year is over.  That race scares the sh*t out of people and has built a reputation as being pretty brutal.  I did it the first year and I will never do it again as long as the race is held on the same date.  It's freakin' miserable.

IMAZ sold out in less than a minute last year.

It basically boils down to a terrible swim venue and the heat and humidity.  That early-season heat and humidity is a soul crusher.  Nobody is acclimated for that in May, not even us locals.  There are just better IM options in either more hospitable climates or at a more hospitable time of year.

An Ironman is a long and tough day no matter what so there's no need to do it in 90 degrees with a heat index approaching 100 and heat radiating off the pavement/concrete at over 110.

Originally posted by strykergt

Originally posted by GMAN 19030

Texas 70.3 sold out for the first time this year and will probably do so again (although closer to the race).  It has become a very popular race.

IMTX will sell out before the year is over.  That race scares the sh*t out of people and has built a reputation as being pretty brutal.  I did it the first year and I will never do it again as long as the race is held on the same date.  It's freakin' miserable.

IMAZ sold out in less than a minute last year.

Please expound more IMTX= Brutal!! i believe you just need to know why

This year we had temps in the 60s and 70s until 2 weeks out from the race and then it was 95ish on race day.  The swim should be easy as it's in a lake, but once you turn into the canal there just isn't enough room for everyone so unless you're in the sub 1 hour swim category you're going to get clobbered.  I swam into the backs of people walking in the canal 3 or 4 times (it's only 4 feet deep in places).  Anyway, the course in a vacuum is relatively tame, but with upper 90s temps and high humidity people fall out in droves (see the 17% DNF rate)

Pacing & Nutrition.  Learn to run and ride by HR and/or power.  You can be going out at 13 mph and it's the correct effort.  Hydrate properly too.  For me that's 1 bottle every aid station.

Originally posted by strykergt

Originally posted by uhcoog

Originally posted by dprocket So.... Any tips on training to somehow prepare for the wind+heat?

 

Pacing & Nutrition.  Learn to run and ride by HR and/or power.  You can be going out at 13 mph and it's the correct effort.  Hydrate properly too.  For me that's 1 bottle every aid station.

Coach Scott 13mph? Galveston? or IMTX?

Galveston.  I've been headed south with the wind in your face at 13mph.  Ofcourse when you turn around the same effort yields 30 mph give or take.  It's all about riding by your metrics and checking your ego at the door in regards to mph.