Choosing 1st IM with a possible back-up

Give us a little more detail on your situation and I'm sure BT can give you some opinions on race choices.

- which month of the year works best for you?
- what's your weakness (swim / bike / run)?
- where do you currently train?
- how flexible is your budget?

on the first question as noted it depends. I've done IMAZ and Canada. Canada was spectacular. IMAZ was my first, it was great in that respect but the course is meh Eta just because a course is flat does not mean its easy

Edited by ChrisM 2014-07-10 10:36 PM

You must be wealthy.

IMO, no backup with 2 years to get ready.  Just plan for the race and train for the race.

If you are doing a hillier IM like CDA, just hill train.  It isn't so hilly that it is brutal.  Just hilly for an IM.  As long as you take it easy up the hills and have the correct gearing. (compact crank with a 12/27 or 12/30 cassette) you'll be fine.  Unless you live in a pancake flat area.  Then just sign up for AZ.

You just can't beat IM Canada when it comes to scenic beauty.  I did it last year and I'm going back again this year (I even transferred out of Couer d'Alene to do so).

IMCDA is also a very scenic course from what I hear but just not as nice as Whistler.

IMC is more challenging on both the bike and run.  IMCDA probably a more challenging swim due to the colder water temps.

IMCDA is more of a travel pain in the butt.  While the nearest airport (Spokane) is actually closer to CdA than Vancouver is to Whistler, the Spokane airport is small and there's pretty much no direct flights and rental car choices were lacking.  I actually made reservations to fly into Seattle.  The direct flight to Seattle plus drive to CdA would have been equal travel time as flying from Houston to Spokane via a connecting flight in Phoenix or Salt Lake City.

Direct flights to Vancouver make getting to Whistler pretty easy.

CdA accommodations are very expensive.  They don't poach and fleece athletes as bad as Lake Placid but it's still pretty bad.  Expect to pay resort level prices for far less than resort quality hotels.  You could also rent a house but that's cost prohibitive unless you're going with a bunch of people.

Accommodations in Whistler are also not cheap but at least you're getting resort quality for that resort price.  Way more hotels and condos available in Whistler and they're all nice and modern thanks to the 2010 Olympics.