Tomorrow is Ironman St George. My gear has been checked in and therefore there is nothing left to do today but eat, nap and hot-tub (no, not at the same time).
The plan for tomorrow is as follows:
Wake-up at 3:30 am. It is crazy early but there is no getting around it because we have to be on shuttle buses downtown between 4:30 & 5:30. The hotel is hosting a breakfast starting at 3 am so I will eat something here before heading out. I don’t want leave the hotel too late because all the athletes are supposed to park in a single parkade so I know that will take some time to sort out. Once I am on the bus then I plan to eat some fruit and begin hydrating.
The buses will probably get us to the to T1 by 5:30 am so I will have 90 minutes to prep my bike, get into my wetsuit and wait in line for one of the 32 porta toilets that they have on site to handle 2500 athletes (don’t like those odds). The swim site is in the open desert soiL will have to dress wam because it will be cold and windy.
The Swim
The water is cold so I plan to hold offentering the water until just before the start gun. Then I will position myself wide on the left so I have lots of room during the mixmaster. The strategy for this swim is simply to survive.
The Bike
It will be windy and cold so I am planning to wear a vest & arm warmers, both which can be removed at Special Needs should things warm up.
The first section is quite flat however there will likely be a lot of lateral wind so nutrition might be tricky. Then we begin a long climb into the city of St George, traverse the center of town and then head out of town on Hwy 91. This section will require a lot of focus because the road conditions are very poor and we are also exposed to the wind.
Next up we have an 8 mile section through a red rock canyon valley. Lots of rolling terrain and it is quite sheltered so it’s a good opportunity to pick up the pace and get some calories.
Then we have a 1 mile climb up to the town of Vieyo. This hill is steep and usually has a headwind so it will be granny gear all the way. At the top there is a chance to recover before we swing onto Hwy 18 and head back into town.
We will now be on top of the Mesa so the wind will be omnipresent. It was so bad on Wednesday that I had to pedal down the long descents into St George. It’s the kind of wind that flips semi-trucks.
In St George we have some short steep climbs and a couple of “no pass zones”. After that we head out to Hwy 9 to do the big loop again.
The Run
It has been described as the toughest run course on the Ironman circuit. Hopefully I will have paced myself enough on the bike so tha I have some gas left in the tank so I can take on those hills.
So that’s the plan. This is an early season race on a tough course so I have few expectations other than to survive. Certainly no PR’s tomorrow. The focus will be on safety given the conditions (& the huge amount of Iron Virgins on the course).
Happy Racing Everyone!
Good luck Donald. Sounds like a great plan. Hope the shoulder holds up and the winds and weather will cooperate. Will keep track of jew at ironmans live….Len xo
PS. Miss you tonight!
Do it man! Kick ass.