7 Things You Should Know About Ironman St. George

By Elden Nelson For Active.com

The inaugural Ford Ironman St. George is in just a few days, which means that athletes from all over the world are about to find out that spring weather in Southern Utah can be a little bit...unpredictable.

Luckily, I live just a few hours from St. George, and have had an opportunity to pre-ride and pre-run the Ironman course several times during the past few months. Here are some important things I have learned.

1. There are two cycling climbs that matter.
The cycling course has you riding from the first transition, then riding a 45-mile loop a couple of times before dropping into the center of St. George. The course rolls, climbing and descending frequently, but not far. However, there are two big hills.

The first one is about five miles before you come into Veyo, and it's brutal. Luckily, it's only 0.8 miles long. The second is affectionately known as "The Veyo Wall" and is one mile long. And don't forget, you do each of them twice.

2. You have a big ol' long descent at the end of each cycling lap.

At the end of each lap—after climbing the Veyo wall—you have around 17 miles of descending to do. Weather providing, this is a fantastic place to rehydrate and eat something.

3. There's almost always a headwind going into that descent.

Of the three times I've ridden this course, there has been a headwind all three times. Once, that headwind was so bad that it felt like I was pedaling uphill, even though it was downhill. So don't think of that 17-mile descent as likely to do you any favors.

4. You will experience a ridiculous amount of déjà vu during the run.

The running course is a 6.5-mile out-and-back affair, which means you'll see every inch of the course four times. And since there's one cul-de-sac you run through for each pass, you'll see the houses there eight times. Which means maybe that's a good spot to set up your family to cheer you on.

5. The run has hardly any flat spots.

If you love running up and down climbs, this is the perfect marathon for you. You'll be running up and over Red Hills Parkway, turning around, and running over it again. Sure, you'll have a mile or so of Diagonal Street, which looks flat, and you'll run that four times. But here's the thing: Diagonal Street isn't flat either.

6. The weather is looking scary.

Weather.com says St. George is going to be rainy and windy on race day. How scary and what kind of scary depends on whether you trust Weather.com or Accuweather , which says it's going to be windy and maybe rainy. And the high temperature—usually in the 80s this time of year—will be 67. So, um, overheating shouldn't be a problem, anyway.

7. Get some Concrete.

Concrete at Nielsen's Frozen Custard in St. George, that is. It's like Oreo ice cream, but smoother and tastier. Best race recovery food ever.