Ironman St. George : Official Thread (Page 5)

I'm IN for IMSG 2012!

Ryan

I'm in too Ryan!  It'll be my first and I'm SO pumped to ramp up the training.  I have a lot of climbing work to do but I am SO looking forward to doing this!  Best of Luck and fun with your training.

Best,

Eric

Where did you hear this?

We chased Lance around France shadowing the 2005 TDF. My wife will probably want to offer him more support than me if he does show...

That would make sense if he wants to qualify for Kona.  I would guess he needs more than just a top showing at one IM to make it with the new qualifying system.  That would put him in at other 70.3 events between now and then, too.  I did see that he's planning on racing in Maui.

Besides, I'm more concerned that bryancd is in my AG!

Oh nice! Congratulations and good luck to you too! Yeah, I heard there might be some small elevation climbs that we need to prepare for on this bike course.

I'm sure it's already been discussed in this thread or previous years but I haven't read through those just yet... I am starting to think about what kind of gearing for my bike. I have a compact crank and a 12/27. This served me well for Ironman Lake Placid but St George sounds like it is a lot more difficult, or at least some of the climbs are steeper and more dramatic (people out of saddle or off their bike and walking). Wondering if I should give myself an extra gear or use this as motivation to find some big hills to train on (although I will be training mostly through the winter here on the east coast).

Ryan

I'm going to opt for the "torture myself on the hills route"! I've got a pretty basic 53/39 setup and I'm just going to stick with it.  The ups all have downs and at least the swim is flat, right??? I asked my bike fitter (who fit last year's champ) about the course and my equipment and he said keep what I have and train. He added that the elevation of the course is what people talk about but the possibility of heat is a bigger issue for most. 

From what I've heard, the hills on the bike aren't that bad since you expect them and train for them.  Heat and wind were more the issue on the bike, but then the cumulative effect takes it's toll as the hills trash your quads for the brutal (in the past) run course.  That should be lessened to some degree this year, but I'll still be out training on the hills for sure.

I have a standard 53-39 up front with a few options on the back.  I'll probably go with an 11-28.  I also have a 23 and a 25, but I've used the 28 for both IMs and it was nice to have the bailout gear (especially at CDA).  I never felt like I was missing any gears.  Since I'll be driving to the race, I'll be able to bring some wheel choices.  If I could only bring one wheel, I'd leave the disc at home and go with 90s, front and back.

Thanks for the suggestions on the gear setup. There is only so much you can do to prepare yourself for the possibility of heat I'm guessing.

On a side note, as of today I noticed we have 199 days until race day!

I do not have any authority on bike gearing or Ironman subject.  However, a compact front and an 11 rear will go 28mph at 90 rpm.  If you can afford to switch to a compact and not having to have a 48mph decent the compact will always serve you better in the hills.  I have rode some serious hilly rides with people who on any flat would kick my tail only to be in the lead and happy at the end of the ride.  The only difference was I was spinning all the hills and they were having to crush the whole ride.  I would never tell anyone what to do.  However, anyone would have a hard time convincing me how a compact would not be best in St. George unless you are at a minimum a 4.5 ratio of power to weight or greater for an extended ride. 

The fact that our resident ultraman finisher states it is enough for me!!

Anyone have any experience whether the Xterra Vortex 3 is going to be warm enough for this swim? i know it's 5mm except in the arms, like most tri suits. I just wanted to know if anyone has used this particular one and been comfortable on this swim. Frankly, the swim scares me more on this than anything else including the bike or even the old run course. You can't push your body through hypothermia.

Thanks.

I did 2 laps on the Veyo section of this ride a couple weeks ago (90some mile ride from where I was staying). There are 4 climbs which register to me. First lap was cake. I charged into the place we were staying top top off my bottles and let my wife know I was killing it and in great shape. Halfway thru lap 2... trouble. The climbs got REALLY hard.

First, alot of the altitude is gained with mild climbing, or 'false flats'. So that doesn't hit you too hard. Its mainly just the 4 bad boys that get you.

The first is at the dam, to me it 'looked' worse than it was. It'll slow everyone down though.

Then there is the climb at the Eagle Ranch. To me, this one is the hardest and steepest. The only plus, its fairly short by climbing standards. I didn't check the % grade, but I cannot imagine climbing with only an off-the-rack 2-ring front. I've got a 3ring front and I'm mildly considering shrinking the small ring a couple teeth. I'm going to go back and hit this again in December and again in March and make the final call then.

3rd climb is 'the Wall' which to me is what the 2nd climb should be called. Its a long grunt and definitely harder the 2nd time around, but not as brutally steep as climb #2. It does kick up a little steeper near the top though. So just get into your spinning gear and make the turns. It'll end, but its a longer hill even though from the bottom before you make the switchback it doesn't look too terribly bad.

The 4th climb is after you cross the bridge out of Veyo. Its not steep, but the last 10 miles have kicked your butt so it feels steeper than it is.

The downhill is nice, but honestly it doesn't feel like you get all the down that you earned climbing. If you can tuck though, you're crusing at 40mph. Nice, but not enough to make up for the 5mph trudge on hills 2 and 3..

Main thing I can say if you can't pre-ride this thing.... DON'T go out too hard on lap 1 and leaving Hurricane valley. You might make the first lap feeling top of the world flying along, but the 2nd lap is still another 45 miles or so and its way harder than the 1st time around. Leave fuel in the tank!
And maybe also pre-drive the ride if you can't pre-ride it so you know what to expect when. Hill #2 just stunned me. I'm glad to know its there when i come back.

Thanks for the info on this! Just curious how was the wind when you were out there?

bryancd - 2011-11-01 9:59 AM I will run my standard 11/23 rear cassete on a 900 DIsc. Go big or go home. I rented a condo over on South Village Rd. Cheap, 4 nights for $334. My coach also has two training camps on the course early next year.

Did you go through a rental website?