Ironman 70.3 Lake Stevens : Official Thread

Really any place you find in Everett or Marysville will be close enough.  There really isnt anything in actual Lake Stevens.

GOOD LUCK> and train hills for the run and bike.

Even though they don't have the new, one loop course up on the official site, I found this one via the Googles:  http://www.mapmyrun.com/routes/fullscreen/29836880/

At the very least, it's a good training ride.  The rolling hills and turns seem relentless.  Both discouraging and motivating.

My cousin and I rode the course yesterday as described on this link,  http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/fullscreen/32884562/

Here are my two cents. For comparison purposes, I did the race last year for the first time and my cousin has done it at least twice more than me.  For a long time during our ride yesterday we were both excited because we thought this new course was going to be easier and faster than the last one.  That lasted until about mile 36 and then our opinion changed in a hurry.

The loop out to Granite Falls is wonderful. Very scenic and the hills are more gently rolling than the usual part of the Lake Stevens course.  Definitely some speed to be grabbed there as it seemed to have a lot of downhill even though the elevation chart indicates otherwise.  There were a few small potholes on the way to Granite Falls though, so keep your eyes open for those.  Miles 24-29 are back on the old course so it's the normal stuff.  

At mile 29 you leave the old course heading south on Woods Creek Road for lots of downhill over the next 7 or 8 miles. Then it gets really interesting.  Just past mile 36 you come to a Y in the road.  The course on the map says to go right and you're staring at a horrifically steep looking hill winding up into the trees. Fortunately, it looks worse than it is.  It's a pretty short trip to the top and you're back to normal undulations.  

Just past mile 38, there is a hard right turn onto Ingraham Rd. Shift down before you make that turn because it immediately turns into a steep granny-gear hill and there is no time to shift if you haven't done it already.  That hill is a pretty long.  After that, there is more up-down-up-down until you make a right turn onto 171st.  On 171st, the first mile+ is a steady grinder of an uphill.  Not terribly steep, but not easy either because it doesn't let up.  It just seems to keep going and going.

You eventually make it back to Dubuque Rd to rejoin the old course just in time for those sharp, short up and down hills then the screaming downhills before turning right onto Machias.  From there, we wound up going back the same way as the old course instead of turning left onto Division like the map indicates so I can't report what miles 53-56 are like.

The bottom line for me is, if you want to get a good average speed on this course, you better get it in the first 36 miles because it's going to be hard to come by in the last 20.  At the same time, if you push too hard to gain that speed, it would be easy to let the hills in the last 20 eat you alive.  Those hills in the last 20 are no joke and if you're fried before you get there, it's going to be a long run.

I'd love to know what others think if they have a chance to ride the course at some point.

Brad

Great summary of the course.  One can easily hit the mid-point feeling pretty good about themselves -- then get quickly demoralized by the hills in the last half.  The long hill on 171st is a grinder.

I was riding a 12-25 and my buddy was riding a 12-27 -- I was quite jealous of that 27 on more than one occasion.  

As a comparison, for anyone who has done IMCDA, I felt like this 56 mile course was significantly harder than the full 112 in Idaho.  Coeur d'Alene has some decent hills in the northern section but also has plenty of long stretches that are fairly flat and can comfortably be pushed in the aero position.

Best of luck in your training.

Not sure if this post will hit the intended target but we are looking for a swimmer to add to our relay team for the Lake Steven's Ironman 70.3.  We have a runner and biker already just lacking the swimmer.  We're just average guys with pretty decent times.

If anyone has any interest please email us.

[email protected]

My wife did it last year with a standard crank and an 11-23 .  She was not a happy camper.

Posted this in the WA group section -- reposting here FYI

I was riding the course yesterday (Sun, July 24) and the group noticed a "road closed" sign on the side of the road near Granite Falls. We didn't think much of it until...

This morning (July 25) I was riding with a friend and detour signs and "road closed" signs were posted from mile 12.5 up to the actual road closure at mile 17.

It turns out the road is completely closed until Sept. 2 and will only be open for a brief period on race day. So riding the course without backtracking several miles is no longer possible before raceday.

Here's a link to the website discussing the project: http://www1.co.snohomish.w?a.us/departments/public_wo?rks/services/roads/project?s/robemenzel

Looks like they posted a new bike course for Lake stevens.  Any thoughts from guys that live up close to that area on this impact of the change?

My thoughts are that it will make this a faster bike course and an easier run.

The elevation gain for the 2 loops is slightly more, but most of it is the gradual incline along OK Mill/Carpenter Rd and the tough stuff is a lot shorter than the single-loop climbs. Also, there are more opportunities for active recovery between the climbs -- that 2.5 mile downhill along Dubuque before the "tough" hill is a great place to bank some time and the couple of miles after that will help a lot, too.

I just started the 2012 thread.