Ironman St. George

Comment

Comment by Amy on February 4, 2010 at 3:02pm

I'm going to try AGAIN to hit St. George on Feb. 27/28th. Hoping to get over to ride from Sand Hollow through 1st loop and then on Sunday run 1 loop of run. Weather PLEASE cooperate this time!!!

Comment by Jeff Recker on February 4, 2010 at 10:28am

Jeff, thanks for the report. I Like the name, Guardian of Vejo. I can think of a few others I won't share on this post:-) I've ridden it once but I'm looking to ride it again on March 25'th (it's a Thursday) on my way to Vegas for a 1/2 IM, Showdown at Sundown, on the 27'th. I'm doing it in preparation for IMSG. If you, or anyone else, is interested let me know.

Comment by Douglas on February 3, 2010 at 10:50am

Very nice course report Jeff thanks
ill be one of the ones walking
i think ill just walk lots of the 1st lap
might help me on the second one
ill be running a 50-34 with a 12-27 inthe back

Comment by Jeff on February 3, 2010 at 12:18am

Okay, here's my training report from St. George.

As Dave said, riding the first 24 miles isn't so bad and includes 3-4 short climbs. These climbs get your heart rate up but you immediately receive the benefit of a descent to get your heart rate back down and flush your legs out. From about mile 24 - 56 you are climbing, about 2000 feet over those 32 miles. The incline is mostly moderate with rolling hills mixed in. The steepest climb, which I call "The Guardian of Veyo", starts at about mile 47 and hurts until about mile 52 with minor, very minor, hills through mile 56. The Guardian makes sure only the strong and determined get into Veyo. I was feeling really strong when I started my battle with The Guardian and by the top I began to wonder how much damage it would do to me on the second loop. I have compact cranks (50/34) and a 12-25 cassette. I was out of the saddle for a last portion of this and may go with a 12/27 for my next training ride out there.

From mile 56 all the way back into town is downhill but for us it was into a strong, and very cold, headwind. My advice to those going out there to do a training ride is - be sure to bring the proper cold-weather clothing. Brad and I, being from SoCal, showed up in our standard cycling shorts, shirts, windbreaker and arm warmers. We were shivering on the downhill from Veyo making it a challenge to hold a straight line when in the aero-position. Dress warmer than us!

The weather for our run on Sunday was perfect. The sun was out and the wind was gone. The run looked pretty intimidating but it’s not as bad as it looks. Yes, it is hilly so you should be training on hills for your run. When I say hills I mean something that is around 8%-12%.

Here are the details. You climb about 473 feet in your first 3.2 miles (average grade is about 3%-5% for the first 2 miles and then 8%-12%, for the next 1.2 miles). After that it gets a bit more mellow with two steeper rollers (4%-9%) for another mile or so and then you descend 367 feet over about 2 miles. From there you turn around and do the course in reverse all the way back to the start (minus the Pioneer loop). The down hill begins to take it’s toll on you and the little out and back on 1250 North (which you do on the way out, at about mile 2, and on the way back, at about mile 10) gets you a bit on the way back into town as it rolls up hill about 40 feet in .2 miles forcing you to shift gears from your, now comfortable, down hill groove. That said the run out is harder than the run back as you have the steep hill at miles 2 and 3.


The key to the run is saving plenty for the second loop. I imagine there may be a lot of people walking all the steeper hills on their second loop.

Although it sounds bad the net affect of the hills didn’t kill my average pace as much as I thought, but it does take a toll on your legs. To put the run in perspective, a few weeks ago I ran the Phoenix Half Marathon at a PR pace of 8:29. The course is flat and I had ridden 2 loops (76 miles) of the IM Arizona course the day before. My pace for one loop of the IM St George course was 9:13 (even thought I noticed my pace read 11:45 a few times while running up the steep portion of miles 2 and 3). They say you run 45-60 seconds faster during a race than you do during training and I find that to be accurate as my average pace for my 13.1 training run done the week before Phoenix was 9:15. I guess what I trying to say is that it’s not that much slower than a flat course if you’re only running it ONCE, BUT I think you’ll definitely see a huge difference when running it twice as my hamstrings were feeling the hills on the last mile.

The theme of St. George seems to be summed up as follows, “Watch out for the 2nd loop of both the run and the bike”.

I hope the report helps a bit.

Comment by Amy on February 2, 2010 at 5:30pm

According to the new map on the IMSG site, all the bouys will be on our LEFT.

Comment by Amy on February 2, 2010 at 5:26pm

Hey Sunny, we will have to either A. Be at Boulder 70.3 this year, OR really be on it next year to sign up.....this years just sold out!!!!!

Comment by Amy on February 2, 2010 at 10:46am

So Sunny, I "asked/told" hubby this morning at breakfast that I'd like to do Boulder 70.3 in 2011. He said "Sure would be cheaper"....because we have family there we can stay with...easy drive over...blah blah..... So that's his way of saying "Ok". :)

Comment by Kevin M. Clark on February 2, 2010 at 1:46am

Randy, thanks for the additional insight on the gears for this race. I am going to talk to my coach and bike shop for more specifics. Your description sounds good for the race I will be doing making the best time I can while conserving strength and energy to finish respectably as a first timer and for my 50-55 age group.

Comment by Kevin M. Clark on February 2, 2010 at 1:40am

Gary, thanks for your input on the gear set and compact info. I am definitely over 180 lbs and appreciate your insight. This is my first TriBike and I have am still learning. Also, thanks for the run course update. Sounds like there is just nothing easy about this course.

Comment by Kevin M. Clark on February 2, 2010 at 1:32am

Dave, thanks for the input on the 11/28. I'll check with Canyon and confirm. Ya...wow I could not imagine at this point in my training doing that second loop. But I am very glad I did this ride. It took away alot of the fear of the unknown for me. Thanks for helping organize it.

• ‹ Previous
• 1
• 2
• 3
• …
• 51
• Next ›
• Page