After a good night of sleep on Monday, we had a good breakfast and got caught up on some work before loading up the rental SUV with our bikes and gear. We are staying in Washington (half way between downtown, where T2 and the finish is and Sand Hollow Lake, where the swim and T1 is) which makes it easy to get to various places on the course. We drove to Royal Oaks Park (on the run course) to start our ride. We like to do one last "longer" ride on race week to remind the body what it is preparing for and to keep the body in a routine. Although we are very familiar with the 70.3 bike course, the "Veyo" loop is new to us for this Ironman World Championship course. Karel had the course downloaded in his Garmin although the course was well-marked with tape arrows on the pavement. It was very windy to start our ride and we had NW winds for the majority of the loop - which made for a long ride. However, the scenery was incredible and the roads were quiet and peaceful.
We stopped several times for pictures/videos and we were even greeted by a few wild cows along the way. Over 31 miles, we accumulated around 2100 feet of elevation and it took us a little over 2 hours (14.6 mph). There were a few steeper climbs but nothing too long. When we got to the "wall" we made the switchback turn and finally had some tailwind. I didn't find anything difficult on this loop but the wind will bring the challenge to this course - and the fact that we start this loop around mile 50 of the 112 mile ride (and then finish the ride at mile 100 with a 4-mile climb up Snow Canyon).
The weather was on the cooler side so I rode with gloves and arm warmers. I took off my gloves a few times but the air was crisp and I didn't want to get cold. It was in the mid 50's when we started and we finished in the mid 60's.
The next ten miles were faaaaaaast. 10 miles of descending and I averaged almost 32mph and a max speed of almost 46. Thankfully the wind was at our back for most of it so no gust crosswinds. Karel averaged 34 mph and had a max speed of almost 51mph! And he was passed by professional athlete Sam Long on the downhill - and Karel couldn't even keep up (he tried :)
After our ride, we put on our run gear and headed on to the run course (it was marked) for a short run off the bike. The run course is either up or down (except the out and back section in town after the first loop and before the finish) and it includes a lot of neighborhood and paved trail running - which I really like. We made a quick stop at the Kneaders bakery and then headed back to our condo.
Later in the afternoon, we checked in for the race (around 3pm) and walked around the expo.
Because our last swim was on Friday, we needed to get into the water. Luckily, we have an outdoor 25-yard lap pool at our condo which makes it super convenient to get in a swim workout anytime (one of the main reasons why I selected this location for the 70.3 WC and this event). After our warm-up we did two main sets. It was nice to be in the warm water and finish off a good day of training.
Bike: 2:34, 43.3 miles.
Run: 22 minutes, 2.8 miles
Swim: 25 minutes, 2000 yards
This morning was our first time at the lake since arriving to St. George for this trip. The water was a brisk 59 degrees. We both opted to wear our Xterra neoprene booties to keep our feet comfortable in the cold water. My face and hands were really cold to start but after a few minutes of swimming, I forget about them and found myself warming up under my Roka Wetsuit. We swam two loops of the "practice" course for a total of 28 minutes 1900 yards of swimming. I was pretty cold when we got out of the water and it took a little time for me to stop shivering. This always happens when I do the practice swim at St. George but with the rush of endorphins on race day, I never feel cold.
After the swim we did a run around the park. We each did our own thing. Karel is undecided which shoes he wants to wear on race day so he broke up his run into different out and back segments to try on both sets of shoes to decide what to wear - he's still undecided :) I finally warmed up during the run (even though the air temp was in the 60's) which made for an enjoyable run. We ran into our friends Meg and Kelly Fillnow which was great to see some familiar faces.
After the run, we headed back to our condo to be reunited with some of Karel's Czech friends (who are staying with us). Tomorrow we plan to do another open water swim followed by a bike on the start of the bike course in the Hurricane area.
