Muskoka or IMWI if you want a harder bike course to push your strengths. The crowd support at IMWI is hard to beat. 2 week turn around shouldn't be an issue. Could work out pretty well really.

---

TrainingBible Coaching
http://www.trainingbible.com

Muskoka is same day as 70.3 worlds. The two week turnaround shouldn't be awful if I build straight through Austria. The travel home + jet lag could have residual impact. I won't be able to run much in the two weeks leading up to IMMOO, but I'd get plenty of swimming in.

---

Thoughts on being an Urban Triathlete

Sorry, thought Muskoka was later for some reason.

You don;t have to really "train through " you should be starting your taper 3 weeks out anyway, so a taper for the 70.3 started 2 weeks out, do the race, recover do a few quality workouts the weekend before IMWI, and then taper that week. So you've have a long continuous 4 week taper period. Remember too, "taper" doesn't mean easy, just less than your last build period.

---

TrainingBible Coaching
http://www.trainingbible.com

I thought IM Maryland was only 30 slots for the first year due to being a late addition and will be up to 50 slots.

---

---

Dynamic Athlete ProgrammingVIP Endurance Racing | Like us on Facebook Get Your Training Plan Here

well since i just looked you up and and know your not in my age group, will let you know i email about IMMD, I was told that it will be 50 slots not 30. Shhhh don't tell anyone. I will be at maryland getting my bike on; come join.

---

2024: Bevoman, Galveston, Alcatraz, Marble Falls, Santa Cruz

If the bike is your strength, I would do either WI or Tahoe because you'll have a stronger advantage. The bike is my second strongest leg (run is my best) and I've done IMWI 4 times. I historically have come out of the water around 40th in my AG and bike my way to 12-14 or so, then pull into top 10 on the run. The bike isn't the hardest I've done, it's just unique and a lot of people aren't prepared for the challenges.

I was at Tahoe this year and while we didn't race, I did ride the course, and again, it's perfect for a strong cyclist. The altitude didn't affect me (I also live in Manhattan), but I did have the benefit of training in Leadville for a month over the summer at 10.2K feet so I had some lingering gains from that. I'd be happy to talk to you about the overall conditions there, I spent 9 days in Squaw.

I think in races like MD, FL, AZ, everyone is stronger on the bike so you get less of an advantage. I did AZ as my back up race to Tahoe and while I was 30 minutes faster than my bike PR, so was everyone else! I ran a great marathon, but still didn't break top 10 and I usually do.

The challenge is that many other top AG'ers are thinking the same way your thinking - do a late season qualifier for NEXT year. This makes all of the IM races in North America that happened after Sept 1, VERY competitive.

---

---

Steve Fleck @stevefleck | Blog

Does that include Cozumel?

Do IM MD. Swim is hard and close to home cannot be underestimated.

Received an email from IM saying that IMMD was going to be 50 slots. Evidently, they just haven't updated the website

With Maryland being extremely flat, your cda is going to be more important than your w/kg and at the flat races the drafting will be rampant so you have to either join the peloton or be a really exceptional rider to compete for a slot.

I wouldn't let the Louisville swim conditions deter you. Even if they level the playing field in relation to your slower swimming competition, as a strong swimmer you're still going to be fresher for the rest of the day. The bike course is not easy either. It's only about 1000 fewer feet of climbing than Wisconsin, can punish weaker/unwise cyclists, and will have far less drafting than a flat race like Maryland.

I don't know what age group you're in but a 3:30 run is going to be questionable as far as qualifying if you're under 45 unless you have a huge margin coming off the bike. The Lou run course is dead flat, flatter than even IM Florida according to my Garmin data.

Wisconsin is a great race too but the run is a lot harder than the Lou run.

Cozumel attracts a lot of the strong south american triathletes that are competing for a KQ. In 35-39 AG, I think the top 10 were all from south america.

---

---

SmartBikeTrainers.com || YouTube || My Twitter

On course like Maryland your cda will automatically improve a lot because there are no hills, downhills or turns so you can stay in aero essentially all the time. Bigger, heavier guys that can generate lots of watts won't see themselves lose much energy on hills (since there aren't any) and can therefor rock out a very fast bike split. But yes the potential for peletons is definitely there. While I didn't see much drafting this year I've heard stories of other participants that saw groups of 20+ people at a few penalty tents.

The other thing to consider about Maryland is the swim which is not easy and has all the potential to be extremely rough (or get cancelled). The day before IMMD the water was very rough; on race day it was OK but nevertheless people's times were just slow throughout. Slow swim means good swimmers have a more significant advantage.

The wind can be a huge factor in Maryland. There wasn't much wind this year but on a windy day it can heavily favor the better swimmers and bikers.

---

_____________________
Don't forget to attack!

Just browsed a bit through your blog...mad props on doing Level 1 + training + wedding successfully... I can't imagine doing all that. I just got my charter and it definitely took the best of me for 3 years (read: zero social life). Good luck with whichever race you pick, I am in NYC as well and will be at IMMD (though 2015 will be my first season ever so my goal is a bit less ambitious as yours for the race)

See you in Maryland maybe; good luck! .....what age group you racing?

---

2024: Bevoman, Galveston, Alcatraz, Marble Falls, Santa Cruz

Slow swim means good swimmers have a more significant advantage.

Maybe

I was not a great swimmer ( 57 low for IM).

My experience was that in rough swims my gap to the better swimmers was often less, relatively speaking in races ( all triathlon races) when the conditions were rough.

---

---

Steve Fleck @stevefleck | Blog

With a 3:01 open marathon, I think the OP has much better than 3:30 run potential. If everything goes right (training, pacing, course) he could run a 3:15 or so.

---

Proud Member of Chris McDonald's 2018 Big Sexy Race Team "That which doesn't kill me, will only make me stronger"
Blog-Twitter-Instagram-Race Reports - 2018 Races: IM Florida 70.3, IM Raleigh 70.3, IM 70.3 World Championships - South Africa, IM North Carolina 70.3

Here are the top 5 from Cozumel:

1) FERREIRA DA SILVA NETO , ANTONIO Male 35-39 BRASIL 09:00:51
2) TORRE , ALEJANDRO Male 35-39 MÉXICO 09:13:31
3) TRUJANO , ALFREDO Male 35-39 MÉXICO 09:20:16
4) GABRIEL , CANTONATI Male 35-39 ARGENTINA 09:49:14
5) THOMPSON , STEVE Male 35-39 U.S.A. 09:57:10

Not sure what the roll down was. The swim had a good current going with us...bike is pretty tough on the East side with head/cross winds, run is flat and fast.

Didn't go to awards but a friend who was hoping for a 40-44 roll down said all took their spots in both 35-45

---

---

SmartBikeTrainers.com || YouTube || My Twitter