To the OP....this is what you need to do:

1. Get you body fat as low as possible. Every lb of fat you remove is like removing part of a wetsuit from your body
2. Trainer miles are you friend. The IM Texas course is like 98% aerobar trainer is good...heat, humidity...unfortunately not enough sun. You may get sun burnt on race day
3. Treadmill miles can be helpful for the heat training too
4. You don't need to do all your workouts as "heat training", just some in the final 3 weeks. You want to take advantage of your cool weather and crank out the quality workouts
5. Did I say lose fat? In case you missed it, that's your best friend
6. May want to harden up the run legs a bit with some concrete running...race is 99% on concrete
7. Count on a no wetsuit swim. Kick set and core work in the water should not be neglected.

Logella, will the new course options on the bike be equally windy? How about pavement quality? Do you miss some of the chip seal of the second half?

does anyone when and if IMTX sold out this year?

thanks

Not sold out yet. You want to make a decision before IMFL/IMAZ. Once people don't get into those, IMTX tends to fill right after. Of course if it sells out tomorrow then my advice is worthless.

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Badig| Strava

I would be more concerned about the humidity than the heat. I'll take dry heat of 100F over 85F/95% humidity any day.

The tips Paul and others gave are pretty good...

I did IMTX in '13 and '14.

1. The swim was a mass start, I'm not sure if it's still that way but if it is I would practice with a tri-club or OWS group.
2. I trained in San Antonio and never let "it's too hot out" be an excuse to not train. I doubt the NW has anything on TX in May. So yes, try to acclimate in the heavy weeks prior to tapering.
3. As others have mentioned the swim can be tricky navigating so practice heavy on sighting or sit on the heels of someone and pray they're doing a good job for the both of you.
4. The bike is windy on the second half so if you don't handle a bike well consider a shallow front wheel.
5. It is very aero-tuck friendly so get those neck, shoulder, core etc. muscles primed and ready.
6. The run... I would run in a hat to help shade yourself and keep cool with sponges tucked in.
7. There will be plenty of people willing to douse you with cold water along the run... be careful to not get your shoes/socks wet as that would make for a miserable run.
8. Break in a new pair of running shoes and have them ready for race-day as I wouldn't want to be on the last leg of life of a pair with the mostly sidewalk running course.
9. Anything meltable will melt in your bags by the time you get to them, except maybe your T1 bag. So things like bodyglide, gummy bears, etc are going to be a mess. Freeze things in a coffee cup and ziplock, then wrap in a microfiber towel if you want it to be somewhat solid when you go to grab it.

Enjoy it! IMTX is awesome. I did IM Boulder as well but IMTX is still my favorite. Great venue, great support, great course! You're going to have a blast!

This ^^^^ I am training for ironman Arizona and I am incorporating double runs for this to do something different and harden up the legs. I ran last sunday and the temp was 84 with 99% humidity. Aerobically I ran 8 very very difficult miles at a 7:50 pace and my heart rate finally drifted to high and it was a death march.. Yesterday I did 9.5 miles yesterday morning in 70deg and 80% humidity and heart rate was lower and my pace was 7:05 avg. 7 of the miles were under 7. I ran yesterday afternoon and it was 95 deg with 65% humidity ( we had a front come through and pushed the humidity out) and I ran 4 miles at a 7:45 pace and my heart rate was low aerobic the whole way. Humidity adds a layer of water to the body that acts as an insulation and heats the core up rapidly. No matter what you do your heart rate will stay high. it's ridiculous.

As for the route, the only thing that I've heard is that it will move closer to I-45 for the first 30% then possibly move back to what we know now and this is from someone on the decision making side of it. Now they didn't mention if that was East of 45 but I am with TJ and would be SHOCKED if we went over there. The people over there are way worse than the people on the northern portion of the course. The road quality on the 242 section is pretty decent but it's a 70mph two lane road death trap and all the roads around it are suspect. my bet is we take the feeder road up to 1488 or 105 and then move west. That would be pretty cool but a logistical nightmare. holy hello. Don't even know how we could use the freeway without it being dangerous. The heat here in May can be punishing but it's the Heat AND humidity that make it so difficult. Most people don't know what real humidity is until you come here in August or are from Malaysia or a tropical jungle. My family members in Ohio always talk about the humidity in Cincinnati and I just laugh when i'm up there.

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Kirk Noyes

Downtubes are for Dinosaurs

East is not in the discussion right now.

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Badig| Strava

In terms of heat and humidity how does it compare to Kona? I'm planning on racing Texas as well but as a Brit I only have Kona as a reference point (or Nice, France if anyone knows that in comparison).

Also does the bike course justify a recon in advance? Or are the roads flowing and un-technical (e.g. no tricky descents, junctions etc) so race day is fine to see it?

The bike course is not technical at all. The middle third is sort of rolling terrain and some of the road surfaces are less than ideal. There are no technical descents or turns.

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Favorite Gear: Dimond | Cadex | Desoto Sport | Hoka One One

I've done Texas twice. I live in Maryland and spend most of my time on the trainer. Hard to acclimate to the heat and humidity so you have to adjust. Know you're going to have take in more fluids and electrolytes and train for it. I had to train my gut to take in 2 bottles of perform every hour plus gels and bars. Know your heart rate zones and if it's really hot use those as a pacing tool instead of power and pace

I would put it as the same conditions as Kona on the Run and close if not worse on the bike but you won't see the winds that you do in Kona. the humidity is worse than Kona but in May there is a chance you could catch a cool dry day or a warm dry day so take that for what it's worth.

as for a recon ride, I don't think it warrants a recon trip. I will say that the hills are nothing but big ring rollers but don't let them fool you, they can bite. especially with the wind and chip seal roads. I consistently hear that the bike course is a little tougher than people expected. With that said they are changing the route so not sure. I can tell you they won't make it anymore tough because there are no other "hills" to incorporate.

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Kirk Noyes

Downtubes are for Dinosaurs