FWIW there are neoprene sleeves you can buy- I run them with my sleeveless wetsuit for colder water Tris.

Seems like you have a solid plan here. I did something similar last October.

The looped course is critical so you have plenty of options to refuel without wasting a bunch of time. I also like the full outfit changes between legs to maximize comfort. Otherwise, it's just about pacing, hydration, and getting enough calories down

sounds like you have a good plan, maybe ask if someone has a full suit you can borrow. In T1 take wetsuit off outside the car and while being driven up put all your bike gear on inside the car

I'm currently in a sleevess Xterra Vortex that has worked great. I have access to a sleeved Xterra Vector Pro. What are the odds the Vector Pro is free of shoulder problems?

Having driven through Snyder more times than I care to count (law school in Lubbock), I'm surprised you can get a 40 mile loop around town.

Other than that sounds like you've got a good plan. Good luck and may the winds not be too crazy for you.

From the lake to the aid#1 is 37 miles. After that, it's a loop that heads about 8 miles south of town, west about about 2.5 miles, then back to town from the west. Slightly more elevation that IMTX was going to have (est. 3420')

LAH is great for swimming. Clear water and great scenery. I’ll probably be riding the gravel/dirt roads in Garza county this weekend northeast of Post. The famous off-the-caprock “Southland” ride or some variant thereof. Enjoy your swim, bike, run! Also be careful if you’re riding along hwy 84.

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"The more you suffer, the more it shows you really care.”

No plans to hit Hwy 84. I'm worried enough about the brief stint on 208. I was initially concerned about strong south winds making for a really long day, but I think the NE winds should make for a good time. As best I can tell, I'll only have 27 miles straight into the wind.

I've noticed on the Strava heatmap that there are a number of rides outside of Post. Where is the Southland one? Have you done any other gravel or mountain bike rounds in Garza County?

This looks like a solid route and plan.

I have only one suggestion based on what I've seen with solo challenges in the past year. In a live race the finish line and the crowd helps to motivate us to not quit. Without it - it's a tremendous temptation. So...my suggestion is to plan as much as you can things to prevent you from stopping as you get close to the finish line. Tell your friends on the route not to let you stop. Have them plan to meet you at the finish to celebrate. That kind of thing.

Good luck!

Southland starts at Southland High School and heads straight east then loops either clockwise or counterclockwise with a few options/variations depending on wind, water crossing, rattlesnakes, etc. The original loop is like a lollipop but the north fork double mountain fork Brazos river has been pretty high and impassable. Google “caprock gravel grind” and I think you’ll see a race course map. Message me if you want to be added to the informal text group for this ride. Otherwise a 50k group road ride starts at 6pm every Tuesday/Thursday from the Chisum truckstop on the Slaton highway just outside of Loop 289. If you don’t know already, there is also an 11mile Third Thursday TT that starts at the bottom of horseshoe bend canyon outside Slaton. It covers some of the old BSLT 70.3 course.

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"The more you suffer, the more it shows you really care.”

Thought I would follow up with how the event went. Here is a portion I what I sent into the paper.


Extra notes for ST:
- I got some video of my swim. I desperately need to improve a bunch of things there.
- I realized halfway through the swim I didn't know if my watch (920XT) was showing yards or meters. Thankfully, pausing the swim showed units on the summary. I had to double back for a bit to get the right distance.
- About 9 miles into the run, I felt like the muscles/tendons behind my knees were shot. It didn't prevent me running at about 10:30/mi, but anything over that wasn't going to happen. It was frustrating because it limited my HR to about 10-15 bpm below what I was targeting and all my other muscle groups (hamstring, quad, calfs) felt great.
- The mix of heavy overcast and tinted visor can really mess with your brain. Despite being 10 in the morning, my brain was doing it's best to convince me it was 8:30 at night.
- A pack of dinosaurs make for a great motivator. Not sure what the official IM rules would say about those....
- My training was based on Jim Vance's 16 week Finisher Plan on Today's Plan. Despite, me being a 100km or so short on my swimming, I finished, so I would have to call the plan a success.


I successfully completed the race in 12 hrs and 30 minutes.

Swim:
With temps in the low 40s, I entered the water right as the sun rose at 7:12. To combat the cool water temperatures, I wore a full body wetsuit. Despite this, but the time I climbed out of the water, my feet and ankles were nearly numb and the pins and needles didn't go away until about two hours into the bike leg. The water was relatively calm and the swim went smoothly. My brother David stayed nearby in a kayak. This was done both to provide aid if needed but to also ensure visibility in case any boats came close. My final time to complete the 4,224 yard swim was 1:20:28.

Bike:
With the winds out of the north, my ride back to town went quickly. Candy ****** accompanied me for the first 40 miles (she now appreciates the value of an aero bike...). The remaining 72 miles were ridden solo on the loop south of town. By the last lap, the time and overcast skies were taking their toll and it was become more and more difficult to focus on my riding. I'm not sure I could have safely completed another loop. I was very thankful to make it to the run leg. I finished the bike ride in 5:49:30 with an average speed of 19.4 mph.

Run:
The weather could not have been better on the run. The temperatures where in the 50s and the sky was overcast. This made it very unlikely I would have any issues with hydration. Throughout the run, I had numerous people come and run along with me with David and Anthony running slightly less than half of the 26.2 miles. Along with that, various family members jumped from aid station to aid station to encourage me as I went. With 2.5 miles to go, I even had a pack of dinosaurs chase me for a while. It was a wonderful encouragement after 12 hours on the move. At the finish line a large group had gathered to cheer me through the ribbon. I completed the bike leg in 4:38:04 with an average pace of 10:34/mi.

All this is without a doubt the longest race I've ever completed. I'm not sure if I'll get to do this kind of distance again. I'm so thankful to have had the chance. With this race over, the next race on the schedule will be the Beat the Street bike ride on May 8th in Sweetwater. After that, the focus will turn towards Ironman 70.3 Lubbock at the end of June.