I’m a local to The Woodlands area and an IMTX finisher, although taking this year off. Wanted to provide some, hopefully, useful information on things around The Woodlands:

- Great Pools for pre race swims: YMCA Shadowbend, Villa Sport, Magnolia Natatorium (check the schedule first).

- Openwater Swim: i would NOT recommend the Pre Race, open water swim in Lake woodlands. You can get sick from the metric ton of Duck Poop in the stagnant lake. I’m really not joking, I had two friends in 2017 get sick the night before the race because of this. Make the trip up to Lake Conroe Recreational Area and do an open water swim there.


Hope this helps! Feel free to respond back with any other questions and I’ll try to get them answered.

So I've been bathing in this lake everyday for ten years. Can somebody PLEASE tell me how you tell the difference between duck poop and the muddy bottom?

Probably worth mentioning the largest and easiest to access pool that also happens to the be close to the race site, the CISD Natatorium. Drop in swim is about 5 bucks.

I’m a local to The Woodlands area and an IMTX finisher, although taking this year off. Wanted to provide some, hopefully, useful information on things around The Woodlands:

- Great Pools for pre race swims: YMCA Shadowbend, Villa Sport, Magnolia Natatorium (check the schedule first).
- Running: There are miles and miles of paved sidewalks through The Woodlands. I recommend to Park at The Woodlands Mall and run along the waterway.
- Openwater Swim: i would NOT recommend the Pre Race, open water swim in Lake woodlands. You can get sick from the metric ton of Duck Poop in the stagnant lake. I’m really not joking, I had two friends in 2017 get sick the night before the race because of this. Make the trip up to Lake Conroe Recreational Area and do an open water swim there.
- Cycling on the road: there is really no way to ride the bike course beforehand because it’s a highway. Try out “Woodlane,” it’s a neighborhood near the intersection of FM2978 and Woodlands Parkway. Great 6 and 9 mile loops.
- Great Restaurants: Pizza- Grimaldi’s & Crust Pizza Burger- Fieldings & Grub Burger, Tex-Mex- Lupe Tortilla, Papasitos, & Guadalajara, Vegan / Clean Eating - flower child & true food kitchen, breakfast / brunch - Snooze & Hubbell and Hudson Kitchen
- Local bike shops: Bike Lane & Bike World
- Activities for the family: North Shore Park, Market Street, Children’s Museum, Paddle Boarding and Kayak on Lake Woodlands.
Grocery Stores: HEB- this is an amazing grocery store w/ great selection of food, including organics and Vegan selection. Whole Foods, Trader Joe’s.

Hope this helps! Feel free to respond back with any other questions and I’ll try to get them answered.

I swam there today. Very nice facility. Actually felt bad that I wasn't doing a longer swim. Then I did a run around the giant parking lot per a suggestion in another thread by @logella.

Is there anywhere around here to run on pavement? I'm not sure I've seen a foot of asphalt since I arrived. I know the race is basically all concrete, but I always feel concrete beats me up a lot and I'd like to start the race feeling good.

Millbend loop is about 5k of asphalt. About 1 mile south of transition. Map search ‘North Millbend’ . Just east of Grogan’s Mill and south of woodlands parkway. It’s a well funded area so most roads are concrete.