Gonna be a great tough honest race! I expect to see Appleton also in the mix, superb talent! Will also be interesting to see in what shape Raelert shows up in.

1. Don't expect help from the mechanics. Hopefully you won't experience any problems, but know how to change a tube and fix a dropped chain. If you have to wait for a mechanic... it' going to be a long time.
2. I track using both. I never look at my watch during the bike leg so the computer tells me if I'm in the HR/PWR zone. Then delete the file from the computer after the race is over and use my watch's file on strava/garmin.
3. Just tread water for 1-3 seconds. Taking 2-3 seconds to adjust your goggles will make you more comfortable and make you faster in the long run.
4. You can run in cycling cleats. Just be careful. I go at a jog pace. I agree with passing the mount line if there's a lot of people at it. You can also rubber band your shoes into the proper place and run the bike over barefoot/in socks. Then just stand over the bike and slip your feet into the shoes. You don't need to jump on the bike while running to lose a few seconds on your T time. I only do that for sprint/oly races where my transition times matter a lot more.

It will be my buddy's first triathlon as well. Hopefully you both enjoy it and come back to do another one.

Hey! You chose quite a first race! Good for you!

1) There will be mechanics at T1 that can help you on race morning if something happens. There will be a mechanic at the Expo if you need help before that. On the race course, there may be a neutral support vehicle, but you might have to wait half an hour for it, so do not depend on it. If your bike is in good shape, it is unlikely you will have anything more serious than a flat tire (and even that is unlikely).

2) I do not track the bike segment on my watch, just the bike computer. When I'm about a minute from T2, I push the button on my watch that gets it to start acquiring satellites and be ready to record the run.

3) You can buy a race belt at the Expo.

4) When I have had a problem I just tread water for 15 seconds while I adjust the goggles and continue on. That's happened maybe twice in I don't know how many races.

5) Most people will put their shoes on in T1 and awkwardly hobble with their bike to the mount line. I have not read the St.G. athlete guide yet, so I do not know if we will have T1 bags with all our stuff in it, or if it is allowed to have your helmet at your bike and your shoes by your bike. If everything is in a transition bag, then most people who are not doing flying mounts will put their shoes on in the change tent. If your shoes are by the bike, then you put them on at your bike. If you are really concerned about the 5 seconds you will lose by running in bike shoes vs. bare feet, then learn to do a flying mount! (you do not need to really fly for these... just step onto the shoe next to you and throw your leg over) Often when people carry their shoes to the mount line and put them on there they can create an annoying obstacle for everyone else.

Good luck! I'll be there too!

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Ed O'Malley
www.VeloVetta.com
Founder of VeloVetta Cycling Shoes
Instagram • Facebook

Thanks, guys! Really appreciate the fantastic info here. I'm definitely planning on getting my bike serviced at the expo prior to the race - not planning on any support from the on-course mechanics, but was really just curious if there are any roaming the course in the absolute worst-case scenario (fingers crossed that doesn't play out).

RowToTri - Do you track the swim on your Garmin watch? Sounds like you don't use the Triathlon mode. I was planning on doing as bearlyfinish suggested, but then again don't know if I want to be fumbling around with my watch during the race, given everything else that I'll be worried about for my first race - maybe only using it for the run is the way to go.

I'm so pumped for Saturday - scenery looks amazing and I've heard the course is pretty well-paved as well. Looking forward to a challenging but rewarding day!

I generally agree with what you are saying, but as a real tenderfoot, my decision to run barefoot or with cycling shoes through transition on is determined by the quality of the transition road surface. If it is anything but butter smooth, I will run in my cycling shoes at an incredibly faster speed that I can hobble across chip seal or anything with pebbles here and there. I use Shimano cleats and can pretty much flat out sprint in them ... not sure why anyone needs to 'awkwardly hobble' in cleats unless there is some kind of funky pattern I'm not familiar with. So from a decade+ of personal experience that applies to ME: running barefoot on a rough surface + flying mount is slower than running in cleats and stepping over and clipping in. But if the surface is smooth then barefoot + flying mount is unquestionably the fastest method.

Sometimes I will track the swim on my watch if I want to see what my swim time is when I exit the water. With rolling starts, If I do not start at exactly the front row (which I usually do not) then I will not know precisely when I started, so the time on the clock when I exit the water doesn't mean much. But sometimes I do not want to think too much about whether I swam the time I wanted or not (Swim courses are often long or short so seeing the number may give you a false idea. No need to be depressed about it if it turns out everyone had a long swim!) and I just will not record the swim at all.

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Ed O'Malley
www.VeloVetta.com
Founder of VeloVetta Cycling Shoes
Instagram • Facebook

True! The transition area at Boulder is particularly painful!

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Ed O'Malley
www.VeloVetta.com
Founder of VeloVetta Cycling Shoes
Instagram • Facebook

Got it - very helpful thoughts - thank you!

Regarding running in cleats, I'll give it a shot today. Have never actually thought to try it before!

Is anyone down there already? How is the water temperature?

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http://dontletitdefeatyou.blogspot.com

Lock_N_Load wrote:

Is anyone down there already? How is the water temperature?

Hopefully someone will chime in, but I did find this link that says the water was 61F last week. Unfortunately, looks like mostly overcast and some rain for weather this week, so not much chance of it heating a lot.

https://stateparks.utah.gov/parks/sand-hollow/current-conditions/

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Dimond Bikes Superfan

Yeah, I had seen that already and was wondering if anyone had a more recent reading. I think the only chance of it heating up is Friday when it's supposed to be pretty warm. It looks like it will be one of those years where the swim will be cold (as always) the bike will be perfect and the run will be oppressively (dangerous even) hot. This will be my 4th time doing the race (not in a row, I missed the freezing year) and the run has always been hot but there was one year where it was unbearable. Prepare yourselves because this Saturday will be unbearably hot run!

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http://dontletitdefeatyou.blogspot.com

I think last year it was in the 70s and the run felt very hot to me. This could get ugly.

I see just 80F at noon. Could be worse. You seeing something different?

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Dimond Bikes Superfan

I was looking at the high on accuweather. Where are you going for the specific noon forecast? Although 80 and sunny is still brutal on that run.

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http://dontletitdefeatyou.blogspot.com

Maybe one other question for those of you familiar with the course...

Given this is my first triathlon, how in the world should I be calculating my goal time given the hilliness of the course? I think I'm mainly looking for a very hazy indication on approximate bike and run time. To give some more information:

Swim: I'm targetting a swim time of 45 minutes. Currently swimming around 2:00 / 100. But first open water experience will probably slow me down a bit.

Bike: FTP of 240 watts, 143 pounds (3.7 w/kg) - planning on biking as close to 204 watts as possible (0.85 IF). No clue at all what kind of time this will translate into. Obviously hugely dependent on position / CdA, which I think is decent, but I'm sure could be improved. I think any sort of indication here would be super helpful. Is 3 hours doable?

Run: PR time for an open half marathon is a 6:49 min/mile on a flat, fast course. But I have no idea how that'll translate to the StG course. I think I should be able to hold an 8:00 min/mile based on a recent hard brick workout I did (so around 1 hour 45 minutes), but I'm not sure if that's realistic given the heat people were referring to above.

Any thoughts would be very much appreciated!

I just looked at Weather Underground and it says that at 12pm it should be about 77 degrees. That will be hot if there is no cloud cover but with cloud cover it should not be a complete suffer fest!

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http://dontletitdefeatyou.blogspot.com

You and I are have very similar levels of fitness. So here's my goals and past times to give you an idea:

I'm shooting for 40 minute swim (I'm a 2:00/100 in the pool as well). Sighting skills will determine if you are 40 min or 50 min (as will actual swim distance). I was a bit slower in the past but have swam 40 min and 48 min.
My FTP is a touch above 250 but I'm about 15 lbs heavier than you. I'm looking at a 3 hour bike at about 200 W according to BBS. So 3 hours is definitely doable. You may want to cut back to .8/.82 IF since it's your first triathlon. I still think 3 hours is doable based on a lower IF.
My open half time is exactly your pace. But both times I've run 6:45-6:50 pace, they have been C races with no taper. In both my HIM's, I ran 1:48 which was pretty dreadful. Both races were over 80 F at the start of the run. I also slightly overbiked in each HIM. So 1:40-1:45 sounds about right, but the day can change and you may be coming in at 1:50.

Go play with Best Bike Split. It will predict your time based on many factors you input. If this is your first 70.3, you may want to dial back that .85 intensity factor a tad so you have more to give on the run. Its a challenging run course. You'd probably have a better overall time, and a more enjoyable race if you save some legs for the run. Just my two cents. That course eats me alive every time, but I still love it.

That's too aggressive of a bike IF overall for you I'd guess, and definitely way too high of a target for the first 40 miles of the bike. There's a big climb toward the end, you'll want to ride below target NP prior to that then ride up the climb a bit more aggressively (to achieve the fastest bike split for the watts).

Awesome! Super helpful, for the second time today! Much appreciated. Sounds like 5:40 or so for total time (including transition and buffer time) is reasonable, then - that's what I'll shoot for!


Very interesting, thanks for that feedback. Could you provide some more color on why that's the optimal pacing strategy? From what I've been reading, I was under the impression that I should be trying to maintain a VI as close to 1.00 as possible (~200w on the flats, ~200w up Snow Canyon).

My last race was Cartagena, w/ mid 90s temp and absurdly high humidity. 80 and dry sounds wonderful. I do a lot of heat training though. I'm actually worried about being too cold at the beginning of the bike, not too warm during the run.

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Dimond Bikes Superfan

Thank you! For some reason I thought you had to pay for it - didn't know there was a free demo. I'm checking it out now!

Good stuff here. May I add:

1. Be as self-sufficient as possible: carry tire levers spare tube, CO2, CO2 adapter, allen keys, at a minimum.
2. All bike aid stations at IRONMAN events should have limited supply of tubes, floor pump, allen keys, and direct comm to on-course mechanics (neutral support). So while you're on the lookout for roving neutral support, limp towards and aid station, if possible.

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Jimmy
http://www.Riccitello.com

Best of luck at St. George! You’ve selected a fantastic venue for your first race.

Here is an old race report that may still have a few nuggets for you to consider:

https://forum.slowtwitch.com/forum/?post=5534564

Scott

because when you're going uphill you're going slower, and thus spending more time at that speed per mile than any other mile during the race. you will be faster overall by going harder up the climb and minimizing those losses. go create a best bike split account and see what they say for power plan.