This was my first 70.3 as well, back in'14, i've come back several times since. The swim can be unpredictable, it's a coin flip as to whether or not it will be wetsuit legal so be prepared for both. It's brackish water so the added salinity does provide a little better buoyancy than a fresh water swim. I think one year the current was a little rough, '15 maybe, but it's not usually much of an issue. It's a pancake flat bike course but it can also be windy. It's easy to get sucked into over biking on flat windy courses in my opinion because you think you should be able to manage a high mph and there's a tendency to fight the head winds when your speed drops, don't do this. The run will be flat and hot, make sure you've hydrated generously and frequently on the bike or your run will suffer for it. Definitely hydrate with more than just water, use gatorade endurance, salt tabs, infinit, etc to replenish sodium and electrolytes. If it's a hot humid day, as it usually is, take it easy on the first few miles of the run. My coach says "It shouldn't feel like your racing until mile 6 of the run".
It's usually a hot humid race but the main issue I think is that it's usually one of the first hot weekends of the year and the athletes in this region haven't acclimated to racing in heat and humidity much yet. I live in Florida now and would love to come back up and take on that race because I train in those conditions almost year round now and it's not an issue that it used to be. It's a great, iconic race, enjoy it!
It's usually a hot humid race but the main issue I think is that it's usually one of the first hot weekends of the year and the athletes in this region haven't acclimated to racing in heat and humidity much yet. I live in Florida now and would love to come back up and take on that race because I train in those conditions almost year round now and it's not an issue that it used to be. It's a great, iconic race, enjoy it!
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