It will be my first half IM ... All my friends who have done it said its pretty flat and fast and pretty much guaranteed hot with little shade on the run (most years its in the 90s by noon) ... Its point-to-point, so more organization than usual is required (for me anyway) ... I plan to scope out the course by bike and car on Saturday with friends who have done it.

Planning on biking in the days after? Doing the CdA triathlon on August 14 ? (fun race!) A nice bike route is the Trail of The Coeur d'Alenes, a paved path from Plumber to Mullan (look on a map) ... http://www.idahoparks.org/...l_coeurd'alenes.html ... real flat as it follows an old railroad grade. It almost crosses the entire state ... There's tons more riding in the CdA area, including some climbs and rolling routes I have heard about ... I'm sure someone will fill you in ... See you there. -TB

If the organizaion is anything like it was years ago when I did this race, you won't have to worry about the fact that it's point-to-point (other than to retrieve your car, but maybe you can get a ride to the start area with some one else). A good course, though I wouldn't necessarily call it flat. Depends on your perspective. There are no long climbs by any means. There was one bottle exchange on the bike, and PLENTY of water stations on the run. As I remembered it, there's very little shade on the run. And it can get rather hot. I remember trying to run in the shadow of the guard rail thinking the pavement might be a LITTLE cooler...

Of course when I did this race, it was a Kona qualifier...

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