A training buddy and I just got back from St. George. He’s signed up for next year, and I’ll just say that I’m glad he’s doing it and not me.
Brief synopsis: Difficult bike, pacing will be vital, chip seal is awful. Run is all uphill or downhill, no shade, brutal.
Background: my 2nd year in the sport, 30-34 AG, <5:00 HIM’er (awful swimmer, good biker, acceptable runner); training partner is 45-49 AG, multiple Kona qualifier, did 10:30ish there last year, relatively strong all around. Neither of us is in peak shape, but not completely in couch potato mode either.
We began the first morning by driving out to the swim at the reservoir. It was a rather ambitious $10 charge just to get in the park (“…but we’re just going to drive in, take a look, and then turn around. Could you let us do that?” “Sure, after you pay $10…”) The setting is lovely, with striated red rock formations surrounded by desert and scrub brush. According to the race map, the swim course threads between a large rock island and the shore. This passage looked to be about 25 yards wide, so clearly the water level was way down. The park ranger said that the water should be at least 10-12 feet higher on race day. She expected the temperature to be about 67-68 degrees based on her experience.
There’s a large parking lot perfect for T1. However, spectators and athletes will probably need to be transported in, since it didn’t appear that there were a lot of alternative parking options.
We didn’t bike the first part of the course, which basically consists of an initial long but relatively shallow climb out of the reservoir. The course meanders through some side streets and eventually comes out onto a section of the run course. This will be an opportunity to find your pace and prepare for the two large loops.
The intersection of Bluff and Skyline/Snow Canyon will be a familiar site by the time you’re done with this course; you’ll see it seven times between the run and the bike.
The loop begins by winding through some housing developments. When we rode at 8:00 in the morning, it was about 75 degrees or so. When we rode it a few hours later, it was over 100. There’s very little shade anywhere on the course, with no tall buildings or overhanging trees. For us, the course really began with the right hand turn onto H91. This is all patched chip seal. I’ve found that this particular surface definitely robs me of speed. I also find myself experiencing more core fatigue… it’s harder to relax when you’re constantly vibrating and I tighten my core in order to provide a better “platform” for power application.
After bouncing your way along 91, you’ll veer right onto 3184 and start riding through a narrower canyon. There might be some shade provided by the canyon walls, but that’s dependent on sun angle (not sure what that will be in May) and the time of day, of course. When we rode it the first day at around noon, there was zero shade. The second day we rode it at 8:30ish, we got a little shade from the rocks. The road generally consists of rollers on an uphill bias, but there are perhaps four shorter (~:45 to 1:15 or so) hills in which I came out of aero.
We both had power meters (SRM for me, PT for him) and found that pacing is crucial. We went out way too hard the first day, and I simply burned too many matches on the first loop. The second day went much better as we tried to cap our power on these shorter hills. I would bet on a large % of AGers pushing too much on the first loop, being completely gassed on the second loop, and really suffering on the run.
The small town on Gunlock is on the course… not much to see or do there. If you’re going to ride the course, I didn’t see a store or place to refuel here.
The main climb on the loop is a switchback that occurs about 1/2 way through the entire loop. It’s about .8 mile, rising about 400 feet in that distance for an average grade of just over 9%. I think it peaks at around 16-17%, and this occurs near the top of the climb. It’s a relatively short but nasty little f’er.
This brings you in to the town of Veyo and a right onto H18 to head back into town. Veyo does have a small convenience/feed store to get some Gatorade/H20/etc. You’re now on top of a wide plateau, and we had some good headwinds during our first ride. There’s a slow gradual climb away from Veyo, as the road undulates gradually over the next 5 to 6 miles.
The first of the significant descents starts about 6.5 miles out of Veyo, as you approach Snow Canyon State park on your right. This continues for two miles, and levels out slightly with some slight climbs; you’re still able to stay in aero. There’s a brief respite from the chip seal with some nice smooth pavement (which will make you realize how much you’ve been vibrating and rattling around for the last 35 miles) but then, before you can say “ahhhhh…”, you’re back on the patched chip seal again.
The final major descent occurs after a few more miles as you wind your way down toward that Bluff/Snow Canyon intersection I mentioned earlier. It’s not a technical descent at all. Only the quality of the road surface, the small shoulder, and the numerous trucks with horse trailers screaming past us made us a little skittish. Nevertheless, we still hit almost 50 mph on the descent.
Then you grab the brakes and make a hard right to do it all over again.
The bike course will be very challenging because of the hills, road surface, and weather conditions. I found it difficult to get in a solid rhythm because of the rolling hills on the course, which usually don’t necessitate getting out of aero, but I found myself switching gears quite a bit. I believe a previous poster had mentioned the importance of a power meter, and I completely agree: pacing yourself up the hills and making sure you cap your power appropriately will pay big dividends. The chip seal just beats you up. When we rode the course the first day at noon, my SRM was over 100. I’d expect high temperatures especially for the second loop, with little to no shade. Coming out of Veyo, you could get hit with some serious winds.
Which brings us to the run…
It starts uphill immediately and there’s not much downhill to speak of until almost mile 5. You climb up Main to a little roundabout and veer left onto Diagonal. It’s a gradual climb to a right on 18, and then the out-and-back on 1250 up to the Elks Lodge is a short series of stepped hills.
On the second day, we ran this as a brick after one loop of the bike course and found ourselves affected by the altitude (~3200’) more than I would’ve thought. Coming from Seattle, we could definitely feel like we were more labored in our breathing and it was difficult to catch out breath. We slowed our pace significantly until we felt like it was under control.
Run up and down back to 18 to take a right at our infamous intersection again. Here’s where the run really gets, um, good. There’s an innocuous “8% grade” sign to let you know what’s up. This steeper section, beginning at just before mile 3, lasts for perhaps 1/3 mile or so. The road continues to climb, albeit at lesser gradients, until mile 5. Then it flattens out and starts to turn down.
This downhill section is about 5% which can really hammer some tired quads.
There’s a brief loop through a park which looks like it was added to simply add a little distance; we didn’t do the loop, since even though it’s off-road on a hard dirt path, it appears flat and tame.
The road continues to descend all the way to the turn around at 1000 E. We stopped at the Motel 6 for some water and ice. There is no other point along the run for refueling.
The run is going to be just brutal. No shade at all, except perhaps along Diagonal because of some small trees. The hills are difficult, and there’s maybe 500 yards of flat running over the loop. Those athletes who went out too hard on the bike are going to pay dearly on the run. Fueling and fluids are going to be crucial because of the heat.
Run course elevation change was ~635 ft of climbing and descending per loop, so double it for the full mary. The climb from the intersection to Veyo was a little over 1700 ft.
I think this might have an extraordinary DNF rate… I can’t wait to see what the average AGer is able to do out there.
Training here in Seattle in the spring for it would not be good timing.