Gordo breaks down the Ironman St. George Course

I read a few course descriptions prior to checking out the course. They made the bike course sound like it was running through a combination of Death Valley and the Moon. Personally, I think that this is one of the most beautiful IM courses out there. The designer did a great job creating a course that is varied, picturesque and safe.

When you look at the bike course profile (see links at the end of the article), you will get the impression that the course is much steeper than reality. While there is plenty of climbing on the route, it happens much more slowly than the profile will lead you to believe. Athletes that are used to racing Ironman Florida will need to add at least an hour to their time expectations.

My #1 piece of advice: Do not race blind. Figure out some way to get to St. George over the next six months to check out the bike course and make sure that you repeat my test workout (two laps of The Loop). The reason I recommend the journey is the course is 'slow' for the first 50 miles and you will be depressed with your time unless you manage your expectations by training on site.

I had a question about what type of athlete is best suited to this course. The course is suited to an athlete with strong power-to-weight but with a twist. I would not measure in terms of functional threshold power to weight (FTP/KG). Rather, I would measure in terms of Half Ironman watts per kilo. Using myself as an example 250w / 75 kg is 3.3 HIM watts per kilo. If you are a male amateur athlete then, I suspect that, you'll need to be close to that ratio to contend for a Kona slot here.

For the technically minded, I would use average HIM power (not normalized, and exclude zeroes). I would also only count the HIM bike ride as valid if the athlete was able to run within 7% of their non-triathlon Half Marathon time (I ran 1:22:30 off the bike after that 250w effort).

If you look at the marathon profile then you will see two solid climbs on each loop. This course is going to favor the efficient runner. Here, I would define efficiency in terms of maximum sustainable pace at the bottom of your Steady intensity zone. Again, for the technically minded, this course will favor the athlete with the highest pace at aerobic threshold. The combination of the bike and run climbs will take "big engine" athletes out of the picture. There is a TON of ground to be made up from being able to run well.

Skills - despite all the rollers and climbs, the course is NOT technical. The descent is straightahead and easy to navigate. The main skill required is pace management through the short climbs. For this reason, I think that most athletes will benefit from a road set-up (STI shifting) with clip-on aerobars. Athletes with aggressive TT set-ups with low front ends and/or brake hoods that are far from their hips will experience substantial back pain from all the climbing on the course.

Gearing - you can check my bike file in detail to see my cadence at various parts of the course. I use 50/34 gearing with an 11-28 cassette and had to stand in three places on each loop. While it might have been nice to have a 55-11 for a couple sections of the bike course, I bet my overall time would benefit from rolling-up zeros (no power output) at high speed, and eating/drinking. If you are mid-, or back-, of the pack then consider a triple chain ring. If you don't believe me then run for an hour after you complete the Two-Loop workout.

Altitude - lots of talk about the altitude at St George. Personally, I think that it is a non-event. The highest speed part of the bike course is the "top" and the thinner air (and smooth road surface) will help, rather than hinder you. If you are feeling breathless then it's your pacing rather than your location.

Swim - it is going to be COLD. I was swimming late summer at the end of a week that saw 90-100F daily highs. Even then, I needed a fullsuit to be comfortable in the morning. Practice a dry-land warm-up and experiment withneoprene caps and booties (I use the BlueSeventy ones). Because you are likely to be cold coming out of the water, consider toe covers, full-finger gloves and arm-warmers for the bike.

Heat - the afternoon high was over 100F the day that we did our ride. That said, I was pretty comfortable with a vented helmet and full-zip jersey. Because this race is going to be quite long (due to a hills), I would lean towards vents.

Wheels – because of all the pace changes, light climbing wheels will dominate aero dynamics on this course. Better yet, get yourself a set of light aerowheels - I ran my 404s with PowerTap and they worked great. The only guy that I'd recommend a disc for would be my buddy Chris McDonald (super strong, larger guy that copes with spikes well). For us mortals, you need to do everything possible to minimize the torque spikes in your legs.

Blocks - the bike course splits into three key 25-mile blocks.
 

The First 25: stay calm, get your HR settled and establish hydration/nutrition. It's going to be a long day.


The Second 25: this is your first journey from the bottom to the top of the course. You are going to witness some totally insane riding from stressed out competition that big-rings some of the steep rollers. Stay within yourself and remember your training ride on the course.


The Third 25: this is the second journey from the bottom to the top of the course. You will now see TOTAL carnage from the athletes that raced the first 50 miles of the bike. This course is extremely unforgiving if you crack (though not as bad as Placid because you have a late downhill to regroup).

Eating - when you turn onto Hwy 18 eat and drink plenty before the fast downhill to town. The downhill is so fast that you are unlikely to be able to eat/drink. So... you need to tank up across the top of the course to make sure that you have your calories in your system. I experimented and was able to get my HR under 110 bpm at the end of my ride.Focus on fueling and recovery in the high speed sections of the course.

Bike Position - you need a few different positions to reflect the nature of the course. You need to be very comfortable in all of them: straight ahead TT (standard); uphill TT (choke up on bars); high-speed descent (minimal frontal area); long climbs (sitting up); and standing (for the short steep rollers). Comfort is power on a course like this – my choice would be a road set-up with clip ons.

Saddle Position - while I used my "road" frame, I bumped the saddle forward so that my thigh:torso angle wasn't too tight on the aerobars.

Finally, be patient. The smart athlete will be able to make up over an hour in the second half of the race. You don’t need to “go fast” to do well here but you will need to run well after a variable bike ride. Set your bike ceilings and practice riding as evenly as possible through rolling terrain.