Tomorrow the 2015 season kicks off with IRONMAN St George 70.3. There’s only two things you need to know about the course, its GORGEOUS and its HARD. This is my first time out to Utah and I absolutely love it. Everywhere you look there are mountains, valleys and beautiful landscape.

1.2 Mile Swim: The swim takes place in Sand Hallow Reservoir just about 15 miles outside of St George. The water is crystal clear and cold. Race day temps average from 60-64 degrees Fahrenheit. I had some experience with the cold water racing IMCDA last year when the water was 61 degrees on race day. The course is a 2 turn, 1 loop course that swims around a large rock formation in the middle of the reservoir. Did I mention St George was gorgeous? The start is a wave start by age group with the Male Pro’s staring off at 6:55am. My wave goes off at 7:39. There will be plenty of traffic to swim through, but I’m hoping to stick with the leaders as long as possible. Swim Goal: Sub 30 mins

56 Mile Bike: As I mentioned the course its going to be hard. I had a chance to drive the course yesterday to get a sense of the climbs and descents. The first 30 miles is relatively tame, leaving the reservoir and riding through town. Once we get past town we enter the Snow Canyon State Park. This is where the elevation really picks up with a tough 6 mile climb around mile 40. After mile 46, its all downhill to the finish. I’m hoping the wind isn’t too strong so we can really push the downhill sections. I’m looking to average 250-270 watts for the bike. I’ve also started using INFINIT Nutrition recently and this will be my first race putting it to the test. I’ve decided to get rid of all the gels, bars and tablets and just use the INFINIT Custom Blend. I’ll post more in the post race report. On the bike I’m looking to take in about 350 calories an hour or 875 total. Bike Goal: Sub 2hrs 30 mins

13.1 Mile Run: By the time we get to the run the temperatures will be up to high 80’s or low 90’s. The goal of the run is to just run under control for the first 7 miles. Find my legs and try to hold 6:20-6:30 min/mile pace during that time. The run course has plenty of hills with almost 1200 ft of elevation gain. Compare that to IRONMAN Wisconsin that has about 900ft with twice the distance. The last 10k I’m going to see how I’m feeling and then “unleash the beast” according to Blake! For nutrition, I’ll be using INFINIT Nutrition in a concentrated formula while taking water at aid stations. I want to try and stay as cool as possible with water and not hurting my legs on the downhills. Run Goal: Sub 1:30 min/mile.

Overall Goal: Sub 4hrs 30mins, Top 3 in AG and Top 15 Amateur overall

Bib #: 200

Tracking URL: http://www.ironman.com/triathlon/events/americas/ironman-70.3/st.-george/ironfan/2015-may-2/map.aspx#axzz3YvUoL9UU