Wednesday, November 17, 2010

More Course Maps!!!

Before I explode from the excitement of seeing the other course maps, I just wanted to let everyone know I'm STILL on cloud 9 post 70.3. Ok, now that we've taken care of that important item, on to what's REALLY got me excited!

I've been checking the IMTX website religiously and earlier this week my relentless nature paid off as all course maps are now posted. Hell to the yes! I shared the bike map a few weeks back and now I'd like to share the swim & run maps. Seeing the course maps makes the course more real. I can't explain but I'm sure many of you out there get what I'm saying. Sure, I had a good visual in my head of what the course would look like but until it's on the internet, it's not legit!

IMO, the swim course is kind of funky but you can decide for yourself. I'm having a hard time wrapping my arms around how 2,500 people are going to enter the water at roughly the same time. The entry point isn't super wide. Maybe we'll tread water before the gun goes off? Maybe we'll all run in from the parking lot. Who knows? I'm excited to find out though! For those of you familiar with The Woodlands, we'll be starting at Northshore Park towards Southshore Park (so from Lake Woodlands towards Woodlands Pkwy), turn around and then before getting back to Northshore Park, hang a right through the canal system and then out at Town Green Park. The canal gets pretty narrow but by the time we get there, I think the thought is we'll have spread out enough that it won't be an issue. Here's hoping! I don't love the swim course but it could be worse. One thing I can tell you for certain, I hope they clean up Lake Woodlands so I don't have to worry about entering the water with any open wounds. Seriously, it's straight nasty. I don't know if chlorine tablets work in a lake but I think they should give it a go. Shock the hell out of it. I don't care if my skin burns a little as long as I don't catch anything nasty. I'm thinking about putting a can of Lysol in my T1 bag so I can disinfect myself after getting out. I'm not sure what impact Lysol will have on sunscreen so I need to research that first. :)
The uncertainty I have for the swim course is completely overshadowed by how much I LOVE the run course. From the beginning, I knew I didn't want a giant loop, an out & back or a 2 loop course. Some people get bored with loops but after Iron Star, I found I really enjoyed it in a race day setting. For me, I think I'm going to have an easier time breaking up the run into manageable pieces. Each loop will be over 8.5 miles (I think) and the route is one I really, really enjoy. 8.5 miles is one big loop but that's ok. We should have great spectator support and will be able to see family & loved ones multiple times if they can stake out a good spot to cheer. I plan on running this route a lot over the next few months. I want to know every line in the sidewalk along those 8+ miles...mainly so I know if I'm in danger of tripping and falling! LOL. All joking aside, I'm really excited to get out on that course and start visualizing my big day!

So that's pretty much all I've got today. I'm back to working out & feeling really good. Training has been a little lonely but I'm enjoying it all the same.

I'll be back soon with another update!

1 comment:

  1. Visualizing the course- I like it! Based on my experience, it seems to work really well for the looped courses.

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