For those who have expressed interest in doing this race next year and/or knowing more about the details + my preparation for it, here is what everything I wrote down for myself prior to the race. Included are goal times, nutrition, important course info, etc. Some of this is taken from the pre-race email that we received from the Iron Cowboy and his team. Feel free to leave a comment or contact me for any additional information! (Please keep in mind that there will most likely be some changes in the 2019 edition.)

Timeline/Goals

Start at 6:00, Sunrise at 6:45, Sunset at 20:10, Goal time – 14:00, Swim goal – 1:00, Bike goal – 6:30, Run goal – 6:00, T1+2 goal – 0:30

WEATHER

Start: 45, Lake: 70, Morning Bike: 50-55, Day High: 80, Brighton at 2pm: 60, On Mountain: 45-50, Finish: 55, WIND: moderate, all day

BREAKFAST

The usual. Oats, almond milk, almonds, banana, protein powder. Waffle and/or gel before start.

THE START

The swim starts at 6:00 am at Hailstone Main Park at Jordanelle Reservoir.  Athletes will be required to leave T1 for the swim by 5:45 am. Support crews and spectators are welcome at the swim.  Parking is limited and is on a first-come first-served basis.

THE SWIM – 2.4 miles – 4 loops

The swim course will be four loops. Athletes will keep all buoys to their right.

THE BIKE – 105 miles

Elevation Gain: 8,343feet/2,542 meters

Peak Altitude: 9,459 feet/2,883 meters

Nutrition 

400 cal/hour, 1.5 bottles/hour

Water + lemon juice, NBS hydration mix

Salt, Caffeine, Tums

Honey Stinger waffles + chews

Additional bars

In Car

More of everything. Pepto, Ibuprofen. Watermelon. Lemonade, NBS, Nuun.

Gear Requirements

Front-facing solid white headlight, rear-facing red blinking light (both mounted to bike)

Bright neon reflective high visibility bike jersey OR reflective vest

Flat changing kit, fully charged cell phone

There is no event supplied support.  You need to know how to fix and service your bike!

Directions (in pocket)

* EXIT Park * L on 40 / 189 * R on RIVER * TURN AROUND – back * STRAIGHT at light * STRAIGHT at STOP (23) * U-TURN at NOBLETTS (35) * R at STOP * L on BROWNS (59) * L on 248 (66) * R on MAIN (75) * R at STOP * STRAIGHT at LIGHT * Keep STRAIGHT * Keep R at 1050 N + PINE CYN (92)

THE RUN – 21.4 miles

Elevation Gain: 5,944 feet/1,811 meters

Peak Altitude: 10,390 feet/3,166 meters

Nutrition

200 cal/hour, 1 full bottle/hour

Honey Stinger waffles, gels, and chews.

In T2 also: broth, watermelon, pretzels, water, lemonade, tea

Gear Requirements

Each athlete and/or support person will need to have a water bladder or bottle system, headlamp, cell phone, small rechargeable battery pack and enough nutrition to get through the first loop then fill up with enough to make it to the finish.

Note to Coach

Honestly, Utah’s Toughest is just about doing something within the sport that I love that is very different from what I normally do. I don’t care about times or paces or even placing. I just want to feel strong all day and have fun. Which, even that, will require good preparation! I want to keep some speed in there for sure. I want it to be the MOST FUN race that I am doing this year with NO PRESSURE, not my best one at the expense of the rest of my season. This race is in my backyard (more or less) so I want it to be a CELEBRATION of triathlon, even if I am walking the run. BACK TO THE ROOTS.

I have really enjoyed the training for this race. So, either way this summer has already been a SUCCESS!

Pre Race

Everything went fairly well. No major issues. Minimal travel involved. I took my time getting everything ready and organized. (This is a ton in a self-supported race!) This meant that I didn’t get to the venue until last minute and didn’t preview any of the course. That turned out to be more of a blessing than a curse, which is actually what I figured. As usual, I asked the most questions at the pre-race meeting and felt pretty calm about the whole thing. Turns out there were only 2 women doing it solo! Karen and me. Ha. Go figure. That said, the solo men looked like lean mean triathlon machines! I was ready for a long day all by myself, so I didn’t really care how many others there were.