Training at the Lake

This past weekend Art and I took the opportunity to have a training session at Elephant Butte and wanted to cover all aspects of the race. I have never gone over a course as much as I have for this race and hope that the extra insight helps out.

We made it up to the lake by 7:00 am and decided to do a thirty minute swim with our wetsuits just in case we decided to wear them for the race. As I stated a few weeks ago the water is still very warm and there might be an outside shot that wetsuits won’t be legal for the race, but I think the water should be just below the USAT max temperature. The area for the swim at Elephant Butte is really a nice spot and because it is in more of a large cove than the wide open lake, it offers very calm water. We ended up swimming around 1500-1800 meters and my wetsuit ended up working out fine. I was a little worried about overheating, but that was not an issue. The only real issue I had was the restricted shoulder movement that my full suit causes. If you have a sleeveless wetsuit I would go with that. Also, the transition from water to bike is a good 250 meters, so be prepared for that.

Art and I decided to ride the entire bike course at a steady pace of 20 mph and see how we felt when we got done. The first twenty miles offers up two good climbs that will get the legs burning, but for the most part the first twenty miles consist of a few rolling hills and you should be able to make good time. The roads are not in perfect condition, but we didn’t notice any large potholes or other issues that you need to worry about. There are several cattle guards throughout the course, but none of them caused any problems. Since I had trained on the first twenty miles of the course before, I was particularly interested in the thirty miles that the 70.3 riders will have in addition to the Olympic course loop. The 70.3 course does not disappoint. The first 7-8 miles are fast with a little head wind, but once you reach mile marker 7 you begin a very long climb. The climb is over a mile long and requires a steady effort. I forgot to mention the big dog that sits in the middle of the road and chases you and tries to bite your tire as you go by. During a training ride the dog was a source of comic relief and made me laugh, but during the grind of a race I doubt I will be amused. Once you reach the top of the hill you have around 6 miles before you turn around and head back. On the way back you have a slight tailwind and can really build up some speed. Five miles before you reconnect with the Olympic loop you have your final climb of the race and it is steep. The good news is that it is tiered. Once you get to the point where you don’t think you can climb anymore it actually becomes less steep and you can catch your breath before one more final climb. Once over the last hill you have 10 miles of flat ground that you can build your speed back up on.
Once we finished the bike course we decided that we would do a thirty minute run over a few of the last sections of the run course. At this point the sun was in full force and I’m sure heat will be a big issue on race day. I wish I could tell you more about the run course, but for the 70.3 people it is a little confusing. The first five miles follows the Olympic distance course and seems pretty straight forward. The remaining 8 miles involves several turns, a short out and back, and then a nearly three mile climb to the finish line.

In all, the course offers plenty of challenges and should be a great test of endurance. Hopefully this helps a few of you out there and I look forward to seeing you at the race.