Two Reasons Why I Feel Better About Ironman 70.3 Augusta

I’m feeling better about the bike course at Ironman 70.3 Augusta for two reasons.

One – I was reading Mauricio’s Triathlon / Running Blog and he had a post about the bike course. Earlier this week I was looking at some of the hills and they were making me nervous. However, from his blog it says that,

“… there are a couple of climbs to watch out for, one is a quarter miler at 5-6% around mile 17. A couple of miles later a couple 3-5% about 1/4 to 1/2 mile in length. A short 75-100' long 8-12% climb right before the long stretch home. The last 7 miles have a drop of 300' in elevation! There are other climbs scattered throughout the course but nothing to be concerned about. Several descends throughout the course, most of which are of the 3-5% variety, one of which will allow you to hit 40mph!”

It sounds like it is mostly rolling hills with a few big hills along the way that aren’t so bad. I love the fact that the last seven miles is all downhill.

Just like Mauricio did I immediately compared it to another race. When I did the Half Ironman in Macon, Ga last year it was 1,289 feet of elevation gained over 56 miles. Now Ironman 70.3 Augusta will only be 974 feet of elevation gained over 56 miles. For me this race will have 300 less feet of climbing and the last 7 miles is downhill.

The other reason I’m feeling better about the bike part of August 70.3 is the fact that I will be getting my new bike next week. I will be getting a Trek Equinox TTX 9.0 I’ve been told this bike will make me atleast TWO MPH faster with the same effort level. I guess now if I don’t have a good bike split I can’t blame the bike.

Only 42 More Days till Ironman 70.3 Augusta