Well, I did it....I just registered for Branson 70.3 in Sept 2012.  This will be my first half iron distance triathlon.  Bring it on!!

I saw this when you posted it, but didn't respond (because I don't mean for this to cause any anxiety for you).

You're going to do awesome!

Have you ever been to Branson?  I've gone many times for vacations on Table Rock Lake, and it's absolutely beautiful.

However, I can't imagine biking up and down some of those hills on those roads.  It scared me when I had a boat and needed to pull it along those roads.  (I haven't seen the course layout, but I guarantee you that there's some steep hills with some nice sweeping corners.  Also, I'm pretty sure that I remember seeing / reading that the run portion is by Lake Tanekomo (below the dam) and relatively flat, and the swim portion is in Table Rock Lake, meaning that there's 1 heck of a nice downhill stretch at some point (there aren't many roads that take you from Table Rock to Branson Landing (Tanekomo), and everyone I've driven were nice downhills.

I live in an area that doesn't have many (any) hills, and I've been afraid to even consider that race.

But, I see that you're from Tennessee, so I'm guessing that you've seen / ridden some hills before.

Enjoy!  Look forward to following you and your progress to next September.

Cheers,

Thanks!!  Oh, I'm well aware of the hills involved in the bike portion (a friend of mine said that if an Ironman were easy...it would be called WussMan ).  We've got plenty of hills around where I live in Nashville.  Maybe not quite to the extent that I'll face in Branson...but I'm sure I'll be pretty well prepared.

 

Let me ask you a training question.....do you think its better to do long bike ride on Saturday (with a few bricks thrown in there) and then long run on Sunday or vice versa?

I'm not sure I'm the right person to ask, but I'll relay what I've read.  I know that there are others that may be better at guiding you to their findings through their training. 

(BTW, Joe Friel has a book titled "Going Long" that outlines a great framework for a triathlete.  It's not a training plan, it's a mindset on how you approach training for the long events.  The book focuses on a Full Ironman, but I used the book as preparation for my 1/2 Ironman, and I've re-read it a couple times as I'm preparing for my full Ironman).

In the book, he talks about trying to control your running miles, and avoiding really long runs (over 2 to 2.5 hours).

Additionally, he speaks about a plan that might go something like this....

Tuesday - Long Run (2 - 2 1/2 hours)

Thursday - Long Swim

Saturday - Long Bike, with 30 min run at the end

On the other days, he suggests filling them in with supporting workouts.

He discourages the "weekend warrior" mentality that you're describing with your question (back to back days with very little recovery between challenging workouts). 

I'd recommend buying the book and reading it cover to cover to get an appreciation for how you (as a triathlete) should approach long event racing.

Best wishes.

It's not particularly relevant, but I have the impression that 'weekend warrior' back-to-back long runs (e.g., 20mi on one day and 30mi on the other, or whatever) seem to be pretty popular among ultrarunners. Do you know why that author discourages this approach?

I live in an area that doesn't have many (any) hills, and I've been afraid to even consider that race.

But, I see that you're from Tennessee, so I'm guessing that you've seen / ridden some hills before.

Here is elevation profile of a bike course I do every Tuesday evening.  As the evening light gets longer...so will this course:

MTA....where the heck is that picture??????

 

MTA....where the heck is that picture??????

I've been trying forever to be able to load a picture.... I'm unable to do so. 

But, I've been told that you need to load it to Flickr or some other sight, and then pull it from there.

(I've done that.  I've tried that.  I'm unable to do it.)