craigmwilson.net

I did some online research on the Ironman Canada course and with what delight did my wondrous eyes find? 1 loop courses!

The swim is as it should be: go swim a mile or so, turn at the buoy, turn at the next buoy and swim a mile plus back the beach. No bullsh*t running back onto the beach and navigating scores of people all over again. Just you, a long swim and your bike waiting on the other side. Never quite understood the two-loop swim thing, seems overly cautious and an easy out for the race director as a few less kayaks and boats are required.

Same with the bike course: 1 long loop that includes 7,400' of climbing. I love to climb, even though at ~190lbs I am not exactly built for it. Nothing I would rather do in techno-wear then ride my bike up a hill. Where I live in Colorado a 1,200' climb is a good start and I'm told what goes up must come down. In Penticton it appears it comes down at a rapid rate. I can tuck with the best of them and let my weight do all the work. The best news part is I don't have to stay hunched in my aero-bars for 5 hours - my flexibility-challenged body is very appreciative of that. I really have no interest in riding a relatively flat bike course like the other late season IM races appear to be. This was paramount in my decision to sign up for this race.

The run course is out and back and apparently not so flat. Perfect, my legs need a downhill once in a while to stretch out a bit...