Today we ventured to St. George from Las Vegas. And back to Vegas for the night. In hindsight, I should have booked a room in St. George for Thursday, Friday and Saturday night.
After a breakfast at Starbucks, we headed to St. George. It is about 100 miles from Vegas and we arrived just after noon but you lose an hour going from Nevada to Utah. First stop was the expo for package pick up. It was surprisingly quiet and I moved through the process quickly. Just like a tourist attraction, you exit the sign in tent through the gift shop. I picked up a few things but was pretty reserved in my selection. I had quite a few positive comments on my Powered by Chocolate Milk jacket.
Just outside the official expo area were a few more booths with items for sale. The ART and massage tables were available so I was able to have my shoulder massaged out without waiting. It helped a lot, the shoulder feels great.
Then on to a light lunch of a salad and 1/2 a lamb burger at George's in town. Good food, great service and a very clean bathroom. What more can you ask for?
Then it was time to head out to Sand Hollow Reservoir to give the wetsuit a go. I may not have mentioned that this is a brand new 2XU X:3 2013 wetsuit. It is a huge upgrade from my 6 year old suit. However, I had NEVER swam in it until today. I bought it at the end of last year and it has been too cold to swim open water in Vancouver so far. Good news, the wetsuit was fantastic. Felt like I had been using it for years. The water was quite a bit colder than I had expected. I had been told it would be cold but thought I wouldn't really notice it since the weather has been so hot in St. George. Wrong. After a few strokes, the cold water started to take my breath away and my feet and hands were numb. 1000m out to the island and back was fine for me this morning.
Next on to the bike for a taste of the course and to test out my bike. Windy and hilly. Yup. Windy and hilly. 19kms around the back of the reservoir and I was warm again. The road was very bumpy. The quality of the paving has much to be desired. Not to mention the 2 cattle guards in that area. Bike is in good shape and ready to go.
A quick change, packed the bike in the vehicle and we were off to drive the bike course. 90kms seems like a long way even when driving it. Once again, windy and hilly. I was most concerned about the climb in Snow Canyon but there are so many other climbs that one is on longer a concern. The scenic views in Snow Canyon will get me through to to the top. Basically, after doing this race, the Challenge Penticton course will seem like a cake walk (even thought it is 1/2 the distance).
Once we completed the bike course, we headed back to Las Vegas. 100 miles return. So in total Tim drove over 250 miles today. I was beat and so was he. This is why I would suggest getting to St. George on Thursday. There is no way you can do all of this on the Friday before the race and feel rested to the actual race.
Back in Vegas we tried a new restaurant in the Summerlin area called Honey Salt. Wonderful food, energetic atmosphere and good service. Until the server brought us the bill before we had finished our meal not even asking if we wanted coffee or dessert. Both of which I would have ordered. That said, I would go back to give them a 2nd chance because the food was really great.
Tomorrow we head to St. George for 2 nights. Plan is to leave Vegas around the same time as today, grab lunch in St. George then head to the 1pm Athlete Meeting. After that, head to Sand Hollow for a quick swim, bike, run then put my bike in transition and had in my run gear bag.
2 more sleeps before race day!
After a breakfast at Starbucks, we headed to St. George. It is about 100 miles from Vegas and we arrived just after noon but you lose an hour going from Nevada to Utah. First stop was the expo for package pick up. It was surprisingly quiet and I moved through the process quickly. Just like a tourist attraction, you exit the sign in tent through the gift shop. I picked up a few things but was pretty reserved in my selection. I had quite a few positive comments on my Powered by Chocolate Milk jacket.
Just outside the official expo area were a few more booths with items for sale. The ART and massage tables were available so I was able to have my shoulder massaged out without waiting. It helped a lot, the shoulder feels great.
Then on to a light lunch of a salad and 1/2 a lamb burger at George's in town. Good food, great service and a very clean bathroom. What more can you ask for?
Then it was time to head out to Sand Hollow Reservoir to give the wetsuit a go. I may not have mentioned that this is a brand new 2XU X:3 2013 wetsuit. It is a huge upgrade from my 6 year old suit. However, I had NEVER swam in it until today. I bought it at the end of last year and it has been too cold to swim open water in Vancouver so far. Good news, the wetsuit was fantastic. Felt like I had been using it for years. The water was quite a bit colder than I had expected. I had been told it would be cold but thought I wouldn't really notice it since the weather has been so hot in St. George. Wrong. After a few strokes, the cold water started to take my breath away and my feet and hands were numb. 1000m out to the island and back was fine for me this morning.
Next on to the bike for a taste of the course and to test out my bike. Windy and hilly. Yup. Windy and hilly. 19kms around the back of the reservoir and I was warm again. The road was very bumpy. The quality of the paving has much to be desired. Not to mention the 2 cattle guards in that area. Bike is in good shape and ready to go.
A quick change, packed the bike in the vehicle and we were off to drive the bike course. 90kms seems like a long way even when driving it. Once again, windy and hilly. I was most concerned about the climb in Snow Canyon but there are so many other climbs that one is on longer a concern. The scenic views in Snow Canyon will get me through to to the top. Basically, after doing this race, the Challenge Penticton course will seem like a cake walk (even thought it is 1/2 the distance).
Once we completed the bike course, we headed back to Las Vegas. 100 miles return. So in total Tim drove over 250 miles today. I was beat and so was he. This is why I would suggest getting to St. George on Thursday. There is no way you can do all of this on the Friday before the race and feel rested to the actual race.
Back in Vegas we tried a new restaurant in the Summerlin area called Honey Salt. Wonderful food, energetic atmosphere and good service. Until the server brought us the bill before we had finished our meal not even asking if we wanted coffee or dessert. Both of which I would have ordered. That said, I would go back to give them a 2nd chance because the food was really great.
Tomorrow we head to St. George for 2 nights. Plan is to leave Vegas around the same time as today, grab lunch in St. George then head to the 1pm Athlete Meeting. After that, head to Sand Hollow for a quick swim, bike, run then put my bike in transition and had in my run gear bag.
2 more sleeps before race day!
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