Any chance for an update, Ray? How are you doing, and how's off-season?
I have a club member that just qualified for the world championship 70.3 in... Chattanoga! So if you know the course and stuff, and feel like sharing...
Feeling better. Still have some inflammation in my chest which is stopping me from running and swimming, but I can cycle without any restrictions. I haven't been putting myself on the most challenging rides in terms of elevation of late, but have been working on upping my speed. My base ride is about 20 miles (32K) and I make sure that at a minimum I average 20 miles per hour. That ride has a little over 500 feet (150 meters) of climbing. I do that at least 3 times a week. Then I'll add another ride in with triple the elevation over the same distance. And another ride that's 2+ hours and in the middle in elevation terms.
Had my fasted ride to date ever yesterday. 21.5mph (34.6K) over the course of 26 miles (42K), and about 600 feet of climbing I think (180 ish meters).
That's awesome! My wife and I plan on volunteering for that race, actually. Definitely would be happy to share. I'm a few beers deep at the moment, so I can expand later if you have any other specific questions. It's a fun course though. It's almost always a downstream swim, except of course when I did the full there.... The bike course is scenic, at least by my standards. Should be about 2100 feet of climbing (640 meters). Nothing too difficult at any point, though, just a lot of rolling hills. There was really only one really long climb in distance, but nothing that really gasses your legs.
The run however is pretty hilly and difficult, although if he's done a full it shouldn't be anything too awful. Not the most scenic run, but pretty good support from the locals. At least for the full there was.
Does he know where he is staying yet? Or flying into? He might be better off flying into Atlanta, and then driving from there. He's going to have a connection in Atlanta most likely anyway, and for an out of towner I'd say it's about a 2 hour drive from Atlanta. Chattanooga is a nice little town, although the only reason I'm ever going to go there is if it's for a race.