I have written about several race preparation items already this week. Another thing I always do to prepare is to review the course in detail.  Now that the Athlete Guide for Ironman 70.3 Chattanooga has been published, I can do that.

Even though I have raced at Chattanooga a couple of time before, I still reviewed the courses in detail.  I was not only looking at the route, but also checking for things like the location of aid stations.

The first thing I noticed, was confirmation that the swim course has changed.  The swim starts on a different side of the river than before and is all downstream now.  This change also results in the swim being a little long at 1.4 miles.  With assistance from the current however, the time of the swim will not be much different to most 70.3 events.

The bike and the run courses are the same as the last time I did this race.  Even the locations of all the aid stations are unchanged.  That doesn’t mean that there won’t be some differences.  For example, the aid stations on the run will be totally self serve, due to Covid protocols.

Actually the biggest difference this time around, will be all the Covid protocols.  Lots of mask wearing, allocated times for check-in and bike check-in.  No wetsuit strippers (assuming it is a wetsuit legal swim) and plenty of social distancing.

The publication of the Athlete Guide, which triggers me to review the course, is always an exciting time.  It means that my race is getting close.