Ironman Brazil Trip

Thanks to everybody for the many well wishes for my upcoming Ironman Brazil trip. Many of you have asked about the trip details....

The race is on Sunday, May 31st.

I'm traveling to the race with the help of Endurance Sports Travel (EST), a tour group that specializes in travel to triathlons....along with a large group of triathletes from all over the U.S. EST handled our ground arrangements for last year's Ironman S. Africa trip and they did a terrific job.

The trip is long....but not nearly as long as the trips to N. Zealand or S. Africa for the previous Ironman races. I'm heading from Jackson to Charlotte, then on to Miami to hook up with my sister, Lori (from Washington, DC), and parents, Larry and Lee (from Hilton Head Island, SC). Then it's the long overnight flight to Sao Paulo, Brazil where we'll clear customs and connect for a short 1-hour flight to Florianopolis. With any luck, the luggage--especially the gear bag and bike box--will also make the trip!









Florianopolis is a resort island off the southeast coast of Brazil, nearly as far south as Uraguay. We're staying at a new hotel, the Il Campanario Resort, right on the beach, about 1km from the race swim course, transition area, and finish line.




It's May....but May in the Southern Hemisphere is approaching winter. Temps should be in the 70's and humidity should be in the 70% range on race day.


During race week, EST will provide support in a variety of ways:

b At each of 4 hotels, there is daily breakfast and dinner

b Bike mechanical support

b Daily group swim, bike, and run workouts on the course

b Translators!

b Activities for the non-athlete members of the group

b Local transportation


The race course sounds relatively easy. The swim is 2 separate laps (picture swimming in the shape of a capital "M" shape, with a short turn-around on the beach). The swim takes place in the relatively calm waters off Jurere Beach. The bike also has 2 laps along the western side of the island. The course is nearly flat, with only 4 short hills of about 100-150 feet. The run course has 3 laps: a first lap of 21km followed by 2 shorter laps of 10.5km on the same course (with a closer turn-around). The run is also essentially flat, with only 2 hills of ~85 feet during the first lap.

We're planning for a recovery day on Monday following the race and then the trip home on Tuesday, June 2nd. On the return overnight trip, we have stops in Rio de Janeiro, then Miami. And it's back to Jackson on June 3rd.

On race day you can follow my progress at IronmanLive. If the cell signal permits, we'll also provide some race-day Twitter updates. And I'll do my best to provide periodic updates here at the blog.

Looking forward to the trip!