Where food means fuel

The sting of realizing my brain lapse hasn’t quite worn off yet.  With the pain still fresh I’m looking forward to what event I can use as a replacement target race.  There aren’t many requirements that the race needs to meet, but they’re pretty specific: it needs to be a Half Ironman (70.3) distance and it needs to fall some time between Labor Day and Thanksgiving.  Right now I have two options in mind.

I’m definitely keeping an eye out for other options, but for now these two appear to fit the bill best.  The first is the Kerrville Triathlon in Kerrville, TX.  It’s about 2 hours driving from Austin, so that’s a plus.  The registration fee is the lowest of all the 70.3 races I’ve been looking at too.  However, one negative is that the bike course is inexplicably 57.7 miles (instead of the standard 56 miles).  Now, this isn’t an official Ironman-branded event, so they can do whatever they want, but it doesn’t make sense to have the Ironman swim and run distances and then skew the bike course.  The course would technically be 72.0 instead of 70.3.  Kerrville is a little earlier in the Fall on October 2nd, but certainly within reason for me to properly train.

The second option I’m eying is the Ironman 70.3 Miami.  It’s on October 30th, one week after Ironman 70.3 Austin.  Although it would require some travel (which is a nightmare with bikes, so I hear), traveling to a race in Miami offers its benefits over other locations.  For one, I can fly Southwest, which has zero baggage fees, even for bikes.  Secondly, I could stay with the family at least one night of the weekend.  Lastly, it’s an official Ironman-branded event, which simply makes it cooler (at least for me).  There would obviously be the additional cost of flying to Florida and likely getting a hotel room near the race for a night, plus the logistical hassles that go along with travel.

One other less likely contender, also in Miami, is called Miami Man.  For me it loses points on name alone, but it is before Thanksgiving (11/13) and a 70.3 distance.  The registration fee is on par with the other two and seems to be a reasonable choice.  It loses out to the Ironman 70.3 Miami though because it basically identical without the fancy Ironman brand attached to it (travel, date, cost).  It would be like choosing between Coke and grocery-generic if they were the same price.  But it’s still on the outskirts of my radar.

Anyone have any other suggestions for a race?  I’m still reeling from my random act of dumbness and desperately looking for some closure in the form of another race.