Our plan Friday was to go to The Woodlands and meet Allen and Crystal Hutchinson for lunch at the Olive Garden. Allen is here to compete in the Ironman Texas triathlon. Ironman triathlons are grueling endurance contests. The total distance raced is 140.6 miles – 2.4 miles swimming, 112 miles bicycling and a marathon distance 26.2-mile run.

We thought about taking the scooter, but the weather forecast called for a thunderstorm. I could see severe weather to the west of us on the weather radar. It looked like it would hit the area around 2pm. We decided to take an Uber ride 12 miles up the highway to The Woodlands.

The Woodlands is an upscale master planned community 28 miles north of downtown Houston on I-45. It’s heavily forested and its subdivisions and shopping areas are mostly hidden from the main roads by trees. It has an area of about 44 square miles, most of which is land. There’s a lake (Woodlands Lake) and a canal connecting the lake with a smaller body of water called The Woodlands Waterway.

The Uber car dropped us off at the Olive Garden at 12:35pm – we were a few minutes late. I had texted Allen and thought they were in the restaurant waiting for us. Donna and I walked through the restaurant searching for them but didn’t find them. We came back to the lobby and wondered if there was more than one Olive Garden in the area. I sent another message to Allen just as he and Crystal walked in the door. Since I told him we were running late, they had decided to go fill up at a nearby gas station.

We ordered our lunch and talked for over an hour while we dined. Allen eats a very controlled diet before the race. He ordered spaghetti with tomato marinara – he avoids meat the day before a race. This will be his fifth Ironman event. We saw him compete in his first Ironman triathlon in Lake Placid, then we saw him last summer in Couer d’Alene. He also competed in Florida and Louisville.

After lunch, we all rode in Allen’s VW Tiguan as he gave us a tour of the area. There are many high-end shops in The Woodlands – it’s all very upscale. The neighborhoods are home base for many professional athletes from the NFL, MLB and the PGA.

We stopped at the Northshore Park where the Ironman event will start. They begin the 2.4-mile swim heading south along the west side of the lake for nearly a mile. Then they turn around and come back along the east side of the lake.

View of the lake from the starting area – yellow buoys mark the first leg

After they turn around and come back, they enter the canal and continue swimming to the transition area where they switch to bicycles. The canal is lined with shops and restaurants and has walking paths alongside, much like the Riverwalk in San Antonio.

Orange buoys mark the return course up the lake, the yellow boat is at the canal entrance

The bicycle course is one lap and doesn’t offer much opportunity for spectators to cheer on their favorite competitors.

The running portion goes along the canal paths and makes three loops. This will be the best place to see the competitors. The canal is lower than the surrounding terrain and is lined with buildings. There isn’t likely to be much air circulation. The humidity along the canal will be stifling. At that point of the competition, I think Allen will already have nearly seven hours of exertion behind him. The 26- mile run will be brutal.

A thunderstorm hit as Allen was giving us the driving tour. He drove Donna and me back to the Northlake RV Resort and dropped us off. By then the storm had passed, but I was glad we left the scooter in the trailer.

Allen’s wife Crystal posted a few pictures on Facebook this morning. Allen finished the swim a little after 8am after one hour and 16 minutes in the water. I took the liberty of lifting her photos from Facebook.

Allen finishing the swim

Transitioning to the bike

We’ll scooter over to The Woodlands to see Allen finish the bike and transition to run. We plan to hang out until he finishes. I expect a thundershower to pass through at some point, but we’ll manage it.