Close Connections in a MR

[pilot]

Hi all. I've been reading and researching MRs for a few weeks now, and yesterday I booked my first trip solely for the purpose of earning EQM (vs. short vacation).

Here are the details: traveling on CO, LGA-IAH-LAX-IAH-LGA for $231, 4.1 cpm, 5590 EQM, all in a single day (~18 hours midweek), so no hotel needed.

Here's the issue: three close connections - the first two are one-hour long, and the third is one hour and 20 minutes.

I'm not overly concerned about the first connection at IAH. LGA-IAH is early in the day and the stats show 80% on-time. However, the second leg, IAH-LAX, shows only 60% on-time. Missing my third flight, LAX-IAH, would of course make me miss the final IAH-LGA leg. Usually I am unconcerned about missed connections, because usually the worst that happens is that I take a later flight. However, in this case, missing any connection will have a domino effect.

What are folks' experiences with close connections on MRs, good and bad? Just want to have an idea of what to expect (forewarned is forearmed).

Thanks,

pc