Ironman 70.3 Boise - Triathlon1/2 Ironman

My plan was to start to the rear and to the far outside so I could swim my own swim without having to worry about the washing machine effect at the beginning of the swim. I was able to get to a position where I felt comfortable right before the start. I felt very comfortable at the start of the swim as I did not start to hard and felt like my stroke was pretty strong. I sighted well throughout the swim and could not have been happier with this swim. I had a plan and was able to stick with it through the entire swim. I was happy that everything was going well so far and felt great coming out of the water. The swim was absolutely beautiful and not as cold as I was expecting.

Nothing

It was a fairly long run from the swim to T1 and I decided to bypass the wetsuit strippers as I am used to removing my own wetsuit. I got to my bike and had a little difficulty in taking my left leg out of my wetsuit. I was ultimately able to get it off and felt strong going into the bike.

Probably get some assistance from the wetsuit strippers.

Well where do I begin... The weather was absolutely great with no wind up until the start of the swim. Upon exiting the water from the swim I immediately felt that the wind picked up and was hoping that it would not affect the bike too much. Ummmm....I could not have been more wrong. The first mile or so of the bike is a fast downhill coming from Lucky Peak which is immediately followed by a climb for the next couple of miles which was directly into a strong headwind. The first 15 to 20 miles went fairly well for me given the strong headwinds that we were facing. My nutrition seemed to be going well and I still felt pretty good. After about mile 20, the strong headwind started taking its toll and I was not expecting as many climbs as there were throughout the bike course. It seemed no matter which way we turned we were heading directly into the wind and seemed to very rarely get a breark from the wind. At the turnaround point we had a tailwind for a couple of miles which helped a little, but was soon overcome by strong headwinds again. I knew that I was pushing too hard on the bike and at about mile 40 started cramping in both of my legs. Right at about this time I realized that my goal bike time of 2:45 to 3:00 and my final goal time were not gonna happen. Needless to say from mile 40 until mile 56 were absolutely miserable for me. We continued to fight the headwind and my cramps kept getting worse and worse. I just kept pushing through and was looking forward to getting off the bike. The last 6 miles seemed like an eternity and I have never been so happy to see T2 in my life. I was finally done with this miserable bike ride which took me about 30 minutes longer than I was expecting, which under the circumstances could have been worse.

Do to the location of my house, I almost always ride hills (Well I guess I should say I'm kind of forced to ride hills), however the hills combined with the wind really took a toll on my legs and I was forced to push harder than I wanted. I guess I just need to ride more.

I have never been so happy to be off the bike and was definately looking forward to starting the run. As I dismounted my bike, both legs immediately started cramping causing me to barely be able to walk. I took a couple of steps toward the "Run Out" and was forced to stop do to the worse cramps I have ever felt in my entire life. I wanted to lay down, maybe cry a little and say F the rest of this race, but instead I decided to stop and stretch and again tried to start running. My cramps never went away and was causing extreme pain. I mean cramps like I have never felt before. I finally made it out of T2 and was trying tell myself that I was somehow going to run / walk / crawl the next 13.1 miles even if it killed me. My cardio was great I was not spent or too tired, however my legs were not following.

NOT HAVE CRAMPS..........

I can start off by saying that my goal of 1:50 to 2:00 was definately not going to happen given the condition of my legs. I spent the first mile or so contemplating jumping in front of a car because my cramps were so bad. Both calfs, quads and hamstrings were cramping at different times. If I tried to stretch my calfs, my quads would cramp and vise versa. I kept telling myself that I just needed to keep putting one foot in front of the other and that I would eventually make it (Maybe not in the time that I wanted, but I would eventually make it). At the first aid station I ate a couple of bananas which helped a little bit (Now I mean a tiny bit), which made me feel at least like I could walk again without looking like a robot. For the next 6 and half miles (First lap) I pretty much walked a minute and ran a minute, walked a minute and then ran a minute. This seemed to work well at the time, as walking that minute allowed my cramps to stretch out enough for the next minute of running. I was having a hard time because my cardio was great and I wanted to run, but my legs were doing everything they could to stop me. I finally made the turn around, which is directly next to the finishers chute and saw people finishing. That plays games with your head when you see people finishing the race and you still have 6 and a half more miles to go. As I was making the turn for my second lap, I saw my family which gave me a boost of energy (Didn't help with the cramps though). I was still dealing with terrible cramps and just told myself to suck it up and that I only had about 6.5 miles to go. I ran / walked the remainder of the course and met some really cool people along the way. As I came under the bridge and was finally able to see the last quarter mile or so to the finishers chute, I felt a surge of energy and told myself I don't care how bad my legs hurt that I was going to run through the final chute. I again started running and heard the awesome crowd cheering for people as they ran the down the finsihers chute. It was an amazing feeling to finally have crossed the finish line after the pain I had been feeling in my legs since about mile 40 on the bike. While it took me about an hour longer to finish than what I had expected / hoped, I was so happy to finish I didn't even care. I definately learned alot and can't wait to do it all over again.

The run has been a strong point for me so when I was unable to run the entire route, I felt a little discouraged. This however taught me how important bike fitness is and I look forward to pushing myself even hard the next time.

As I crossed the finish line I got my finishers medal and was immediately met by the photographer who took my picture. I was given a space blanket and wanted nothing more than to sit down and stretch. I found a place to stretch and was met by my family who has been so encouraging throughout this whole thing, from the training to the race. After strectching we got my bike and gear and went for a steak dinner. It was great.


CRAMPING


This race is absolutely awesome. The city of Boise is top notch with wonderful people who lined the streets to cheer us on. The volunteers for this race were great and very very helpful. I definately recommend this race to anyone out there and look forward to doing it again next year.