Ironman 70.3 Boulder (formerly 5430) - Triathlon1/2 Ironman

I'm a terrible swimmer; and not wanting to kick to preserve my ankles, I knew going into it that I was going to be really slow. I went with my old standby of starting way off to the back and side. Unfortunately, I ended up next to a (faster) swimmer who couldn't sight at all who kept crossing in front of me, which threw me off a bit.

Not much, I'm happy enough with getting through the swim

My terrible transition time was mostly due to getting into my stupid ankle braces.

I might pee in the water instead of during transition, but I'm still kind of squeamish about swimming in a wetsuit full of pee. You'd think I'd be over that by now.

I really enjoyed the bike.

At first I was really discouraged; being in the 3rd to last wave, it felt like everyone was already on their 2nd lap when I was one my first. I was a bit worried I'd be the only one left on the course; especially since I was one of the last 15 people out of the swim transition.

But then I hit lap two and realized that I wasn't alone and felt much better (I know; silly). I did hit a wall at about mile 50 and ended up pulling back a little to recover, but overall I'm really happy with my bike.

I wouldn't go rock climbing the day before; I thought I'd be using completely different muscle and it'd be fine, but boy was I wrong! Every time I got into the drops my body would scream bloody murder at me.

I will admit that I stalled a bit. The temps had already reached 95 degrees, and the wind had begun gusting, and I knew this was going to be terrible.

I would have re-applied my sunscreen! oops.

I went into this knowing it was going to be terrible, and I did better than I thought I would, but still, while I was out there I kept hoping I would do even better (if that makes sense?)

Having only been given the go-ahead to resume running by my physical therapist 2 weeks ago, I knew I was completely unprepared for this leg and was just hoping for a finish. I ended up walking the aid stations and a few hills between, running more than I thought I could.

I didn't have too hard of a time staying cool, thanks to all the ice I dumped down my top at every aid station and the sponge I kept in my visor. It did make me sound like a martini shaker every time I ran, but at least I felt okay. The wind was the bigger issue, and I felt like it was going to throw me off the dam at times!

I spent most of my time staring at the ground so I wouldn't sprain either ankle again, which made for an incredibly boring run, but oh well.

Aside from not spraining my ankles repeatedly; there wasn't a lot I could have done.

walked around a bit, then tried to get food but they ran out! We went out to Snarfs before I had a complete breakdown.


Inability to train; the crazy heat and wind!


While I really enjoyed this race, I think I might go back to the Harvest Moon if I do another 70.3 distance. The bike was beautiful, but the heat of August was just a bit too much for me. Especially being in the third to last wave to take off (I guess at least I wasn't last)

Also, I about had a mental meltdown when I got to the food tent and they had "run out" of everything except fruit.

It was a great course though! If it took place later in the year I would consider it again.