Ironman 70.3 Boise - Triathlon1/2 Ironman

The water was absolutely freezing. I felt like my wetsuit was a little tighter than I'd like this year due to me weighing more than last year. The gun went off and I took off at a nice pace for 30 seconds or so. Once I got clear of the bodies I started swimming at my race pace. I felt like my arms were very constricted in the wetsuit and the lack of a warm up really affects my stroke I think. After the first few hundred yards I settled into a draft off someone and tried to follow them as much as I could. Eventually we started passing the previous waves. Luckily I didn't have too much trouble until the very end with the congestion. My arms felt really tired and I was worried I was having a really bad swim, but when I stood up the clock said 28:45, so I guess it wasn't as bad as I thought.

The water was so cold when I got out I was a little delirious so I decided to walk the transition and try to clear my head a little. The transition was fairly long and the beginning was a pretty steep uphill for quite a ways. I got the top off and pulled the bottoms down to my waist, let a stripper yank it off and I was on to my bike. I put my suit into my bag, put on the helmet/number and grabbed the bike and ran to the mount line. I had my shoes on the bike already and I was still a bit dizzy from the swim so it took 2 tries to mount the bike properly but I got on.

Started off pedaling very easy across the dam, trying to get my bearings still. Once we turned onto 21 heading downhill I just started pedaling pretty easy, flying by people downhill. I was trying to take the first 5-10 miles easy and I kept the effort down pretty well. I was still cruising along passing a lot of people. When we hit the long uphill I spun into my easy gears and just tried to keep the effort level down. Climbed the hill without pushing too hard and then started flying down the other side towards Micron. I was feeling really good and still not pushing too hard. Turning down micron and all the way through Eisenman I was blowing by people. I had some of my perpetuum and a bag of shot blocks for nutrition to this point. Heading back down Gowen I was mowing bikers down like they were standing still. I was very pleased at how my bike was going. Continued to keep my effort level down until the big climb on Pleasant Valley. Spun into my easy gear and slowly made my way up the hill. I did a good job of not pushing up the hill and once I got to the top took advantage of the downhills. I was still really moving to the turn around on 10 mile creek. Once we turned around I think there was a slight headwind but my computer started acting up so I'm not sure how my speed was. I think I averaged 20.5 to the 10 mile creek turn around. Right around the 30 mile mark my back just started seizing up on me. I couldn't stay in the aero position at all anymore. I'm not sure why this happened but it would plague me the rest of the race. I just tried to keep pedaling. Looking at my computer I thought I was going incredibly slow until I noticed at the 40 mile sign my computer only said 38 miles so it was definitely not reading right. This cheered me up a lot and I tried to get back into aero but could only hold it for maybe a mile. Once we got onto war springs past lucky 13 I was finally able to get back into my aero position and really started to pick up some more speed. I was still trying to keep my effort level down. Once we hit Capital and I could see T2 I got very excited. Saw my time was just under 2:50, right where I wanted it. I had 2 more bags of shot blocks and chugged some more of my perpetuum. I think I got around 900 calories in total and had 2 water bottles that I also refilled from the aid stations. I felt like my nutrition was good.

My feet were semi raw from all of the barefoot walking before the race so I kept my shoes on. Ran to my spot, racked my bike, sat down put some body glide on the bottom of my feet and threw some socks on. Put the shoes on and ran out, a solid transition I think.

Where to begin.I could tell right away my back was causing me problems. I made it ~.5 mile before I had to walk. My back was incredibly tight for some reason and every time I tried to run it got unbearable. I tried to run/walk as fast as I could manage but the first mile went by in 10:10 and I knew it was going to be an awful run. I couldn't stay running for more than a minute or two for the first 3 miles or so. Mike caught up to me and I tried to hang onto him and this was probably the longest run I managed. I think I managed to run for about 3/4 of a mile. I was in so much pain from my back though I was just trying to keep moving forward. Mike eventually dropped me and I was dying the whole way. Right before the end of the first lap Keith caught up to me and he was in as much pain as I was and dragged me along with him for 2-3 miles. We were trying to run and speed walk as much as we could. Then he dropped me. Right around mile 9 I went into the despair zone. I could barely lift my feet to shuffle run and I was not looking forward to the next 4 miles at all. I had been hoping to go well under 6 and I knew that was out the window. Then I was just hoping to beat my last time and I knew that was probably not going to happen. I death marched until about mile 12 when 2 guys managed to get me running with them. We ran for 3 minutes then walked for a minute. Did this 2 times then all 3 of us ran it into the finish. I finished 5 minutes slower than last time, which is amazing considering I couldn't run at all. Got my medal and hat and went to talk to the family.

My back was in so much pain, I just wanted to go home. Grabbed all of my transition bags and left.


I'm not sure why my back seized up on me like that. I noticed it a little in the swim, and then on the bike it just became excruciating. I couldn't run at all really because of it and it really destroyed my racing ability.


This is really a great race/course. I couldn't ask for a better one. It would be nice to be able to put together a solid race here for once. Maybe next time.