Ironman 70.3 Boulder - Triathlon1/2 Ironman

My age group had two waves. I think I was 3rd out of the water in my wave. I drafted behind the other two guys for the entire swim. This was a PR for me!

not much I could do since I had to swim around a lot of folks from the previous waves.

I usually start with my shoes on the bike but decided to just put them on in transition since the rack was very close to the bike out.

nothing, PR'd

Need to figure out how to increase FTP for next year.

run a bit faster through transition.

Ran out of T2 with two bottles of cold water. Dumped the first bottle over my head throughout the first mile. dumped the second bottle over my head from mile 1 - 5. After that things got real difficult. used water, ice and sponges at every aid station, but I would be bone dry within 3 minutes. Last two miles were brutal.

heat acclimate? Not sure, I was hoping to run a 1:45 for this race and was on pace for the first 5 miles. The heat definitely affected me since my HR was at least 10 beats higher than expected.

I got rushed over to the med tent due to nearly falling down from heat exhaustion.


dehydration and heat. I could stand to lose another 10lbs so I could race a 165lbs


TAPER:

I'll start by saying that the taper leading up to this race was probably the worst I've experienced in any race. In the first week of my taper I felt extremely low almost considered hanging up racing after this race. I think I was trying to take on too much in the form of a second job and this caused everything to almost come crumbling down. I definitely need to learn to say no. The second week wasn't much better, but after talking to some of my experienced teammates and coach, they assured me that all would be fine and it's just part of the process. By the final week of my three week taper I started to feel physically ready and I just needed to get get mentally ready. I knew I was physically prepared. I had dropped 20 lbs since racing this race last year and I've trained consistently since then. I just needed something to commit myself to giving everything I had. I posted the following on my facebook page two days before the race in order to "commit" myself to this thing. I was surprised at the outpouring of support I received from my friends and had many of them come out to cheer me on during the race.


Dear Boulder 70.3 race course,

I'm writing this down not to be cocky but so I don't forget why I will do well in this race on Sunday. You may be as hot as Hades. When the pain kicks in and doubt starts to invade my thoughts and tells me it's okay to slow down and settle, I will say...F#@K OFF!, I'm here to win. I welcome the pain and gladly look forward to it!
I am determined to win! I've trained consistently all year, I've biked almost 3200 miles, ran 780 miles, and swam 156 miles all since January. The most memorable training has been when the weather conditions have not been optimal. Many long runs in the deep snow or pouring rain. Many rides in freezing cold temperatures. I've missed very few scheduled training days. I've sacrificed the foods I love (meat and dairy) to lose an additional 20 lbs since doing this race last year... But I did not give up beer! that would make me a bit obsessive and I'm not that.. I'm determined. To win! To win what? certainty not overall, I'm not delusional. My age group? The M40-44 AG in Boulder is probably one of the toughest groups in the country. I'll define winning as giving it my all, leaving nothing out there on the run. If that gets me a Ironman 70.3 world champion slot (roll downs welcome) than this race would be a dream come true for me!

Yours Truly,
Bib number 860

P.S. Please play fair and don't give me a flat tire! If you truly want to test me then save it for the run!


RACE MORNING:

Woke up at 3:50AM without the help of my alarm. Ate a bagel with peanut butter and drank a couple bottles of odwalla fruit juice. I also downed a bottle of pedialite then headed out to the reservoir. Racked my bike and headed down to the beach to warm up. My wave didn't kick off till 7:40 so I had plenty of time to contemplate what I might have forgotten to do ( I hate that feeling)

SWIM:

Made my way up to the front left and waited for air horn to go off. It went off and I swam. The funny thing is, One of my friends (Brian) was telling me a story about how he overheard a coach tell their athlete to sing "row row row your boat" if they panicked on the swim as a way to try and relax. Damn I wish he didn't tell me that.. I couldn't get that damn song out of my head the entire swim. The last two legs of the swim were congested with previous waves so it wasn't optimal but I was able to PR'd the swim. I was 7th in my division and 3rd in my wave.


T1:

Everything went smooth here. Felt like I ran fairly quickly out of the water and no mishaps.


BIKE:

I decided not to have my shoes clipped in since my rack location was very close to the bike out. Started out the first 4 miles just easing into my pace drinking nothing but water and allowing my legs to warm up. Averaged about 18mph. Once I got to 28th and Broadway I picked up the pace pushing the downhill section so as to try and make it over the crest of the next hill without having to work. I used this strategy for most of N Foothills Hwy. Lap 1 and 2 were pretty much the same pace and effort level. I didn't have any pains although I did notice my legs start to twinge a little. Never did they feel tired though. I was concerned that my avg HR seemed a little high. In fact It was right at my LT from last year's test. However my power was right at last years so I figured with my 20lb weight loss that was good. I was only passed a couple of times by guys in my AG and was able to stay with them (5 bike lengths back) and eventually re passed them. The last mile heading back into the reservoir I slowed a bit to open up my diaphragm and spin my legs to prepare for the run. got out of my shoes and made a clean running dismount. Much better than last year's flop.
I consumed about 500 calories from infinite and a banana. I think I could have used another 100-200 calories since I was definitely pushing my HR a little higher.



T2:

Fairly quick run through. Grabbed two ice cold bottles of water from my cooler, also got some sunscreen on my shoulders, wish I got some on my neck because I got burned pretty bad.

Run:

1st lap:

Legs felt good, I think the high cadence spin on the bike definitely helped. Started dousing myself with a bottle over the course of the first mile. I continued this strategy using the second bottle until it ran out about mile 5. I had my first gu at mile 3. Once I ran out of cold water to use I began using the dixie cups at the aid stations. I think this is when I started to slow a bit. The sponges and ice were great but they were drying out way before the next aid station. I was concerned that I was maybe running to fast but I wanted to not be afraid to push it and truly see how fast I could go. I wasn't concerned about finishing anymore or going under 5 hrs. I just wanted to go as hard as I could and figured I'd somehow push through any pain that would come later.

Mile Avg Pace AVG HR
1 7:49 160
2 7:57 159 start of hill
3 8:05 161 end of hill
4 7:41 163
5 8:10 162 both water bottles empty.
6 8:19 163

1st lap Averaged 8 min/mile at 161 bpm

2nd lap

This is where the pain and doubt started to try and creep it's way in. My legs felt dead and my turn over slowed. It took all my mental effort to keep my focus and even though I slowed, My effort remained the same as evident by my HR. I also think I started spending too much time walking through the aid stations but I felt the urgency to cool off and would dump as much water and ice over my head as I could grab. As far as nutrition and salt go, I had a cup of cola at every aid station and a gu at every other. I ate a 250mg salt pill at every mile and had no major issues until about mile 9 when my side started to cramp. I just took another 2 salt pills and the cramping subsided.
As I approached the last mile, I gave it everything I had and gradually built my speed up until I felt like I would pass out. As I crossed the finish line I collapsed to my knees and had to be helped to the medical tent where I laid for about 30 minutes. I felt a little nauseous and my legs were cramping pretty bad.


Mile Avg Pace AVG HR
7 8:41 163
8 9:06 162
9 9:06 163
10 9:41 159
11 9:03 162
12 9:15 158
13 8:38 165
13.22 6:35 176

2nd lap Averaged 9min/mile at 162 bpm

I wonder if I would slowed a bit on the first lap if it might have made a fast 2nd lap. Maybe try and keep my HR around 159? My run LT was tested last year in June and was 162 bpm. I'll have to think about this going into Vegas.

Oh Yeah, I got a spot for Worlds! I'm going to Vegas!