Ironman 70.3 Boulder - Triathlon1/2 Ironman

Decent swim, not too much contact. I wandered a bit on the first leg, but not too far off course. Caught wave 6 before the first turn, after that the crowd was spread out enough there weren't too many traffic issues. I fell into good long strokes after that first turn, and finished strong into the beach. The run up to transition felt pretty good, and not too winded from the effort in the water.

More consistent and frequent swim workouts in the last couple of months leading to race day.

Not too disorganized on this one, and I didn't lose as much time as expected deciding to include socks at the last minute. Got to the line and on the bike with no issues.

Not what I was hoping for, but $%@# happens. The ride started out well, good cadence and didn't feel bad except for a twinge in the left quad. That went away, but was replaced by a brand new left knee pain that spoke up whenever I pushed the gears too hard.
I also managed to under-hydtate, leaving over 20 oz. of the last bottle unfinished; the price for this came due during the run.

Drink everything I carry. I still cant figure out how I mismanaged the fluid consumption, other than just being too conservative because I wasn't pushing harder.

Quick and easy, felt decent getting off at the line and back to my spot in transition.
Time includes a trip to the porta-johns at the south side of transition, before heading back to the north run out.
I also paused for a sun-screen-er on the way out, but should have had them re-coat my neck and back. Hindsight...

Void while on the bike? I just don't get how people do that...

This started out well enough. The first mile was a decent-for-me 9:45, the first 4 were ~41 minutes. I put the arm coolers on in the 2nd mile, and did the usual aid station routine of ice in the hat, sips of coke and or water, cold sponges in the jersey and ice water on the sleeves. I was carrying the Nathan pack with a bottle of Heed, but it wasn't going down well so I chucked it by transition after the first lap. During mile 5, by the 'sudden death' canal, I started feeling not so good. It didn't help that this year the canal was full, flowing strong and noisily while the temperature soared. This was also the point where a woman ran by me, slowed to a stop and lost whatever she just had at the last aid station, and my reaction was 'OK, its not just me'.
The spacing of the aid stations was less consistent than prior years as well; that made staying hydrated and cool more of a challenge. On the second loop I saw a couple of guys collapsed under trees by the road, and one taken off in a cart. Mile 8 on there was a small cluster of others cat-and-mousing, so as long as they were in front of me it was time to run. When I got a little bit ahead, I lost focus and broke stride. The running stride felt good while I was doing it, but I could feel myself drying out at the same time. At mile 11 I ignored the volunteers and stood by the water table, soaking every inch and drinking a couple of cups as well - the conversation was "You doing alright buddy?" "Yea, I'm just gonna take liberties with your water here". Also had a footie cramp from mile 9 to the finish, but managed to run almost all the last mile in.

Don't get behind on hydration, its a deal breaker.

Finished, the family took the accessories off my hands so I could get down to the beach and back in the water for a few minutes to cool down my core. refueled, looked for more water but was told they needed every bottle since there was only enough for one per finisher; on my way to the car after I saw two full pallets of H2O, makes you wonder...


under-hydration and knee pain


The last minute announcement about closing 51st and having a shuttle system was a crock on both parts, they apparently had the road open at several time and two tiny buses for way too many spectators. I was lucky my family made it for my finish, apparently many others weren't so fortunate.