Boulder Peak Triathlon - TriathlonOlympic

This was probably one of the most competitive swim starts I've ever been in. I just couldn't seem to get around people and there were multiple groups of people swimming 4 or 5 abreast and I was stuck behind them forever. I started too far to the right for my taste, so it took me some time to get over and feel like I was on a decent line. The sun was right in my eyes, and despite my dark-tinted goggles, I couldn't see the bouys to save my life. I was just going on faith by following people and knowing that I can swim in a straight line. This swim seemed like it took forEVER. I could have sworn that it felt more like an IM distance swim! I never felt like I got any clean water in front of me - I was always behind or next to other swimmers. When we started catching people from the prior wave, things got a little interesting. I remember thinking that we were "picking through the shrapnel of the previous wave." As I rounded the last buoy for the last leg to the shore, I started kicking harder to get the blood flowing in my legs again. WHen I got out of the water, I looked at my watch and it had stopped 5 seconds into the swim. Yeah, that's helpful. As I was running up the ramp, my friend Andrea was right next to me. We always have identical swim times, so I asked her what her watch said and it was 27:30. The rest of the time was the run to the top of the hill, through the kiddie pools to wash off our feet, and into transition.

Not sure. This was an average swim for me. Not great, not horrid. On a positive note, I took 1:13 off of my time from last year.

The transition spot for my wave was WAY far away from the swim entrance and bike exit, so most of the time was spent running. I had the 13th fastest T-1 time, and all the times were pretty high, even for the top 3. My timing chip strap looked a little strange when I looked at it, so I took a couple of seconds to fix it. I felt a little disorganized in this transition for some reason.

Not sure. I've had better T-1s that's for sure.

I rode pretty conservatively for the first part of the course that's all uphill, trying to keep my HR under control before the big climb up Old Stage, but I still managed to pass just about everyone. A few super-fast guys passed me. At the bottom of Old Stage, I still had about 3 gears left, so I knew I'd be ok. I had done this hill last weekend with a 23 cassette and it was tough. I put on a 27 cassette and the hill was much more pleasant. Not easy by any means, but easiER than with a 23. Shannon's husband, Ocky was at the top of the hill with other spectators cheering everyone one. He was yelling my name and telling me to go faster, so everyone else started yelling my name. It was very motivating - it was a little taste of what the riders in the Tour must feel like. I didn't mind the speed limit of 35mph on the back side of Old Stage. It was over very quickly. But one of the motorcycle patrol people was driving REALLY slow toward the bottom before we turned onto Lefthand Canyon. Another girl and I had to scream at him to go faster. That was annoying. The rest of the ride went well enough. I did the best I could to take in gels and gatorade and water on the bike.

I took 3:47 off my bike time from last year. Of course, this year I didn't see the crumpled body of a racer under a car either, so I rode a lot better without the trauma of thinking I saw a dead body.

As I approached the dismount line and went to swing my leg over the bike to do my running dismount, my knee got caught on my X-Lab water bottle holder behind my seat. While that has happened in practice, it has never happened in a race. I was too close to the line to try again, so I had to completely stop my bike and dismount. I took a few seconds to put on socks for the run. I am glad I did because my feet were wet the entire run from constantly pouring water over my head a la Floyd Landis. I'm sure I would have nasty blisters if I hadn't worn socks. My blisters tend to get nasty and infected, and since my next race is a half IM distance, I really need to be able to run over the next few weeks.

Lift my leg higher to clear my bottle holder. Duh. But hey, I completely dropped my bike running into transition last year, so it went a LITTLE bit better this time.

This is where my race went to crap, as usual. I went from around top 20 on the swim and bike to barely 50th percentile on the run. Frustrating. The run started out ok, with my first mile around 8:36 but I had major stomach cramps for the first 2 miles. I burped a few times and felt a little better. At mile 4, I felt myself really slow down. Last year, I had to stop and walk (and use the porta-porty too--yeesh), so I was deathly afraid of having that happen again. It didn't happen, but I definitely didn't feel great.

My run has gotten better, but it's still my weakness. I feel like I still have so much work to do on my run. I took 7:07 off of last year's time, so that's a definite improvement.

I actually had an asthma attack after I crossed the finish line (maybe it was the shock from the cold towel the finish line volunteers put over my shoulders!!). Pretty minor, but I haven't had exercise-induced asthma since high school. Let's hope that's not a new trend! Walked around, drank water and gatorade and went to find Shannon in the medical tent. She had fallen on the bike course, was covered in road rash, her poor butt was hanging out of her ripped shorts, and her arm was in a splint with a probably broken wrist (x-rays later confirmed a wrist fracture). I felt so bad for her. No matter how I felt about MY race, hers was worse, that's for sure. Then I just hung out with BT people, ate Chipotle, bagels and Nutella, watermelon, a banana, etc.



My run. Period.

Overall, I took 12 minutes off of last year's race time. Even though I'm not overly enthusiastic about my results, I am happy with that significant improvement.


5430 Sports puts on a great event. From the sky divers, hot air balloons, and dove release before the swim to the great volunteers on the course, to the post-race food and activities, everything is first class.