Boulder Peak Triathlon - TriathlonOlympic

Lined up about 2 or 3 back from the start, toward the left. Water felt NICE after swimming in the much-colder Aurora Rez for the Dip & Dashes. Tried to relax, but pre-race jitters were in full force. However, as soon as the horn sounded, I got off to a good start. Hung back a little til the first turn so as not to burn out (since this was my first oly, wasn't sure exactly how to pace myself), but I was in a great breathing/sighting rhythm and felt relaxed and energetic. Drafted a little when I could, but most people were going too slow or in erratic directions. After the second turn, I was still feeling awesome and knew this was going to be my strongest event of the day, so I turned up the pace a little to gain as much time as I could without depleting myself for the bike. By this point I was pretty much swimming by myself, passing people in my wave AND the one before. Sweet! Made the last turn and turned up the pace again. My goal was 30:00 for the swim and I was outta the water in 30:23, so I was really happy with that. Best of all, I felt GOOD and could easily have gone further (though I was glad I didn't have to!).

Nothing. Now that I know what I can do for an oly swim, I'll push harder next time. But for this time, my semi-conservative approach was perfect.

Hoofed it up the beach to the transition area, stepped through the baby pools to rinse my feet, and then had to haul to the far side of the transition area to get to my stuff. YEOWCH did that pavement ever hurt my feet. Anyhow, had the usual bit of trouble getting the $#@!in wetsuit off my feet, but then did a fairly quick job of putting on my socks & bike shoes, helmet, sunglasses, and again hauled to the opposite side of the transition area to the bike out.

Still working on the quicker wetsuit removal. I use TriSlide, so it's really just me being uncoordinated.

Started the bike on the almost-ridiculously-conservative side. Cruised along at high cadence, slow speed, trying to save what I could for The Hill. Decided early on that I would take 2 sips of HEED every 2.5 miles and eat 1 Shot Blok and drink water every 4 miles. That worked out perfectly. Got to the beginning of the climb and was quickly out of gears. This is where a triple or compact crank would be useful (even if the triple would be heavier). But, whatever, I had to work with what I had. Chugged my way up the climb in my lowest gear. Passed lots of people who got off to walk. I thought, "Forget that. I came here to RIDE this thing!" So I kept on pedaling, knowing the hill would also be over that much sooner. The people along the course were AWESOME motivation. So fun. Before I knew it, I had reached the top of the steepest part and could relax a little and enjoy the amazing view. Completed the last part of the climb without too much difficulty and started the awesome descent. Enjoyed the hell outta that. Back into the valley, I worked the downhills and flats and took it easy on the uphills. Again, just enjoyed the ride. Til about mile 19ish. By that point my legs were really starting to feel tired and it was hard to keep up a good speed into the wind. Even though I was doing okay keeping cool and well-hydrated on the bike, I knew it was getting HOT out. I was afraid my legs would refuse to move after T2.

Well, clearly I haven't spent as much TITS as I probably should. I also haven't been doing any significant hill climbing since PA. I think the bike itself is a bit of a limiter as well, but unless we hit the lottery, that won't change anytime soon. I was hoping for 1:30 on the bike but knew that was a tad overambitious. Without Old Stage and on a slightly cooler day, I think I could've done a lot better here.

Almost as fast as it gets. I was VERY close to the bike in and run out. Had a little trouble getting my bike into the rack (I discovered later that it had folded a little - up til then I liked these tire racks better than the regular racks I've used in past tris). Switched shoes and swapped helmet for visor quickly. Fumbled a little getting the stupid race belt fastened, then I was off.

Not much.

Okay, so I get going out of transition and holy mackarel, my legs are actually moving! I was tired but my legs were actually willing to run. So, off I went. I had been planning to keep the pace around 10 mins/mile for at least the first half and pick it up after that if I was able to. I don't have a Garmin so I was just running per RPE, and managed to hit the first mile in 9:20, then the second in 9:40 (started walking through the aid stations). Thennnnn the wheels fell off. Just. Too. Hot. The heat is one thing, but the blazing sun with no shade is another. Much as I hated to do it, I knew I was going to have to mix walking in in order to finish (and finishing, regardless of time, was my ultimate goal). Walked the uphills and the aid stations, and walked some other sections when I felt my body temperature and RPE getting too high. I wasn't dehydrated or bonky, as I had done well with hydration and nutrition - just way too hot. Was relieved to hit the turnaround and feel some headwind on the way back. Ran more on the way back than I had on the way out, but kept the pace slow. In the last mile, got passed by a lot of the pros. That was both cool and demoralizing! lol But I kept going. Close to the finish line the crowd was roaring (not for me, for the pros) and I started to get excited about being THISCLOSE to done. I called on my reserves and picked up the pace as little as I could. Approaching the line, the announcer said "We have another amateur finishing now - Laura Newman, who came all the way from Scranton. This is her first olympic tri!" (I registered when we were still living in PA) That was a fun boost! The cold wet finisher's towel felt AWESOME.

Nothing. On a cooler day I could easily have come in under an hour on the run, but there was just nothing else I could do but survive in that heat.

Parked myself in the chair Travis had conveniently located in the shade near the finish line. After a few minutes I decided it would be a good idea to walk around, so we headed to the food tent and then the beer tent to meet up with Snowgirl and other BTers.


Uh, losing a couple weeks of training due to moving here in June, mostly. And the heat.


Awesome race! Beautiful, challenging course. Well organized. Very glad I chose this for my first oly. Had a lot of fun and will definitely do it again.