Ironman 70.3 Boise - Triathlon1/2 Ironman

i had been waiting around all day to start, and being in the last wave caused me to wait longer. Finally, it was close to my wave, so i put my wetsuit on, and met up with a college friend. as we got into the water and swam 10-15 yards out to where the end of the dock is, i started towards the front-middle. the horn went off, and within seconds i was kicked in the face. . a few seconds later, i caught an arm in the goggles which dislodges them slightly, but i just kept going. the first 25-50 yards was breathing every stroke - facing straight ahead as i tried to get into a rythem and wait for the pack to spread out. i got in my rhythem and ended up swimmming to the outside a bit on the first straightaway. after that, i worked on staying close to the buoys, which were apparently moving, due to the wind. the first straightaway was pretty choppy and had some good sized rolling waves that made me a litle dizzy, but nothing bad, so i was fine. After a while, i noticed i was passing all sorts of people in green and red caps (my wave had white caps), meaning i was passing people in other waves! i felt like i swam strong and this was probably my best swim ever, despite the conditions and swimming over/through/around all the breast and back strokers towards the last 1/4 of the swim.

learn to draft - i have a hard time staying on someones feet.

as i got out of the water, i started to unzip my wetsuit, as i did the longish run up to T1. It was carpeted, so that was nice! And then, the coolest thing ever happened. i got my suit down a little over halfway, and approached the wetsuit strippers - i sat on the ground and in a millisecond, my suit was off! it was so easy!! highly recommended :) I ran down and around the transition racks, and it took me a couple seconds to figure out which rack i was at. i ran to my bike, put my wetsuit, goggles and cap in my T1 bag, put my shoes on, helmet on, grabbed bike and left. it was a pretty long jog through the parking lot to the exit of T1

visualize the swim exit to T1 run, so i don't have to think about it. . perhaps learn the shoes on bike trick, although it probably would have been tough for this race due to the start of the bike

So i hopped on the bike, and there were 3 or 4 speed bumps right away as we went across the dam. i saw someones bottles eject out of their ejecter (aka hydrotail), so i took the bumps slow as to not lose my bottles from my downtube holders. i went fast down the hill, focusing on just getting my grove going and getting moving. after the downhill was an uphill, i was able to shift down, and i think i ate some gu going up the hill. this was probably 10 mins into the bike. the first 10-15 miles of the bike were pretty much passing people constantly, which was tough, because some people were passing me, or trying too, and i needed to pass others. . talk about draft fest! it was impossible not to draft at some points. . i did my best to draft legally, but fall back if i couldn't make the pass.

around mile 12-13 i saw Lieto fly by going the other way. . he had atleast a mile + lead over the next pro!
Next, around mile 15 was the birds of prey hill. this hill leads up to the birds of prey center, hence the name. it was here that we turned from the flat roads, and made our way into the terrential downpour of rain! going up the steep hill, it was raining so hard, my glasses were all fogged and i had so much water on them, that i could barely see. the rain actually hurt when it hit my arms! i felt great up the hills, as i am used to riding hills, so i was flying past all the people i had been playing cat and mouse with during the flats. i got to the top of the hill and grabbed a water bottle that i poured into my aero bottle.
Going down the hill was pretty sketchy - carbon wheels and brakes don't work too well when wet, so i definitly didn't push it down the hill and took the corners easy.

the rain let up and i was cruising strong from miles 20-30ish. i was pushing it, taking in GU and hitting 24-25 mph on the flats. i was feeling awesome! well, around mile 35, we took a turn and ended up going into the wind. . yes, i had had some sort of tail wind to cruise at the speeds i was going. . the head wind just ate me alive. it mentally killed me because i was only going 15-18 mph, but i was pushing it. it was tough! the next 10+ miles were like that, and it wore me down. by mile 50, i just wanted to stop, eat some pizza and go sleep. however, we started getting into town, the rain picked back up and i just held on, trying to get aero as much as i could, but riding up on the bars a lot. I was so happy to get to T2 and get off the blasted bike!

more bike fitness? i feel like i should be able to push faster, but then again, i never do long rides faster then 18.5 mph. . . so i think i should start doing some race simulation rides, and push 20+ for 3 hrs.

Really, it was a good ride, my pace was 1 mph faster then my normal training pass, despite the conditions and headwind.

well, i got into T2 soaked and with numb feet. it was again a long run to get to my T2 bag, but i got there, racked my bike, took off my helmet/shoes, and struggled with my socks. it was tough to get them on with numb toes and wet feet. i put two gu's in my tri shorts and took off.

wiggle my toes around the last few miles of the bike to make sure they aren't numb

keeping cool - haha, lots of rain and lots of puddles. . i kept very cool! started out and actually felt pretty good, but i knew i didn't have it in me to push at a 1/2 marathon race pace. . i knew i wasn't going to be able to push 7 min/miles or below. . so i just cruised and ran what i knew i could do for the whole time. i took water at every aid station, and took gatorade at every other or every 3. i took a GU at 30 mins and another at 1 hr. i really was suprised that i felt pretty good up until about mile 11, and even then, it wasn't because of the run, neccessairly. i definitly felt a lot better then i did mile 8-10 of my last half marathon. . then again, my pace was much slower! i was pretty consistent with my two laps. . first lap was about 51 mins, so second was just a little slower.

well, keep my mental game together and RACE the run, as apposed to finish it. i really feel that that is all i had in me, was to finish the run, i did NOT race it!

went through the finish line and it was a Huge CF! i really can't just stop after a race, i need to walk it off to get my HR down. . so i was a little pissed that i couldn't get out. . i got my hat and medal (cool!) and they put a space blanket on me. . which i took off, because i was hot. .i pushed my way out of the finish and walked around to cool down. my gf had water and a coat for me :). we walked for 5 mins or so, then i went to the food tent and got a soda and sat down for about 10 mins until i could eat.
The best part - we went to taco bell and got food, then i ate taco bell, while soaking my legs in a hot bath tub!! it was amazing :)


not enough bike fitness
first 70.3
nutrition? i got too full on the bike, i felt like but i also felt like i didn't eat enough calories. . needs more work


Ironman branded races are awesome! so organized, so many volunteers, the music and everything was really cool! especially since the finish was in downtown boise, there was a ton of people cheering!