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Boulder Peak Olympic Tri
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Boulder Peak Olympic Tri - TriathlonOlympic
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 Swim
Comments: As I was standing on the beach waiting for my wave to start, I had to force myself NOT to look at the swim course. It just looks so LONG and it psyches me out or something. I just have to think to myself that I'll be swimming for 30 minutes regardless of what the course looks like. The water was a nice temperature, but very murky. Overall the swim went well, I started near the front and didn't get bumped around too much and didn't have to pass too many people. I think I've typically started too far back and have had to swim over people at my other races. Quickly after the start, I remember hearing ambulance sirens, but I didn't think too much about it. Turns out that someone had a heart attack in the water or something and they brought that person to the shore and were doing CPR. Russell had his binoculars and could see the paramedics administering CPR on the shore. Scary. All in all, the swim went well until the swim exit. Jeez, that boat ramp was the nastiest exit I've seen. Huge chunky sharp rocks, mud, very steep. I felt like I was prancing up the hill on my tip toes trying not to kill my feet. I'm sure I looked like an idiot. I threw my cap and goggles at my husband and spent the rest of the run to transition trying to yank off my wetsuit sleeves that ALWAYS get stuck on my elbows. They had little kiddie pools filled with water for rinsing off your feet, but by the time I got there, they were almost empty and what water was in them was muddy. Oh well, I ran through it anyway. What would you do differently?: Not much. It was a good swim for me.  Transition 1
Comments: A girl who racked on my row had drawn huge green arrows in chalk marking the way to her transition from where you ran in from the swim. How convenient for me! I had no problems finding my bike or taking of my wetsuit the rest of the way. I finally got smart and marked the top of my socks with permanent marker so I wouldn't put my socks on backwards, so I finally had a successful sock experience in transition! Ran out of transition, got on my bike and was off. What would you do differently?: Not much. Someday I need to get tri-specific shoes.  Bike
Comments: The hill up Old Stage Road was brutal, but I'm so glad I rode it before the race and was prepared for the climb. It was hard, but I felt fine and didn't have to stop and walk like many people did. The key to this race is having the proper gearing on your bike. I have a triple chainring and I used every last gear. When I was on the climb, I started hearing ambulances and emergency vehicles coming up behind me. I thought "uh oh." You see, at the pre-race meeting, they said kind of tounge-in-cheek that there would be a paramedic crew waiting for us at the bottom of the hill. Well, apparently a paramedic crew was just not enough for the accident that happened on that hill. When I got to the top of the climb, I heard a spectator say to another spectator that someone had taken the curve at the bottom of the hill wide and had hit and gone under a car coming in the opposite direction. That shocked me. I hit 49 mph going down that hill, so imagine hitting a car going that speed. When I got to the bottom of the hill, people were standing in the middle of the road shouting for us to SLOW DOWN. Well, I slowed down alright. In fact, I slowed down enough to be able to see the person under the car despite all of the emergency vehicles surrounding the accident. Aand I really freaked out. I knew that person was dead - that crash looked unsurvivable. I saw a mangled body shoved under the bumper of some luxury car (Audi maybe) and the body wasn't moving. And it didn't appear that the emergency crew was moving too fast to remove the body. I've since heard that the person was dead upon the arrival of the paramedics, but they revived him and he's in the hospital. So technically, I DID see a dead body, but thank God he lived. That image stayed in my mind the entire race. I was so freaked out that I bawled riding down Left Hand Canyon. Somehow I managed to exceed 35 mph while crying. Not bad, I guess. The rest of the course went well, but I couldn't stop thinking about the accident. It really messed with my head. Bad. At about mile 18, I had to force myself to stop eating and switch to water for drinking. My stomach felt really full and I didn't want to feel sick on the run. What would you do differently?: Not look. Damn that human rubber-necking instinct. Transition 2
Comments: I dismounted my bike just fine and started running to my transition area. Right after I crossed the timing mats, my bike must have hit a bump or something because I kept running and my bike crashed into the grass and equipment at the bike entrance. Oops. So I had to run over, grab my bike and run to my transition area. Don't know what happened. The girl who racked next to me must not have secured her bike when she came in because it had crashed into my area. Nice. So I somehow shoved my bike on top of hers, slammed my feet into my running shoes and was off on the run. What would you do differently?: Not drop my freaking bike!  Run
Comments: This is where my good race went BAD BAD BAD. Mile 1 and 2 were good and I was running about a 9:11 pace. But at mile 3, I just died. My heartrate was at 178 and no matter how slow I ran, I couldn't get it down. I was so hot and was breathing so hard. Every step was torture. I actually had to walk several times, which was so humiliating (but there were a lot of people walking, so I guess I can't feel too bad). Even with walking I couldn't get my HR down, so I figured what the hell, might as well run (well, shuffle would be a better word). I drank at every aid station and poured water down my shirt and over my head, but it didn't help. I kept on telling myself to just put one foot in front of the other, but my legs wouldn't listen! This run was torture. My goal for the race was to come in under 3 hours. At the start of the run, I knew I had it in the bag. But after mile 3, I knew my goal was out the window. I even had to stop in the porta-potty! You know it's bad when that happens. For the last 2 miles, I was running next to a lady who was just running to encourage people. She wasn't in the race. She may have been a relay participant, but on a different leg. She talked me through the rest of the run, yelled encouragement to me and some other people around me. She was my salvation and I thanked her profusely. I was in my own little world of pain, suffering, misery, frustration, sadness of missing my goal by so little, and freaked about the accident. Somehow I was able to kick it in at the end, but my run time was horrid (at least 1 minute per mile slower than my other races), but I guess it could have been worse based on how I felt. I was told I looked very PALE coming into the finish. Hmmm. Not surprising. What would you do differently?: I probably should have done more runs in the heat to be better prepared for this run segment. During the whole run, all I wanted was to rip off all my clothes because I was so hot. I was so jealous of the women running in swimsuits or two piece bikini type tri-suits. If anything, this race motivated me enough to lose more weight so I can get one of those suits and won't feel like a cow racing in a two-piece! Post race
Warm down: I crossed the finish line and those blessed volunteers put an ice-cold towel over my shoulders. Nothing has ever felt so good. I almost passed out while the guy took my timing chip. I don't think he would have appreciated me collapsing on him. I found my husband and my friend, Laura, but could barely walk. I just bent over and started crying. I just couldn't get that accident out of my head and between that and my crappy run and how much pain I was in, I just broke down. Thank God for sunglasses and the big wet towel - I was able to hide my crying fit pretty well. I walked around for a while, drank water and tried to recover a bit. I was so glad RUssell was there because he pretty much propped me up and let me hang on him while I walked. I felt like I should eat something, so I got some food. Um, sorry, but warm cheese-stuffed shells from Olive Garden is about the nastiest thing I could ever think of putting in my mouth after a race where I probably suffered heat exhaustion. I couldn't eat it. So gross. I ate pretzels and a banana. Walked around and found Macdaddy, Cogirl, Alpine87, joeinco, etc. and talked for a while then headed home. Saw some people in the medical tent who looked in pretty bad shape - probably heat exhaustion or dehydration. What limited your ability to perform faster: Emotional trama, heat, not doing enough training runs in the heat. Event comments: This race is very well organized, is very popular and always sells out. Great to see so many BT'ers out there. You all did great! This was my "A" race for the season and unfortunately, it ended up being my worst performance. But I can't dwell on that. It was a learning experience and I will be better prepared for next year. Last updated: 2005-07-25 12:00 AM
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 2005-07-25 12:07 PM |
Extreme Veteran  458   Denver, CO |  Subject: Boulder Peak Olympic Tri |
| 2005-07-25 12:22 PM in reply to: #206421 |
Expert 852 Evergreen, Colorado Bronze member | Subject: RE: Boulder Peak Olympic Tri Well, I know this wasn't exactly the race you had planned, but I think you did a great job and performed really well considering the circumstances To hear ambulance sirens on the swim would be bad enough, but the accident on the bike sounds awful. I was shaken after seeing the woman who crashed at the Danskin, and that was nowhere near as serious as this one. I can't imagine seeing that and having to continue with such a tough race - way to go on pushing through it and finishing the race well. |
Your times on the swim and bike were awesome, and the run looks pretty good considering the heat!| 2005-07-25 12:30 PM in reply to: #206421 |
Pro 4228 Broomfield, Colorado | Subject: RE: Boulder Peak Olympic Tri Great race Stacie, even if you didn't think it was an A grade performance! You still beat Joe You did great, it was SO hot by the time the run started, but you prevailed! |
LOL, I'm gonna get hell for that comment. | 2005-07-25 12:34 PM in reply to: #206446 |
Expert 852 Evergreen, Colorado Bronze member | Subject: RE: Boulder Peak Olympic Tri COgirl - 2005-07-25 10:30 AM You still beat Joe I was going to say that, but resisted in fear of what smack talk I would get from Joe. But now that it's out there, I'd just like to say that it looks like someone has a lot more than 5 seconds to get back at the next showdown |
| 2005-07-25 12:39 PM in reply to: #206421 |
Expert 1836 Lafayette, CO | Subject: RE: Boulder Peak Olympic Tri My hat is off to you - you did great considering that brutal run. Next year I'm sure we'll both do better - but I'll get a chance to race you one more time this year at Fall Frenzy! As for COgirl and Stacers, I haven't seen either of YOU beat me... Edited by joeinco 2005-07-25 12:40 PM |
| 2005-07-25 1:19 PM in reply to: #206421 |
Expert 615 Littleton, CO | Subject: RE: Boulder Peak Olympic Tri Great race Stacie! That run course is every bit as hard as the hill on the bike - it's just the darn heat and that bright gravel. It's absolutely brutal. I think the 10k at Boulder is hearder than the 1/2 mary at Buffalo Springs - at least as far as the heat! I'm glad you brought Russell, it's fun to have him in the mix too! And it's cool he's there to catch you at the finish! Nice of Joe to be soe gracious too |
| 2005-07-25 1:27 PM in reply to: #206457 |
Pro 4228 Broomfield, Colorado | Subject: RE: Boulder Peak Olympic Tri joeinco - 2005-07-25 11:39 AM My hat is off to you - you did great considering that brutal run. Next year I'm sure we'll both do better - but I'll get a chance to race you one more time this year at Fall Frenzy! As for COgirl and Stacers, I haven't seen either of YOU beat me... smack talk king....that is what you are Joe. Just know that you are on my list. |
| 2005-07-25 2:37 PM in reply to: #206421 |
Expert 963 | Subject: RE: Boulder Peak Olympic Tri Not your best performance?? Are you kidding? Is your last name Deboom or Lessing? Based on the other reports I've read, this is one hell of course. On top of that, you actually saw the guy before they took him to the hospital. Don't underestimate the physical toll that emotions can take on the body. You did awesome!! Remember, there are some of us who are still very intimidated by a 1500 meter swim much less the bike and the run that come after it. You kicked a$$ on all 3 of them!! |
| 2005-07-25 3:17 PM in reply to: #206693 |
Official BT Coach 2210 Englewood, CO | Subject: RE: Boulder Peak Olympic Tri Sorry to hear the race was more traumatic than fun! There are other races. Nice job considering the day you experienced! |
| 2005-07-25 6:29 PM in reply to: #206421 |
Master 1927 Chicago | Subject: RE: Boulder Peak Olympic Tri Stace, I'm so proud of you. I'm sitting here with tears in my eyes. This was a very emotional race for me as well. Thank God I didn't see the accident otherwise I wouldn't have made it but the race is traumatic all around. It is not the easiet Oly out there and we both survived. That's a testament to our toughness. And you just kicked ass on the swim and the bike. The run, hey we all have our bad days but your time is wonderful. I'm so proud of you and I"m so glad that you did this race. Next year we'll both be better prepared. Me on the bike you on the run and we'll kick some major butt. |
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United States
5430 Sports
84F / 29C
Sunny
Overall Rank = 795/1408
Age Group = F30-34
Age Group Rank = 60/119
Russell and I stayed at a hotel in Boulder about 5 minutes away from the Boulder Reservoir, so it was nice not to have an hour drive from South Denver to get to the park by 5am. I actually slept like a baby the night before the race. I usually sleep like crap and wake up long before my alarm, but I pretty much slept through the night. Woke up at 4am and started shoving food down my throat: blueberry bagel, cream cheese, banana, orange juice, coffee. I hate to force myself to eat when I'm not even remotely hungry, but that's just part of the game I guess. We packed up the car and were on our way to the reservoir by 4:50. Transition opened at 5am and there was already quite a crowd there. It was still dark at this time. They had generator-powered lights pointed at the transition area, but it didn't really do that much good, especially since I was pretty far back in the rows since I was in wave 9 (they racked us based on start wave).
Got my transition bag and bike out of the car and headed to the transition area, got body marked, and started setting up my transition. I had organized my bag the night before, made sure I had everything, and lo and behold, I get to the race and couldn't find my stupid swim cap. I looked everywhere. So I went back to the car, searched through all of my stuff and still couldn't find it. By this time, the sun had started coming up and I could see my swim cap peeking out of my cycling shoe. Aha! I was a little too organized, I guess. I spent about 30 minutes debating whether to wear my wetsuit or not. The day before, the water was 74, but I heard someone say it had cooled down by 2 degrees overnight. Plus it was overcast and cooler than it had been recently, so I went with the wetsuit. The first wave was supposed to go off at 6:25 and I didn't go off until 7:10, but they closed transition before the first wave start, so I had to get out of there. I hung out on the beach for a while, talked to Erik (Macdaddy), talked to my husband, then got in the water to warm up. They played the Star Spangled Banner and released the doves (that was cool) then started the race - it was about 10 minutes late. My wave was finally up and it was time to go.