Triathletes tend to be very hard on themselves. After my first half of the season on the road to Chattanooga, it is time to analyze where I am and where I need to go. Moving up to the 50 to 54 year old age group did not get any easier. First there is dealing with moving into the next century and then there is accepting the changes that are occurring to my body.
Going into this race, I felt that I was 4 weeks premature for a 70.3 and if I only had 4 more weeks of training under my belt, I would be ready to complete a half distance with more confidence and ease. My training has not been progressing as well as I had hoped although I knew I could complete each distance alone and Boulder would be a baseline and test of what needs to be done to get ready for my next full Ironman.
This was more then a race or a training weekend, it was a girl's trip to a beautiful destination. I got to share this experience this race with 2 other triathlon buddies. We had been looking forward to our destination race for a long time and it had finally arrived. Three girls, three bikes and a van rolling from Phoenix to Boulder in 2 days. There was a lot of tri talk and race strategy planning that happened during the road trip. We stopped in Albuquerque and got an altitude run in before our second day of travel. The second day of driving got more scenic as we crossed the border into Colorado. It was a reminder of 2 summers I spent in Colorado Springs and Denver and why I fell in love with it. When we arrived in Boulder, we got settled into our room and then decided to drive the bike course. We were in awe of how beautiful it was going to be and how clean the road was and how well marked it was 3 days before the event. We had our elevation graph and turn by turn maps out as we surveyed the level of difficulty and strategies for managing the elevation changes and altitude. After the drive, we hit Pearl Street in downtown Boulder to find some dinner and then turned in.
We woke up on Friday morning anxious to feel the beginning of the course on our bikes since the ride starts with 11 miles of climbing and we could not agree on what hill it was similar to in Arizona. We rode from our hotel to the race venue and back. Then we returned by car to get an open water swim in. The water was perfect. We could only swim in a roped off area. I felt so good in the water, but had to control my enthusiasm and cut it short. We met a very enthusiastic group from Texas who helped us take some photos since we would not be able to get photos on race day as we did not have a sherpa with us. Everyone was so excited and friendly and we were a little slap happy from driving and the altitude. We went back to the room for a rest and then got some lunch and returned to shop at the Ironman Village, pick up our race packets and attend the Athlete's Meeting. We returned to walk around downtown Boulder again to stretch our legs and we had dinner at the Walnut Brewery.
On Saturday, we had to go check our bikes in and the race became very real as the parking lot was filled with triathletes. We thought it was just going to be a quick drop off but we ended up staying for the Pro Panel. It was fun to learn how they train and some of their secrets. Most of them live or train in Boulder, so they were on their home turf.
We got a late lunch and went back to room to eat and rest. I had been struggling a little bit with eating out and having an upset stomach on and off and did not feel like eating a meal later that night, so I just ate a peanut butter sandwich and an In Kind bar and called it a night. We set our alarms and put ourselves on auto pilot.
Alarms go off and we do our best to get to the reservoir early to park and we ended up having to park at the farthest spot away from transition (it maybe does not always pay to be early). Apparently they had a plan to alleviate traffic making the 2 lane road all northbound into reservoir which worked very well and added a nice half mile warm up to transition.
We went through all the morning rituals and most of you know how the story goes....swim, bike and run for the next 7 hours! The swim was the easiest course I have ever done. It was a triangle course with numbered buoys on your right, kayaks and floating barges. Besides the feeling of breathlessness, all you had to do was swim 3 straight lines in very very calm smooth waters. I started all the way to the left and swam toward bouy number one and then along the lines. I don't recall being passed at all and caught up to many of the men who started in the wave ahead of us (it was great they had the older age groups start first). I did feel the altitude on the swim and I was a little concerned that I felt more spent on the first line then usual and that I would have a lot of work to do to swim twice the distance in a full Ironman. I ended up finishing 3rd in my age group with one of my fastest swim times and had an uneventful transition onto the bike even though I had to take my own wetsuit off.
My bike coach gave me a strategy for the bike course and I tried to follow it using my new power meter and focusing on cadence and not going out too fast. The 11 miles of uphill seemed to go by quickly and I only remember bits and pieces after that. I was going fairly steady on the downhill portion, but I was not certain where the hills would begin until it was quite obvious on 2 segments of triple uphill rollers. Every time you turned toward the mountains the wind was apparent. I have to say I was distracted at times by the amazing panoramic views with snow covered peaks. I did slow on the climbs and struggle into the winds, but I thought I was holding my own until mile 50 when I started cramping. This was so frustrating and mentally difficult to overcome as I have been having this issue at mile 50 for the past month regardless of what and when I eat and drink. I was able to keep my legs spinning but the last 5 miles were uphill even though it looked like a downhill and my pace slowed trying to manage the cramps. I was thankful I did not have to stop, but frustrated that I could not pick up the pace on the last portion of the ride except for the last mile. I still ended up with my second fastest time for a half IM bike ride although I got passed by over 30 people in my age group along with all those men I passed in the swim and the young folks who started behind me.
The transition went quickly, but I was cramping badly as I limped out onto the run course. I ran through it hoping they would just subside, but after 2 miles of it, I had enough. I took a dive mentally and felt like I could not bare the pain of running and that I needed to manage the muscle fatigue and cramps. I ended up walking for 30 seconds and running for 30 seconds for the remainder of the 13.1 miles. This added about 30 minutes or so onto my run and mentally had me concerned for how I am going to deal with this on Ironman day on September 29th.
I had already bought my Boulder 70.3 gear and I wanted my medal and that got me through the run along with a few other folks who were doing the same. In 2012, I was so excited that I was able to run my marathon during my Ironman and my motto since had been "Run the Run" and I just did not accomplish that in Boulder. The course was not easy as it was on dirt roads and trails with some hills, uneven surfaces and no shade and the wind had picked up. I enjoyed the breeze and did not think it was too hot, but being at 5000 feet without any cover did a lot of people in.
I was just very happy to cross the finish line and my girls had passed me during the bike and were waiting for me at the end. We swapped stories and chowed down on some post race grub. The good news is that I was not suffering from nausea at the end of the race and was able to eat despite not having much appetite during the race.
I was disappointed but not surprised about how the day went. So this is where I am a little over 14 weeks out from the big day. Of course after the race, I had questioned WTF I am doing out on the course and how I got myself into this mess and retirement from triathlon, but after a good night's rest I woke up planning how I could improve and what I needed to do to get to the start and the finish.I have a TO DO list for the next 100 days.
1. Increase distance on swim, bike and run
2. More brick workouts
3. Continue Interval Training in all 3 sports
4. Add some sport specific weight training
5. Figure out the cause of the cramping which is major limiter
6. Continue working on nutrition
7. Work toward lowering body weight and body fat which is major limiter
8. 2 more races to practice: June Lake Olympic, Mountain Man Half
9. Stretching and treat Achilles pain on right
10. Become mentally stronger to deal with obstacles and pain on race day!
It also helped to spend a day in the Rocky Mountains enjoying nature and dreaming of greatness. We could not leave without a recovery ride the next day and a recovery run back in Albuquerque on our way home.
In the end, the week was a amazing trip filled with fun, friendship, laughter, relaxation, training and recreation in one of the most beautiful places in the world. A triathlete could not ask for a whole lot more. It really did not matter how fast or what place I finished in. I would like to find a higher level of fitness and performance for race day so next time around so I will be the one kicking Ass!
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