This race was going to be interesting. I knew that going in.
I won a free entry for it thanks to volunteering for an IRONMAN swim safety video - because we all know I probably would have never chosen to race Boulder again because it's terrible - and it's also nice and "cheap" since I can drive to it and don't have travel costs.
Training, as you well know if you follow this here blog, has been sporadic at best. I think I was mentally always waiting for the other shoe to drop and that it was going to be cancelled. Alas, 'twas not to be.
Though I knew I hadn't trained as much as I would have liked (longest ride was 45 miles), I kept reminding myself that I was already ahead of where I was, mileage-wise, for the entirety of 2011 ... a.k.a. the first year I raced a 70.3. That, combined with 10 years of doing long course triathlon, I knew as long as I had the right mindset going in, I'd be able to finish. It might hurt like hell, but I'd finish.
It was also interesting to note that race day (on a Saturday ... what's with all my 70.3s being on Saturdays this year?) was exactly 10 years to the date of my first 70.3 (Boulder) and 5 years to the date of my second full (Boulder). Clearly I like racing on August 7 in Boulder, Colorado. Or something.
Race Day
Breakfast at the house was hard to choke down for whatever reason. I like my usual egg because it doesn't involve a lot of chewing, but my body was just rejecting it. I forced down one of the two that I made.
Although transition opened at 4:30, B and I didn't leave the house in order to get there at 4:30. It closed at 7 and I didn't want to sit there for 3.5 hours just stressing. That being said, we probably rolled into Boulder Res around 5:15am. We got parked and walked over to transition.
I left B just outside and went in to set up my stuff near my bike and pump up my tires. And go to the bathroom.
Sun rising outside of transition.
Then, it was mostly just hanging out outside of transition just waiting. I did see a couple tri friends - George and Sarah - which was nice. I knew a handful of people racing as well as volunteering. I was debating on whether to wear my wetsuit - I had swam without it the day before at check-in - but since the swim *was* wetsuit legal and I know I am faster with it, I decided to go for it.
Eventually, it was time to line up for the swim. I seeded myself in the 46-50 minute group. Like in CdA, I thought it might be optimistic - especially given my lack of swim training, but meh. It's where I wanted to be.
Since I had B, I wore flip-flops up until we were on the grass and then handed them over the fence as soon as I saw him. This and all subsequent photos are courtesy of him, btw.
The Swim:
I danced in the swim corral to stay loose (and ended up making the race recap video as a result ... d'oh) and did a great job of just splashing in and swimming - no bobbing needed.
Swim was mostly uneventful ... except around the second buoy where a few of us got held up thanks to a jet ski in our way that was extracting an athlete. The carbon monoxide fumes from that were delightful.
Other than that, I actually sighted really well, swimming only about an extra 100m than I should have in theory done. I did feel the wetsuit chafe some (le sigh) and I swallowed a crap ton of water, but eh.
There was a huge clog at the exit, but I guess that's to be expected with the way they do the swims now. I saw right around 50 minutes as I got out and was so dang happy.
One funny thing to note - at some point, my Garmin strap came loose - like the band came out of the little thing that holds it from flapping. Well, I noticed it flapping at some point, but since I wasn't going to try to stop and fix it, I just let it be and kept swimming. Well, somehow magically it worked its way back into the thing and stopped flapping. So weird.
Time: 50:17 (64th division, 438th gender, 1247th overall)
T1:
While in these COVID times we didn't have official wetsuit strippers, there was one volunteer (who actually always volunteers up at Boulder and is usually the wetsuit stripper captain) who was offering, so I 100% took him up on his offer. Are you kidding me? I don't want to spend a minute or two fighting with the dang thing; yes please strip it off.
George was actually racked a few bikes down and while he beat me out of the swim, he was still in transition when I got there, so we said hi and exchanged a few words while getting ready to ride.
I took an extra 10 seconds to slather Aquaphor on my neck to hopefully mitigate the chafing disaster later on (and I should have taken a few more to get more of the tiny rocks and sand off my feet but alas), but otherwise, it was nice and efficient as per usual.
Time: 2:58
The Bike:
I saw B as I ran to the mount line and then again after our tiny little out-and-back in the Reservoir, which is how he got this photo:
It me.
And then, it was out the backside of the Res and onto the Diagonal.
I did well eating and drinking on my beeps - drinking my Skratch every five minutes and eating either pickle chicken or Bobo's bar every 10 (rotating in between) - but given how I felt on the run, I probably could have eaten more on the bike.
I also probably should have eaten a lot more in the week leading up to the race, but alas, I failed in that. Even though I really do know better by now.
I was cruising fairly well even on the shitty Diagonal up on to 63rd (with the two best volunteers directing us either straight to the finish or right onto 63rd - those two kids were freaking awesome). Neva/Niwot was crappier than the last time I rode it, but I told myself to just stay within myself and race my own race and just pedal it on out. I did think I saw teeny tiny little turtles on this stretch, so that was awesome.
For most of the first half of the bike, I was going back and forth with two people. After the third or fourth time passing each other, we started joking about it. I'd pass on the climbs and then get passed on the false flat sections.
The Nelson descent was great as usual ... and the St. Vrain climb, while normally shitty, was made shittier by a headwind rolling in (and with that wind, a lot of smoke from California).
I was so happy to get off St. Vrain so I could speed on 36 ... totally forgetting that we had an out-and-back on Hygiene. Had to slow waaaaaay down for that turn ... and then Hygiene happened.
At one point on Hygiene, the road has a crest where you really can't see below it. Right as I came to this crest, I saw a bike bounce. I slammed on my brakes and there was a rider down. Thankfully, there was some sort of volunteer/race staff on the other side of the road that was running over and got there as I stopped. A male rider right behind me was a nurse and ran to assist. I helped yell at people to slow down coming down Hygiene. Another female nurse was there probably within another 30 seconds. The poor athlete down was twitching and making sounds - I guess they hit their head directly (despite the helmet). Once there was another volunteer/cop going up to slow people down, I left and continued on, knowing that there was nothing else I could do to help. I rode the rest of the Hygiene out-and-back with a heavy heart, trying not to cry, and also swearing that this was the last race I'd ever do up in Boulder since the LAST time we raced up in Boulder in 2016, we saw an athlete die as well.
He was gone as I rode back up, but there was blood on the pavement. THANKFULLY, in an update later on in the IM Boulder 70.3 Facebook group, he's going to make a full recovery, mostly in part due to nurses being on the scene right away to help stabilize him.
The rest of the bike was a focus in discipline, with the wind doing its best to make it super demoralizing (and, in typical Colorado fashion, seemingly always as a headwind). Still, I pushed it as much as I could, knowing I could get sub-3:30 which I really kind of wanted. I was getting out of aero to stretch some (oh lack of bike miles, you came to bite me), but mostly just stuck my head down and pedaled.
Time: 3:25:44 (60th, 371st, 1203rd)
T2:
Oh that was the longest walk with my bike back to my spot. And the guy directly in front of me wasn't moving that quickly and there was no space to pass him which made it feel even more interminable. Regardless, I eventually got back to my space, changed out of my cycling stuff, tossed BodyGlide on the feet, changed into running stuff, and headed out of transition, spotting a friend volunteering on the way out.
Time: 3:18
The Run:
I saw B right as I left transition so I jogged over to the fence to say hi and also about the crash since I think I needed to get it out of my system. We talked a bit and he said he'd try to see me on loop two (spoiler: this did not happen).
The run ... oh, I wasn't running much. The smoke by this point was really pretty terrible and the wind was just relentless. I also think I might have blown a few too many matches on the bike since the first few miles of the run were painful. I saw Zach and Sarah on the run early which was nice (Sarah I think finishing and then Zach was done with loop one). I did stop at a porta potty in mile two to change out my tampon (since yes, that had to be a thing again this race). The stretch on 63rd and the left turn onto Monarch were just horribly brutal thanks to the wind.
When we turned around on Monarch, things were a little better. I chatted with a female triathlete as we walked/ran together for a little bit, but I left her after about maybe a half mile? I was able to pick it up a bit before we got back on the dam, but at that point, the wind became demoralizing again.
Zach had passed me again sometime on Monarch, but I caught up with him on the final aid station before the turn/split to the finish.
I also saw tri buddy Aaron at one point - who I didn't know was racing - so that was awesome.
Loop two was also pretty terrible and was mostly about survival. I started taking in chips at most of the aid stations since I was wondering if my problem was lack of food (I did bring my leftover pickle chicken with me and ate that over the course of loop one). My head was hurting and I felt like I could have taken a nap on the side of the course. It might have also been the smoke messing with me - who knows.
With about 3-4 miles to go, I finally decided that okay, you can't run much, but you can run some. So, I counted 20 seconds and then ran for as much as I could - whether it was for a couple steps or a lot more - and that's how I finished out the run. It also helped me focus on something other than how horrible it was out there.
FINALLY almost done.
Finish in sight. Also, no body marking due to COVID, but I did bring a Sharpie with since I wasn't NOT doing my calf smiley. Which everyone loved on the bike.
Time: 3:01:33 (69th, 456th, 1331st)
Overall Stats:
Time: 7:23:49
64/76 F35-39
414/512 gender
1258/1459 overall
Third fastest (second fastest if you take out swim-shortened Santa Cruz) 70.3 I've ever done. Fastest up in Boulder by like 17 minutes (though with a different course each time).
For not really having trained? I will 100% take it.
It also teaches me that I need to get my ass on the bike a lot more between now and Memphis ...
