I am not going to lie, I had huge training expectations following the St. George 70.3 to break 6 hours for this race. Finishing SG in 6:03:17, and having a good spring/summer improving my running, I said I could find 3:18 to shave off somewhere, so I was gung-ho! But as the summer went on, life and family took over, and I never really felt as physically or mentally prepared going into Boulder this past Sunday. I just simply did not get enough actual training days in. I'd say during the final week, a few extra bike sessions at least got me psyched-up and calmed my nerves a bit, but in the end, I just didn't have that same 'attitude' as St. George...
That is until I decided, race day morning, to seed myself in the 34:00-36:00 minute swim corral. I did St. George in 35:05, so why not try again?? This was the 3rd non-pro wave, so I figured I'd rather try to keep up with fast swimmers than zig-zagging through a slower wave. Problem with time waves rather than age waves is that everyone swims with the same ability and it stays pretty bunched. I took some pretty good head, face, gut, and crotch shots on occasion, especially around turns 1 and 2, but we all kept our lines well enough. By turn 3 heading to shore, it was more spread out and I could tell everyone else was picking up the pace, so I went for it too, finishing in 33:35.
I of course had no idea of this swim time, but as I ran into Transition 1 and there was almost no one there (i.e., they were all still in the water), I assumed I had done good enough on the swim, relaxed a bit, and had plenty of space (sans chaos) to get ready for the bike . This time, the socks went on without a hitch (thanks pre-roll), but the stupid arm sleeve coolers would NOT go up over wet arms. Because of this, I felt my T1 performance was pure shit...again... So I took this more-than-moderate anger and put it directly into the bike.
The bike course immediately started with rolling hills, so right away, my heart rate was all over the damn place, not to mention my breathing. I finally calmed down and settled into the first 10 miles of climbs and some good descents. It was around mile 10 that I realized my odometer, although started on time, was not reset following my last training ride, so the mileage and ride time were basically random values and I couldn't gauge anything. I started to get an idea (via bad math) how I was doing, but I just focused on my MPH reading and tried to stay above 18-19 mph which would give me a 3 hour ride time and help chip-away at those 3 minute 18 seconds. After the hilly portion, it was basically a flat course with sections of rollers and false-flats (notorious in Boulder) between miles 25-40. And there seemed to be a constant light head wind in every direction (typical Boulder). I stayed in my aero bar position at least 80% of the entire ride, which allowed me to clip along well-above 22-23 mph most of the time, but I still had no clue what my actual ride time was. By the end, my gluts and hamstrings were starting to fatigue pretty fast. A flatter course means 56 miles of all pedaling with almost no downhill or coasting time to refresh or stretch out. But I felt good. My nutrition of Honey Stinger Gels and half a Cool Mint Clif Bar kept my blood sugar nice and controlled, and I actually felt OK rolling into T2.
My transition location was immediately in front of the bike dismount line, so I was into my run gear pretty quickly. And unlike St. George, I did NOT take a 3 minute pee break on my way out of T2, so again, I was thinking of the minutes I was gaining on my 6 hour goal.
As usual during the first 20 minutes off the bike, my whole body felt like Jello, but assumed it would pass. It did not. It was already pretty warm outside and there was no shade...anywhere. I started cursing to myself all the reasons I hate running around the Boulder Reservoir; it really does suck! Not to mention uneven terrain and rocks the size of baseballs covering a good amount of the course. My first 6.5 mile lap seemed to take forever and my feet hurt...like joint pain. So mentally I was breaking down. I came through lap 1 and noticed the cumulative race time (from the male pro start) was 4:38-ish. Doing more bad math, I knew I had my sub-6 hours in the bag which gave me a mental boost for sure, but lap 2 was just sheer exhaustion. I tried to pick up the pace, but could not. I even walked a helluva lot more in addition to walking every water stop. But those small 15-20 second walks kept the fatigue at bay just enough to finish strong in the final mile. I did a negative run split and was 4 minutes slower than in St. George which was kind of disappointing. SG's run course was sooooooo much more hilly, and it followed a much hillier bike course. So why was Boulder a harder race...???
I later found out I knocked 24 minutes off my bike time, so of course I didn't have the same steam for a solid run. I never though I'd ever break 3 hours on the bike, with my non-Tri bike and all, but today my original, 'pre-triathlon-era', endurance hobby came through and hurdled me to a 5:36:54 finish and a +27 minute PR!
So what started off as a 'blah' summer of training leading to less-than-enthusiastic race expectations, turned into the pinnacle of my triathlon experiences. As from all races, I learned a TON about what's continuing to work for me, and more importantly, what's not and needs some adjustment.
Ironman 140.6 Coeur d' Alene is next June and will be here before I know it, so January-February starts the 'real-deal' training. Until then, I am taking some down-time to just keep a fun and healthy base with my run club, do more Rocky Mountain hill cycling with Stacey, maybe do another 14-er before summer's over, and try to get back into strength training which will be necessary for the 140.6 training. I plan to slowly build my average swim distances to 2500-2800 over the next 4 months and it's probably time I pull the trigger on that indoor bike trainer ;)
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