The Boulder Peak Olympic triathlon is the only other race I'm doing this summer en route to 140.6 in Chattanooga in 67 days. It was a beautiful morning for a race; I wish I had more pictures, but alas, I was trying to focus on the day and not on my blog. (What was I thinking?)
I met up with Kelly, Alisa and Erika in transition, set up, went potty and did my ceremonial jog for about a minute and a half, then suited up and headed down to the water for a warm-up swim. I won't lie, I knew that Beth from Shut Up and Run was going to be there so I was scanning the crowd looking for her. I eventually saw her out on the run course, where she passed me. And again after the race, as she walked barefoot with a plate of food to hang out with her peeps at their Fast Foward tent. I did not talk to her because I'm shy, or I used to be. Anyway, I didn't want to bother her. :-)
The wave that Kelly, Alisa and I were in was 3rd, so we had a nice, early swim start at 7:15. As we were in the water waiting for the horn, Dave, the announcer, who emceed at IM Canada last August, was calling out some remarkable things about some people in our wave. Wouldn't you know that I heard Kelly's name and then my name, announcing that we are training for our first Ironman in Chattanooga. That was pretty cool. There were many others, including a cancer survivor as well as a gal who was teaching her friend how to swim so they could tri together. I love that!
The horn blew and we were off. It took me a few hundred meters to catch my breath and get my rhythm and once I did, I felt great. I counted to 100 from one buoy to the next and they flew by.
Swim Split, (1.5km or about 1 mile): 28:39 (14th in my age group out of 66 finishers, woot woot!).
T1: 3:24 - You'd think I was enjoying a coffee and scone or something. No, unfortunately I got a cramp in my left hip flexor. I was rolling around on the concrete trying to get my wet suit off, stretch out the cramp and put on my socks. I'm sure I was quite a sight. I ran my bike through transition, hopped on my bike and I was off.
The bike course in Boulder is beautiful and due to last year's flooding, the iconic climb on Old Stage Road was taken out of the course this year, which was fine with me. The initial 5-10 miles is flat to a slight ascent and I feel like I ride at a snail's pace, as the whole field seems to fly by me. I finally found my groove between 10 and 15 miles and was having a great time. I was aero a lot and was managing some good speed, somewhere around 20 mile per hour or so. I was also practicing my fueling and was eating a bite of Bonk Breaker or taking a gel every 30 minutes and drinking along the way. I was feeling pretty good when I hit the reservoir for T2.
Bike Split (26.04 miles): 1:27:34 Average speed 17.8 mph
T2: 1:29 - Slower than usual for me. For some strange reason I always feel like I need to "straighten up a bit" before I run, like people will care that my stuff is all over the place.
By the time I started my run, it was getting a little warm and the sun was baking down. I felt really slow but my splits were encouraging, even though I walked through all the aid stations and took 2 gels along the way (and yes, 10:00-11:00 minute miles are "fast" for me):
Mile 1: 10:12
Mile 2: 10:35
Mile 3: 11:19
Mile 4: 11:04
Mile 5: 11:10
Mile 6: 10:12 - A big thanks to the guy cheering who told me to "turn over my feet faster and keep up with the woman in front of me",
because I did just that!
Last 0.2: 1:43
Run Split (10k or 6.2 miles): 1:06:16 Average pace 10:41
Total race time: 3:07:24
36/66 in my age group. Right in the middle, where I seem to be very comfortable. At least I'm consistent year to year. :-)
We did it! Alisa, Erika, Kelly and I
Next up for these two: IRONMAN CHATTANOOGA (my legs went a little numb as I just typed this; I'm not going to lie.)
Suns Out, Guns Out
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