One week to go for Ironman Boulder. Three years ago here in Boulder I finished sixth in my age group. The podium at an ironman is the top five people. Granted, I was twenty-three minutes from fifth. Still, for someone like myself, being one spot off the podium was a big deal. Until that day, I never even truly considered that I might get an age group award at an ironman. And so, my podium dream began. The last couple of years found me focused on work, and I wasn't competitive at all in the last couple of ironman's that I've done. While I wanted to acquit myself well at Kona this year, once I quit my job, the idea of preparing myself to be competitive in my new age group began to take shape.
As a kid, I had asthma. Whatever the sport, I wasn't very competitive. I was usually the kid picked last if they were picking teams. When I began doing triathlons over twenty five years ago, I usually was in the bottom half of my age group. As I got older, there was a period of time that I became more competitive in local triathlons. I even won my age group on a couple of occasions. But ironman has been another story.
For me, being competitive has always been about me. Can I improve on my time? Can I give it everything that I have? I do enjoy competing. It's usually against myself. It's usually about giving it 100%. I've alway considered it a successful race if I cross the finish line completely spent of energy, with nothing more left in the tank.
An Ironman race is a big deal. Competitors from all over the country are competing. There are some seriously talented people racing. Granted, there are fewer competitors in the 60-64 age group, but there's a reason for that. Maintaining fitness and speed at sixty years of age is a big deal. I'm truly excited after the last couple of years to regain a level of fitness and competitiveness that might give me the opportunity to end up on an Ironman podium.
With one week to go, I'm feeling pretty good. My swim fitness is as good as it's been in years, in some ways maybe even the best that its been. I'm curious to see what my swim time is and how I feel getting out of the water. I've done a many long bike rides as I've ever done prior to an Ironman, and my power seems to be close to where it was a few years ago. While I'm running slower than I have been in the past, I did do a 100 miler at the beginning of the year. I've rarely run to my potential in the past, and my training run pace has never really mattered when it came down to race day.
There are definitely four or five people in my age group who are better than me, on paper. Will they all perform to their capabilities on race day? Does my training and fitness put me in a position to compete with them? I think so. Either way, the only thing that I can do is to take care of myself. I'm the only one that I can control in one week. Where I slot in with the others isn't something that I control. Still, I continue to dream. One week to go.
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