I had done my first ironman in St. George, Utah in 2010. I finished IM St. George all three years it was in existence, and had planned to continue to do it every year. When IM Boulder came about, I thought of being one of those people who did the race every year, an actually did the race its first four years. Life got in the way in the fifth year of the race, and it really wasn’t a reasonable expectation for me to do the race last year. I had already done my requisite 12 IM races to get a Legacy spot, and I had completed my one “placeholder” race, on very limited training, which was not a pleasant experience. If I’d added Boulder, it would have only been to punish myself. There really wasn’t a purpose that made sense. This year is my year to do Kona, and I’d already signed up for the Santa Rosa 70.3 as my Legacy “validation” for the year. But something was nagging at me. I loved the Boulder Ironman, and really wanted to try the new course. I also am in a new age group, and really wanted to see how I might fare. Three years ago, my 6th place AG finishing time would have won the 60-64 AG. So, after quitting my job in November and devoting my year to training for Kona, I added on IM Boulder. And, so, here I am.
I’ll always remember the excitement of my first ironman. Now, I just enjoy the experience leading up to the race and really endeavor to chill and enjoy the entire day. I’ve got my routine down pretty well after completing 13 IM’s. The night before the race, I’m usually in bed by 7 pm, trying to actually get close to 8 hours of sleep. It’s remarkable how well I’m now able to do this. Having focused for a couple of days on keeping my carbohydrate stores up and my hydration intact without overdoing it, I continue to sip and nibble the night before the race. Yams are aways a friendly food, and I’ve been eating gluten free pancakes from Buff’s, the restaurant across the street from my hotel, most days. My wife is with me this year, for the first time in many years. I know that she’s not going to bed at 8pm, which is when I finally laid down, but I don’t mind her keeping a light on. I go through my bedtime race visualization that always manages to help me sleep. Tonight, I go through a few race visualizations before I fall asleep.
While I’ve set my alarm for 3:15, I’m up at 3 am and go about my typical pre-race routine. I eat yams and chocolate pudding from Whole foods (non-dairy) before putting on my race outfit. I wear my new Garneau LGneer Triathlon Suit. I put on Aloe Gator sunscreen, which I’ve learned will stay on all day, gathered my special needs bags and decide to walk the one mile to Boulder High School and then a bus to the Boulder Reservoir. I’m dressed warm, as one of the things I’ve learned over the years is not to expend any unnecessary excess energy prior to the start of the race. I quietly enjoy the ride on the bus and make my way to my bike, where I load up my drinks and do one last check before using the port-a-potty. At this point, I’ve done this so many times before, it’s really about enjoying the moment and the experience. Putting on my wetsuit, I remember to put vaseline in strategic spots.
My swim training has gone swimmingly well. Multiple days of 4-5000 yards has gotten me more “swim ready” than I’ve ever been prior to an ironman. I’m confident that if I focus on my form and swim confidently, that a 1:10 Ironman swim is a reasonable expectation. With that in mind, I decided to get in the back of the 1:00-1:09 group. Might as well take advantage of my confidence. I’ve done this race before and found that people entering the water don’t necessarily follow the buoy line, so that’s where I head as I walk into the water. The key to my swim is focus. It’s not my intent to swim “easy,” while at the same time, I have no intention of swimming “hard.” I think the key will be focusing on “slapping” at the water, as I’ve found this to be a reliable strategy for maintaining a solid focus. I’m also in tune with my body and it’s movement. The altitude isn’t an issue, as I quickly feel not only comfortable, but “at home” in the open water of the Boulder Reservoir. The buoys come along at a reasonable pace. I can feel the flow of my stroke. When the opportunity arises, I get on the feet of other swimmers, but don’t stress over whether I keep up or not. I’m able to do some drafting, but am more focused on sticking to the buoy line, which I do. Before I know it, I’m turning left, I relax and focus on staying in the moment and enjoying the swim. One more left turn and I feel the excitement of heading for the end of the swim. I remember that it will take a while to get there, so just relax and continue my focus on a solid swim stroke. As I near the beach, I intermittently increase my kick for very short periods of time. I’ve really enjoyed sticking with my two beat kick, and there’s really no reason to change that at this point. One thing of note, I intermittently felt like my calves might cramp. Not sure if it was the cold water, or how my wetsuit fits me with my new kick. My swim was 1:22, not as fast as I was hoping for, but a lot of people swam slower, including many of the pros. May have been the way the buoys were set up. In fact, I’d guess that, especially as I followed the buoys. Ironically, I was only six minutes behind the winner of my age group, who normally swims closer to 1 hour.
I come out of the water, let a volunteer help me unzip and head across the swim finish line. I feel great, and am excited about what is to come today. Taking advantage of the wet suit strippers, I’m quickly off to grab my transition bag and over to my favorite changing bench, which is once again within the ropes (one year it wasn’t). Headband on, helmet on, socks on, shoes on, gloves on, (though my full finger gloves wouldn’t go on easily, so I made the quick decision switch to my aero gloves, which would leave my fingers exposed, but it didn’t seem “that cold”), my Gabba cycling jersey on due to today’s cold weather, grab my wetsuit, goggles and swim cap and put them in my transition bag. Get through the transition tent, hand off my bag, get slathered with sunscreen, and make my way to my bike.
I mount my bike and start moving through the Reservoir part of the course. No reason to ride hard, just time to get used to the bike and get settled in. That’s really the key today. Just stay aero and comfortable and enjoy the bike ride in the beautiful Boulder countryside. Which is what I do. The ride out and back on the Diagonal foes well the first time. I already knew from my ride earlier in the week and this is “free speed.” I also made sure, most of the time, to catch a draft when a faster cyclist passed me, for the requisite 20 seconds, and then to try to stay about 7 bike lengths behind them for as long as possible. I did this the first time on 66 and absolutely was flying! The uphills along Niwot and St. Vrain are mixed with the fast downhills on Nelson and Hygiene. Then, the uphill on Hygeine before making the turn on 36 and heading back to the Reservoir. I’m looking forward to this section the first time, as it’s a sign that I’ll be back the second time. That’s my mental goal, as the top of Hygeine will be 16 miles from the finish, and it’s mostly flat or downhill. I’m never going to have doldrums today, and I don’t. I enjoy my bike ride! During the second loop, I focus on “flattening out” the rolling hills and gaining some more “free speed.” My plan goes well today.
I’m always happy to get off the bike, because I know that I’m going to finish.
Up until this point, with the exception of a few edits, my race report was written prior to the race! I do this to help with visualization, and in this occasion, my race was “spot on” until this point. One addition to the bike report was that I desperately needed to pee by the time I got to mile 30, and was having trouble peeing on the bike. At mile 50, I was considering stopping, but finally found a stretch where I was going about 20mph, slightly downhill and was able to go. One of the problems with getting older is that it takes longer to pee. Ultimately, I must have peed about 5-6 times on the bike and still had a full bladder when I entered T2, adding a couple of minutes to my transition time. One additional comment. It was definitely cold, anomy Gabba jersey was a lifesaver. Also, my bike time of 5:51 was incredibly solid.
Here’s where my pre-race race report ended. I never got to the run. Probably a good thing, because the run was hard, as it always is in Boulder! I’ll write about that tomorrow.
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