It's been 3 1/2 weeks since Ironman Boulder. I've gotten past the post race endorphin run, then survived the post-ironman abyss. Now, I'm just musing about the race. Since Ironman Boulder will no longer be in existence, during my bike ride today I started thinking about the last six years, having done the race in five of them. It hit me today that my bike split this year was my PR for all five years that I've done the race. Not only not bad for sixty, but not bad for my cycling fitness! I thought it'd be interesting to look at my various splits over the five years of doing Ironman Boulder. I love data!
Swim (AG/OA rank) T1 Bike (AG/OA rank) T2 Run (AG/OA rank)
2014 1:13:54 (15/565) 6:03 6:11:55 (17/777) 7:15 4:55:12 (15/578)
2015 1:24:31 (23/1016) 6:51 6:01:44 (22/808) 9:18 5:24:51 (22/844)
2016 1:18:22 (18/553) 5:59 5:56:54 (17/523) 8:23 4:50:20 (6/352)
2017 1:20:16 (23/516) 5:22 6:12:18 (11/415) 5:58 5:15:04 (9/474)
2019 1:22:56 (12/503) 9:45 5:51:32 (6/351) 8:05 5:13:46 (7/408)
What really struck me as I looked at this is my consistency over the five years that I raced Ironman Boulder. While weather and course conditions change, my consistency across all disciplines is remarkable. With the exception of 2015, my swim was very consistent from a pace and placement perspective. My transitions, as always, were excellent, T1 this year being longer due to the cold weather and need to put more on during the transition. Plus, the transition was probably a little longer than before. My bike split this year was as I expected, my best ever, not only from a time perspective, but from a placement perspective as well. There's no question but that I've really stepped up my game on the bike! Granted, it was a different course, but again, everyone had that advantage, if there was one. My run transitions are always about the same, the major difference probably being related to whether or not I stopped to pee in T2! Finally, my run. In 2016, I nailed the run. It was my year of "20 by 20's," it was hot, and 4:50 was an outstanding run that year. Nevertheless, while I slowed down a bit the next two years, my placements were solid. I'd still like to improve, but I really haven't "lost" much.
Now that I've "geeked out" on all of my Boulder race results, what can I take home from this? That I've managed to maintain my fitness and skills over a five year period of time. Considering that I went from being 55 years old to 60 years old during this period of time, I'm damn impressed! I'm also excited that my efforts to improve my bike fitness appear to be paying off. I've only begun to touch the surface of my swim capabilities lately, although Boulder showed that I was pretty close to where I was five years ago, which is what I've been gleaning from my swim workouts. Finally, my legs know how to run during an ironman, and I'm always capable of running a five hour marathon. In that regard, nothing's changed from my first ironman at the age of 50 in 2010. Except that that race was done just six months after fracturing my hip socket and pelvis.
What truly excites me is that I haven't yet put in some of the training for Kona that I've planned to do. More long bikes and definitely more long runs. Not to mention continued work on my swim. With that said, I'll put off the Kona musings and speculations until after I've completed the Santa Rosa 70.2 in 3 1/2 weeks.
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