Boise 70.3

I've been looking forward to Boise for some time now. My goal was to knock this race out of the park, get in a good build and take it to the house. Well it was warning track power for this race, if you can remember I came down with a nasty cold that took a solid chunk from my build for this race. Would you call this an excuse???.....sure why not!!!! I felt great and back to normal about a week or so before the race, training was back on par so my outlook was back to an all time high.

I arrived in Boise on Thursday after a 9hr drive, got my packet and then settled in for the night after a short run. Friday was the usual routine, I did my usual pre race warm-up, prepped my bike and took it up to T1 after a short spin. I was fortunate to have my good friend and racing buddy Richie in Boise with me for the race. His family took me as one of their own and treated me like royalty.....much appreciated Richie!!!!!

Swim:
The race start was at 12pm, very different  from the usual 6:00am starts. But I felt it was very easy to adapt to the later start. My age group was the last wave to go off at 12:45. The water was a balmy 50-53 degrees, (that's down right cold) and the only warm-up you got was about 3min before your wave went off. Cold water can have a huge effect on your performance but I feel that my body wasn't so distracted. Shoot sometimes I have a hard time jumping into the local pool because of how ''cold" it is....so either way I made the adjustment. Finding open water was tough from the start, I lined up on the far right (closest to the buoys) and some how ended up on the far left (furthest from buoys) after about 300m (nice route Magellan). I got my bearings in check I was well on my way back on course. I felt I had a good swim, felt strong and smooth, only few rough spots especially maneuvering around the other athletes in the water. I came out of the water in 31:30....not at all what I was hoping but by looks of it, many athletes had just as rough of a swim.

In and out of T2 I was, onto the bike.
Bike:

Not the hardest course I have done but this course had its challenges of hills and many long false flats. The goal for this bike was to build into a solid rhythm and be aggressive. I felt I put in one of my most solid bike efforts so far in a 70.3. Finally felt closer to actually racing instead of trying to finish. I attacked the hills and stayed strong throughout the course, staying very focused on maintaining a good nutrition plan to get be ready for the run. I was only passed by one guy in my age group. He was riding well, I might have tried to hang with him but I knew I was trying to put down a solid run. So I stayed within my race and kept pace. I finished the bike in 2:29:58. Right where I wanted to be. Now onto the run.

T2 was fast, I was in and out before I knew it.........T2: 1:11
Run:
Coming out of T2, my legs felt great, the first 3 miles were around a 6:30 pace. I kept focus on keeping a high turnover and concentrating on the race at hand and not the unknown the lied ahead. The run was along the Green Belt of Downtown Boise, next to the river and plenty of trees to hide from the sun. For this race we had a nice overcast, which helped keep it nice and cool for the run. Heading into the second lap of the course I could feel that my pace was fading slowly.  Looking back I could have used a few more calories from the aid-stations to hold me over.  The last 2.5 miles I was in survival mode and again I took in very little calories, I just wanted to get to the finish..... I finally came down the final stretch excited about my accomplishments in this race. I was pumped that everything went well, no flats, cramps, side stitches, walking, excuses, just a solid race.
Finishing time 4:43:23 85th Overall and 9th in age.

I'm pretty excited about this race, I am coming a long ways from where I was. But I'm in no way satisfied, I know I can compete with those top athletes in my age group. I put in a lot of hard work and I feel that I am doing everything right that I can and know how. From here its a matter of making some small but big adjustments in my training and of course staying consistent. Though the results might not show, I see a very bright future in this sport. Its just a matter of finding the right pieces and molding them into the game plan.Also trying to learn Patience!!!!!


Next up is the Bouder Sprint Triathlon, the beginning of the Boulder Series.

Chasing a Dream!!!

Summer Open Tri....Duathlon

Its days like these that make you appreciate your health as well as adding more fuel to the fire.

In the final days leading up to the race the water conditions reached over 4x the E. coli limit, prompting the race organizers to move the race to a duathlon (2 mile run, 12.4 mile bike then a 3.1 mile run). Also in this time I caught a nasty cold that left me sleepless for the 3 nights leading to the race. At one point I was convinced I wouldn't be toeing the line on race day. Not the best scenario(s) for a race but I had to find the positive and make the best of it.

I love racing and competing so it was easy to convince myself to race then surrender to such a nasty virus. I worked hard in the weeks leading up to this race, the goal was to train straight thru the race and use it as training guide to my build for Boise 70.3 in 3 weeks. I made the decision to race that morning of the race, again, its hard to say no to competing. The race went off well, I gave a good effort, the best I had for the day. I felt I was in 3rd-4th gear the whole race, especially the run, it was difficult to push the envelope in the final miles of the race.  34th OA, 5th in age (2mile Run 12:35, 12.1 Bike 30:32,  3.1mile Run 20:23)

I sure wasn't happy with getting a cold in such a pivotal moment in training, it really derailed some training goals I set for Boise. Its been over a week and I'm now starting to feel the cold beginning to fade away. I have just under a 2weeks till Boise 70.3. In the mean time I'm still trying to make the best of the situation, I'm looking forward to the race, its been a race marked on my calendar with a big star next to it. We'll see what happens until then, I'll see ya in Boise.