All month Boulder has been blistering hot. During workouts it has felt like every ray of the sun was aimed directly at us. Strangely, last Monday the clouds rolled in over the Flatirons and gave us a few rain showers. The effect cooled Boulder down 25 degrees, but the question still loomed, will this last for race day?
Sunday August 10th the Boulder Reservoir teamed with competitors. Hot air balloons filled the sky and the Flatirons branded the place as distinctly Boulder. With little time to waste I racked my bike, grabbed my wetsuit and headed to the water. I was in the third wave, which gave me a 20 minute lead over my boyfriend, brother, and other friends.
Swim - Looking out at the course, the sun was so low that it was impossible to see the buoys. Based on the aggressive stroke & stride competitions every Thursday night, I decided to line up to the right and in the back of the other girls. This turned out to be a bit stupid as I felt like I was climbing over the other swimmers and running into people the whole time. I must have stopped at least 8 times to paddle away from swimmers who cut sideways across my path or to avoid a heal in the face.
Overall the swim felt amazing. I kept thinking, all of my training all summer has led to this. It's here, race day is here!
I rounded the last yellow buoy and headed for shore. The crowd was awesome and the sand was lined deeply with fans. I saw my mom and our friend Sarah cheering me on. I was out in 44 minutes.
T1 took forever - nearly 5 minutes. I don't know what the heck I was doing but I took my time, clearly.
Bike - I've ridden the course many times and knew what to expect. My strategy was to ride Jay Road and 75th in my aero bars or in the drops and to ride 36 and St Vrain in the hoods. I had only put my aero bars on earlier in the week so I certainly wasn't ready to ride down the fast St Vrain in them, or up and down the hills on 36. Overall I stayed low for nearly the whole ride, which was awesome. Kaustub passed me coming out of the res, I saw Diana on Jay cheering us on, I saw Andy Chernaik & Alex Parillo somewhere on Jay Rd (passing me), Dary, my brother, at the turn around on 65th, and my boyfriend Chris George on the second loop. Towards the end of the loop at the Niwot intersection I saw my Mom. I was having a blast on the ride and it was super fun to see so many people I knew. After all the tapering over the past week, exercising never felt better. Plus, the cloud covered stayed for the whole ride! It was cool out! I finished the ride 25 minutes faster than expected in 3:27.
T2 - Again, this took forever, this time I used the bano before moving on, nearly 5 minutes.
Run - I was happy to be out of the saddle, but I knew this was the hard part. My goal was to run each mile and walk through the aid stations. The first couple of miles were hot and hilly. I found that dumping cold water on my head gave me great relief and a boost in focus. I saw Alex again and I gave him a high five and he said - leave it all out on the course! Shortly after I saw Brett - both of these guys were finishing their second loop. I still had 2 hours to go.
(Brett chasing down Alex...)
Dary
Chris
Abby
I saw my mom and our friend Sarah again, both sending me lots of encouragement. I knew I had a long way to go but I still felt strong. Mile 4-7 were pretty fast - plus I had run this part of the course before at Stroke & Stride.
Onto my second loop! Ok, these hills seem harder this time. I was turning into a weirdo hooting and hollering, clapping my hands, telling myself you go girl, and singing songs in my head like - you don't need no water let the mother f'er burn! Mostly these were grunts of pain and silliness. The people around me were bonding over the tough parts and once we got past mile 10 we were pushing each other to the finish. I popped my last gel and plugged to the finish. Waiting for me at the end was my mom, my bro Dary, my boyfriend Chris, and friends Brett and Sarah. They were all cheering for me with big smiles and arms waving. Fist pumping I had a huge grin on my face too! I crossed the line baby!
2:34 on the run (which included a bathroom stop), and 6:55 overall. YEA!! 70.3 miles completo!
This was such a fun summer getting into triathlon. I've moved over a lane in swim class and can see ways to improve through training. We've met lots of friends at the BTC (Boulder Triathlon Club) and at Flatirons Athletic Club. I'm looking forward to more of this! But for now, it's time to rest and enjoy the mountains of Colorado.
Thanks for reading.