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Race Report: Ironman Boulder 70.3

itri

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
It's been awhile since I posted a race report here, and since I had this already written up for another forum I belong to, I thought I would go ahead and share it with all of you, as well.

Yesterday I did my second half-ironman, the Boulder 70.3. These things always seem like such a good idea when you have to sign up for them in January, and then August rolls around and you think...what the heck was I thinking?!? :becky:

Pre-race activities were pretty uneventful. Although I did run into my babysitters' mom as we were walking into transition, which a) nice to see someone you know but b) random in a race of 1800 people! Other than that, it was just a matter of getting everything laid out, in the dark, no less. Right before the transition area closed, I met up with a group of people from the Beginner Triathlete forums, for a quick round of introductions and a picture, so that was cool. There was an hour between transition closing and the start of my wave, so there was a lot of standing around on the beach. I got to see the pros start (and Andy Pott come out of the swim with a good 2-3 minute lead, incredible), and that was the last time I saw them for the day! I did run into one of the BT guys in the water when I went down to warm-up so I hung out with him and another guy until they were like "Isn't that your wave getting ready to go?" and I was like "um, yeah, bye!"
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The swim: nothing very exciting. I really wish I understood why I have gotten so slow. I mean, I've *always* been slow, but it seems like I'm just exceptionally slow this year. Blah. And they even had the timing mat right on the beach, so it's not like it even counted the long run to transition. Sigh.

T1: Less than 5 bikes left on my age group's rack. Good thing there were 3 waves that started behind us or I may very well have been the last one out of the water...

The bike: This is a pretty good bike course. The hard part is coming straight out of the reservoir into a 5+ mile climb, then there are a few ups and downs, then a long downhill section followed by some flats. It's a 2-loop course, so there were tons of people out there for my first loop, but actually a lot more than I expected on the second loop. I was super psyched to be passing guys. I passed one guy on an uphill, and I don't think he liked it much. I said "on your left" and he looked over and muttered something in Spanish under his breath. Went flying by me on the next downhill and took off. Apparently getting chicked was enough to light a fire under him.
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The weather had started off pretty cloudy, which was awesome, but the clouds cleared out during the second loop. Uh oh.

T2: Good, except for the part where I almost ran into the lady in front of me who almost fell over b/c her legs were jelly! Pretty fast, considering I took a potty stop. My one mistake of the race was here, took a gel on the way out of transition. One swallow would have been fine, but the second was not good. Minor digestive issues followed.

The run: Hot. Hot hot hot. Brutally hot. Did I mention that it was hot? I mean, I knew it was going to be hot, but it just seemed kind of unfair. There were scattered clouds everywhere, I could look up and see them. Were they ever over me? NO!
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There were a lot of people out there for the first loop, which was great. I had to make a potty stop at the second aid station around mile 2.5 (see foreshadowed digestive issues above
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). Luckily it was quick.
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Everybody was pretty much in misery, and it really is true, misery loves company! I made another stop at the mile 4-ish aid station b/c I was feeling some chafing in my armpit (prob. b/c I didn't think to Body Glide my armpits...duh, borrowed sleeveless wetsuit...ouch) and some blisters on my feet. I vaselined them all. Didn't really help much. Around mile 4.5, some guy tried to be nice and encouraging about how we were almost there. Um, thanks, but I still had a whole loop to go. At some point in the first loop, I saw a guy I'm friends w/on dailymile (he's running for charity and had it on his singlet) and chatted with him for a minute, and then a twitter/dailymile friend (that I had never met IRL) found me and gave me some cheers. Just before the end of the first loop, a friend from track who had been roped into doing the run for a relay passed me on her way into the finish (her: you guys are nuts, this is miserable!
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). I was convinced the second loop was going to be lonely, but it really wasn't. It did pretty much entirely suck running right by the finish line. I actually felt a little better on the second loop than I did on the first. I thought by the way that I felt that I may have even negative split, but I didn't. Maybe it was just that I was passing lots of people. Almost everybody on the second loop was walking. I was determined not to walk except for the aid stations, and I didn't. Admittedly, I stretched the aid stations way out, but I didn't walk other than that! I picked up a couple of running buddies with around 5k to go, which was awesome. Ran and chatted with a guy for about 3/4 mile, then he couldn't keep up and I ran with a girl for about a mile and a half until she took off after an aid station. Bummer, because she was in my age group, too.
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The last mile was actually my second-fastest after the first mile. Not bad!

Post-race was not too exciting. Except for when I took my shoes and socks off and found this:


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Nice, huh?
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By FAR, the best blister I've ever gotten. That thing was the size of a golfball. And honestly felt better before I drained it! Oh well. I have a smaller one on my other foot, and some serious armpit chafing, too.

Results:
Swim: 58:06 (
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)
T1: 3:34
Bike: 3:07:48 (17.9 mph!!! Awesome for me!)
T2: 2:49
Run: 2:39:14 (12:09 pace, blech)

Overall: 6:51:31
999/1193 finishers
 

Jilly

Moderator
Staff member
Results:
Swim: 58:06 ()
T1: 3:34
Bike: 3:07:48 (17.9 mph!!! Awesome for me!)
T2: 2:49
Run: 2:39:14 (12:09 pace, blech)

Overall: 6:51:31
999/1193 finishers

You're a hero to me!! Look after those pesky problems!
 

Robyn

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
Congratulations on your PR and surviving a hot run. I was out and about Sunday mid-day and thought of you and how hot it must be out there.
 

LilaBear

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
Well done! Was this the race I came and watched you at the year before last? (Really so long ago?). I think being in the audience was a lot more fun (I know, I'll never get why you do it, but I think it's awesome that you do).

Wowser blister! I got some trekking a few weeks ago, I didn't know what to do with them, I didn't want that much raw skin exposed. Stuck my feet into a fish spa (where they eat the dead skin), caused a feeding frenzy until I realised I want to keep the callouses to stop the next blisters. Hope yours heal up well.
 

RachelV

Administrator
Staff member
I mean to post on this weeks ago! That is one seriously awesome bike leg. Congrats!
 

itri

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
Well done! Was this the race I came and watched you at the year before last? (Really so long ago?).

Nope, this one was WORSE, if you can believe it. :laugh: More than double the distance, in fact. Yes, I am crazy! You came out to the Boulder Peak, which is the olympic distance race and the middle race of the series...I did the full series this year: sprint distance, olympic, and half-ironman.

Blisters seem to be healed up pretty well. Of all things, the smaller one actually ended up being worse, oozing some pus last Tuesday after I had to trek through a couple of airports. All is well now, though, and I'm seeing my podiatrist this week to get my orthotics checked and hopefully he can figure out if there's some reason I got the blisters so bad! Those fish spas kind of scare me a little. :becky:

A week out, I'm feeling fairly recovered and back to running. Good thing, because I have a marathon in 9 weeks. :loco: Thanks, everyone!
 

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