Race Report {Ironman 70.3 Boulder Triathlon}

 I had a goal of breaking 6 hours at Ironman 70.3 Boulder triathlon. I finished in 6:33. 34 minutes off my goal. I was disappointed but not as much as I would have thought. I wasn’t as disappointed because I gave it my all and it was a tough course! I tried so hard I was cramping up even before I finished my ride! This taught me a valuable lesson in that I pushed too hard on the bike and left nothing for the run but, again, I gave it my all so I cannot be disappointed in my effort. On to the report!

Race Day!

We were warned that traffic into the Boulder Reservoir would be backed up and to arrive early! Fortunately, Google suggested driving in the back way and it didn’t take us any extra time! This allowed for time to relax in the car and drink tea! Then the craziness of race morning began! I set up by transaction area and took my energy nuun hydration drink with me and got in line for the restroom.

Alex was able to walk with me to the swim start and we got in line for another bathroom break before lining up for the swim. The pros started at 7:05am and then I lined up in the 37-40 minute group, hoping to finish around 40 minutes. The water was initially colder than I was expecting and wish that I would have practiced a bit before (note to self). After a couple minutes I relaxed and started counting my strokes as I always do. I was hoping to draft off other swimmers but I didn’t get that to work in my favor so I focused on doing my own thing. I had to dodge swimmers a bit more than I thought and tried to swim as straight as I could. I wasn’t sure where to stop my swim and start my transition but I did slightly before I should have so my Garmin stats looked better than my official stats. Garmin stated 2,181 yards in 39:54 (1:50 100 yds/ minute pace). Official swim 40:55.

T1 went smoothly – not super fast but not super slow – I ate a Lara Bar and headed out on my bike. One mistake I made was not spinning my wheels and making sure my Vector 3S power meter was ready to go. It has been a love/hate relationship with my Vector 3S all season as I’ve struggled to get it to work on all rides. Therefore, I had no power the entire ride. But, there wasn’t anything I could do about it and put it out of my mind to focus on the ride.

The ride was epic – so fun – up and down – fast and slow. The foothills around Boulder are beautiful and I love every minute of it! I took water bottles at the 2nd and 3rd water stops – drank some and sprayed the rest over my head and arms to try to cool my body. I ate a Lara Bar at the 1 and 2 hour mark and had 2 strawberry Clif Shot squares in the middle. I drank all 50 ounces of Skratch Labs Hydration (with  another energy nuun tablet). I monitored my speed/distance throughout but checked heart rate every so often and it was high! I was in the 160s most of the ride. Official bike 2:55:22.

T2 was interesting – I was still on a high from a great ride – but immediately had a cramp in my right quad. Crap! I tried to run out of transition but could not. I tried to relax and walk it off out of T2 but it was intense.

The run started by walking with intense quad cramps. Oh no! I couldn’t stretch because it was seizing so bad. The only thing I could do is walk. I saw Alex at the end of the park and he knew right away that something was wrong. I did what I could. I walked. I ran until the cramps came back. I drank. I ate. I iced. I started counting to relax my mind and focus on the task at hand like I do swimming. I finished lap 1 – halfway to the finish. I saw Alex again and apologized for taking so long. He assumed me it didn’t matter and encouraged me to finish. I met up with a girl I biked back and forth with and we struck up a conversation. She was also trying to break 6 hours and we commiserated in our hurt hearts of not meeting that goal. Focusing on our conversation helped the time past and although we still shuffled, it was a much more enjoyable shuffle! Thank you, Kristi! Official run 2:47:24.

I cross the finish line with a smile on my face. I completed Ironman 70.3 Boulder. It was beautiful. It was epic. It was brutal. I completed my goal on crossing the finish line.

Post Race

I drank a bottle of water, found Alex, and we worked our way back to transition to get my bike and other gear. I took one last look at the Boulder Reservoir and bid it farewell.

Alex’s cousin was in Boulder for the afternoon so we met up with him quickly for a celebration drink at Asher Brewing Co. and then dined at over roasted cauliflower and smoked salmon pizza (my two favorite foods in a meal together – yum!) at Bru in Boulder. It was an early night but the next morning I was up early, my mind going over all of the details of the previous day again and again.

Takeaways from Ironman 70.3 Boulder

I’m writing this mid August so I’ve had several days to think about the race. I think about the muscle cramps (because, yes, I also had my period but I’ll save that topic for another post). As I mentioned in my bio and in other posts, I was a marathon runner for 10 years before moving to triathlon and experienced muscle cramps in a few races. Not in the slow ones, but in my fastest ones when I pushed my body beyond what it was used to. I believe I experienced muscles cramps becauseI pushed my body beyond was it was used to – the cramps were my body’s way of telling me to slow down and let me know it could not handle what I was doing it to. Fair point, body. I took note and will adjust going forward. To that point, I did several brick runs throughout training (both after my interval bike sessions and long Saturday rides) but none of them with the intensity I was under during the race.

Other muscle cramp theories say I didn’t have enough electrolytes or salt in my body. I think that could have played a factor especially since I raced in altitude and on a very hot day. I read about pre-hydration in Roar and had considered it but didn’t buy the anything special other than an 8 oz carton of Organic Chicken Broth at a local Boulder Co-op with has less than 100 mg of sodium. Roar author Stacy Sims created a pre-hydration drink with lots of sodium which I have since purchased and will test out on high intensity and/or long duration sessions and races! 

Others small things I’ll note to do going forward include doing a warm up swim before the race and spinning my wheels in T1 to make sure Vector 3S Power Meter works.

Ultimately, I’m thankful for being able to participate and complete in Ironman 70.3 Boulder and enjoyed the journey throughout. It was one part of a wonderful 8 day road trip in which my love for Colorado only grew stronger. It left me hungry to do more and do it better!

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Nutrition

Day Before

BF: standard – two eggs, plain yogurt with banana

Lunch: standard vacation lunch – sourdough sandwich with turkey/cheese/tomato/lettuce, carrots, fruit

Snack: RXBar + plus others I cannot think several days post

Dinner: at The Med – smoked trout and roasted veggie tapas and paella with a glass of prosecco

Pre-hydration: 8 oz carton of organic chicken broth (I’ve since realized this did not have nearly enough sodium for my pre-hydration needs – more in the takeaways section above)

 

Race Day

BF: 5am – overnight oats (½ cup oatmeal mixed with water and banana)

Pre Race: nuun energy tablet hydration drink with banana

T1: Chocolate PB Lara Bar to prep for 1st hour of bike

Bike: 2 Chocolate PB Lara Bar + 2 Strawberry Clif Shots + 50 oz of Skratch Labs Hydration with an energy nuun tablet

Run: 2 packets of Honey Stinger Organic Chews + 16 oz of Skratch Labs Hydration in myNathan Handheld water flask + Coke starts at ~mile 5, a handful of pretzels, some Cliff Shots – again the run was shot so I grabbed whatever I wanted. I wasn’t moving fast enough for my stomach to become upset at all and I didn’t use the restroom once.