Boulder Res TT

I didnt get much sleep last night so I got up and had a little breakfast and then took a 1.5 hour nap. The swim area didnt open up until 10am (which is way later then I'd want to start a TT with the warm summer days and hot sun). I felt a little better on round 2 but my legs and feet were achy for some reason.

I got to the Boulder Res park around 10 and began setting up. I backed my car up to the bike rack and locked my bike to that. I then filled up a shallow plastic tub with water to act as a foot rinse. My transition area was the tailgate of my hatchback car. I laied out my towel and shoes, some water and clif blocks.

The swim today was sands wetsuit, the water ended up being about 68* and it was cold at first but I got used to it within a few mins. After that I wasted no time in kicking this TT off with a strong but smooth swim (5 laps). Each lap was calculated to be @300m which should have given me a 1500m swim but I finished in 16mins (half the time of my Boulder Peak swim), so im guessing theres some error there and ill call the swim @1000m for now. Its amazing how much better you swim when you dont have to worry about navigation, bumping into people, turning at the wall, or goggle/ ear plug leakage.

I ran out of the water like a swamp monster attacking the half naked beach goers sunning on the beach. Without my usual stagger and constricted run I got to the car feeling great but extremely confused with that swim time.

I unlocked my bike, threw on my socks and bike shoes, locked the car back up (with the key, one gel, a bottle of water and a bottle of G2 strapped to my bike) and hit the streets. The previously overcast morning had turned into mostly sunny with a chance of 90!! I swear I dried off in the first mile. Included in that distance was my first of 3 hills going out that I would have to conquer, this is where I realized how much I used my legs on the swim, and how much less power they had in them then I had on the same ride a few nights prior (my first 20 mph ride!). Lets get one thing straight, these are not hills, these are pretty much mountains or mega hills in my way. I got into a nice rhythm even though I didnt have music on me and tried to take in my surroundings to keep my mind sharp. I made it to the turn around after a long rest down hill, but you know what comes after that. Yea I had to go back up that same hill and I didnt really get into attack mode until half way up it. I was good about keeping a steady supply of water and G2 and at my first major down hill I took the gel (powerbar strawberry banana). It was a little sticky and doesnt taste as great when its sun cooked. After that I took a few swigs of water and stowed the wrapper down the back of my shorts.

I was surprised that I was stopped only one time by lights but it was one of the longer ones and gave me more rest time then I would have liked (trying to keep this as a mock race). The T2 was at the bottom of a hill so I slipped out of my shoes and put my feet on top of them to let the feet breath and come back to life a little. I only had a little bit of numbness but by the time I got off the bike I was good to go.

T2 I unlocked the car and re locked the bike, took a block and some water and slipped on my shoes (with my new elastic laces). My legs felt pretty good and again I was surprised with the quick bike time (turns out that it was 3 miles short). I felt like I was taking it easy out of the gate on the run and much of the first 2 miles was downhill but when Ky tried to drive up to me, park and hand me water she was unable to catch up to me so went on to the next parking lot along the route. It was probably around 6:45 to 7 min pace and then the only major hill on the run slowed me down a bit even though I fought it hard. My Calv's were burning but I never really got too out of breath. My right toes were going numb after that and slowed me down. The first up hill burned my calfs and I had a little pain in my right ankle. The water hand off a mile down the road was a successful one however, it wasnt water!! Nope it was very strongly mixed Gadorade and it burned going down. I remember my last race that surprise happened and I choked on it, and let me tell you Gadorade stings when its coming out of your nose.

I was alone for the next 2 miles on a stretch of path that I had never been on, there was a little shade and a cross wind breeze to cool me down (I seriously wanted to just jump in the lake at this point). I grabbed my water from the bushes where I had stashed it during my set up and skipped the gel I had planned on taking at this point. I felt strong and I now had company (Ky on her bike pacing me to the finish). She said she was amazed at how much stronger I looked on the run this time then I did at the Boulder Peak event of the same distance. I did feel strong, I didnt "go" but I did feel strong and didnt slow up the last 2 miles.

After the finish I downed a whole bottle of water and felt a lot better then I did in July. To combate overheating I went back into the swim area to wade around a bit and muttle over how the TT went. Its a new Olympic distance PR (even when you add in extra swim and bike time). It was a huge confidence builder and the only major problem was that I held back too much in each event when I could have pushed a faster pace. In all, I feel ready for 2x that distance.

1000m, 20.36 mile, 6.2 mile

Swim: 16:00 Pace
T1: 3:30
Bike: 1:4:19 Pace=18.99
T2: 2:00
Run: 45:46 Pace=7:22

Total: 2:11:02


Description: Boulder Res TT Notes: After a 3:30 T1 I got on the bike out 55th to Right on Jay Rd, L on Independence, L on Diagonal, Right on Jay, Left on 63, Right on Spine, Right on Lookout, to 95th and then turn around, Left on 75th and Right on Jay Rd, Right on 55 to T2.