Boulder Sprint 5430 Triathlon

This is the first race of the Boulder Tri Series which is all around pretty competitive. The TA opened at 6 and my wave went off at 7:35.

Swim:
started right near the front. Goggles were already fogging while waiting so I spat in them and other then a little bit of visual obstruction they never really fogged up again. I clawed over the top of a few people and got boxed out 2x but after the first bouy I was in the clear and in a rhythem. I sighted the yellow turn bouy with a guy on my right but as we appoached closer I determined it was the wrong bouy and traversed back in line with my wave (having gone out of the way maybe 30m or so), while my swimmate continued off course. After the first turn I knew I was doing well, it was rather thin and I didnt have to worry about breaking rhythem due to fighting for position. As expected a few guys did go out too hard and were starting to falter after the second turn (I've been there). I had not probalems sighting on the return and began to kick less to save my legs but also sped up my stroke cadence.

I stood up the moment my hand touched the bottom and started out of the water in 11th place. I got passed right away as I struggled to undo my zipper but my run pace was better than the trott I had last race. When passing the baby pools to get the sand off my feet I was on the wrong side of the path and had to jump over and in. The surface change caused me to lose balance and fall into the bushes lining the path. Unlike the Boulder Sunrise race, WTC was nice enough to line the rocky paved parts with carpet so I was able to reach the TA without having to slow down.

T1:
I got my wetsuit low and off right away. Next I pulled on my socks (which were lined with baby powder which helps when putting them on over wet feet). Then it was sunglasses, helmet, bike and go. No fooling around this time! I reached the mount line and jumped on to the bike placing my feet onto my already clipped in bike shoes.

Bike:
After the first pedal stroke I was looking down to get my feet situated and ready to put in my shoes and somehow I ended up off the course and into the grass. A few spectators got more of a show than they showed up for as they had to jump out of my way. I was feeling good until about 5 mins in where other athletes began to pass me. There was nothing I could do but hammer down and ride smart, stick to my plan. The race wasnt over yet.

T2: went off without a hitch and I grabed some water on my way out onto the run course.








Run:

The run was an out and back course on the dam path of the Boulder Res. A familiar course both in training and racing at this point. The course starts off with a hill, which your tired legs hate after just getting off the bike but it makes for a great finish. I probably went out a little faster than I should have but I quickly picked off a few people that passed me on the bike but lack in running skill. My goal was to break 20 mins on my finish leg but in order to do that I would have to get on the shoulder of someone with that same goal in mind. At the turn around I made a friend and we pushed each other to the last 800m where I lost contact with him and it cost me both a sub 1:30 total time finish as well as a sub 20 in the 5k run. I maybe had a little more in the tank but felt like I ran a very good race overall.





division place: 29 out of 84
gender place: 208 out of 632
time: 1:30:07
swim: 12:56 pace=27:45 12 in AG
t1: 1:49
bike: 53:37 pace=19.25
t2: 1:19
run: 20:26 pace=6:35

Water Quality of life

We try to be BPA free, HFC free, and sometimes even take it as far as to be gluten free but are we really free of radicals and healthy? In my professional life I deal in water quality and I was noticing how much we expose ourselves to high levels of Chlorine as we spend hours in the pool.

You may or may not know this but Cl is a powerful oxidant and is used in bleaching and disinfectants, as well as an essential reagent in the chemical industry. In pools its used as a disinfectant in the form of a sodium hypochlorite tablet or solution.

However, Cl has also been used as a weapon in the gas phase. So that shortness of breath you experience during your workout may be cause from the over chlorination of your pool. The facility should have a highly trained water quality specialist administering any pool treatments. Dont be afraid to speak to the manager about this issue. Its a delicate science in getting the proper balence for the pool and it condinually changes with pool temperature and amount of use. The purpose of this post to bring to light the issues and spark some questioning on your behalf.

Happy Swimming

Uni Hill 2k Review

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aPUbwuzlYO4&feature=player_embedded

The Uni-Hill (University Hill district) 2k kicks off the Run Boulder Series put on by Ironman/WTC. Team Timex including Barry Siff and Erin Krummer showed up to help the kids warm up before their 1k race (one loop of the course). There was even a 500m Masscot race.

The main event competitive division didnt go off until 7:20 starting with some of the fastest women in Boulder and surrounding area.

The men's gun was at 7:40pm as the overcast day started to lift and show a waning sun begining to set. I got a great starting position toward the front, but knew I wasnt going to be going out all that hard, toeing next to some of my friends from the mens BX team. I planned for a very conservative start considering the first 250m's objective was to take the hill, in about 20m of elevation gain before we wound back down to do it all over again. Within the first 200m I was already gassed. Breathing heavy, my legs were burning and I was passed by at least 5 people and wondering if I was now dead last. It was kind of humiliating until the second go round when my steady pace brought me up to and beyond a few stragglers that had started to lose their fight with the hill. In fact I wasnt last to begin with but I started to gain more confidence in my smart race plan as this happened. I got to the pinicle fo the second time and knew that was my cue to start kicking downhill with 200m left, the perfect set up for me normally. As shown at the Platte River Half Marathon. I just wish I had more in the tank for a better finishing time, there really wasnt anyone in sight to pass at that point.

I finished:

Time-7:38
Pace-6:09
26th out of 31 (some of the best runners around)

Boulder Sunrise Sprint Triathlon Writeup

This race kicked off my tri season, man does it sneak up on you quickly. Going into this race I had only done one brick workout working on T-running(huge weakness for me). I had barely been swimming and definitely didn't have any base distance swims in as of yet. On top of all this I just got my new bike a month ago and I'm still adjusting to it.

Race morning I woke up at 5:15 had a bagel with pb and started to load my bike into the car (rental still since mine is in the shop). I was really surprised to see it fit in there. I got up to the Boulder res @6am and didn't really hit any traffic. Its close enough for me to ride up there but theres 2 hills that would drain a little of my precious race day energy. I got a great transition spot right at the end of the row and close as possible to the bike out. I was set up, marked and warmed up by 6:35. My wave wasn't scheduled until 7:15. The water temp was a frigid 62*. I wore my brand new Runners Roost Tri uniform and headed over to the beach @6:45. Apparently there was a reason for a delay but I never found out what it was. My wave didn't actually kick off until 7:30, and that is why you didn't warm up in the water prior to your race. Don't follow these people, they will be standing there cold and wet waiting for their wave to go. Which basically negates any warm up and acclimation they just had in the water. Basically they are only in the water bc they had to pee, and there you go thinking they were with a great idea of swim warm up.

Swim Start:



I was calm and focused for the start, I put the rest of my wet suit on about 5 mins before entering the water and again wore ear plugs (I don't even want to know what cold water in the ear feels like). I had knew a few familiar faces in my wave Men Sprint under age 39, 77 guys in this wave but never saw those faces. Ever notice how different people look in wetsuits? Its got to be one of the most unflattering things for both men and women... just sayin. I stuck to the inside and about 5 feet from the front, the start was not packed at all and I actually started swimming to the start line before the gun even went off. My starting pace was apparently faster then the 6 or so guys in front of me and I almost swam right up on their feet nearly missing getting kicked in the face. I fought for position like a champ and created a little breathing room. Breathing, well breathing became a little bit harder about 200m in when my face and lips started to become cold and numb. I kept a controlled stroke and tried to remain calm even though the discomfort level was building. I tried to think of other things like how much cleaner the water seemed this year as opposed to last year.

At the first turn I knew that I was pretty close to the front pack/leader and I really hadn't pushed it. I kept the pace and concentrated on breathing and keeping water out of my mouth (which was difficult with numb lips). At the second and final turn home my goggles fogged up and I couldn't site the beach at all. I started getting off course, weaving and then slamming into people. I even stopped 2x to try to see but all I could do is aim for a guy less then 20' from me and hope he was headed in the right direction. I swam to the beach until my hands hit the sand, no stagger but I was out of breath. I normally run to transition with a pretty good pace but this time my feet were numb and the ground was rocky. I dipped my feet off in the wash buckets and entered transition in search of my bike.



T1:
I made the decision to put on arm warmers for the bike which added about a min to my transition but I still feel like it was a good choice considering air temperature @60 and how cold and numb I was coming out of the water. It wasn't freezing cold but it wasn't comfortable either. Next race I should have a great transition under a min for sure. I put my socks on and already had my shoes on the bike. I reached the mount line, jumped up and missed placing my feet on the shoes. In all I think it was a pretty good transition considering I hadn't practiced it at all this season and Ive never left my shoes on the bike before (Syracuse 70.3 I was going to, but it was a wet grassy TA instead of dry pavement).

Bike:





I was still a little out of breath so I took it out slow. I knew that a lot of people go out too fast and pay for it because this course starts out with a med sized roller then a gradual climb for the next 8 miles. As predicted 2 guys passed me within the first mile. The bike felt great, it was smooth, everything was working on it and this race I was sure I wasn't going to have a mechanical. To remind you, my past mechanicals include brake rubbing and 3 flat tires. I was so sure that I didn't even have a tire kit on the bike, just a water bottle with water.

This was the first time this year I've ridden this course sans wind (of 4 or so rides) and due to the calm you can really feel how much incline there is to overcome. On the flip side though, you do get it all back with a speedy 4 mile decent. Other then 2 riders passing me in the beginning I pretty much road alone, which is fine but you don't really feel like you're in a race. At mile 12 just before heading uphill again I looked back, my legs were starting to fade and I wanted to ensure my position. No one in view.

Mile 15 I got passed out of nowhere by someone in my AG, and there was nothing I could do about it. He was gone and I wanted off the bike ASAP to start hunting him down.


T2:

I took my feet out of my shoes with about a mile to go, hoped off the bike at the dismount line and watched a guy in my AG try to pass me and drop a shoe so he had to go back. Seriously, if you lose focus for even a second in this race you could do something stupid that will cost you HUUUUGE. I was out of transition around a min with a few gulps of water (I really need to concentrate on taking in more liquids while on the bike).


Run






I was already out of breath coming out of T2, then faced with a hill within the first mile I was unable to recover until mile 1.5. I passed a few guys in similar situations and attached myself to the hip of a 22 year old guy who was right at 7 min pace. We pushed each other stride for stride until mile 2.5 when I lost the fight and just couldnt hang on to the pace any longer. Off the bike my feet are always numb and running on numb feet can get pretty awkward, but the condition is getting better. The last .3 miles was downhill and I did spark up a small kick but it just wasnt enough to catch up with my buddy the 22 year old.

I also wanted to mention that my friend Dan and his GF both did their first tri today. It was great getting to talk with them about their experiences both during the race and training leading up to it. Its all pretty overwhelming and there's much to learn in a short amount of time but both had a great race. They were unsure if they were going to do another but I know better, knowing full well that the Tri bug has some pretty potent venum.

I really need to take a look at my training and stick to a schedule. I feel as though I set up a great schedule this year but have not stuck to a training plan that optimizes my success for them. I also have to remind myself as to which races are my A races and where I actually expect to reach my goals. For this distance I should be able to get under 1:30.


(Distances: 750m, 17, 5k)
overall place: 28 out of 283
division place: 5 out of 29
gender place: 25 out of 136
time: 1:32:17
swim: 14:17 pace 30:38 11/77 in wave 5/29 Div
t1: 2:25
bike: 52:15 pace 19.6 mph 11/29 Div (based on time)
t2: 1:18
run: 22:04 pace 7:07 6/29 Div (based on time)

Looking at the numbers and comparing my training to date Its clear and obvious that I have only recovered about max 70% from the BB10k race.

Now lets compare this race to my last sprint tri in 2009

FLT Comparison: (724m, 13, 5k)

.5mile swim, 13 mile bike, 5k Run
0:14:57 pace =33:13
0:46:37 pace= 16.73 mph
0:22:05 pace= 7:07
= 1:28:46
90/471 men, 71 of 225 in my age group 25-29


After the race I headed into the mountains to Vail, CO to check out the Teva Mountain Games. It was a blast be able to watch world class climbers, mountain bikers (team Timex was there), and a great dog jumping contest.

I got hooked up by Native Eyewear and got to stay at the Vail Sonnenal Resort
Hotel