Race Report: Boulder Peak Olympic

Last Sunday was the Boulder Peak Olympic tri. This is the largest Olympic-distance race around here and brought in about 1,300 athletes this year. It has been taken over by WTC and is now a 5150 series event. The organization of it was fantastic and I must say that I enjoyed this race experience. The race itself was really tough for me due to a few things that were kind of out of my control. First, I really haven't been sleeping well. There were a few nights in the weeks leading up to this event that I was lucky to get three hours of sleep, including the night before the race. I think it caught up to me. My stomach had also been a little iffy since the night before, and I couldn't eat too much going into it. It also started rebelling a lot around mile 3 of the race. Dehydration, maybe? Who knows. Enough excuses. I still had a great race and was pleased with my time.

1500 m swim: 22:03

A full :06 faster than my swim at the Boulder Sunrise. Though the course is the same, there's always some variability. Hopefully it was a little faster since I didn't veer off course, but it was also warmer and I got kicked more. Who knows. The swim felt decent despite my stomach not really being there. I tried to hang on to Katy Blakemore's feet, but lost them in the mix pretty quick. She went FAST. Not having to worry about the rest of the race will do that, I suppose.  

T1: 2:36 I think the run to T1 was longer, but this could be improved, for sure.

42K bike: 1:26:08

Holy hill! Olde Stage Road was tough. At least all the climbing was over within the first half an hour or so. My legs felt pretty good on the bike, and my stomach was feeling better. Managed to take in all 3 GUs. I did wish that I had put plain water in my Speedfil, though, rather than the GU electrolyte tabs. I was dreaming of plain, cold water out there! Dehydration? Yes, most definitely.

T2: 2:01 Ugh!!! So, so, so slow. I was a little disoriented coming off of the bike and to top it all off, I had forgotten to leave my shoes untied! Big mistake. Cost me a top 10 AG finish. Live and learn. Remember the speed laces.

6.2 mile run: 48:23 (7:47/mile pace)

The run felt surprisingly good for the first 3.5 miles. Then it hit me. Stomach cramps - bad. On top of that, I could feel water just sloshing around. Not good. Somehow I hung on, though. When Katy saw me she started yelling at me to catch the girl up ahead, which I did, but I should have waited. She had way more left in the tank than I did. Oh, well. Another lesson learned! 

Total time: 2:41:11 12/73 in age group, 52/461 women

I was absolutely, completely zonked after this one. I gave it my all under the circumstances and came up with some decent results. Everybody has an off day! Next up: Steamboat Springs Olympic Tri on August 28th. Can't wait!

A date with Old Stage Road...

Tomorrow's the Boulder Peak Olympic Tri, and I'm just getting myself physically and mentally ready to race again! I'm really looking forward to it, but I'm a little nervous about a particular hill on the course. Old Stage Road climbs 600' in 2/3 of a mile, according to the website. It's infamous, and I've never ridden it. Oh, well, all I can do is my best!

Looking forward to racing tomorrow!

Dreading/Looking Forward to Workouts...

In order to get stronger and faster, or to just test ourselves, sometimes we have to put ourselves through a lot of pain.  A LOT.  It always generates a mixed bag of feelings for me when I open up TrainingPeaks and see one of those workouts on my schedule.  We all know them – they have names like “Over-Unders” and “Tempo Intervals”.   We should actually start calling them by more true-to-meaning names such as “Hopping on the Pain Train” and “Blood, Sweat, and Tears.”  I’m kidding, well, kind of.  I do tend to dread some of these workouts for a couple of days leading up to it, but at the same time I look forward to being able to put in some really, really good work.  One that I’ve recently had on my schedule a couple of times is a run including 4x5 minute tempo intervals.  It’s a classic gut buster.  The first interval is okay. The second one usually feels the best (relative term here) after I’ve sufficiently warmed up.  I generally start seeing some faint stars toward the end of the third one, and if I’ve done my job correctly, I will fall off pace toward the end of the fourth. When I’m able to nail this workout, I feel on top of the world.  When I don’t, I still give it my best shot and feel satisfied that I’ve done a lot to improve my run, both physically and mentally.  Because of the benefits, I guess I dread it and look forward to it at the same time.

When it comes to open water swimming, however, I look forward to these workouts for a different reason. I actually do enjoy them. It’s nice to be out on a smooth lake in the early morning hours and just listen to my arms moving through the water. It’s oddly comforting to me, but maybe that’s because a lot of times I’m more comfortable in the water than on land. Unless there are fish I can see. Then I hate it.

Are there certain workouts you either dread or look forward to? Maybe both?

Happy training, everyone!

Amy