Boulder 70.3 - First Pro Race

Two weekends ago, I did my first WTC race as a Pro.  I was really concerned about how it would go and if it would be too intimidating to be fun.  In the end, it was way more fun than racing as an age grouper, thus I'm happy I made the jump to race with the big guys this season.

I've been fighting a while to earn the right to wear that "P" on my lower leg.

In the week leading up to the race, Beth (wife) was in Maui on vacation with my sister and some friends.  I was home with our son, and had some help out with watching Aiden from my parents when I needed to get workouts in.  It was a great week with Aiden and I was able to spend lots of time with him and really bond with the sweet little kid that he has become.


Another note: I was lucky to have the Boulder 70.3 be at the time that it was.  WTC has a 45 day wait period after you earn your Pro license to the first race that you can do.  The Boulder 70.3 was a Saturday race this year, and came a little under 50 days after I received my pro card from USA Triathlon.


Race/Experience:

I got up around 3:30 on race morning and did my usual thing.  Got stuff together and loaded in the car.  My parents had Aiden for the night and were going to meet me there before I went off.  I got to the Boulder Res and carried my bike in.  My first special privilege as a pro was not to check my bike in the day before.  Ill take it.
It was also pretty great to finally be in the "pro" rack in transition.  There was a lot more attention to the people that racked bikes there.  Lots of people came up and said "good luck, have fun, etc" than ever before.
Not gonna lie - the attention was fun.

Swim:
The swim was what I was most intimidated about.  I have a background in swimming but I know that I NEED to make this discipline a priority in order to be able to race with the fast guys soon.  We started at 7:05 and women started 5 minutes later.  I lined up with a group of guys that did NOT include the likes of the fast ones out there that day.  I think that was a mistake.  I need to grow some balls and I need to draft.  Lesson learned.

A good swim will be a painful one.  I will remember this.

I had a steady pace throughout the swim and was with guys the whole time.  I was expecting to get out of the water in 27 minutes or so.  Nope.  it was a few seconds over 30 minutes.
Race was pretty much over right there.

Bike:
I got out of T1 with the top women that just caught me at the end of the swim.  Ouch... I lost 5 minutes to the lead women in the swim.  I passed the one woman that got out of transition ahead of me on the Res road and kept my head down to try and get up to power/speed.
I never got up to the power that I was capable of, but managed a good speed throughout the ride.  The overall average of 25.7 mph was pretty okay. Split was 2:10.
I rode the whole thing alone, and knew that would be the case after the very sub-par swim.

Run:
I got into transition well and started the run feeling good.   There was nothing special about the run that day because there was a sprint triathlon that was happening at the same exact time, using the same exact transitions as the 70.3 racers.  It was already crowded out on the run course.  Lots of people to get around.
The road was also pretty beat up and very uneven from all of the rain that we had gotten the weeks before.  I went through the run and was never at a point of pushing the pace.  I just didn't have much to push that day...

In the end, I crossed the line and did what I wanted - I wanted to check off that first pro race and get it behind me.  I wanted a glimpse of what it's like to be with the best in the sport, and I got that.

Overall time was a 4:10:40

Now I'm looking forward to the next one.  I'll bring more oomph to that and aim to break four hours at the Half distance.

Aiden picked up my first Pro packet on Thursday with me.

A high five from Aiden before finishing.  Picture of the day.

Weekly Training Log: Week of May 25th, 2015 - Week #19: BolderBoulder, Beth's birthday, and a sprint tri

In Life: Summer vacation is here and life is better because of it.  Memorial day was Monday, and my sister and family were in town for it.  I got up and did the race, then went back to the start line to do the race again with all of them.  My son did the whole thing - the whole 10k by himself, and I could not have been more proud.  Walking/jogging a 10k at 4.5 years old is just awesome!

We did our annual post BB10k BBQ and had a great time with food, beer, and friends to celebrate my favorite day of the year.  Beth's birthday was then on Friday... We did dinner on Thursday evening instead to celebrate.

Finally, I did a sprint tri on Sunday and we had a nice little pool day after that with Aiden and one of Beth's friends.  It was an awesome start to the summer break.

In Training:  The week kicked off with a hard 10k race.

The Bolder Boulder was on Monday (memorial day) and I was going to see what I could do.  My run training has been MUCH more sporadic and has varied more in speed and intensity than ever before, so I wasn't hoping for much.
I did have a Bolder Boulder course PR in 35:31.  I ran a good race and was very happy with my result.  Oddly, I was very sore for the two days after the race.  I don't know if it was the intensity or the course that made me sore, but its really weird to have a 10k make me as sore as doing a Half Iron distance triathlon.

I also started to train with the Apex group this past week and had some of the longest swims that I have done in a long time.  It will be awesome to work with a coach and I hope to see some good improvement this season because of it.

Weekly Totals
Swim: 10,150 yds
Bike: 575 TSS - 160 miles (trainer and outdoors)
Run: 34.5 miles

All of us at the start of the Bolder Boulder

Action picture from the citizens race that started at 6:55

Splits from the BB - It's not an easy 10k course.  Fair amount of ups and downs, lots of turns, and at altitude.  I would estimate to be a minute to minute and half faster on easier sea level course.

We had signs on the kids backs to ask for encouragement - Their names were there and people yelled for them.  I think this helped get them through it.

Aiden in his first complete Bolder Boulder.  Im going to have to frame this one.

My Sister and Niece, Meadow.  She took a nice nap while her mother carried her for the 6.2 miles

Happy birthday to my beautiful wife

Action from the Colorado Sprint Triathlon on Sunday

After sprint tri - Sunday fun day

Weekly Training Log: Week of May 18th, 2015 - Week #18: BOLDER BOULDER Weekend 2015!

In Life:  The School I work at was out for summer on Thursday afternoon, then I went to help out with the Columbine Elementary "Mile Marathon" on Friday morning.  It's a mile race that is the Friday before the BolderBoulder.  It's a way to get elementary students excited about running.

I did the run with the third grade, then talked to the fourth grade class with Ryan Van Duzer - the biggest/most awesome Boulder celebrity.  It was a real honor.

My sister and her family came into town on Friday evening and we had a great dinner up at Gold Hill Inn (up in mountains above Boulder) on Saturday night.

The weekend of the Bolder Boulder (Memorial day weekend) is my favorite of the year.  Growing up in this town, the weekend was always a huge deal, and has only gained more importance as the years have passed.  This weekend is my Christmas, and the Bolder Boulder is why I am an endurance athlete.



In Training:  This past week was my largest week of bike training so far this year.  Power seems to be climbing, and I am able to throw in more threshold and intensity.  I thought that I had hit a wall, but I am pretty certain that I can still make some gains before lots of racing starts.
I kept my run volume lower than usual to make up for getting in the time on the bike.  I also wanted to keep my run semi "fresh" for that race on memorial day.


Weekly Totals:
Swim: 7,100 yds 
Bike: 731 TSS - All on trainer
Run: 26.1 miles 

Speaking to 4th graders at Columbine Elementary about running/life

Got the real one in the mail.  Immediately replaced that old "adult" one in my wallet

Aiden and Autumn (my niece)

Aiden and River (my nephew) up at Gold Hill

Meadow - my other niece

Weekly Training Log: Week of May 11th, 2015 - Week #17: A Completely New Way of Looking at the Sport

In Life:  We got flooded again in the basement (the room that I get almost all of my training in) on the Saturday before this week and I was worried that it would screw up the floors and walls.  It didn't (as far as I know).
It was also the second to last week of school for our kids, so behaviors have been crap at work.

All in all, Im just getting through these last weeks right now and looking forward to the summer break in so many glorious ways.  Working in Education is great.



In Training:  After three weeks of some down and fairly laid back training, I am back at it and ready to push things again.  I was actually ready last week to really press go, but the flood on Saturday screwed that all up.
My power is back up on the bike and I am looking to make some small gains before the real race season begins.  My run also turned this week and feels like it is ready to be improved again.

The last few weeks gave me a mental break and a new way to look at things before I take the start line at my first professional race in four weeks.  I watched the whole broadcast of of Ironman Texas (some while doing a trainer/treadmill workout) and was inspired by how the pro races work and unfold.  I'm pretty excited to start this whole thing.

Weekly Totals:
Swim: 5,100 yds 
Bike: 543 TSS - 6.5+ hours on trainer/outside
Run: 32 miles 

My sister dropped in town for an interview - It would mean the WORLD to me if she moved back to Colorado.

Went over to Avery Brewing for a few beers with my new coach Friday.  Ill get into that next week.

Proud to be coaching a fine group of athletes in IPA

The things that saved the flooded floors and walls

Aiden helping clean up the water from flooding