For those who have nothing better to do, here's the full story:
I decided to do Boulder after Jeff twisted my rubber arm. During the run at IMSA I had big regrets about signing up for Boulder so soon and wondered how much of a refund I would get if I pulled out of Boulder.
I'm glad I didn't.
Doing Eagleman in June was a good test but I got sick afterwards and took about 3 weeks off training. I only manage two 100 mile rides and very little running. This didn't do anything for my confidence going in.
So, the game plan was : spend a few days in Breckenridge with Jeff to acclimate and get in some last minute training sessions. Jeffs sisters and their families were there too, along with Mike "The Power" Haus.
Dealing with the altitude was a struggle. By the 3rd day I was struggling, completely bonking on a 20 mile bike ride and hanging on to the side of the pool for dear life after Jeff conned Mike and I into doing swim intervals. The ride training was great as we had an endless bike path to train on. In between gulps of thin air I took in some of the amazing scenery.
Scenery
Hot tub
Kids goofing
On Thursday I drove to boulder, registered, picked up my bike rental (sweet ride) then got Jen from the airport.
Okay. Race day.
The Swim
The water temp was 78F so it was non wetsuit. Bummer. If you wanted to you could wear your suit and start at the back. In hindsight this is what I should have done, as roughly half the field decided they were going to wear theirs. But Jeff and I had a "strategy" for the swim, and wearing a wetsuit puts Jeff out of contention for a Kona slot should he do well enough.
The strategy was take 5 minute turns. Needless to say this didn't work as the swim start was chaos. By some luck I spotted Jeff in the water after the first turn at about 1.2 miles. Both of us floundering alone, so we took turns drafting till the wetsuit dudes came crashing through us (definitely should have suited up). I cramped up at about the 1.8 mark and just sat on someone's toes to get to the end. The extra kicking I had to do in the lake took its toll on my feet and calves. Considering the chaos and the madness of 2500 people on the water-it was an amazing swim. Water was cool and clean, and the surrounding scenery was a great distraction (if you took the time to look:)
Video of the swim start:
https://instagram.com/p/54bMmMQEIf/
The Bike
This is the leg I feared the most. 1000 ft or so more climbing than SA and 5000 ft higher up. And a different bike. My biking fitness wasn't were it should have been either.
The courses had a north loop X 2 and a west loop X 1. Long, slow climbs. Fast descents with some fast corners at the ends. I took some chances on the second loop, trying to maintain momentum into the next climb.The first 90miles wasn't too bad. No serious climbing, but almost no flat riding.
The last 20 miles was a suffer fest. The wind picked up and so did the gradient. By the time I started the descent into town I was broken. 10 miles from home I started to experience the same effects I had in Breckenridge. Dizziness, stomach pains, disorientation and a thumping headache. But no cramps so small miracle. Parked the bike and made the loooooong trek to the tent. I was so out of it that I couldn't quite figure out my gear change. Started putting my bike shoes in the bag before taking anything out. I was a mess. So I sat for 5 minutes and contemplated life. Got my hear on and got out of there.
The run
The first 5 k was a struggle. I was a bit out of it mentally and completely out of breath as the course had a million ups and downs under the underpasses. I had to stop a few times to bring my HR down and even considered napping next to some other athletes under a tree :) the first 10k took me about 90 minutes and I wasn't feeling so good. Kept a slow pace and walked the aid stations and started to feel a lot better. There was a crew of 3 guys wearing matching green trisuits. I hooked onto them and tried to maintain a pace. I would pass them at the stations and they'd catch me back. At about mile 10 I met up with Bob, a chap who had survived a heart attack on a training run before the race. He had open heart surgery and lay in a coma for 3 days. Me and him pulled each other along all the way to the finish line, picking up our pace and bypassing the final few aid stations along the way.
