GoTriErin: August 2014

I want to do a proper swimbikerun recap, but for now, I'm stealing Heather Wurtle's idea of doing a stream of consciousness race report. It was super clever.

Pre-Race

3:30 AM alarm. Ugh. Its early

4:15 get in the car and drive ~15 min to Boulder high school.

hey, loads of parking!

its dark, do I need my headlamp?

T1 and T2 drop off went really smooth.

Walk to the HS track to put my frozen run bottle in my run bag. Its dark and the path isn't super well marked. Do not trip!

Back to stand in line for the bus to the Rez.

Hey, this line is moving fast. Awesome.

There's my CDA buddy Ryan. Jump in line and ride with me.

Pretty quick ride to the Rez.

Oooh, pretty sunrise. REALLY pretty.

ok, off to load my bike up and pump up my tires.

now to walk to the far end of the area to drop stuff off at my bike bag.

And now its time to figure out where to get a replacement timing chip, since I'm an idiot and left mine at home.

I have to walk way over where?

Hi nice IM staffer can I have a chip? You want me to wait until the swim start? Um no, can I get it now?

Timing chip #6 in hand, I hope the timing people manage to link my IM Live status to it or my online friends are going to freak out.

15 min before swim start. Crap. And I need to pee. And the lines are long.

No time for lines, I'm going to sit in the grass and pee. No one will notice and I'll be swimming soon anyways.

Crap, that was the cannon for the pros and I'm still getting into my wetsuit.

Wetsuit is wrestled on. Went on much smoother than the day before.

I have to walk way over WHERE again to drop off my morning clothes?!?!

Oh hey, Melissa is here at the bag drop. Good timing.

How do we manage to get into our proper seeded area for the swim start? There's so many people and not much space to move.

There are soooo many green caps.

Ok, time to start walking into the water. At what point do I get excited for this?

Oh, hey, there's SUAR right in front of me. Should I make a funny comment about her toes so she remembers me?

Still not excited. Ok, this is an Ironman. Lets go swim.

Swim

Crap, I didn't get my goggles wet. Hopefully they won't fog.

*flip over and get them wet because they did indeed fog up.*

Crap, I didn't start my watch for my total race time. Its started now, we'll just add 5 min to that time to be safe.

just keep swimming, just keep swimming

find feet..... where are the feet? why is everyone WAY to the right?

hug the buoy line, just keep swimming, where are the feet?

hmmm, I wonder if that's my friend Melissa?

why is everyone still way over to the right?

oops, too close to the buoy, had to swim under it. At least I'm on target.

yay, red turn buoy!

weird, that was a clean turn.

swim swim swim

I could do without the occasional seaweed in the face.

yay, the buoys turned orange! halfway point!

wait, how many yellow buoys were there? 9? so 9 orange ones too?

swim swim swim

why are people STILL way over to the right and I'm next to the buoys and have clean water?

I could swim with the masses and probably draft, but it looks ugly. I'll just stay where I am.

swim swim swim

Dude, how do you not know I'm here and swim right into me hard enough to bump me off course?

I think it was 9 buoys, we're getting close.

This still doesn't feel like I'm doing an Ironman. Weird.

Ohhh, I see the red swim out arch and I hear music.

Probably a 1:20 swim. And this swim feels long.

stroke stroke, hit cement, stand up, lets go!

T1

crap, my wetsuit arm is stuck on my watch.

oooh, strippers. Quick, pull my arm off first! (I have a 2 piece wetsuit)

Now its time for the bottoms. Pull the strap off my shoulder. Wait! That was my bra strap. WRONG STRAP! Ha!

Wetsuit off, gear bag in hand, change tent.

yay, empty chairs but no empty helpers.

Sit down, put my jersey on.

Ohhh, there's an empty helper. Quick - run over to her for help!

Man, these cool wings suck to wrestle on when you're wet. I'm glad I have help.

That's a long way to run in bike shoes. Ugh.

hey, there's a LOT of bikes here. I must have had a decent swim. Sweet!

Hi MERLIN! Let's RIDE!

Bike

Wow, my HR is HIGH. Chill out and get that HR down.

you know this is uphill at the start. Be ok with getting passed and get that HR down.

hmmm, I thought some of my people would be out here cheering at Nelson. Nope.

Brian just passed me, that means I had a good swim.

I'm still a bit sleepy. Am I sure I'm really doing an Ironman right now?

Oooh, every little downhill drops my HR down 5 beats. Things are getting better.

Why are they telling us to slow down going down St Vrain? If I have to turn around and climb back up this dumb hill, I'm going to enjoy the way down.

Wheeeeeeee - 40 MPH Baby!

The RMTC aid station was pretty funny. Nice mood brightener.

I remember the climb up St Vrain being much harder. That was easy. Sweet! And my HR didn't explode!

Now its time for a nice long downhill to Lyons. Yay!

eat, drink, eat, drink.

Lyons Strong! Nice cheering from the good people in Lyons. I love local races!

mmm, I love this stretch along Hwy 66. 20 mph and I'm cruising!

Turning to head up to Carter Lake! Its actually pretty cool knowing the roads around here!

There's Melissa (at mile 25). I must be doing pretty good if it took her that long to catch me.

And I'm out of drinking fluids right at mile 30. I'm drinking water pretty fast.

Crap, I can't do everything I need to do without stopping at the aid station. 2 bottles in the speedfill, some Osmo concentrate, stretch the adductor. Ok, lets ride.

More familiar roads!

eat drink eat drink

Ok, here's a part I haven't been on. Hills and turns. I like this!

Ok, I'd better just get a bottle of water and add Osmo at every aid station. I'm really worried if I go every 2 aid stations that I'll run out of water.

I'm feeling the love in Loveland!

Hey, there's my cheering squad! High fives!

Wow, David has a stout high five. He damn near knocked me off my bike. No more high fives!

Yay, there's Will. I'm doing good!

Ok, lets ride east and be prepared for the way south.

Solid bike splits - over 16 mph. Keep it up!

Special needs for more food and Tums! Never stopped at SN before, this went really slick.

Why is all the water at the aid stations warm?

Oooh, a hill. And I'm passing people!

And now for the icky soul crushing false flats. Keep that HR in check.

Its hot. really hot.

I cannot eat another bonk breaker. Gross.

Aid station at mile 75 signals the end of the false flat. Lets stop there and get some different food to eat.

Yay - cold water!

Stomach feels a bit iffy. Lets try Tums.

mmmm, cashew and ginger Kind bars. Tasty!

hey white puffy clouds, come over here and cool me off!

oooh, my stomach did not like that Kind bar. Bummer.

Why do my tums taste like mint?!?! I swear I bought fruit flavored tums. Weird....

OMG its HOT.

Let's try a SunRype fruit snack.

Ok, stomach liked that. But let's eat another Tums for good measure.

There's a good amount of people out on this stretch cheering. Way cool. We need it.

so. freaking. hot.

when will this bike end?

this bike course is cooking me.

just try and eat more. Honey Stinger Chew time. You barely have to chew those.

hey, there's my cheering squad again! What are they doing here at mile 90? I don't think they'll make it to T2 to see me....

me to Will: I am so over riding my bike (with ~25 miles to go)

FINALLY - Highway 52 and the turn west back to Boulder

its hot. so hot.

here's the hill on Hwy 52 that's right before the 3Bs.

Why does this dumb hill feel so hard?

303 is watching you - nice sign.

Hey, there's one of my facebook "friends" Dana. Hi Dana!

Ok, down the hill, turn left and get up the 3Bs.

First hill: 5.8 mph. Just. stay. on. the. bike.

Wow, there's a lot of people on the sides of the road cheering. This is really cool.

First hill done. The rest are easy.

Girl on a bike coming through! Passing on your left!

Dude said one last bump and we're done. He's lying. You're not done until you see the church. Why are you lying to these poor people?

Here's the church and the last hill.

Ok, those hills weren't bad at all.

Oooh, and the race photographer. Victory fist in the air!

Sweet, sweet downhill on more roads that I know.

I'm supposed to have more friends out here cheering, where are they? bummer.

just make it to aid station #7 at mile 104 with your tri club. Then you're home.

the entire aid station just lit up screaming your name. *eyes mist up* Man, that was cool.

and now I'm in Boulder. Just keep pedaling, the HS and T2 are coming up soon.

And there's 7 hours and you missed your time goal. Boo.

Hey, there's Kristen directing traffic. Hi Kristen!

Hmm, I drove this road yesterday. At least I know where I am now.

how am I going to run? I'm cooked.

Finally. Bike dismount.

T2

wow, long awkward walk in bike shoes to the track where I can drop my bike off.

no cheering squad. boo.

they're offering to spray people's feet down with water before they get on the track. that's a bad sign.

wow, its hot

Nice, there's my friend Carla! *hug*

Sweet, a volunteer grabbed my run bag so I didn't have to bend down.

And I get my own helper in the change tent - nice!

Hey, there's Melissa!

Bummer, my frozen water bottle is boiling hot.

Wait, did I miss the timing mat for the run start? Probably. Ugh.

Run

Ok, I can run. I can run. I can run. Just run.

5 minutes later. Wow, I'm cooked. Walk break.

Just try to run as long as you can.

4 minutes later - walk break. Crap.

Why is EVERYONE walking?!?!? This is bad.

mmmm, ice. Down my sleeves, in my handheld, down my top, down my throat.

just try to eat something. You can get down 2-3 chews every mile. Drink. eat. drink.

run. walk. run. walk.

There's the 2nd and 3rd place women's pros. I didn't expect to see them on the run....

I love ice.

hmm, lots of sneaky uphills with the underpasses. I thought that would be the case.

There's Sonja. She just told me to keep my goals manageable. She didn't yell at me to run. It must be bad out here.

Goals are now to run the downhills, walk the uphills, and 1:1 intervals for everything else.

its HOT.

Yay, more friends cheering!

Daria is so awesome to keep me company for a few hundred feet and talk to me.

Lots of people walking. Wow.

I'm 5 miles in and my feet are killing me. This is going to be a long marathon.

High fives to my club-mates. We're all hurting.

Holy crap, they're making us go over an overpass for the run? SUCKY.

Down the overpass. RUN

Mile 7 and I'm finally peeing for the first time all day. Not good.

Back UP the overpass. RUN down

Oof, I'm dizzy. Laying off the running.

I am drinking water like its running out of style. 10 oz between aid stations. Wow.

The crowd support is amazing. They're all cheering for us by our names.

Daria again. She's so nice. Ryan's here too.

Christina and the kids are here. Cool.

There's my cheering squad. yay!

Maybe a little coke will help.

It is all uphill to the ~11 mile turn around. Crap.

GRAPES. Finally, something that sounds good to eat.

13.1 miles done. Ok, I only have 1 more "lap" and I'm done. I can do this.

More grapes and coke. I'm actually feeling better.

I see Will again, tell him I'm perking up.

Its true, I feel better and I'm cracking jokes and doing a bit more running. who knew grapes were magical?

Ok, you know the trail now. Stick to your goals. Run the downs, walk the ups, 1:1 intervals.

grapes and coke. mmmm.

wait, wasn't that a woman pro? I shouldn't be seeing her as I start the 2nd loop....

This section where the MHM tent is awesome. Its lined with people ALL screaming your name. *gets misty again*

the amount of people cheering for me as I run is amazing.

I don't think many people are running anymore.

1st turn around of the run section is done! 2 more turn arounds to go.

ok, the combo of grapes + coke is making my GI system feel "interesting" . that don't trust a fart sign? yeah

drink drink drink, ice ice ice

dumb overpass again. Sooo sucky.

hmm, there's that hotel. I wonder if I could sneak in there and use their bathroom...

Turn around #2!

Mile 20. I can do this!

Mental calculations = time goal. I should be able to finish in under 15 hours, no problem. Just keep running.

This aid station must be my port-o-potty stop, since I also used it last time I was through. It wasn't too disgusting and there was toilet paper. I feel WAY better now, good call to stop.

Wow, Sonja asked me if I was doing 1:1 intervals and told me to keep it up. No yelling at me to run more, like at CDA. Things must be bad out here....

just keep running as much as you can

ok, time to run. I must really hate myself.

triathletes in general must really hate themselves.

run walk run walk

coke grapes coke grapes

ooh, sun is starting to go down. Its cooling off.

There's my cheering squad again!

Ok, up Boulder Canyon to the turn around and I'm done. Do this.

Wow, its DARK. I wish I grabbed that headlamp from the kid at special needs.

I'd like to run but I can't see. I don't want to trip and get hurt with 4 miles left.

Ok, we're at this weird little park thing. That means we're almost done.

NO! I DO NOT WANT A GLOW NECKLACE! *runs wide to avoid dude handing them out*

Wow, its really dark.

Was that my friend Melanie being told by a medic that she needs to stop and rest because she's stumbling around? wow.

Turn around #3! Downhill to the finish!

Try to run more. Especially when you can see.

There's Will and Ryan. Almost done!

Less than a mile - get running!

FINISHER TURN!

Up 13th street - RUN

Um, there's a random camera guy talking to me. This could be cool.

I think random camera guy just asked me where the finish line is - and we're 100 yards away from it.

There's no one ahead or behind me. I have the entire chute to myself.

soooo awesome.

high fives everyone!

Its so loud here. I think Mike Reilly said my name but I'm not sure.

Do I jump?

YES of course I jump!

hey, I didn't land on my ass :)

And my catchers are Chase and Deanna (my family)

wow, am I salty.

~~the end~~

Wednesday, August 06, 2014

IM Boulder 2014 prelim recap

Friday, August 01, 2014

IM Boulder - here we go!