2007 Boulder Peak

Prologue

It's time for the annual trip to Boulder for the Boulder Peak Triathlon. This is my seventh BP and it should be one of my best. I've been getting a lot of swim time and my bike training has been consistant. Since it is BP, I'll be racing with several friends including my brother, Bruce, Holly, Bree and Neil. It's always fun seeing Neil since he's so fast and always in the mix for a top finish.

ACT 1 - The Swim - 1500 meters - 26:30, 1:46/100

I decided to do something different this year and I lined up in the middle of the second line of swimmers. Why not? I'm a pretty good swimmer so I positioned myself right in the mix. That was a big mistake. I couldn't find my rhythm until after the first turn. The scrum was as bad as Ironman. I guess that's one lesson learned from this year's race. Even if you're a good swimmer, line up to the side or in the front row. Compared to my other BP performances, this year's swim was pretty average.

T1 - 1:16

ACT 2 - The Bike - 42k - 1:10:48, 22.1 mph

As I grabbed my bike and exited T1, I saw Rafael heading out so I gave him a shout. He's really fast so that should be last I see of him until the end. I run out of T1, jump on the bike and do the flying shoe trick. BP is one race where you see a lot of the flying shoe trick and while I don't have it perfected, I can at least struggle through it.

I pass Shaun before crossing US36. I wish he had more time to train cause I think he could be fast but like so many others, life has so many committments and something has to bend to fit everything in. When I pull out to pass a few people before the turn to Old Stage I hit a nice pothole and launch one of my gels. I hope I don't need it later but it's gone now.

Going up Old Stage, I shift down to my middle ring and keep pushing hard. I watch one of my fellow competitors hit stall speed and fall over straight sideways. Old Stage always gets its share of racers. I do so well going up that I don't have to shift to my granny gear which is always great. After the big downhill, I stay on my aerobars and try to keep the pressure on the pedals.

T2 - 1:02

ACT 3 - The Run - 10k - 41:16, 6:45/mile

Out of T2, I start to chase a guy in blue but when we hit the dam road, he starts to pull away. With the heat starting to climb, I decided to let him go and run my own race. I know it's a cliche but I know what I can do and I don't want to explode in the first couple miles. The first half passes easily enough if a 10k can ever be easy. Coming up on the turn around I see a racer for Team Snickers so I set my sites on him and decide to try and reel him in by mile 5.

I gradually up the pace and slowly Snickers comes back to me. Somewhere on the dam road, I finally catch him and about twenty yards ahead is the guy in blue. I noticed that Snickers and the guy in blue are both in my AG so the race comes down to me, the guy in blue and Snickers. I start to reel in blue but I make a critical mistake, I catch him too soon. I pass blue before we leave the dam which means there's about 800 meters to go. Blue covers my move and there is too much race left to stay with him. Somewhere in all this, Snickers gets dropped off the back.

Total Time: 2:20:53

Epilogue

Personal Record - 2:20:53 - 4 minutes off of my previous best. 10th in my age group and 85th overall. First top 10 AG, first top 100 overall.

It happened with a solid bike ride of 1:10 which is where I picked up the four minutes. I kept the pressure on the pedals solid the whole way even up Old Stage. On the flats and small hills, I kept the RPMs high and kept ticking over the pedals. My swim was solid. I've spent a lot of time working the swim to make it steady and it paid off. I wasn't in any trouble in the water and just kept my pace. The run was good but the heat too its toll. I was solid but I wasn't as fast as I wanted. Both transitions were right at one minute which didn't hurt. I think the shoe trick is working and the practice is paying off.