Boulder 70.3 race day

Sunday August 8, 2010

We woke up early and got the remainder of our things together and packed the kids in the car.  Triathlon starts are not kid friendly as far as the time of day is concerned.  Allowing the most possible sleep in time for the kids I pulled up to the transition area just as an announcement comes over the loud speakers...

"Transition will close in 2 minutes"

I remained as calm as a cucumber and knew I could set up in that time.  By this stage of the game I better be able to lay out a transition area like a nascar pit crew would do it.  Easy as pie.... not sure about this saying cause I've watched my wife make some awesome pies and that stuff just doesn't look easy.

I super glad they rushed me out of transition so I can now stand waterside for a good hour until my race wave starts.  I just chilled with the kids and watched all the other 1700 athletes take their mark!  My wave goes off and the weather and water were perfect.  The water was just cold enough and as calm as could be with 1700 other athletes flailing around in penguin suits.  I swam hard and well.  Came in with a solid time of 33:04.

I came out of the water feeling like it was a little long or maybe I wasn't being very strong mentally today.  I couldn't seem to take my mind to another place.  I transitioned quickly and headed out to what was suppose to be a fast bike course.  The course started with 6 miles of climbing and I couldn't figure out how this was suppose to be a fast course.  Well I found out at mile 10  or 11 when we made a right hand turn and started to fly.  I think I saw a camera man about half way down this very long and fast section of the course.  Hopefully that picture turns out cool.  The course was downhill most of the way home with some easy rollers.  This was a two lap course so I headed out to do it again.  With about 5 miles to go on the bike things started to go wrong with my stomach.  I started to get a cramp like I did in St Croix when I got sick all over the run course.  I had high hopes that this would not happen again.  I came off the bike with great time for me (considering the double I did last weekend and some tummy trouble) with a time of 2:29:00

I saw Sunny and the girls as I came off the bike and was excited to see them for the start of the run.  These heavy legs were heavy.  This was the closest I came to wanting to quit.  I got off the bike and ran for about 400 yards till I saw my kids.  I stopped and walked over to them.  With huge concern and sternness  my 7 year old Lucy says;

"Dad you said we don't walk when we race"

Yep... this is me walking.  It's tough to get to a 1:59 run without some of this!

I did say that so off I went running with a gut ache.  I ran most of this first lap with the words of Lucy flowing through my head.  The heat was on the rise and I wasn't getting any faster out there.  I had high hopes of getting of the race course to cool down in the lake quickly, but that just wasn't in the cards today.  I saw them again on the second lap feeling worse than the first and when I approached them I walked again... this time Lucy says;

"Dad don't give up, it's a world record"

Then my 6 year old Lily chimes in and says;

"I'll walk the rest of the race with you if you need me to" (not really knowing how far 6 miles really is)

I had flash back of St Croix right here as I assumed the "barfing" position.  I managed not to....whew!

I laughed, thanked her and tried to start running again.  I cried for the next mile trying to pull my crap together!  At every mile my Garmin would beep letting me know that another mile was down.  Each beep was small celebration and a little victory.  I ran into some of my friends from DailyMile and chatted for a second.  They each motivated me in different ways and kept me going.  I would not have made it through this run without my two oldest girls though.  I finished the run with a run time of 1:59:36.  I snuck in just under 2 hours.  There is a significant mental difference to me to come in under that 2 hour mark, even if just by seconds.  Finished with a 5:05:43 overall time.  Next weekend is Lake Stevens and I don't want to..... but I will.

After the race I slumped through the food line, met my kids lake side and flopped into the lake to cool down.  The kids greeted me with open arms and were excited to see my medal.  To them I was one if the fastest guys on the course - you gotta love perception.  They had used the sand and built a dam to dam up some of the lake water.  They were super excited to show me that they had build a "Tri and Give a Dam" dam!  I loved to see that my kids got what I was doing and why I was doing it!

The Boulder 70.3 Give a Dam

The day ended with us all walking through the pet store and through Outdoor World (huge hunting, fishing and outdoor store that has lots of things to see for the kids)

We loaded up early the next day and drove through Vale to get home.  This is possibly one of the prettiest drives in the US.  It was

B-E-A utiful!

On the way home we stopped at a GNC and I was excited to see RokitFuel on the shelves with my picture and website on it!  Every little bit of exposure helps.  Yahoo!!

We made it home safe and sound!  We will do it all again next week in Lake Stevens.  This next week I will be joined by John Rose from DUB Nutrition who wants a bike split rematch from Boise and Kyle Woodruff who is will be trying to qualify for the 70.3 World Championships.  I will be grateful for the company on the long drive!