Oh man this was a good one! Since Florida 70.3 I have really taken it easy and just allowed my body to take in the training I have done to this point. Florida and Boise were stepping stones for my bigger goals of Ironman Canada and Ironman Cozumel (my true 'A' race for the season).
Boise is always a highlight of the year as we have a ton of athletes from Utah that do this event; everywhere you turn is a friend. We packed the car with 7 people and 6 bikes. It took some serious skill but we got it all in there. We went up on Thursday to have an extra day to get all checked in and just relax.
For dinner we went to a friends restaurant and ate some incredible Mediterranean food! Thank you so much Sam! We woke up whenever we wanted and drove the course for the new athletes in the group to preview. This is always a great thing to do if you have time. Previewing the course is always different then simple looking over the PDF profiles and elevation charts online. We drove up to lucky peak (swim start) and did a quick ride to make sure all systems were a go mechanically.... and good thing I did cause my rear wheel was set too close to my frame and rubbing - not good! I fixed the issue and checked all the bikes into the transition area. We headed down to the water to see if it was really as cold as they said it was.... the race people said the water temp was 53 but the ranger said it was 47 degrees. I stood in it up to my knees for 30 seconds and I couldn't tell the difference between the two, either way it was stinking cold.
It has started to become a tradition to go to a matinee after all race stuff is done. We went straight from our pre-race bike ride to the theater and this was my first movie experience in Spandex. We got many strange looks.... good thing I had shaved my legs!
Boise is a unique race on the circuit with a 12 noon race start. It is always bizarre to not set an alarm for race day and just allow our bodies to wake up when they wake up. The tricky part of a 12 noon start is getting your nutrition right leading up to the race start. I showed up to transition and discovered that my rear tire had gone flat. I headed over to the bike tent and did a quick tire change. As I was pumping up the new tire I hear a loud BANG! I looked around and asked in shock "was that my tube?" Sure enough, I blew out the new tube; however the techs there were kind enough to give me another one. I did a thorough inspection of the tire to see what the cause of the tube destruction was... I used some duct tape on a section where the blowouts were happening and had high hopes I would be ok on the ride. Thanks to Sunny, she gave me her spare tube so that I would have one on my ride!
I jumped into the water and it instantly took my breath away. It took about 2-3 hundred meters before I really settled into a rhythm. The swim was a big triangle and the strange part was on the 2nd and final turn the water temp dropped. A random pocket of even colder water. Brrrrrrr.
I got out of the water stopped my watch and saw 34 flat! Yes... Then I thought, I am not out of the race yet! My good friend David Warden came out of the water right in front of me and I remember thinking YES! I now get to do the bike ride with a buddy, its going to be a fun day! As David excited transition he forgot he had installed a new hydration system on the back of his seat. He attempted to do his traditional 'flying mount' and slammed his leg into his water bottle and crashed to the ground. I ran out of transition with my bike as David gathered himself thinking to myself "What the hell is he doing", I fully expected David to ride up behind me within the first few miles of the bike.... but nothing. I biked hard and had a great time on this challenging course. With this bike course the middle section had some good climbs and rolling hills. It was fun to see all my friends and athletes on the course.
The game plan was for me to catch one of my athletes and training partners Kyle Woodruff at mile 50 of the bike. He started 12 minutes ahead of me with the staggered swim wave starts. I joined the party a few miles early and made it up to Kyle at mile 48. We chatted for a minute and assessed how his race was going. He was doing pretty good and was sticking to the game plan we laid out for him. I ended up biking a 2:26.
We came into T2 together and headed out on the run. The race was unfolding perfect for me. I was now going to run with my favorite training partner, the perfect guy to pace me. Just after mile 1 we pulled off into the bushes and took some relief. As I am wrapping things up I hear David yell, ''come on James let's go!" Kyle and I took off to try to join David. We were running a 6:40 pace not closing any distance on him. David is a sprint specialist and a damn good athlete. I turned to Kyle and said we'll get him...he can't hold that pace for 13 miles. By mile 8 I could no longer see David and things started to go way wrong for me. My stomach started to turn and I ended up throwing up all over the course. Here is the good news, I am a mental giant... I managed to keep stride while throwing up and not pull off to the side of the course. After the race my friend Scotty Brown said, "That was impressive, throwing up right in stride"! Even though I don't remember parts of the second lap I just kept my head down and was able to maintain a 7:45 average. At one point of the run I remember yelling to Kyle that I hate triathlons and my mind was trying to figure out how to get out of my 2012 world record attempt.
I remember crossing the finish line and then the rest is a blur. Kyles 'claims' he talked to me at the finish but I just don't remember that. I do remember being really concerned that I wasn't going to get my race finisher hat and medal... my 22 others back home just aren't enough! They took me to medical and things got slightly worse there. Initially they weren't going to give me an IV; they wanted to see if I could hold down liquid orally. I took in some liquid and within minutes threw it all up. They called for an IV and hooked my up. I remember John Rose coming in to make sure I was ok. Afterwards he told me that I was completely out of it, shaking all over. Kyle came in when I was laying face down with four people trying to straighten my legs out. All this is super strange to me as I can not figure out what happened. I know my nutrition, I know this distance.... it is still a mystery. Some days our bodies just refuse to cooperate and there isn't a darn thing we can do about it. I felt fine after about an hour and then they released me to the massage people.
I ended up running a 1:41 (7:45 average) and finished with a finish time of 4:46! Still a pretty good time considering the second part of my run is a complete blur. Huge congrats to a few of our peeps who nailed their goals and reached some personal bests;
Sunny Jo Mamma broke 6 hours for the first time!!!!
Brad Hess broke 6 hours for the first time!!!!
Kyle Woodruff broke 5 hours for the first time!!!!
Big John Rose nailed it and hit his goal of 4:52!!!!
The most impressive performance of the day goes to David Warden in my mind. He has literally trained his body to do sprints at an Elite level. His longest brick was 2.5 hours back in 2006. He decided to sign up last minute for the Boise race and KILLED it. He ended up running a 1:29 on the run with a total finish time of 4:35. David ran into 6th place in the division claiming the last and final world age group spot. Last week after David "worked me" on the run in big local sprint race, I told everyone that I would "work him" if we ever toed the line in a half. David I am sorry - you sir are a damn beast and an great athlete! Congrats and go get em' in Vegas - I will be there to cheer you on!!!!
Even after setting the world record last year and learning all the lesson I learned.... there is still so much that goes into half Ironman and full Ironman racing. These distances are no joke. I love the sport and will continue to learn and grow. After the feelings I had today I wonder how am I going to do 30 full Ironman races in 2012? Is this something I can really do....?'
