The 2007 Boulder Peak was a "C" level race for me, as my only real focus (if you can call any of my training "focused") has been for Ironman Wisconsin. I knew going into this that I was pretty undertrained for the run. I just haven't been running, even though I've had no issues for a few weeks. Man, I hate running! :) Anyway, The Peak was on Sunday, July 22, the first real day of my vacation in Estes Park. Our friends, Matt & Shauna were in town to vacation with us, so Matt & I got up early (around 4:30 am) to make the drive into Boulder.
I was in the very last wave, so even though the race started at 6:30 am, I didn't get to go until 7:30. I knew I could look forward to a HOOOOOT day on the run course. :)
The Swim27:48
I'm in decent swim shape, so I knew it'd be a pretty good swim for me. My time is a little misleading, I think. I came out of the water at about 25:50, but the timing mat was quite aways from the swim exit, right at the entry to transition. So I had to run almost 2 minutes to get to the mat. Seems weird to me, but... officially, I clocked in at 27:48. That was slightly disappointing.
T11:58
T1 was was uneventful, and fairly good for me. I don't start with the shoes on the bike, because I really haven't practiced it. So, it usually takes a little longer to get into the shoes and then out the bike exit. considering the run from the swim entrance to the bike rack and then to the bike exit, I was pretty pleased.
The Bike1:14:32
This was a pretty decent bike split for me, although I think I could have gone harder. I had some trouble getting my shoes clipped in. I was wobbling around a bit in the first few meters trying to get clipped in. Finally made it, and off I went. Then, as I left the reservoir, my chain dropped as I was shifting into the big ring. More wobbling as I managed to shift it back without stopping. I should have known it meant trouble later.
The Peak is renowned for Old Stage Hill Rd, the only real hill on the course... but oh what a hill! In total, Old Stage Hill Rd is 2.5-3 miles long, with about 1.5 miles of climbing. However, the first 3/4 mile averages about 12% grade. Not only that, but you have to climb just to get to Old Stage Hill.
I was really cruising until I got to OSH. I usually take the false flat from the reservoir to the Lee Hill Rd. turnoff pretty easy, and at about 14-16 mph. This time I was cruising at between 18-20 mph, and I felt terrific. When I turned onto Lee Hill Rd to start the climb toward OSH, I was spinning easily and averaging 16 mph up the climb! It was awesome! When I finally hit OSH, I felt pretty good. A little more tired than I'd have liked (maybe I should have backed off on the climb), but pretty good. As I started the climb, I started shifting down to those easier gears, and just after the base of the climb, my chain dropped. Well... needless to say, when you're riding at 6 mph up a 12% grade, you have no time to try to shift the chain back on without stopping. So... I stopped and fixed the chain. Unfortunately, OSH is a bottle-neck for the bike leg, and I couldn't get any breaks to climb back on the bike. So, I started walking the bike up the hill, and finally, about 50 yards later, I saw a break in the line and managed to get back on the bike.
The final part of the climb was fun. A couple of people in Devil costumes and lots of other spectators made it feel sort of like the climb up Alp d'Huez in the Tour de France. After I crested OSH, I knew it would be fast! There's a 35 mph speed limit on the descent due to a near-fatal accident that happened a couple of years ago. So, I stayed on the brakes and kept myself right at 35 mph. Some guy came flying past me, and should have been DQ'ed. I hope they got him.
The rest of the bike was extremely flat and pretty darn fast. I caught the guy who screamed past me on the OSH descent pretty quickly, and never saw him again (although I'm sure he passed me on the run). I got into a great rhythm, and was just pedaling away at about 90-100 rpms. My legs never even got tired, and I just felt terrific! I was dreading the run, though, because I just haven't trained it much. I had a bottle of water on the bike, and tried to take some Gatorade from the aid stations, but I guess the volunteers didn't get the memo that said to take the seal off the Gatorade bottle before handing it to the cyclists. No Gatorade for me. Since it was a relatively short race, I didn't take any Gu or other foods. Little did I know that this would be the true cause of a really bad run leg.
As I neared the bike finish, I got my feet out of the shoes while still on the bike and finished the last few hundred meters at an easy pace. As I got to the dismount line, I jumped off the bike and headed into transition. My legs felt great, and I was ready for a decent run split!
T21:09
T2 was pretty uneventful, too. I'm surprised it took me over a minute. I need to work on that a bit.
The Run1:05:52
This was a really disappointing split, as I felt pretty good coming into T2. Also, over the course of the run leg, I never felt like my legs were too fatigued. I just ran out of gas. The problem, I think, was that I should have fueled up a bit on the bike. I should have taken a gel or two, and some Gatorade would have helped as well.
I started out pretty good, noting my first mile split was 8:30. By mile 2 I was down to 9:30, and by mile 2.5 I was walking. The photo at the left is the start of the run. I was feeling good and running pretty well.
The photo at the right is about mile 5. I was running again, but very slowly. People were passing me all over the place. It was very disheartening.
On the positive side, though, I think I paced myself very well on the bike. If I can just nail down the nutrition, I think Ironman might be better than I originally expected.
Final Time: 2:51:19
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