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| I'm almost the only one who looks happy to get this started. |
The first goal I set for Ironman Boulder was to get to the
starting line healthy and ready to race. The last couple of days before the
race, I couldn’t help thinking about what happened before Ironman Lake Tahoe
last year and cross my fingers that I wouldn’t be sidelined by some other bizarre
incident. When I look at the pictures from the swim start, it is obvious that I
was just happy to be starting the race.
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| Let's get this party started :-) |
Swim
The race had a rolling start and people seeded themselves
according to what time they thought they would take to complete the 2.4-mile
swim. It was overcast and the water was a calm 72 degrees. The swim course was
an open rectangle that could be broken down into three legs and I was able to
execute my simple plan. Take the first leg controlled but not easy, go faster
on the second leg with high arm turnover and stay focused on powerful pulls with
more glide with a strong kick on the third leg. I had a fairly easy time sighting
the buoys and felt that I minimized zig-zagging. Exiting the water, I saw the
race clock said 1:13. I wasn’t sure what time I started based on the rolling
start but something less than 1:13 was a great swim for me. It was a good move
to wear the new ROKA Maverick X wet-suit which I had purchased a few days before
the race. My swim time was a new record for me at one hour and eleven minutes
(1:11:45.)
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| The buoys mark the final leg of the swim course. |
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| Out of water and quickly into transition. |
I went through the long transition area pretty quickly
(5:51.) I used the wet-suit strippers, put on my socks, shoes, a head band, helmet
and sunglasses in the changing tent with the help of a dedicated volunteer. I stuffed
my food into my pockets while I was running to the bike. I saw my friend and
training partner, Leishia (who came to Boulder to support me) as I was running my
bike up the hill to the mount line and she told me I was in 2nd place
out of the water. Very encouraging!
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| Eager wet-suit stripper volunteers! |
Bike
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| One gauge of how I was doing after the swim is how many bikes are still in their racks. |
The 112-mile
bike course was basically one mini-loop followed by a larger loop which we did
twice. The first little loop started out fairly flat with two stair stepped
climbs. It was overcast and cool through the first little loop and the first larger
loop. The larger loop had some long gradual ups and downs, not rollers. The steepest
climb was at mile 37 on the first big loop, where I got passed by one of the
top nationally ranked women in my age group. She said some encouraging words as
she whizzed past me. I knew at that point that I had dropped into third place.
(She eventually dropped out of the race during the run.)
At 56 miles I had been riding less than 3 hours and thought wow, I might get this done under 6 hours, but then thought I should not get ahead of myself as anything can happen. Just stay in the moment. It’s not just about the bike so don’t over-do it just to have a fast bike split and then not be able to run a marathon. As I got nearer the bike finish I was pretty excited to see I would indeed have a sub-six-hour bike ride. My final time was 5:50:09, my fastest time for 112 miles.
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| Out on the larger loop of the bike course. |
The bike
dismount line was very far from where they took the bike from me. I got out of
my shoes before the dismount and jogged the bike in, leaving my shoes clipped
into my pedals. It wasn’t a very fast run but probably faster than I could have
done in my cleats on concrete. I ran through transition picking up my bag and
ran into the changing tent. I grabbed some Vaseline from the table in the tent,
put it under my timing chip strap. While a volunteer put sunscreen on my
shoulders, I took a full water bottle (with Nuun in it) from my transition bag,
put on my shoes, grabbed my number belt (with gels in its pouch) and visor and
put them on as I was running out of transition. I had a fast transition time of
5:53, especially given how far we had to run pushing our bikes.
Run
I started
out thinking OK, I could run faster but will keep it contained and comfortable.
The first two miles felt great, then I started to get hot and uncomfortable
even with pouring ice water on my head and putting ice in my bra and down my back.
The run consisted of two-loops in a Y shape. The up-side of this is that Dennis
and Leishia positioned themselves where the three legs of the Y came together,
so I saw them several times and got encouragement. My overall feeling about the
run is that it was pretty brutal; hot and entirely on concrete. I just kept
running slowly one foot in front of the other. When I saw them on the first
loop, I was in fourth place. By the second loop I was just struggling to keep
running and not walk. 
At the last
turnaround, they were handing out glow-stick necklaces to people who were on
their first loop. I was elated to know that I only had a mile and a half to go,
mostly downhill and I would be finishing before it got dark. My sixth Ironman
and my first finish in the daylight! I took a little time running down the
finish chute to high-five spectators, enjoying the adrenaline rush of the
finish and hearing the Voice of Ironman (Mike Riley) announce my name and call
me an Ironman.
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Final time, and Ironman personal best: 13:14:08. Age group 5th place.
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There is nothing like it, every finisher is treated like they won the entire race! Then, to my pleasant surprise, there was Leishia behind the finish line to put the medal around my neck.
Post Race:
With the
rush of adrenaline, I wasn’t sure how I was physically at the finish. None of
the finish line food appealed to me and I was afraid of cramping if I laid down
for a massage so Leishia agreed to come to our hotel and “celebrate.” Dennis
and I walked a short distance to where he had parked and I had to lift my legs
with my hands to get them in the car. It seemed that my hamstrings were not
responding to my brain. I also started shivering uncontrollably. The hotel was less
than 15 minutes away. As we were walking into the hotel lobby, I realized we
had forgotten to pick up my bike and bags. That is a first! Pretty out-of-it!
Usually I’m preoccupied with the thought I need to get my bike. I texted Leishia
and she was able to swing back by the transition area and pick up my bike and
bags, as Dennis didn’t want to leave me alone. After a hot shower, some food
and drink (they had beer, I had ginger ale) and wrapped in a warm blanket, the
shivering stopped and we sat around, satisfied, recounting the day’s events.
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| Fifth place female 55-59. |
Photo credits: Dennis Bettencourt and Leishia Woolwine
