This was my second year competing in the IRONMAN 70.3 Boulder race. Last year I had a great race and I was looking to improve upon that performance. It was also my third half IRONMAN distance of the season.
Last year there were several issue I ran into, and this year with that knowledge in hand I thought I would have an advantage. The first was parking. It was a nightmare last year. I was stuck outside of the Boulder Reservoir for an hour before the race. I needed up having to sprint from transition to the start of my wave. This year I planed ahead and came in the back way. There was still traffic, but I missed it all! I had plenty of time to get ready in them morning.
This year there was a rolling start on the swim. You seat yourself in the wave that is closest to your projected swim time. I was looking to swim the course in about 35-34 minutes. So I got in line in the 33-35 minute wave. I might have been a little ambitious with this prediction. Once we got rolling I got swam over quite a bit. The start of the swim was quite rough actually. I had a leak in my goggles an then dealt with fogging issues. I got that all resolved but then I kept getting hit by other swimmers, one actually stopped my Garmin. All of this cause a not so great swim. I wasn’t bad just not ideal. As I got out of the water, I didn’t pay attention to the time. Since my watch got stopped I knew it wouldn’t be accurate. I would just go forward and focus on the race. There was a little struggle to get my wet suit off, but I got it done thanks to the wet suit strippers.
![](https://www.cyclizing.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/IMG_1459.jpg)
Transition was long and it seemed like it took forever to get to the mount line.The bike went great and it was a fast course. This year the course was the same as the full IRONMAN course I raced back in June. Only one lap though. So I knew that it would be fast. Apparently not as fast as last year though.
![](https://www.cyclizing.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/IMG_1454.jpg)
I have to say the bike course was pretty uneventful. I was able to work at it and keep a consistent speed. However towards the end of the course I noticed that my crank arm was coming loose just like in the full IRONMAN. I stopped at the last aid station to tighten it. I knew it kill a minute or so, but better to be safe than sorry.
![](https://www.cyclizing.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/IRONMAN-70.3-Boulder-2.jpg)
I was feeling pretty good and was ready to crush the run course. But the run course had different plans for me. First off it was hot, really hot. As I ran out of transition I could feel the heat.
Once you ran out of the resevour there is a small downhill section to the first aid station. This is a great place to relax and settle into a good pace. Last year this was the spot that I could tell I was going to have a good run. Thing felt different this year though, not bad, just not good.
![](https://www.cyclizing.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/IRONMAN-70.3-Boulder-3.jpg)
I made it though the first lap of the course and was looking forward to knowing I only had one more lap to go. I was getting tired and my pace was slowing. The second lap hurt and as I approached the second to last aid station I had to walk. I got some water and a little Coke, then I picked up my pace and headed towards the finish line.
The entire race I didn’t pay much attention to my time, but I had a good idea of what I had done on the bike. I was feeling like I was on track for a good race. I knew my run wasn’t great though.
![](https://www.cyclizing.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/IRONMAN-70.3-Boulder-1.jpg)
I walked through the final aid station, composed myself, and took off as I knew the finish line was just around the corner. There is a bit of zig zagging before the final approach. As I came around the corner Lauren, her parent and Jacob were there. I gave Jacob a high five and ran to the finish.
![](https://www.cyclizing.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/IRONMAN-70.3-Boulder.jpg)
The race was over and I was exhausted. I stopped my watch but I new the time wasn’t accurate, unfortunately it was over five hours, not what I wanted at all.
It was not my best race, not the performance I was hoping for. Again my run killed me and I know I still have a lot of work to do. The honest truth in all if this is I need to do more work to get myself to the level I want to be at. Life has gotten in the way of training, which is okay. But I performed the best I could with the preparation I had.
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