Denver Marathon Relay - Race Report

Going to a race completely for fun is indeed great fun. The Kernel Jsssup relay team was a mixed team, 2 gals and 2 guys. My friend Susan from work and her twin Sarah and my buddy Scott. We decided to meet at Susan's since it was close to the race venue in downtown Denver. I picked up Scott at 5:50am and we headed north to downtown. Everyone was ready to go and Susan's boyfriend Roland was our driver to the relay transitions.

We all loaded up the car and headed to drop Susan off for the first leg of 6 miles. The race start was 7am so we got her close by 6:30am and the rest of us headed to Starbucks to hang out. Susan was targeting below 10 minutes a mile so we had about an hour before we needed to make our way to the first transition (are the called transitions in a relay?).

After some coffees and lattes we got our numbers and timing chips fastened and loaded into the car again. We made it easily over to the relay station and got ready for Sarah to take over the running. She would be running the 4.2 miles and aiming for close to 9:30 per minute miles. Susan made it right around on time. It's hard to tell exact on relays because the start time is officially unknown until well after the race for the individual. But she was close to her goal and we were looking good so far.

Sarah took off for her 4.2 miles and we headed to the car to get Scott to the next station. We didn't a ton of time given this being the shortest leg. Again no problems getting the car to the next station. We all kept watch for Sarah. It was a beautiful day at this point crisp cool air and sunny. The atmosphere was very festive and the crowds and runners seemed to be enjoying themselves. Sarah made it through and looked to be right on her target as well. Scott took off on the big leg 9 miles and he was aiming for 6 to 6.5 minutes per mile. Not too specific but he was looking to move fast, our fastest team member.

We all piled back into the car with a decent amount of time to get to my transition station. We unfortunately got stuck in a traffic line blocked by the marathon. Minutes ticked away and we weren't too worried at first but we sat longer and longer. I figured I'd be happy to have 10 minutes to spare and hit the porta potty and eat a gel pack before my turn at the wheel. We got closer and closer to the crossing and watched one guy get out of his car to complain. That was comical. Well we made it with 10 minutes to spare and I got prepped to run.

We were waiting for Scott and the Ace Venture team, complete with pink frilly skirts, feathered back hair and a football made there hand off. Scott came roaring through right on target and I took off on the final 7 miles which I was hoping to do below 8 minutes per mile. I have raced several tris where you have the benefit of seeing the R on the back of relay team calves. I did not have such an R and got to enjoy that feeling of passing boatloads of people. It's always such an annoying feeling in a tri especially when you see that R. Well I felt good and kept my heart rate in the low 160s for the most part. I gave an OK kick for the final few hundred yards and looked at my watch which said 11:34am...official time to come later on.

We all met up and headed for brunch with a handful of folks. Thanks a bunch to Roland for driving and great job to the team! Official time 3:31. Susan 9:50 / mile. Sarah 9:36. Scott 6:25. Me 7:49. We all were right in line with our individual projections. Good enough for 39th of over 300+ relay teams and a top 20 for mixed teams. Well done!

Happy training!

Coming up soon...rebuilding my road bike into a racing machine!

Training as a Vacation

Triathlete magazine often talks about races as destination vacations. There are also a multitude of training camps out there to pay money and have them tell you what do. How about just picking a cool location and going there for an extended weekend focused on training and recovering (aka, relaxing)? I've done it in the past and was fortunate to do it again last weekend in Moab, UT.

My wife loves camping, mountain biking, road biking and skiing. This is instrumental in me balancing work and training with a happy marriage. We headed over to Utah on Thursday for a 3 day camping and mountain biking trip (a day and a half off work doesn't hurt) with the Denver Mountain Bikes Meetup.

Thursday night we met up with some folks at a restaurant and I kept it clean with some salmon on mixed greens. We headed over to the camp site and set up our tent in the dark (with the help of some headlamps). We headed to bed early to wake up for the big Slick Rock ride on Friday.

Friday morning we both woke up around 8:30. I broke out the camp stove and cooked some Canadian Bacon, toast, mixed fruit, banana and eggs (same breakfast again Saturday). After breakfast we headed over to Slick Rock. It was pretty crowded (as is often the case). We had about 15 folks so we just went out and rode the 15 mile or so ride. It's basically a practice loop and then a big lollipop course. Slick Rock is a bit of a misnomer because it's sandstone and you bike tires get traction like nothing else I've ever ridden on this planet. Anyway it took awhile to ride as we were liberal with stops to keep the whole group together. We finished a little over 4 hours later counting our lunch break.

We headed back to the camp site. Some folks went for showers. Dana decided to do some yoga and I figured this was the perfect time to get a brick workout in and changed gear for a desert run. I refilled my CamelBak and put on my trail running shoes, grabbed the iPod and was off. I headed out for about 9 miles (4.5 mile out and back). Theelevation gain on the way out was incredible. But I felt pretty good and after finishing it was time to shower up and head out for dinner. We hit Pasta Jay's with our big group and I had some chicken and penne.

I went to bed early again. I slept unbelievable well there considering we were sharing an air mattress in the tent. Saturday we woke up and had breakfast. Then we loaded the car and headed to Sovereign Singletrack. Some folks took a shuttle to do Porcupine. I've done and thought it was a little too technical of downhill for Dana. Sovereign was some good climbing and rolling hills so it worked well. We got ahead of the group along with Anelise another rider and so we waited a few times but to no avail. Then we kind of got turned around with some folks (Don and Jody who I did not get contact info for) we met out on the trails so we just kept at it. It was a long 5+ hour day of riding and we all ran out of water with about an hour to go. Given it's the desert I was beat by the time we were done (I took a little longer route back than the ladies).

We headed back to camp and dropped off the bikes and headed for showers again. We (about 30 of us) had dinner at Eddie McStiff's that night. Dana had Salmon Putanesca and I had a strip steak with mashed potatoes. We shared and then had 2 big desserts, which were well deserved and tasty. I had hoped to run that day but was totally destroyed and had a pretty good wreck on Sovereign hurting my right wrist and left shoulder.

Sunday we decided to head back in the morning instead of ride since it was windy and rainy and generally not so great. Plus my wrist was pretty banged up. We grabbed breakfast with the group at the Pancake House. I had an omelet and muffin. Then we hit the road for 5:30 hour trip back to Denver. We got back with plenty of daylight to spare and my legs felt pretty good. So I grabbed my 4 bottle fuel belt and headed out for a run. I decided since I felt good I'd just do a half marathon and call it a successful weekend training vacation. The 13.1 miles went well. I felt strong the whole time and finished under 2 hours without pushing too hard.

Dana was quite happy with her first riding in Moab. The last time we went she just had knee surgery so she read at the campsite. This time she got to fully partake and said it was blast. I was quite happy with the diversions of new mountain biking terrain and the joy of going hard all day and then resting well afterwards. I recommend it anybody looking to balance work, training and family.

Endurance & Charity

So there seems to be a very strong connection between the world of endurance sports and charity. This starts at the very entry level of running/walking a 5k for a local cause. It ratchets all the way up through Team In Training, Livestrong, Crohn's and Colitis Foundation Team Challenge, Endure to Cure (E2C), and my personal endeavor for 2010, Ironman - Janus Charity Challenge.

Team In Training raises money for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. Livestrong Challenges raise money and awareness for all types of cancer. Crohn's and Colitis raises money for those respective diseases. E2C, started by Jason Sissel, raises money for pediatric cancer. The Janus Charity Challenge allows an athlete who is racing in a full distance Ironman to raise money for the charity of their choice. Janus provides the management and documentation tools. For Ironman Lake Placid July 25, 2010 I will be raising money for Autism Speaks. I will be trying to help children like my cousin, Malachi Fleck-Raybuck, in their battle with Autism. The more we raise the better the odds of getting matching funds from Janus.

So where does the tie between endurance and charity begin? That's a tough question, but I think it lies in the initial motivation to undertake something outside of our comfort zone. Endurance activities particularly on the longer end of the spectrum aren't done on a whim. They require planning, sacrifice, prioritizing and often a single minded focus. These qualities lend themselves very favorably to a fundraising campaign. The similarities are not lost on potential donors. People see someone willing to put in the blood, sweat and tears in preparation and completion of some event, and figure OK I can put a few bucks behind that.

It becomes quite the virtuous circle. The athlete has motivation for those early morning training days. Donors have something tangible to cheer for in the fundraising and the event. The charity receives more money than is likely through simply asking for donations. The awareness raised also pushes those buttons in others, who think, "I could pick up that torch and carry it too!" When all is said and done, the completion of the event is icing on an already fantastic cake.

Happy training!

Harvest Moon Half Ironman Race Report

Sept 11, 2009...8 year anniversary of 9/11 and the day before my race. Having lived and worked at ground zero that day and watched the horror fly over my head into the South Tower, the day is a stark anniversary of various emotions. Today I was pretty relaxed and focused for the day. I woke up at 5 and did 15 minutes each of swimming, biking and running with a couple of quick pickups in each. I kept my nutrition plan well. Nothing too fibrous. No caffeine (3rd day in a row...yikes). Lots of water to sip. I was looking forward to the first race this season (and my last tri of this season) in particular because I got to sleep in my bed the night before. I picked up my race packet after work at the Red Lion Hotel with no particular fanfare. At home I prepared a dinner of salmon and mashed potatoes. Nothing fancy and washed down with some water. I got the 4-runner packed and headed to bed at 9:30pm.



Sept 12, 2009...Race Day. I slept very soundly, a true benefit of a very local race. I woke up sharply just before 5 and headed downstairs to get coffee and breakfast. 2 cups of black coffee, 3 poached eggs, 2 bananas and a peach. A good mix of macronutrients and my first caffeine in 4 days. I felt good. I grabbed my prepacked nutrition from the fridge (1500 calories of Heed and one water bottle). I ran back upstairs and kissed Dana goodbye and headed out in the dark. I arrived at the Aurora Reservoir at 6:15 with a good hour and a half before my wave started. I methodically set up my transition and was pleased to again find the rear tire bike racks. After getting set up I headed over to the reservoir to check out the swim course. It was chilly so I headed back to transition and put my wetsuit on and a long sleeve shirt over it and waited. About 7:30 we all headed toward the water. I decided to get in and warm up a little. Being that the water was about 16 degrees warmer than the air (66 vs 50) I decided to stay in the water while the 3 waves in front of mine took off. I ate a Hammer gel and headed toward the start area.



Swim 1.2 miles - 35:20 - Perfect. Funny thing is I started out and felt strong. Then as the swim leg wore on I felt like man this is really taking long. I didn't want to look at my watch as I felt the impending disappointment. Alas I stepped out of the water and saw 35 on the big numbers of my watch and was very I happy. The 4 weeks of work I had done at Swimlabs www.swimlabs.com had paid off. 9 minutes faster than my swim a month earlier at the Boulder 5430 Half Ironman. I quickly ran up toward transition.

T1 - 3:03 - getting there. I am finally starting to get some rhythm in transitions. I decided this race to not take in gels in transition. I would rely on 1,000 calories of Heed on the bike and take some gels out on the run. I peeled the wetsuit quickly and got the bike gear on. For the sake of caution I sprayed my shoulders with sunscreen and headed out for the bike.

Bike 56 miles - 2:50:50 - 19.7 mph. I was worried about the bike. It was considered tougher than Boulder with the hills and wind. Here I would find out if I was fitter and if the long mountain bike rides in my legs would provide meaningful benefit. Also I was 5 pound lighter and hoping to get the 15 extra watts. My weakness would be whether my knee would hold up as it had really been bothering me the last 2 weeks and some massage work I had done was quite holding. Well it was windy and cold. My feet were freezing. Fortunately, I was able to keep in aero position most of the flats and downhills and really came up only for the tougher climbs. I methodically took in calories every 20 minutes. My knee held up great and I had no problems until after mile 41. Then the started to ache and the climbs really got tougher. But I gritted out and finished with the same time as Boulder. Definitely fitter on the bike and didn't give up my swim victory. Now time to run.

T2 - 1:38 - Awesome - except not. I put Yankz in my racing shoes for this race. So I quickly got out of my bike gear took a big 250-300 calorie gulp from my Heed bottle in transition and slid on my easy shoes. I grabbed my hat and was off. Buuuuuut 150 yards out I realized no race number belt. There was a strict warning that no number at the run turnaround = DNF. I changed direction and sprinted back to transition. I told the gate keeper I needed my racing belt number, she smiled. So from the looks of things on this transition time and my forthcoming run time this minute lost was stuck onto my run.

Run 13.1 miles - 2:01:15 - Great. I was really hoping to break 2 hours. I am certain my forgotten belt was worth a minute maybe not a minute 15, but given the stomach problems I encountered the final 4 miles and the aching knee the whole run, I don't really care. It was a solid performance and given the effort I put out on the bike everything held up including my psyche. I met a guy named Josh on the run who said he was aiming for under 2 hours about a mile into the run. We were spot on in terms of pacing so we just went with it. I was figuring if I could keep up with him I'd be good. He said the same. So we chatted and dealt with our individual pain. He had a nasty gash on his foot from the swim and cramping legs. I had a bad knee and some soon to be strongly felt stomach issue. Anyway we chatted occasionally and just hammered it out. My wife was out on the run course and took our picture. With 4 miles to go I was cramping and feeling the pain in my stomach. Burping helped a little and water helped a wee bit. But I figured I'd just keep pushing. Finally with the finish line in site I felt a little burst of strength and was able to give a little at the end, but not much. Josh and I shared congratulations. He thanked me for running with him, and I told his wife he did great. Then I went in search of a bathroom and to figure out what was going on in my stomach.

Total time - 5:32:05 - ECSTATIC. A month after shattering my PR, I raced a tougher half ironman and took 9 more minutes off my PR. 1 minute lost for not being mindful but all in all a very solid effort for my last triathlon of 2009. I look forward to the offseason, with a few run races, skiing and base building. 2010 looks to be quite promising. I'll need to figure out that issue with my stomach. Maybe too many calories taken in. Maybe not enough water since I backed off as it was cold. I'll figure it out. I give this race and 2009 an A for triathlongs. 1 full Ironman, 2 half Ironmans, 1 Xterra World Cup and 1 Xterra America's Cup offroad triathlon.

Happy Training!

Bike Trainer vs Cross Trainer

I have a very nice bike trainer down in the basement with a wireless power meter and all kinds of little bells and whistles. It's a fluid trainer so the harder I pedal the harder it gets exponentially (fancy talk for a heckuva lot harder). A bike trainer let's you put whatever bike you like to ride on outside in front of the TV or iPod and ride inside. It gives a lot of useful information and allows for a lot of workouts that cannot be done outside. Most importantly mother nature's weather whims are a non factor, which is great in the winter. The bike leg of a triathlon is the biggest portion of time so you can't really get away with skipping the bike all winter.

Some of the useful parts of a trainer ride are one the power meter. This lets you know how much effort you really are putting out at a particular heart rate. I can't do this on a road bike because convincing my wife of the merits of a $1200 on board power meter would require more endurance than an Ironman. Also a trainer allows me to ride at a consistent pace. I have yet to convince any local communities to wall off traffic for my training rides, so the trainer is the only place red lights don't exist (except of course mountain biking...which could constitute cross training). A trainer is also a controlled environment so no hills or dales (I don't really know what a dale is) and no wind. Lastly drills are easy on a trainer, 30 second spins, single leg pedaling drills (great for working out that kink at the top of your pedal stroke by pushing your toe forward). I've never been successful trying to single leg pedal outside and people give me really funny looks.

So why don't people just ride the trainer all the time? It is i n c r e d i b l y b o r i n g... I mean really boring. After an hour I get really antsy. Magazine or book on my little music stand, tv, movies, ipod...make it bearable. Plus with that boredom, intensity can be hard to muster. So for the motivated athlete who hates the trainer there is hope. Cross Training. Now there are several options. Simply a different form of biking like mountain biking. Or a new thing I am looking at called Cyclocross. This one takes place in the fall on muddy courses. They are basically set up in an obstacle style course with sand pits and walls and other things you have to get off your bike and carry over, around, or through. The bike looks like a road bike but with fatter knobby tires. Never done it...looks real cool. It was featured in this month's Bicycling Magazine.

The other option is to rely on the winter sports. Namely downhill bumps skiing, cross country skiing and snow shoeing. Think of bumps as your intervals. Cross country is your endurance. Lastly snow-shoeing can serve as your tempo. Mix these up with a swim in the pool first or a run after and you have a heck of a brick workout. Part of the pain of Ironman is the fact that you have to go so long 8 to 17 hours. So a solid 6+ hour day of bumps followed by an hour run will give you some serious mental fortitude to draw on when the triathlon season is in full swing. Now you don't get out of riding on the trainer all winter, but these detours do serve as a useful and enjoyable way to not just maintain but improve fitness. Xterra even offers winter triathlons to prove the point...Alpine Skiing/Skinning (cross between downhill and cross country), mountain biking and snow-shoeing are your 3 events.

Happy training!

Triathlon Evolution - Finishing to Racing

Triathlon is a very fast growing sport. It attracts a wide range of folks, but typically starts off in a very similar fashion. Namely people want to answer the question, "Can I do that?" "That" usually takes the form of a shorter race, be it a sprint or olympic or some slightly off middle ground of the two.

That first triathlon is the scariest. What to expect? We look to friends who've done one or know somebody who's done one, to offer us some mentoring or pointers. How much should I train? We underestimate the swim. Maybe we borrow a bike or use our mountain bike, cruiser bike, hybrid to get ready for the bike. Did anybody do a brick workout for their first triathlon? We go online and find a freebie program or buy the current month's Triathlete Magazine and see if we can't make sense of what should work.

Race day arrives that first time way too fast and way too early, getting up before sunrise to head to the venue. Everything is strange, getting bodymarked with those smelly black magic markers. Getting your timing chip (does this really stay on when I pull my wetsuit off). Setting up transition, hmmm where do I put everything? Oh that guy looks like he know what he's doing. She doesn't look nervous at all. How much am I supposed to eat?

Then the race starts to line up for the start. God this wetsuit feels tight. I should have swam in this before today, ugh. Everybody's in the water. Are we really going to all swim at once? My heart is pounding. BOOM! Start, chaos, madness. Oh this wetsuit is too tight. Why is this person hitting my feet? Ouch, my goggles are around my neck. I can't breathe. PANIC. Oh why I am doing this? RELAX. BREATHE, stroke, stroke, better breathe again not like the pool. Ok I am getting this now. Cool. Just keep it up. Hey almost done here is the bouy, oh man people are all over me. Ok just take it home.

You crawl out of the water weary yet relieved. Ok where is my bike? Ouch my feet hurt on these rocks. Ok helmet first. Shoes, no wait I have to take off this stupid wetsuit. Where is the zipper cord? Ahhhhhhh damn it. Ok all ready to go on the bike.

Fast forward a little while on the bike. Man my legs are sore. I am hungry. Oh I should eat a gel I guess. Oh man when is this gonna be done. My legs are aching. I am slow. Wow how is that lady passing me? Does it say 62 on her calf? This sucks. Oh almost done 3 more miles. My head hurts, my legs are sooooo tired. How on earth am I gonna run? Oh there's transition.

Ok rack the bike. Get the running shoes. I guess I'll have another gel. Ready to roll, half way out of transition. SH!T! My helmet is still on. Run back and grab my hat. Oh my God my legs hurt. This is so stupid. Ok just put one foot in front of the other. Ok this isn't so bad. Ahhhhh side cramp. Ok that's gone. Just a mile to go. Man I am so tired, why I am I doing this? Oh there it is the finish line. Just run strong baby. Head high. You're the man. Oh this is SWEET. Done!!! Panting...I...can...definitely...do...better.

So there we are one triathlon done. It's finished. We know we can finish better but we are still in a finish mentality. Maybe we'll move up from Sprint to Olympic and finish that. Then we progress maybe try to do a half Ironman. Sometimes we stick around and do a few of the shorter distances. Almost inevitably we aim for the Granddaddy of them all. The Full Ironman, 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike, 26.2 mile (aka a marathon) run. To which friends and family are equally likely to respond, "All in one day?" or "What's wrong with you?" Any of these endeavors it approached initially with the finishers mentality.

We want to know what we need to do to "get through it." In many ways the finisher has a tougher goal than a racer. As my aunt was insightful enough to point out at my first Ironman, all of the fittest and best triathletes spent the least amount of time out on the course. Relatively speaking we all compete in an aerobic zone. Granted a pro puts out a lot more power in their aerobic zone than a first time finisher. But who has the harder day (relatively speaking in terms of self pain of course), the pro going for 8 to 9 hours as hard as they can or the first timer going as hard as they can for 14, 15, 16 or even 17 hours?

Anyway, at some point the switch is flipped and we start looking to do more than finish. How did I do overall? How about in my age group? What were my splits? How were my transitions? Now we delve deeper into the data, the theory, the training and strategy. Maybe we hire a coach or find a little more robust pay program on the web. There are endless choices for coaches. Now the focus is on training, nutrition, active recovery, heart rate, anaerobic threshold, power output. All the buzzwords start to mean something. We join the local tri club. Maybe we chat on message boards looking for pointers. Our significant other wonders why we are obsessed. We will improve! Once the switch is flipped there is no turning back. The ideal cannot be reached, but we devote enormous time, energy and resources into moving along that path toward that goal. The closer we get the better we become.

My wife bought me a T-shirt that says: "TRIATHLON If you have to ask why you will never understand." She says she doesn't get it but she sees the positives it creates for me. The why is difficult to put into words. But every triathlete has it in their mind's eye whether they are an elite racer or a first time finisher. Happy training!

Boulder 5430 (2010 Ironman 70.3) Race Report

Saturday - August 8

Well given the race was about an hour and 15 minutes from the house and started at 6:30am driving in the morning was feasible but not optimal. Our friends had a house closer to the venue so we were fortunate. We went up Saturday to check in and attend the race meeting. My friend Barb was there with Colorado Multisport, so it's always nice to see a familiar face and make introductions. Beth and Joe came by to meet us and we headed to Pearl Street to wander and get some tapas. We wandered around some more and watched the street performers, which was cool. Dinner was pasta and chicken at Jay's Pasta (I think is the name)...pasta and chicken are becoming a pre-race favorite I guess. After dinner we headed over to the "spare house" to get settled. I got to bed by 9:15 for my 4:15 wake up.

Sunday - August 9 - Race Day

Woke up at 4:15 with no problem. It was a typical crappy pre-race sleep but I slept like a log Friday which had me feeling good. I had a peach, banana and 2 cups of black coffee courtesy of Joe's brother Carl. We headed over to the race venue at 5am. It was still pitch dark which is always kind of eerie (like why am I up right now?) We got over to the race site and I got bodymarked, picked up my timing chip and set up transition. Transition was cool with rear tire bike racks instead of the bar to hang your bike by its seat. After setting up transition I chatted with Dana and Joe while we waited for the start. I took a quick dip in the Boulder reservoir and found the water kind of warm, but still wetsuit legal. It was a wave start so I had till 6:55am to wait with the other men 30-34 in our nice pink swim caps.

Swim - 1.2 miles - 44 minutes - I had projected 36 minutes given swimming 1 mile in 31 minutes at elevation 3 weeks prior. I never felt any great rhythm in my stroke and felt like I kept getting off target, plus I did kicked in the face once and had to readjust my goggles. Regardless it felt like the swim grade was probably a C and I have the next 4 weeks scheduled at Swimlabs for them to video my stroke and figure out some efficiencies. It was nice to see Dana and Joe as I made my way out of the water, but I admit being discourage seeing 8 minutes more than I hoped for on my watch.

T1 3:30 minutes - pretty good here for me considering I took a Hammer gel and some water before peeling the wetsuit, getting shoes, helmet, gloves and another spray of sunscreen...me being the very pale type. Probably should be a minute faster.

Bike - 56 miles - 2 hours 50 minutes - that works out to 19.7 miles per hour. I started the bike in the proper gear and went out relatively smooth. I was getting passed a good bit at the beginning (the longer the race the more this is probably OK). I kept climbing the light hill and was going about 16 mph which felt good. On the downhill I noticed I was hitting high 20s and then on the flats being in the mid 20s. For my first lap this was seeming pretty good. I had decided against solid food for the race and didn't even touch my gels on the bike. I took in 600 calories of Heed from 2 bottles and one of the race provided Gatorades. On the second lap I started passing huge chunks of people on the uphills. I was feeling strong and started coming out of the saddle to charge the uphills. I was picking up a little speed and feeling good. When I knew I was close to finishing at the fast end of my projection, I started to wonder if I was going to blow myself up on the run, especially given my poor swim. But the bike was a B+ at that point and I was feeling more upbeat.

T2 - 3:22 minutes - probably a minute and a half available here. But I took in another Endurolyte (I had 3 before the race started) as it was getting hot and I was sweating. I also had a Hammer gel and stuck one in my race jersey pocket.

Run - 13.1 miles - 2 hours for the half marathon. The run was hot and I hadn't seen Dana (Joe had taken off to do some training), but I figured I just missed her. I just started to go at my pace and noticed I got passed a good bit. But I figured 13.1 miles is a long way and I was in it for the long hall. At the first 3 mile markers I noticed I was close to a 9 minute mile pace which was decent for me. Then on mile 4 my stomach was bothering me a little and it was uphill. Luckily the stomach was just a brief moment of gas. Given the heat I was taking the ice at the aid stations and sticking it in my hat then ducking my head down into the hat and putting it on with the ice in there. Worked wonders for the heat. Mile 5 I started to feel pretty good and started to give it a little more gas. Around mile 6 I took my Hammer gel and got ready for what I would hope would be one more hour. My pace felt good and again on the 2nd lap like on the bike I started to pass quite a few big chunks of folks on the uphills and even on the flats as I was running strong. I heard my wife yell out from near the parking lot "keep going JB." Heard lots of little cheers from nice job to keep running strong. I felt good. I hammered the home stretch with a little sprint finish. The run seemed like A- to me.

So I wrapped it all up 5:41:14 which was almost 35 minutes better than my 6:15:59 personal record down in Austin last October. I also finished 465th out of over 1,000 participants. I was hoping to break into the top half, which meant a lot to me. Boulder was the site of my first tri, a little sprint swim and run with an olympic distance bike for charity. I was the last place male finisher that day in the world's triathlon mecca (both Ironmen world champs male/female live there as well as many pros, elites, olympians, etc). In fact the women's race today had the current Ironman, current Ironman 70.3 and Xterra world champs racing...Dibens of Xterra won. So to be above average in a half Ironman less than 2 years later gave me some redemptive pride. And in a case of the whole being greater than the sum of the parts I give the race itself an A. Racing my race (versus finishing my race, more to come on this topic), staying strong and getting stronger and ultimately leaving it all out there on the course.

Anyway a nice burrito from Qdoba was waiting but still no sign of my wife. So I wandered around a little bit and then decided to go start packing my stuff. Mental note keep the cell phone in transition rather than hand it off to her. I left transition and headed to the car. I spotted her walking toward the race. She said she thought when she yelled I was starting the run. She now new it was my second lap. She also realized I must have been going pretty fast (for me anyway). She had gotten sick while I was riding and went to the car to rest. She's all better now so all in all a great day!