Boulder Peak Weekend

This last weekend was a very fun weekend for me. Anne and I went on our first bike ride together on Friday night at Chatfield Res and had a great time. This was her first time clipping in and riding. We went 15 miles and she was a rock star.

Saturday morning the family went back to Chatfield to the swim pond and we witnessed Anne making it to the island and back for the first time. The kids had a blast playing in the water and as everyone of our Friends finished their swims they each played with the kids for a bit. The kids really enjoyed the pond and look forward to when they can go again.

Saturday night I made my way up to Boulder to the Beck home where Chelsea invited me to spend the night. I did have a reservation at the Holiday Inn but they seemed to book it for the weekend before. The Becks have a really great home overlooking the Boulder valley and after packet pick-up we had tomatoes, fresh basil from her garden and mozzarella with vinegar. What a view and night. We then joined the peeps for dinner, it was a blast and I had a good time and an early night.

RACE RECAP:

I could not sleep past 4am so I decided to get up and was the second car in line for the opening at Boulder Res. I racked my bike in the most ideal spot and was back to the car for rest time. The first was off 15 minutes late and it was hot by the time I started to put on my wetsuit. I was able to see Anne and the kids before I went off and had a huge surge of enthusiasm.

Swim: I was right at the start and was able to avoid much of the swim start tango and was off to a good pace. This race I wanted to push a littler harder than I have the previous races and settled into a good strong pace. I passed the last boey and was headed for the swim exit in record time. I ended up coming out of the water and into T1 in 24:25 the fastest swim time yet for me. I was out of T1 in 33 seconds and off to ride. I felt OK on the bike, the climb on Old Stage was harder then it felt like it should have been. Again, I made the decision to push a little harder on the bike than I normally do on race day. I saw people falling off their bikes and stopping on Old Stage and so I was having to go in and out of traffic. Nelson road was fast and fun, I was able to catch a few of my age group guys that were eager on the first half of the bike. I came into T2 ready to do my best on the run even though it was hot and I was feeling a little "less than". I was able to hear the kids and Anne yelling so I went to the side were they were after getting my shoes on and race belt gave them a high five and was off for my 10k run. It was such a lift hearing them scream and helped me focus and head out on the run. I finished the bike in 1:15:14 which was 20.8 mph and a T2 time of :50. I was able to climb out of the res and was able to get settled down into a good pace, traffic on the race course was a bit bothersome and I had to adjust my pace to pass people but all in all I was feeling good on the first half. At the turn a round I decided to hold the current pace, it was blazing hot and I was afraid that I would run out of gas well before I hit the finish line if I tried to speed up. At mile 5 I had the 5th runner in my age group pass me at a really good pace, I tried to jump on and did for a 1/2 mile and then let him go. I settle back down and made the last climb to the finish and was able to run through the shoot with my two boys in hand. I felt like I did the best I could have. I made a few errors with the swim speed and bike pace but was thrilled at the end of the day. I really felt like I had a really good "ok" run. I look forward to Nationals in September and I will focus on getting fast. I will post a bunch of pic in the next few days of the weekend. Here is a shot of the family at the end of the race. Thanks for coming up Anne, I love you.

T