Boulder Peak Pro Race 2009

Another pro race, another set of experiences. The following were my first thoughts after the race: I was slower than last year by almost 5 mins, wow I suck!, I cannot believe how SLOW that swim was for me, do I even belong with these women?

I have had some time to reflect and think about it all, and after seeing the actual results and splits I am more content than I thought I’d be after another disaster swim leg. Clearly, I was toeing the line with some of the very best athletes in the sport, intimidating enough to not let me get more than 3 hrs of sleep last night. My race didn’t start until 8.45, whereas all age groupers started before that. The pro race is put on as a spectator friendly race, using the same swim and bike course but doing a 2mile out and back run three times so that spectators could watch and cheer.

Brandon got up at 5 since his race started at 7.20. He made his way over to the race around 5.30 and sadly I could not take advantage of my later start time as I was now up too. Feeling a bit weird about sitting at home and feeling like I was going to miss the race (ha) I left the house at 7 (commuting to the race by bike- being as green as possible!) and was the second pro in transition (yea!) by 7.15. This gave me enough time to do my business about 10x over…, do a nice warm-up jog and even get in the water to do a 10min warm-up swim, which I thought would help me feel better in the there today. (This would be my first non-wetsuit swim at altitude.)

Before I knew it, we were off, all 15 or so of us. I lined myself up near the “back”, the second line of the more “timid” swimmers, whom I hoped to swim with. Immediately, kicks everywhere- think washing machine- I tried my very best to be aggressive and hold pace, but when the bubbles cleared a short 30 secs later, I found myself once again in that damned no-mans land. There was one other swimmer to the right off me but she kept steering badly off course, so that once again I was on my own for this leg of the race. I swam hard, I was wheezing and barely getting air in. My only company was a kayak to my right, letting me know that yes, I was indeed the very last swimmer in the water. I wanted to cry. Staying positive, leave alone competitive when you are dead last 5 min into the race, is mentally really hard to deal with as I have come to find out.
Starting the bike

I finally made it out of the water, dared not even look at my watch and tried to unzip the back of my swim skin while hobbling into T1. My zipper was stuck and I couldn’t get it down… ahhhhh. Finally I got it down and stripped down. I came back to find my bike completely alone, with not even another person changing. DFL. Again. At this point I pondered quitting, but then quickly remembered my rule about quitting. Under no circumstances will I ever allow myself to quit, unless life threatening. So off I went to conquer Olde Stage. Again, the ride felt pretty lonely as we were all so spread out. Finally I passed a few girls and then got passed by most of the pro guys, who started their race 15 minutes after us. This brought with it a motorcycle (ref), who would be by my side for a while, since I was in the midst of the men’s race. I needed to make extra sure I was staggered correctly (a pro rule) or risk a penalty. Since lanes were open to traffic, this made things a bit tricky, not to mention dangerous, as I needed to stagger myself way out in the road at times. Finally I came into the home stretch and was able to catch up to and pass another woman pro, pushing me up 4 places on the bike. This helped instill a bit of promise in me as I knew my strongest leg was still ahead. The goal was to pass as many people as I could, given the distance between us.
Returning to transition. Note the perfect stagger!


Heading out on the run.

Sufferfest

I shot out of T2 (or so I thought, T2 time says otherwise) and knew one of the strongest runners was right behind me. I didn’t expect to hold her off for long; she had one of the, if not the best run split last year. The sky had magically clouded over now, making things a bit cooler for this part of the race. Crowds lining the course were cheering and watching us, wish I hadn’t had such tunnel vision so I could have actually enjoyed it. I completed two of my three loops without getting passed by any women, but faded and eventually let 9th place pass me, as I knew my reserves were close to being up. I didn’t manage to make any passes, as most women were too far ahead at this point in the game. I crossed the finish line and felt a huge sense of failure. I had tried my very best, swam so hard, but set myself up for a poor performance all thanks to such a poor swim. I shed a few tears of disappointment and retreated to the shade to digest what just happened. I knew I fought the best fight I could, but I set myself up in a bad way. Thank goodness Olympic Distance is not my specialty! ☺

Loop 2 maybe?

"Sprint" to the finish

...and done

After looking at the results, turns out I didn’t fare nearly as bad as I thought I had. Well, except for that swim ofcourse. My bike split was right in the mix with some of the women who placed in the top 5, and so was my run split (although by no means blazing, interestingly only the winner ran sub 40) Each race is a humbling experience, and today was no different. I was 10th out of 12 pro finishers, and although I would have loved to have placed lower (say top 5), I know I will get there if I figure out my swim. Apparently when I can’t wear a wetsuit, I fall off the back so much faster than with one. Had my swim been faster, I could have been in contention for some prize money.

The goal from now until the next big race (5430 LC in August) is to seriously figure out my swim and see what I am doing that makes me so much slower than others. If that means going to punish myself at Dave Scott’s acclaimed suicide sessions twice a week, then that’s what I will do. Today, a mere 2+ minutes separated 5th through 10th place. That is a lot of motivation for me to improve on my problem area.

Thanks to everyone who was out there cheering, volunteering, handing me water, Gatorade over and over again, and believing in me. It helps a lot to keep me going! I am determined to make it back on that podium!

Also, I just wanted to voice my congrats to the new WR record holder for the 140.6mi distance- 8.31!!! Chrissie is simply beyond comprehensible! ☺ WOW.