70.3 Boise Triathlon Race Report
- bradleyhaag
- Jul 5, 2014
- 3 min read
Background
No matter what your training is like any one who has done a triathlon can tell you the excitement that builds on race week. To make things even better, I was extremely lucky to have my friend Dave take care of all the logistics (the drive, hotel, etc.), not to mention Dave let me use race wheels, among other gear for the race.
The morning of the race was unique in that this race didn't start till 12:00pm. The late start allowed me to sleep in and relax, which was nice. Around 9:00am Dave and I started to walk to the Venue when a fellow triathlete offered to give us a right there, which was awesome. After arriving at the venue, I set up my T2 (Bike-to-Run) transition and hopped on a bus that would take us to the swim and T1 which were in a different location.
Upon arriving at T1 I still had about 2 hours before my starting wave. I spend this excess time visiting with others, double checking that all my gear was ready, and watching the waves in front of me as the battled in the water.
Race (1.2 Mile Swim, 56 Mile Bike, 13.1 Mile Run)
Swim
My swim wave finally came up and soon after walking down to the water, the start gun sounded and I was off!
The buoys were set-up in a diamond shape from the shore making the swim navigation pretty straight forward. Everything was going good for me until I turned the first turn buoy with a pack of about 10 other triathletes. After swimming for several minutes I soon learned all 10 of us were slow going off course. This mistake took me several minutes to get back on track. In any case I exited the water feeling good, ready to hop on the bike.
Bike
Transition was smooth and as I mind caught up with my body, I was excited to be biking. Then things started to go a little south... About an hour into the ride my hamstrings and low back started feeling very tight/sore. This made it hard to push a steady pace while remaining in the aero-position. But like I always do, I pushed though the discomfort and kept on peddling.
Everyone I talked to before the race said the last 9 miles were downhill, while this might have been true. The problem was there was an incredibly strong headwind in the last 9 miles slowing me dramatically. Riding into the wind in addition to the physical discomfort I was dealing with had my mind going into negative places. I wasn't having fun and just couldn't wait to get on the run. Although I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to run with my hurting hamstrings.
Run
After T2 I started running and to my surprise I could actually run! This being said after only 2 miles I was in some serious pain. My legs were burning and cramping all over, every step felt like tiny needles were pushing into my leg muscles. To make it through the run, I told myself all I need to do is get to the next aid station, then I can walk. All I thought about was getting to the next aid station, not about how I still had 10 miles to run or the fact I was far from my goal, but simply getting to the next aid station.
After running from aid station to aid station were I would reward myself with about 30 seconds of walking, I was finally nearing the finish. My legs were cramping so bad as this point I thought at any minute I would be brought to crawl. I even considered crawling as it would give my legs a break.
I finally crossed the finish line where I got a finishers medal and hobbled over to a tree where I collapsed. After laying there for a few minutes I tried to stand up and my legs instantly seized up and brought me face first into the grass. I literally crawled to greet some of my friends.
Overall Thoughts
I was happy to have finished the race, but slightly disappointed in my performance. I like to race triathlons, not simply survive them. Additionally I was hoping to beat my personal best 70.3 time of 4:50 but finished far from that at 5:21. This being said, I learned a lot about myself as an athlete in this race which was worth the experience.
See official Results HERE.
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