Boulder Peak Triathlon - 7th Place

Tim O'Donnell Running In For The Win

Joanna Zeiger getting out of the water

Yesterday I got 7th at the Boulder Peak Triathlon, 1 spot better than my 2008 finish which was my best race that season.  I wasn’t sure if I was going to be able to do this race until Thursday when I was able to run 5 miles without too much achilles tightness.  Three weeks ago I did the Thursday night Stroke n Stride then the 5430 Sprint on Sunday and that put my slightly sore right achilles over the edge.  I only ran 3 miles the following week then raced the Coteau Du Lac ITU race Sunday where my achilles totally blew up and I had to limp home the last 3 miles.  When I woke up the next morning I thought that racing the Peak, two weeks away at that point, was impossible.  I couldn’t flex my foot in any direction my achilles was so sore.  I didn’t run a step that week but then it improved and I got in three slow short runs this past week.  The Peak is probably my favorite race so once it felt decent Thursday I figured I’d race and hope that it would feel alright.

The race started off well, I finally got out well in the swim and made a good pack.  For the first time I raced in my Rocket Science Sports Rocket 2Skin SwimSkin and it felt awesome.  Nearly all the pros swam in a skin but I was still able to swim better than I have in the past.  The first half was pretty tough but then it settled down the back half and I was swimming very comfortably.  I got out with Tim DeBoom, Josh Rix, and Tim Reed.  We were 1 minute down from Tim O’Donnell, Matt Reed, and Stephen Hackett and a bit more down from Bryan Rhodes.

I was pumped to be rolling so well and went for it hard from the get go on the bike.  I moved ahead of the guys I swam with heading off Jay Rd. and was feeling good.  This race is always hot and our team’s new white color Rocket Science Sports 20BPM suit felt awesome in the hot Boulder summer sun.  I didn’t even unzip at all, the more skin it covers the better it feels like.  I got by Bryan Rhodes going up Stagecoach ( a crazy hill/small mtn climb if you don’t know the race) putting me in 4th.  Unfortunately I couldn’t stay there.  Tim Reed flew by at the top of the hill then DeBoom came back and Rhodes pushed hard on the downhill.  I was tired the last half of the bike but looking back I’m happy that I made a go of it in early on.  I got off the bike in 8th.

I ran the first lap slighly slower than normal to give my achilles some time to loosen up.  It was a bit tight but nothing too bad.  Ultimately I think my lack of running the past few weeks (21 miles in 3 weeks) hit me more than the achilles during the race itselt.  I couldn’t muster much at all, running 35:36, about 2 minutes slower than my run there on a hotter day 2 years ago.  I got by Rhodes to get into 7th.  Still a good place for this competitive race but my goal was to finish top 5.  Big shout out to all the supportive fans out there on the race course.  The fellas, Matt and Ofer along with Emily for driving up from Denver to watch the race.  Mat Steinmetz from Retul for splits out on the bike course and Amy who I managed to pump up with my swim.

Now I’ve got the New York City Triathlon on Sunday then I’ll take a short mid summer break to freshen up for the last half of the season.  My achilles feels ok after the Peak, I was able to do a run cooldown on it, so with a couple runs this week I should snap back into my run fitness and be ready for  a good one.  Surely with some Dunkin’ Donuts in me my fitness will get a boost before NYC.