Boulder 70.3

I believe this is our sixth year at Boulder 70.3. I can't believe we've be here at this venue so many times.  It's our home course and so we know the hills, the trails, the heat, but I still haven't fallen in love with it yet.  Jeremy loves it, and that sometimes has to be enough for both of us!  Bruce came out to race again and Leesa said she could bring the kids to the course to cheer us on.  

Race morning at Boulder Rez starts early because of the parking and traffic situation.  We've learned it's a lot better to get there early and wait than to be frustrated and stuck.  This year though something must have happened because while we were all in our wetsuits preparing to get in the water, they announced that they were going to delay the start by 30 minutes to allow the rest of the athletes to get here through the traffic.  Ugh.  We found a comfortable place to wait and I laid down determined to relax.  Someone tapped on my knees and as I opened up my eyes to see who it was, was shocked to see Lexi!  She flew out for a girls weekend with her old college roommates and said she'd come out to cheer me on.  How she found me amid the thousands of other athletes I don't know, but I was so glad!  We haven't seen each other since Nice and have become even better friends since then.  Knowing she was there on the course cheering me on was amazing.  

It was finally time to start and Jeremy and I got to work.  The swim was fine, nothing crazy.  I came out pretty early in the lead group.  I latched onto two other women on the bike determined to make this work.  We were the top three women and we were going to cruise.  Unfortunately they pulled away around mile 30 and I chose not to fight to keep up with them.  It's been a high stress race year as I've been placing a lot of weight on my ranking.  I decided to let that go for this race because I don't want whether I have a trophy or not to determine how successful the race went.  My power steadily dropped on the ride as I let that competitive fire die.  Jeremy and I hopped off our bikes at almost the same time.  I thought we'd run together but I ended up with a side ache that I couldn't get rid of which slowed me down. Lexi was there on the run course cheering for me to catch Jer, but that fire had been doused and I didn't think I could get it back.  It was hot like always but I thought I did a much better job managing that with my fluids and nutrition so it didn't feel as awful.  

I was able to see my kiddos as I was getting off the bike, as I was starting my run, and at the turn around point.  They looked happy and excited to be there!  I hope they know how much it means to us to see them out there cheering for us.

  My side ache finally went away around mile 7 and so the second loop of the run felt a lot more comfortable.  Lexi was calling out placements and I thought I was a solid fourth or fifth in my age group.  It was pretty disappointing to learn later that I finished sixth, again.  Agh!  What a hard season to constantly finish just off the podium.  

Jeremy on the other hand had his best race ever.  Everything came together beautifully.  He pushed crazy watts on the bike and was able to hold them the entire 2:30 hours.  He said he never felt so strong.  His run was great too.  He didn't collapse and pulled out an amazing time.  I'm so proud of him!  He deserves to have a great race!  

After we crossed that finish line both Jeremy and I showered and cleaned up to wait for Bruce.  Luckily we could wait and eat Kona Ice, and I quite liked that. 

 Bruce ultimately didn't do as well as he'd hoped, but it was still a solid race.  

We were waiting around for awards and the St. George roll down when we were hit with the classic Colorado afternoon thunderstorm.  So much for that!  We loaded up wet gear, wet kids, wet humans, and headed home for the day.  Jeremy did in fact get his St. George World's slot so we're headed back to St. George in October!  Great job hun!

Jeremy: Swim 36:17, T1 2:33, Bike 2:19:57, T2 1:35, Run 1:44:39, Overall 4:45:00 

AJ: Swim 28:11, T1 2:08, Bike 2:34:54, T2 1:47, Run 1:47:27, Overall 4:54:26

Bruce: Swim 39:22, T1 5:34, Bike 3:05:20, T2 4:02, Run 3:23:39, Overall 7:17:56