Some Boulder Peak History

Okay, turns out mom is a loyal follower of the Triturtl blog, as evidenced by her confusion of the Hubbardusky corporate sponsorship. Matt and Dani will surely be floored to find out that she hasn't heard of the Hubbardusky corporation! She thought it was pretty neat that I had to wear corporate logos though! Boy, if only I were that cool!

So... As mom prepares for her first visit EVER to Florida this fall, and I prepare for my first triathlon this season (yikes! The stomach butterflies have started!) I'll share some Triturtl BOULDER PEAK triathlon history:

Four years ago -

the Triturtl says to soon-to-be-fiance, "I'm loving this triathlon thing. The Boulder Peak sounds really cool. I want to do that race."

Fiance's response? "You're absolutely, positively nuts!!!! Do you know what the people that do that crazy race look like? They're absolutely scary!!!! Have you seen the hill? Make me a deal, let's volunteer at it, and then if you still want to do it, we'll do it next year."

The deal was made, we helped out. I wanted to do it more than ever before...

Three years ago - With mule-like stubbornness, we signed up for the Boulder Peak. I was going to do this! Unfortunately, I also finished a master's degree that Spring and found myself in the midst of my wedding, honeymoon, and new job that summer. Training definitely didn't go as well as planned, but I tried my best and felt proud as can be that I just finished.

Finishing time: 3:49

Two years ago - No masters degree, no wedding, no new job. Trained more than ever before. I took fourteen minutes off my time. I was still pretty sad because overall I knew that my time wasn't anything to brag about. My husband reminded me that I made huge gains that summer and I should be absolutely proud of bettering myself. He reminded me that you'll ALWAYS find people much faster. You have to do the best YOU can do, not what anybody else can do. He was right. I did well for me. I even placed in the top ten (out of 17!) in the Athena division.

Finishing time: 3:35

Side note: 5430 Half-ironman is now tempting me... Hubby makes me volunteer before I can sign up. I'm hooked. I will be doing that race next summer!

One year ago - This was to be the summer of the half-ironman... Spring training starts out awesome! You know how most accidents happen five miles from your home? Yep... Bike crash, major road, less than five miles from home, May 31... Hadn't signed up for the half-ironman yet, because unlike this year, it didn't sell out early. Luckily I hadn't signed up yet. Boulder Peak was another story. I was already in for that one because it always sells out early. Since I slammed my shoulder on the pavement (gave me a whole new respect for the crashes in the Tour de France!) swimming was out of the question for a month and a half. I didn't start swimming again until two weeks prior to the race. I had started biking a little sooner, but not much. I did however, spend a good solid month power walking and doing some running with arm in sling...

So race day last year...

Swimming and biking will probably suffer. Under the circumstances, I'm okay with that. But I'm hoping I can do well on my run...

The result? Exactly, to the minute, same times as the year prior on the swim and bike, and four minutes slower on the run!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Finishing time: 3:39

Alas, here we are TODAY..................

The Boulder Peak is this Sunday. I've been training more than EVER before, but... I've been doing a lot of long distance stuff, and practicing at speeds that are way slower than my previous race times. Hmmm.... Will race mentality make me faster? Will the adage that you race the way you train hold true???? I'm thinking that it's a realistic goal to take two minutes off the swim. The bike? Not sure. Previous race splits will require that I push myself. And the worst part...... It's HOT here, folks. The run, my worst event anyways, is always hot, hot, hot!!!! It is also completely exposed. There is NO shade. The key is for me not to walk. But that's so hard when it's 96 degrees out (that's what happened last year.) It's looking like we'll have similar temps again this weekend. The balancing act exists here: I know I can push myself on the bike and do what I did the last two years, but I MUST save energy for that dreaded run that kills me every year. How much do you push? How much do you save?

Ahhhhhhhh........... The Boulder Peak Triathlon.