Boulder 70.3-My Race Plan

I'm really excited that I get to race for the first time tomorrow as a member of the X²PERFORMANCE® Triathlon Team. I'm racing Boulder 70.3 tomorrow. It's yet another opportunity to practice for the Ironman 70.3 World Championship that I'm doing in 5 weeks. I have some specific things I want to do tomorrow.

The race plan is simple. What I need is some valuable feedback. There is a new seeding system for the swim. You self seed yourself with the appropriate time you think you will swim for 1.2 miles. I expect to swim between 32-34 minutes so I will be in the 3rd wave of athletes to head out. I will swim a nice, hard effort. I know the swim is my limiter. That being said, I'm going to push the pace a little harder on the bike than I normally would for this distance. Why? Well, it all about Vegas. Vegas will be a non-wetsuit swim making my swim deficiency even more exposed to the good swimmers. I will be in a hole going into the bike. Knowing this and that everyone racing it is a good triathlete based on the fact that they had to qualify to get there, I have to utilize what I consider my biggest strength in triathlon. I only have a power meter for my training wheels so with me using my racing wheels Sunday, I will be basing the extra push on the bike on perceived exertion. I'm not going to do anything crazy but I will push it an extra 5% or so. I want to see what this effort will do to my legs on the run. I've never raced this way so I'm hoping to see little impact and make this part of my Vegas plan. If I see a big drop off on the run, I'll know I can't race this way in Vegas. Time to find out. Also, I will approach the run differently. In a past half Ironman races, I pick my expected race pace and start running that pace from the first step. Tomorrow I will build into my pace over the first 2 miles. That is the only place where there is any kind of climbing so I will build into that race pace as I plateau the only real hill then settle into my pace for the day. I have every intention of emptying the tank so I truly know where I'm at in my Vegas prep. I'm prepared to hurt. That being said, tomorrow is about the process. The time and my overall placing is just the outcome. I'm not focusing on that piece tomorrow. It will take care of itself.

Practice=Success

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote here about how I was preparing to "practice" at my upcoming sprint triathlon. This was the perfect event to see where I am for the non-physical stuff. By that, I mean things like getting in and out of a wetsuit, smoothly getting into my bike shoes while riding. avoiding dangerous situations on the bike, getting in my run shoes quickly, etc. I was able to execute pretty well across the board.

 

 

 

Getting ready to head out on the bike

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The definition of success for this race was always going to be determined on how well I executed all the small things. Based on that, this was a very successful race for me. I was focused on getting in and out of the transitions quickly without doing something dumb. I did that. They weren't the fastest transitions in the race but they were very solid. This a big improvement on last year's event and the last triathlon I did in early June. I had let transitions slip over the past year when it was always a strength of mine in past years. I intend to keep on practicing to make them the strength that they have always been.

Getting ready to run

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The little things allowed me to execute the physical part with relative ease. No doubt, it hurt pushing myself but I didn't find myself beating myself up over a little mistake that had been make earlier. This all led to a 3rd place overall finish which I was not expecting. Results are here. I love this sport and how there is always something to work on. It constantly pushes me to find areas that will give me the biggest improvement.

Running toward a 3rd place finish

I will be racing the Boulder 70.3 this Sunday. I plan to do some more "practicing". This time, it's with the physical side of things to complement the small stuff I did for my last race. I will lay out my race plan in an update tomorrow.

I'll enjoy this while I can. Not getting any younger!