Heather's IMBoulder Race Report
IMBoulder was IM #10 for me. There's a whole other sappy side to the story, but basically, my goal was to give my BEST- no matter what happened, what failed, what broke, what fell apart-NO 'if onlys'. I came to Boulder with some of the best training partners a girl could ask for: 
+ 3 others not pictured here, who definitely made training for this race A LOT of fun!
Race day: 4:15AM I am dropping off my special needs with my Pro-Sherpa mother in tow (who definitely needs a pay raise for all she does!) and meeting two of my training partners. I make the walk to the Run gear bags just to put eyes on it and make sure it didn't run off in the night, along the way I make use of the NO LINE port-a-potties. We wait in a very LONG line to load a bus, but it does move quite quickly. At T1, I put eyes on my Bike gear bag to find it open, contents hanging out, and a helmet pad ripped off on the ground beside the bag. Quick fix though, add water/gatorade to bike, giving it the once over, and before long, it's time to suit up! Leaving my friends I walk to the middle of the 1:16-1:30 pack, along the way seeing two other training friends from the picture above, a great distraction from my ever growing nerves! I make small talk with those around me- all curious of who is the first timers and who is the veterans. Before long, we are making our way toward the water. Here, I was glad I brought my throw away flip flops as the ground was very rough on the feet once I decided I was close enough to ditch them.
The SWIM: My goal: break 1:20. It's finally my turn to cross the timing mat. I walk into the water, and I take an extra few seconds to bend over and get my goggles wet inside and out. Knowing the air temperature was cooler than the water temperature, I was hoping (and it did) this would prevent the goggles from fogging. Taking off, I am trying to keep good form but of course it takes a while to find some space. I finally find a sweet spot away from the buoys but not too far out, and for the most part, the swim was pretty tame. I swung wide on the turn buoys...maybe a little too wide on the second one as I had to swim back quite a ways toward the buoy line. I watched the buoys count up to 9 (10 with the turn buoy) then back down. I tried to keep good form, but I did find myself having to correct my arm stroke when I got distracted by other swimmers body-bumping me in the water. From the last buoy into shore was the roughest the swim was for me. It seemed like everyone was going a little crazy on the final stretch. People were swimming across me (where were they going?), elbows flailing, back stroking, frog kicking me in the gut. I made it out unscathed... 1:21.
T1: Wetsuit ripped off, grab my gear bag, run to the far end of the change tent and find a chair by the exit. As I am dumping my stuff, drying off with a small towel, and adding on bike gear, I ask the volunteer to spray me down with sunscreen. I have bike shoes in hand and in socks run out of the change tent down the row of bikes, and at my bike, which was luckily close to the exit, put on my bike shoes.
The Bike: BIG goal: less than 6:00, hoping for a 5:45ish. The Plan: 150-159 watts the first hour, then bump it up to 165, drink two bottles of gatorade before special needs, drink two more after, water and salt tables at every other lap alert, cliff blocks at every third lap alert. The bike course at Boulder is a deceitful witch. Though I was expecting the false flats, the 12 and 13mph i was seeing right off the bat was not very encouraging. If I could SEE a climb was coming, I found it to be much worse than it looked, mainly because my HR and breathing sky-rocketed even when keeping my watts down. I finally had to settle in on upper 140s for my first hour as the 150s felt like too much work for that early on. Though I had repeatedly practiced the U-turn on St. Vrain, I was relieved to see they had moved it to utilize an intersection. After the first hour, I bumped up the effort, though 165watts was staying constantly beyond my reach. By the recommendation of fellow training partner and ENer Pat Koss :
I had set my Garmin to auto lap every 5 miles to keep a more accurate measure of my effort. I found my NP was on average 10 watts less on each of these laps than my goal. By special needs, I was ready to switch out my empty bottles for two more Gatorade filled ones, took a swig of coke, bite of poptart, and stretched. The second half became much more challenging. My lower back was getting achier and achier- I suspect from the long drive up to Colorado, so at mile 76, I gave myself permission to take a 30 sec stop and stretch again. Though I was downing Gatorade, it wasn't going anywhere. I was trying so hard to make myself have to pee, but all the fluid I was drinking was just sitting in my stomach, not budging. The temperature was rising so I focused more on the salt tablets, hoping my body would absorb those. As I closed into mile 100, the course was just laughing at me, false flats, false DOWNHILLS!!! I was slowing down... fight for your BEST, Heather. <--I was reminding myself. Around mile 96, fellow Arkansan and training partner Greg E. had finally caught and passed me. I had been waiting for this to happen all day, but this gave me the extra jump I needed to keep him in sight through the final climbs. By mile 106, I stopped focusing on watts and starting picking up my cadence to help spin my legs out. LONGEST 6 MILES EVER... 5:56.</p>
T2: I dismounted my bike, pulled of my bike shoes, and jogged in socks the 300 yard run into transition. I grabbed my gear bag, and once again found a chair by the exit. As I was switching over to run gear, I asked the volunteer to spray me down again with sunscreen. I grabbed more salt tablets and a small GU flask I use to carry water for between aid stations. I forgot my cliff blocks.
The Run: Goal: don't slow down... I have a bad habit of getting too excited on the run start and getting a side stitch. Determined NOT to do this, knowing the air was thinner and the possibility I was way too dehydrated, I forced myself into my 'granny' mode. THe first six miles: slower than 10 min miles, HOT, HILLY, and having not previewed this section of the course, I was completely turned around. I was seeing friends, but I had no clue if they were in front or behind me. I caught fellow Arkansas Jeff G. He has one leg, and his prosthetic leg was causing swelling and bleeding.. he was still running. Through all the out and backs, seeing him was a huge motivation. I walked the second half of the aid stations alternating between water and coke, and finally allowed myself into an easy RUN by mile 5. I grab the salt from the salt guy on the course, licking my "salt shot" off my thumb every mile and handed off my salt tablets to a friend later on. At mile 10.5, they offered me my special needs bag, so I went ahead and took it. Grabbed some cliff blocks and my knee brace. I didn't need it yet so I just slipped it on my arm, but I knew the knee pain was coming. At this point, I was so thankful for the shade, my speed bumped up a little more. Whoa, not mile 18 yet. HOLD. I kept reminding myself. My mom on the side lines yelled out that I was in 7th place in my AG. Instantly, my heart race jumped and breathing went bad.. One of the sayings I had written across my wrist was "THIS mile." You can't chase, Heather. THIS MILE is all you can control. Run this mile the best you can. By the second loop, I finally found a good groove-seeing my friends along the way, and at mile 18 I began to bump up the effort just a little, still walking the second half of every aid station... except for the one that put ICE in their Coke: I walked a little longer there. That was the MOST GLORIOUS cup of coke I have ever tasted, I had to drink the whole thing. At some point nearing mile 20, I hear from behind, HEY, NUMBER 10!. It was one of the guys I was making small talk with before the swim- how he recognized me from goggles, swim cap and a wetsuit, I have no idea, but I was going to take the extra mojo! I see my mom again, yelling that I'm now in 6th and 5th place is slowing. However, by the time I reach mile 23, it still seems so far away. I"m trying calculate if I even have a chance of catching her. THIS mile, run it the best you can. I make the turn around at mile 24, I know its just two miles.. as I finally near the finish line, I can barely believe it, two miles felt so long, but yet how could I be here already? (yes, I was asking myself that). I realized my knee brace was still on my arm. I never had to stop to put it on, so I quickly slipped it behind me for the finish line. 4:22
11:53 Total. Some goals I didn't quite make, but I did the BEST I could THAT day. Not a bad day at all!
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