This blog post was 75% written 8 days ago (please ignore timeline)…training induced laziness has meant it has sat on a word document untouched for days now. Regardless here are my latest ramblings from Boulder. Unfortunately I am in the homestretch of my stay here and my room (yes I’ve checked) is being taken the day after I leave. Already planning next years (longer) sojourn.
Training
Trying to add ‘colour’ to the inherent monotony of training is quite difficult. With swimming there is only so far you can go in describing 10-12hrs a week in a pool, routinely battling ‘larry lactate.’ Swimming in an outdoor pool at more civilized times (7.15am has been my earliest session, but generally I go to the 9 or 11am sessions) has been really nice, it will be a rude shock going back to the 4.20am wakeups in Melbourne.
There are three coaches whose sessions I go to:
1.Wolfgang Dittrich: If Jens Voigt was a swimming coach I’d suspect he’d be like Wolfgang. In his own right he was a super-swimmer, consistently having the fastest swim times at Kona, finishing 3rd overall one year. His sessions though are not only a test of physical but also mental (especially mathematical) prowess. Sessions are never written on the board and they are never simple. Here is the instructions I received at the start of one session:
“Okay, you have 9 75s, 3 on 5, 3 on 10, 3 on 1. Then you do, 9 1’s 3 on 25, 3 on 30, 3 on 20, then 9 50’s 1 kick on 1, 1 choice on 50, 1 swim on 40. Okay Go. Don’t waste time, especially at your age.”
Try and remember all of that whilst swimming! Generally as the end of the session nears, he likes to throw in a mileage booster, e.g. 2x500 paddles on 10s rest max. By the time you’re finished he has most likely gone.
In spite of all of that, he’s probably one of my favorite swim coaches I’ve had.
2.Jane Scott: Sister of Dave (I think), frequently refers to us as ‘hooligans,’ e.g. “okay hooligans, hold up, hold up!” Meaning, stop warming up. Like all other coaches at Flatirons, there is no gap between sets, if your sitting at the back of the lane, desperately trying to hold the cycle (and dig yourself out of oxygen debt), its quite crushing to make the last rep, to already see those infront of you already starting another main set! Her sessions are generally the smallest but best attended by the resident freak swimmers.
3. Dave Scott: 6 time Ironman World Champ, Dave Scott’s sessions are a must for any triathlete spending time in Boulder, always new people there. They are generally the biggest with nearly 50 swimmers spread across the 7 lanes. One perk of being an ‘improving’ swimmer is that the two fast lanes have the fewest swimmers, generally only 4 or 5 people per lane. Las Thursday it was me, Tim Don and Craig Alexander!
Boulder cycling tip, if you want to head into the mountains, its best to do it mid-week rather than on the weekends, as many of the Colorado locals will hoon up the canyons to camp on weekends. With that in mind, I moved my long-ride a day early to Friday, or has it has become known, ‘f-ed up Friday.’ The plan was for a long-ride trying to get in a heap of climbing.
To those who know Boulder my route was: Flagstaff x2, Old Stage Road x2, Jamestown and Ward. 139k’s in 5.31hrs (yes my average speed was very low.) What was a hard ride in and of itself, was made even worse by some of the most brutal conditions I’ve ever encountered. At the top of Jamestown it was still well into the 30s. 30mins into the final climb to Ward the weather turned. The heavens opened with a ferocious thunder-storm and torrential rain. It was quite an eery climb, I barely saw anyone (cars or bikes) for the entire 70mins, moreover there were people shooting on the side of the road (cue some slimily to a horror film). I reached the top freezing. Fortunately there was a small store at the top. Armed with $10 I had a hot chocolate, a coke, bought a garbage bag, a plastic bag and some hospital gloves. Unfortunately I didn’t have the money to ‘upgrade’ to the full yellow suit. With the garbage bag down my front, the plastic bag on my head and with gloves on the descent became almost manageable, I was freezing, probably the coldest I’ve ever been on a bike. The descent in torrential rain, whilst shaking (due to cold) was very sketchy! I was lucky I had Bronti back home to fill me full of warm liquid (once she got over the shock of seeing me in such an uncharacteristic cycling attire).
On another note, I crashed my bike last week. As usual it was one of those silly crashes when I wasn’t concentrating. I hit a pothole and went over the bars, fortunately I landed on my back (which was cushioned by my backpack). On that note I was VERY lucky that I had a good helmet, it took an enormous impact, getting torn to shreds, my head was fine. If I wasn’t wearing a helmet I’d definitely be in hospital.
No crash is complete without a complementing pic :)
Boulder Aquathon
In the absence of results posted there is not much detail to give. It was a very weird (and painful) feeling running fast for the first time since March 22nd, let alone trying to squeeze back into the tri-suit (its feeling a little tighter than I remember!).
About 100 people took to the swim, I’d say nearly half were ‘bandits’ just doing the swim (and not paying!) and (luckily for them) avoiding the run, did I mention my Garmin was reading 41.1c 1hr before the race (added to the fact we were racing at 1600m, this was a brutal experience).
With the heat I decided not to wear a wetsuit, the water temperature was about as warm as the Flatirons Pool, I was hot in my trisuit! I excited in a decent position, but a little off the leaders.
Out onto the run I thought I was in a decent position, although it was hard to tell as the short-course race were already onto the run. As I’ve mentioned on number of occasions running at altitude is pretty horrible. To put it into perspective at the Boulder Peak Tri, the winner (Tim O’Donnell) ran a 34.50ish, and 2nd and 3rdran 36mins.
Running sub 4min/ks for the first time in months, in heat and altitude was a perfect storm of suffering. I was moving pretty well (thinking I was sitting around 2nd from 1k in), one guy caught up to me around the 2k mark, I tried to keep up with him, the pace dropped from a very pedestrian 3.40, to a very uncomfortable and slightly less pedestrian 3.20. This brief foray into mediocre running was short-lived.
At the ONLY aid station I was sitting in 2nd, my arms started tingling (a tell-tale sign of ‘larry-lactate’ hitting). With a little under 2k’s to go I gave up any hope of holding onto said runner and drifted back into a more sustainable pace. I crossed the line in 3rd, roughly 20-30s behind the winner. I was spent and very relieved to get through the race. The post race (free) food and the stop at Lucky’s Bakehouse was at least one perk of the 41mins of suffering.
Other Notes
-Our homestay has left her house (to go to New Orleans), unfortunately she has left the cat (Barney or Barry, can’t remember). Now, as previously mentioned, I am not a cat person (and also allergic to them). Barney has decided to sleep in my room every-night, despite my best efforts. I went to the toilet today, and suddenly he appears out of nowhere right in front of me.
-The state of coffee has turned me into an espresso-drinker (don’t think I ever had one in Australia). On a better note LOVE bagels!
-There’s an annoying trend of people wearing wetsuits to squad so they can swim in the fast lane…please cease and desist!
-Dave Scott didn’t turn up to coach our squad session yesterday, Tim Don turned coach for our lane…that guy is one funny man!!
-On one hand it is very convenient having the Tour De France on at 6-9am each morning, in spite of the incessant ads. Yet there is something kinda cool about staying up late and watching it back home on SBS (in spite of Anthony Tan’s woeful ‘expert’ analysis).
-Boulder has an obsession with categorized waste disposal, I can deal with ‘Trash’ and ‘Recycling,’ but when they throw ‘compost’ into the mix it really complicates matters. I definitely feel like I’m being judged when I’m disposing of my food at Wholefoods (my favorite haunt).
-I don’t get why I’m expected to tip at Café’s when there is no table service and you are expected to clean up after yourself.
-We have a new person staying in our house. She wanted to get the Wifi code from me, so I said I’d email it to her….fail!
-My awesome housemate/college friend Bronti is leaving in two days, unsure how I will survive without her cooking for the remainder of the trip.
-Feeding Guide ‘Snooze’ for Breakfast, ‘Wholefoods’ for Lunch, ‘Boom’ Frozen Yogurt anytime, ‘Amante’ for pre-ride sustenance, ‘Spruce’ for post-ride Sustenance, ‘Pasta-Jays’ for Dinner (and eye-candy)
Till next time
