Ironman 70.3 Boise
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defro781 posted 13 weeks ago.
Nice Race Report!
How was the weather / was there any wind?
Brian
Writer - The Endurance News Network - http://www.endurancenews.net
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Tribro posted 13 weeks ago.
I concur. The race was great, good venue, good support, ya the hill climb to the transition was a pain but I talked to the race director today and he mentioned they're gonna try to fix that for bike drop off next year. challenging course but fair and i didn't see any drafting as the swim, and some early climbs kept things pretty spread out. i would do it again no question. and racing in downtown boise for the run was very cool, lots of great restaurants, and the hotel I stayed in was great as well (Hamptons). Just got home so I'll write up a report later this week.
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Iron Dan posted 13 weeks ago.
Overall, I thought it was a great race.
The swim was brutal. It was cold (I think they were saying it was high 50's) and the temperature in combination with the wind/chop made for a tough swim. I was in the last swim wave and there were a lot of people from earlier groups that were struggling and just bobbing in the water which made for some interesting road blocks. The couse seemed like it might have been a bit long, or the conditions made it considerably harder.
The bike course was great. The early climbs really spread things out. It was a challenging course and I agree with nobody that it was harder than it seemed it should have been. My time was considerably slower than anticipated.
The run was great. Friendly voluteers and racers really made it a great finish to the race.
I will write a report later on this week, I just got back and after a 8 hour drive. I am going to lay on the couch and spread out.
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Donna posted 13 weeks ago.
Oh! I'm so glad to hear you all say that! I was 22 minutes slower than I expected. I thought the bike was going to be much easier than it was. Despite the water temp, you couldn't ask for better weather- overcast and 69 degrees with a little sprinkle on the bike. I will be back to avenge the course next year!
Set goals...... but be here now. Enjoy the ride to the finish line.
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Nobody posted 13 weeks ago.
I, too, agree that the swim seemed mighty long--it even looked a bit long. My mom lives up in Boise and heard (it's not highlighted in the news of course) that close to 100 people were plucked from the water. I observed a lot of what others saw in the drink--lots of people bobbing/stopping....I try to stay away from anyone who looks like they may panic (people drown in twos a lot).
My splits were on par with most of my 70.3 race results:
TOTAL SWIM 1.2 mi. (40:58) 2:09/100m 327 63
TOTAL BIKE 56 mi. (2:47:32) 20.06 mph 348 70
TOTAL RUN 13.1 mi. (1:46:34) 8:08/mile 299 57
My T1 Transition SUCKED (7:28--what the hell was I doing for that long?), and my swim was a bit slower than normal, but I was happy with my bike/run times. I am not happy with how sore I am today, though!
Greatness is only achieved by those who perpetually raise the expectations of themselves to the point where it ruins their life.
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zagfan posted 13 weeks ago.
I had a blast at the race. This was my first triathlon and I'm officially addicted to the sport. I grew up 40 minutes down the highway in Mtn. Home so I already new how great Boise is. I was pretty nervous going into the race because of the distance and it was my first triathlon. I consider myself an above average runner but before last fall, 4-5 miles was a long run for me. I picked up my first bike last summer after moving to Colorado (Trek 1000) and felt pretty comfortable on the bike (comfortable but not fast). My biggest concern going in was the swim. My first time swimming a lap in a pool was the middle of January this year. So add the open water swim to the 1.2 mile distance and I had myself a nice hurdle to overcome.
Pre-Race: I got into Boise on Thursday morning and was surprised to see how green everything was, I still had the brown landscape in my head from Christmas time. Sign in went smoothly, got there right at 10:00 on Friday so there was no line to wait in. I drove the course with my former boss who convinced me last fall that taking on this challenge was a good idea (he turned out to be right). We do a lot of training at the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs so we were interested to see the "hills" in Boise.
Pre-brief went well on Saturday morning, I had read through the Athlete Guide so there weren't any surprises for me. After getting out to Lucky Peak I realizd that riding my bike up hill is much better than carrying the damn thing. Felt great at the practice swim, sun was out and water was calm. My practice open water swims at home had left me feeling dizzy and sick after coming out of the water. I tried some earplugs at the practice swim and felt good coming out of the water, problem solved.
Race Morning: I got Lucky Peak at about 05:15 and started the hike back up the hill. Got to T1 and got my body markings out of the way. Then I realized I was at my bike at about 05:45 with nothing to do besides pump up my tires and throw my bike stuff in my transition bag. So I did the only thing that felt natural for the morning of my first race...I went to the bathroom a lot. I hung out with one of my friends from Boise for a while until they started herding us over to the swim start.
Swim: As I got to the swim start I realized that the sunny calm water swim I had on Saturday had changed into a cold, windy and chopping swim on race day. Luckily I ran into a couple of guys who were also doing their first triathlon, which calmed my nerves a bit. Pros hit the water at 0700 and I had almost an hour to stand around until I got in the water at 07:55. Once the other age groups took off I surprisingly felt pretty relaxed. Next thing I knew I was treading water, waiting for the cannon to go off. I had swam in open water before and have a pretty high tolerance to cold water, but had not swam in a pack before. I lingered toward the back and figured I would just stay out of the way. Started off pretty good, then started bumping into people. About a 100 meters into the swim I got my first "Welcome to Triathlons" when I got kicked in the face by someone. Luckily it landed right on my right goggle, which actually created a pretty good seal. So after realizing that swimming in cold water and going through the human washing maching was actually fun, I got settled into the swim. Then the choppy waters and the human land mines took over. I'm not a strong swimmer to begin with so the choppy water only magnified my weaknesses in my stroke. And I learned that being able to swim in a straight line in a pool is a lot different from swimming in a straight line in water that's moving. I pretty much zig zagged my way through the water, not only creating unnecessary pauses in forward motion to right myself, but also extending the swim distance (the whole shortest distance between two points is a straight line didn't play out so well). I also had to deal with all of the other other waves in front of me being plucked out of the water. I almost ran into a kayak or a rescue boat about every 200 M. About a third of the way in I realized that it was going to be one slow swim. Other than the speed of the swim I actually had a good time. Seeing others giving up on the swim gave me more motivation to keep swimming.
T1: I came out of the water by myself so I knew that I had been pretty slow (forgot to start my watch at the beginning so I didn't know my time. But just knowing that I had finished the swim after worrying about it for so long felt great. As soon as I came up the ramp my parents and my friend were there to cheer me on. The rush of adrenaline that it gave me made the cold unnoticeable. I felt great running into T1 and was ready to hit my two stronger legs. And then came the first mistake. I'm still riding my Trek 1000 with some hand me down aero bars and forward angle seat post, which also means I'm using me road shoes that have the standard ratchet system with two velcro straps. Well, before the race I had the top strap about half way through the little ratchet piece so I could easily undo it. Apparently after shoving all of my stuff into my T1 bag, the straps got pushed all of the way tight. Well, when my bike shoes get tighten to much, its almost impossible to undo (I've had to use a screw driver before). So imagine my excitement when I get to my bike and realize that my shoes are officially not coming undone. Add that to the fact that I couldn't feel my hands (another detail that I had over looked) and I had one crappy situation to deal with. After screaming a few choice words at my shoes I finally got them one. I had decided to throw a bike jersey on so I could carry all of my food on the bike since I've never dealt with aid stations and I didn't want to try anything new. Well, trying to put on a loaded jersey turned out to be a much harder task that I first expected. I decided to throw my arm warmers on since I was freezing my ass off after taking my sweet time messing around with my shoes. I was reassured though when the guy next to me said how much he wished he had brought his arm warmers. By the time I started down T1 to get on my bike I was pretty pumped up and pissed off at the same time (I don't like being a slow swimmer). The last thing I remember about T1 was my mom screaming at me to look up so my dad could take a picture, sorry mom, the last thing I cared about at that moment was a picture.
Bike: Add the fact that I was in the last wave and swim about as fast as one of those yellow rubber ducks, I was pretty excited to get on the bike because there were a lot of people to catch up to. I didn't know what to expect since the majority of the hills were at the beginning of the race. I quickly realized that training in Colorado has its advantages. I quickly started to look forward to every up hill section because it gave me a row of riders to pass. I took a quick bathroom break at the first aid station (sorry, my wife said that if I start pissing on myself on the bike that I have to quit triathlons). Felt great on the bike, having a chance to get in the aero felt good, I'm use to either going up a hill or down a hill. I rode with a little bit of anger because of my slow swim and mishap in T1. Passing tricked out bikes on my $700 road bike felt pretty good also. Everything was going great until about mile 40. While shifting gears my chain decided it wanted to take a break and popped off. Took about 4-5 minutes to untangle it and get it back on track. And then it started to rain, which actually gave me more motivation. Coming back into town it was amazing to see volunteers and spectators lining the streets while it was raining. Seeing that type of support gave me a sense of pride to be involved in such a great sport.
T2: Great feeling coming into T2 after being alone on the bike for three hours. Had a decent T2 with no surprises like in T1. Felt great coming out of T2 and was looking forward to getting my legs loosened up.
Run: First few miles felt pretty much like all of my brick workouts and I thought that everything was falling into line. Started to pick up the pace at about mile 3 and was ready to set in to the run. Felt great until about mile 6, when the tightening of the quads started. And then mile 9 when my right knee tightened. And that's when I really started wishing that I hadn't underestimated what it felt like to run a half marathon after the 1.2 swim and 56 bike. But, my goal from the start was to finish the race to prove that I could. So I just found a comfortable pace and decided to enjoy the rest of the run, except for the pain of course. The run brought another dynamic to the fun of triathlon. Its pretty amazing the people you meet at the end of such a long race. Seeing others fight through their own pain gave me a little push when I was hurting. I just kept remembering that my former boss told me that any form of running is faster than walking. The volunteers were still outstanding even at this late in the race.
Finish: Running into the finish was a great feeling. After training for something for so long it was awesome to finally feel what it was like to finish one of these things. By this time in the race more family and friends had finally crawled out of bed so I had a good sized cheering section. After crossing the finish line I got my medal and hat. Then someone put a one of those silver blankets on me. I couldn't figure out what good it did so I quickly got rid of it. Then my mind got fixed on one thing, pizza. I stuck around to watch the award ceremony and enjoy the feeling of finally being a triathlete. My boss took 4th in his age group so it was great to see him get his trophy and slot to Clearwater. It was also cool seeing the pros that I follow online and in magazines hanging out with the rest of us. The support structure in this sport from the pros down to the beginners still amazes me.
Overall Impression: If I wasn't before, I am now officially addicted to this sport. I'm already plotting out the rest of the summer. I'm looking at the 5430 Long Course in Boulder, CO and the Ironman 70.3 in Austin, TX. My mind is already looking down the road to my first full Ironman. I have a solid feel for what my weaknesss are and look forward to improving on them. My first triathlon turned out a little slow for my liking but I reach my goal that I had set last Fall so overall I am satisfied. I'm ready to buy my first tri-bike this summer and hopefully improve upon my swim and endurance on the run. I had a lot of first timer mistakes, but reading through the forums on this site prevented me from making more. I look forward to my next race and also look forward to diving into this site more.
Race Results:
TOTAL SWIM 1.2 mi. (57:46) 3:02/100m
TOTAL BIKE 56 mi. (3:03:42) 18.29 mph (18.9 without the chain malfunction)
TOTAL RUN 13.1 mi. (2:03:18) 9:24/mile
TRANSITION TIME
T1: SWIM-TO-BIKE 9:16 (stupid shoes)
T2: BIKE-TO-RUN 3:29
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kylie posted 13 weeks ago.
Congrats on a great intro to the sport zagfan, and welcome to Trifuel :)
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TryScott posted 13 weeks ago.
Zagfan, that was the funniest race report I've read in a long time, or maybe ever. Not sure if you were trying to make it that way, but your personality seems so 'matter of fact' I couldn't help laughing. Thanks for sharing your experience.
Welcome to Trifuel and keep us posted on your progress.
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Nobody posted 12 weeks ago.
Yes, great write-up zagfan. Congrats on your finish and good luck feeding your addiction with future races!
Greatness is only achieved by those who perpetually raise the expectations of themselves to the point where it ruins their life.
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john_grieco posted 12 weeks ago.
zagfan - great report. I originally signed up for Boise as my 'A' race, but realized I would not be ready in time so I switched to the Rhode Island 70.3 (mid-July). Sounds like I missed a great one..
"Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go."
-T. S. Eliot
Volunteer support was incredible. I've never participated in an event with such great support from the community. At 4:15am the volunteers seemed a lot happier and more energetic than any of the participants. I've been to Idaho before and know first-hand how friendly Idahoans are. Anyone from out of town who participated in the inaugural Ironman 70.3 Boise now knows, too. What a great community.
Challenging swim course in icy cold water--added a fear factor element to the swim that made it seem more hardcore than most events. Of course, I remember seeing a bunch of people who started in waves 20 min. before me struggling at the half way point--I hope they all made it out of the water (rumor has it someone was airlifted and they had to pull quite a few people from the reservoir).
Bike Course--Awesome bike course that on paper should be faster than it is in real life. We didn't have too much of an issue with headwinds--and thought the pavement was pothole free, the type of pavement had an incredible amount of rolling resistance. The long downhills were good enough for a 45.9 mph top speed (thanks Giro!). Traffic control was fairly good, even though a PT Cruiser almost took me and another guy out while defying officials. Also, there was a speed bump at the top of the reservoir that caused a water bottle launch party in front of me--the ensuing mess almost sent me over the side of the dam--an accident that would have ended both my race and my life.
Run Course--Tons of aid stations. Awesome support (one kid even had the perspicacity to realize I was overheating and offered to throw a cup of ice water at me--he seemed to enjoy it almost as much as I did until half of the water ricocheted back on him). Very scenic course alongside the Boise river with lots of spectator support (and lots of solitude, too).
Post event--great food (the red bean soup with the mashed potatoes was incredible) and the servers were super friendly and nice. I have NO clue how people can eat cheese after any event, let alone a ~5 hr one, though. Cheese soup? Pizza? I guess I just don't have an Iron stomach.
The cons:
The registration process was unnecessarily long due to a mandatory 'counseling' session, which 1) should have been OPTIONAL for anyone who has done an event before and/or 2) should have included helpful information for the large number of 1st timers (like, be prepared for a rough swim, stay calm, don't drown; keep your bike on the right side of the road, pass on the left, secure your damn water bottles, etc.). So what should have taken 10-15 min. took 1 hour and 20 minutes because they actually sat each person down and went over everything in the packet. Last I checked the day before an event you are to stay off your feet....which brings me to the next BIG con: T1 (where you rack your bike) could only be reached by hiking up a ~500 foot dirt road while carrying your bike, wet suit, helmet, shoes, etc. (the rangers blocked off access from the top). A 20 min. hike (each way) carrying your bike after standing still in line for 90 min. is not in the recommended things to do 18 hours before a race.
The 4:15am shuttle got us up to the top on race day 22 min. before T1 opened. It'd make a little more sense to time the arrival of the shuttle with the opening of T1 or vice-versa. The second shuttle didn't arrive until 6am--way too late to get all your gear in order/do your morning routine IMHO.
Overall--the event itself gets a 4.5 out of 5 stars. The pre-race chaos and disorganization gets a 1.5 out of 5 stars.
Greatness is only achieved by those who perpetually raise the expectations of themselves to the point where it ruins their life.