Boulder Peak Triathlon 2006

This was the third time I had competed in this classic event. It is one of my favourites. The first time I did this one was in 1999 when I was spending a summer out here with Josh Nottle. The trip was an exercise in familiarisation, supposedly to familiarise ourselves with the life of a travelling professional triathlete. All we really did was familiarise ourselves with driving long distances and eating a lot of junkfood, as Kelly Mouttet can attest, after seeing my figure when I returned home. The second time was when I was here last time in 2004. I raced it 3 weeks after competing in Ironman Lake Placid and got through it better than was expected.

I went into it this time around extremely doubtful that I was going to be able to race anywhere near my best. I was flat as a tack, a combination of training in the thin air up here, and more significantly, getting my arse kicked by the likes of Simon Lessing every day. Not to mention having a multitude of problems with my hip and groin area that were making for some pretty sketchy run training.

The field was relatively strong with the likes of Craig Alexander, Tim Deboom, Brian Fleischmann, Stephen Hackett, MIchael Lovato, Brad Beven and Cam Widoff. It could have been a lot stronger with the plethora of international short course elites living and training in Boulder this year, but, of course, everyone has individual schedules and priorities.

I guess for me this was more of a training race. If I was in reasonable shape I would have been confident of making the top 5, but as I was not going so well, there was every chance I would be finishing out of the top ten and the prizemoney for that matter. The good thing about this race is that it is right on the doorstep - no expenses, no risk.

The swim is held in the Boulder Reservoir, which is just out of town and is a recreation vessel for the community with many aquatic activities taking place there.

I knew I was in trouble from the gun. I find if I am not quite 100% then it is magnified in the water. I could feel the acidosis of exertion overwhelming my system within 30 seconds of the race start and I just had to turn off the engines. Just about the whole field disappeared into the rising sun. I distinctly recognised the recovery action of one of the local athletes that swims in the same squad as he drifted off into the rays of light. As he swims two lanes down from me in the pecking order, I knew I was not having my best day. From this point on I resolved to get as much from the race as I possibly could. This meant maintaining a steady exertion for the rest of the race. I didn't want to destroy myself completely and dig a deeper hole from which to climb out of.

The cycle course is what makes this event what it is. You start climbing as soon as you leave the transition area and you reach the top of the climb at around 10k into the cycle. Although by no means all that steep at the beginning, the hill kicks up to a 16% gradient in the last kilometer. The last part of the climb is sheer agony. It is then predominantly downhill for the next 10k before turning to undulations for the last 21k back to T2. If you haven't totally destroyed yourself getting over the first climb, then a lot of time can be made up in the last 21k.

I exited the water close to 4 minutes down on the leaders. I had given up any hope of finishing in the top ten right then and there. As I stated earlier, it was time to try and get as much out of this effort as possible and it was steady as she goes from that point on. I lost ground on the leaders throughout the cycle leg, but was happy with my application.

When I finished the cycle leg I had my first opportunity to see what was happening at the front of proceedings. No surprise to see Craig Alexander leading the way with Tim Deboom in second place not too far behind and young Stephen Hackett in third. Stephen is the brother of Nicole Hackett and I first met him in 2004, which was his first year here training in Boulder. The top three placings would remain the same until the finish line.

Again, on the run, I made no impression on the leaders and lost more time, but I did get a good workout, which was the main aim of the exercise.

I was 5 minutes slower this year than I was in 2004, and that was three weeks after an Ironman.

Race results can be found at www.5430sports.com

Take care all.