If any of you frequently read my race reports, you know that it’s not unusual for me to do a hard race and follow it up with some sort of eating contest.  Boulder 70.3 followed by a chicken wing eating contest in downtown Boulder was with perfect match for me and I gave each competition with 100% effort as I always do.

 First the race:

 This was this inaugural Ironman Boulder 70.3 formerly the 5430 Long Course triathlon which was owned and run by my buddy and Timex teammate Barry Siff.  It was a great venue and knew that it would attract some good talent from across the country.  I was ready to race but was a little sad knowing that I only had one more race before Kona.  I drove up that morning and did my usual pre race routine and felt ready to go.  I used my Timex Race Trainer for the race, since I am getting an upgrade on my Global Trainer.  If you have not see them yet, I just recently completed 4 Timex Global Trainer instructional videos that you can see here.  They were fun to film and a huge thanks goes out to Todd and Paul who made the trip out to CO for filming! 

 At the swim start, I saw my friend and photographer Larry Rosa and again complimented him on his work – some of the pics in this blog are from him.  After some running warm ups, a Powerbar and gel, I got in my Aqua Sphere Icon and lathered up with plenty of Tri-Slide (this stuff is awesome by the way) and got in my corral for wave #10.  At 7:15 the gun went off I and I sprinted as hard as I could to the front.

Relaxing at the start

Without giving away too many secrets, I have been working on my stroke technique lately and have a few things that I always think about now when I swim, which has helped my stroke tremendously.  Even though I have been a swimmer since I was 7 there is always room for improvement.  I soon was out of the water in 25.46 – good enough for 7^th overall in the race. 

 Out on the bike, I found a rhythm right away and pushed pretty hard the first 5 miles, which are all uphill.  I was caught by a few other people in my wave at mile 25 but kept doing my thing and focused on my own race.  Before I knew it, I had completed the two loop course in 2:14, a new PR for me on this course.  The Orbea Ordu and Dura Ace wheels have really treated me well this year and after a few set up changes last week from my bike fitter, Jerry Fuhrman, all felt good coming off the bike in T2.

 For the most part, I was happy with my ride and before I knew it I was out of T2 onto the run.  It’s a two loop hot run, but right away I was feeling good.  All three of us in the age group went onto the run together.  One guy went ahead and at one point was about 1 minute or so in front of me.  I just stuck to my plan and went off feel as usual, which I think is best for the run.  After loop # 1, I was feeling as good as I could have.  After seeing Nikki and the boys on loop #2, I got a little more kick and before I knew it I was creeping up on the race leader.  At mile 11, I passed him and pushed hard to the end, finishing in 4:07 as the 2nd amateur, and 1st in my AG.  Right afterwards I did my Compex for recovery and my legs felt a ton better. 

Relaxed at the finish!

 
The Wing Challenge:
 
The West End Tavern is a place in downtown Boulder that has a wing challenge:  Eat 50 wings in under 30 minutes and your meal is free.  Also you get a t-shirt, a coupon for a dozen free wings, and your picture on the wall of fame.  Otherwise you pay $50- a dollar per wing!  If any of you watch Man Vs. Food on the Travel Channel you may have seen the host gobble down only 38 wings when he did this challenge in June.  With Nikki and the boys crammed in our booth, my waiver was signed and the clock started.

Signing my life away...

Connor and I in front of my lunch

Wing # 50!

After several napkins and glasses of water later, I finished them all in 24 minutes and 11 seconds and was crowned a Wing King here.  To be honest, I was still hungry – that’s what a burning 5,000 calories in a 1/2 Ironman will do!
 
Thanks for reading,
 
Tim