This weekend I had the opportunity to do some “suffer-fest” training with Kirill Kotsegarov, last years Ironman Florida champion. What a fantastic opportunity to train with one of the best in the sport and a great guy from Estonia. Kirill is training in Colorado to gain some au natural’ red blood cells before Kona.

Fueling for 5+ hrs of suffering in the wind and hills; you saw it here first- this is how the champions do it!

1100 calories of cinnamon roll is good for 2hrs worth of energy on the bike!

On Sunday I was then able to run at one of the best long distance running trails in the area; Rampart Reservoir. It is a 13 mile loop of beautiful singletrack at 9000′ elevation around a mountain lake. Every little hill I feel like I go into oxygen debt!

To make this perfect run even better there is a snowmelt fed stream to ice the legs immediately post-workout.

What can I say?!?! I’d like to keep this streak going. After taking the amateur win at Boulder Peak there were some expectations for me at Ironman Boulder 70.3 I am happy to report that my legs did not fail me and I was able to take my second overall amateur win in a row! Hopefully my fitness will carry over straight to Kona.

Boulder: hard pressed to find a better location for a triathlon

Swim: 26:35 (perspective; Andy Potts 23:30[no wetsuit])

Very happy with my time, pretty much where I expected to be. The change of the swim course to a more  trapezoid like shape was welcome, as we didn’t have to swim directly into the sun. Well done swim course staff. I felt very comfortable throughout the swim, as I was able to draft the leader of our wave for the majority of the swim. As usual there was some traffic so that was a bit challenging but fairly uneventful for the most part.

Bike: 2:07, 26.5mph (perspective; Andy Potts 2:04, 27mph)

Most outsiders would think a course in Colorado would be hilly- not the case. This course is extremely fast with only a long gradual false flat at the beginning of each loop. I have found that not only is biking strong crucial to winning a race- but getting the correct nutrition on the bike to allow for a fast run. I think I have it dialed (about time!). Now; I usually don’t find myself being passed by too many people on the bike- so when someone started to roll up alongside of me towards the end of my first lap, my first reaction was WTF*&*^)* (as I was cranking pretty solidly), oops- Hi Andy Potts and Stephen Hackett, I’ll gladly pace off you guys for a while! (They both were looking strong.) I was most certainly happy to have my CycleOps Powertap for the ride. It is a huge advantage to instantaneously know if you are going too hard or too easy. It is also really easy to record your data onto your Timex Global Trainer and continue on using the same device right onto the run with a continuation of all your stats!

Run: 1:28, 6′49″ pace (perspective; Andy Potts 1:16, 5:52)

The run around the Boulder Rez is more difficult than it appears on paper; hot, no shade, and 2 tough climbs per lap on the gravel road that are seemingly much tougher than they should be. As usual I ran in my K-Swiss K-Ona’s with drainage ports- which are very welcome when drenching ones self through aid stations! I was able to hold off the pack of charging wolves for the first loop and had my pace pretty dialed at 6:15-6:35. Mile 7- passed by Kirk Framke but was able to keep him in sight for the most part. Mile 8.5- passed by teammate Tim Hola who was absolutely killing it! Now both these guys started in the wave in front of me so I knew I had to couldn’t let them gain more than 5 minutes (which I was calculating mile paces in my head). One change I made in my strategy was to use my Nathan Product 1.5 speedbelt with Cola in it. This absolutely was a good decision and allowed me to keep on running (albeit quite a bit slower) for the last several miles.

4:05:16, 1ST OVERALL AMATEUR, 10TH OVERALL

I would like to dedicate my win and fastest ever 70.3 to my Grandpa who suffered a severe stroke this past week and has been struggling in intensive care. Beer and Peanuts in Waupaca!

Top 2 spots on the podium for Team Timex!

Team Support from Karill and Trista!

Podium Shot

This is Kay, 74 years young, and just finished a 70.3- unbelieveable!

The big training for KONA is surely starting. Here is one of my favorite routes that is a great proving ground: mountain roads, little traffic, and leg burning climbs! These climbs are not the longest nor the steepest in Colorado but they really wear on you.

This is a really nice feature of Training Peaks that allows you to plan your route and have extensive knowledge on what lies ahead. After the ride I easily synced my global trainer from my powertap data for analysis.

Really easy to correspond the course route to the power profile. You can see my power trail off after about 4hrs of riding. A little bit of work to do yet.

It had been several years since I pinned up a race number on a bike jersey. I couldn’t have picked a better race than the Colorado Centurion for a return to the road peloton. This was a new event this year (read preview below), and I only can hope more epic mountain stages like this one make their way to the U.S. racing calendar.

I of course had to start the day with some pick-up from one of my fav BoCo coffee stops :)

The race started out with a neutral roll out out of the town of Lyons. This is a great little town just North of Boulder in the heart of some of the best road and mountain biking to be found. Everything was as predicted the first 25 miles of the race; no attacks and everyone content to sit in until the climbing would start in Left Hand Canyon. At the base of the climb I had to make a quick pit-stop and then had to chase back on to the group, which I had no problem doing. I couldn’t believe the carnage already starting as people were falling off the back early on. The grade of the climb at this point is 3-4% and all the contenders were comfortably riding tempo before the grade turned much sharper towards the top.

I was for sure glad to be riding my Orbea Orca, knowing I’d have the best climbing bike in the peloton. I was also tracking my data with my Timex Global Trainer mounted on the handlebars. This gave me easy access to vital data including distance, time, HR, and altitude: allowing me to gauge my effort appropriately.

As the climb to up to Ward and the Peak to Peak highway continued; the pace would continue to rise with only the top climbers staying in contact. Near the top is where some attacks were thrown to get the KOM jersey (won by Chris Legh), and I found myself just trailing the front riders by 100meters or so. Here is where I made a tactical mistake. I thought there would be a regrouping of the front pack after the summit. But the front 7 decided to keep going over the top! So I missed the front group but was in a solid group of 11 riders and I thought we would bring them back on the descent. But no one was interested in working so the race went up the road. Myself and 3 other riders would set tempo at the front for a while. I would stop pulling in the last 5 miles before the base of the second climb (“super james”) of the day.

The second climb (super james) is for sure a HC climb. This climb utilizes the same entry in the left hand canyon but takes the road to the town of Jamestown. Our group would stay together on the gradual 3-4% climb up to Jamestown. We actually picked up 2 riders at this point who had been dropped from the front group. Once to Jamestown the incline ramps up intensely!! Here no attacks really took place but the sheer grade (approaching 13%) was enough to create separation. I was able to stay at the front trailing 2 other riders who were climbing really well. I was just happy to maintain contact at this point. Over the summit of the climb you hit Overland road; a 2 mile stretch of gravel road with several rollers. I was actually very surprised about the condition of the road. It was super loose with a lot of washboard and potholes. I was struggling to maintain contact while not willing to risk a lot on the turns. At one point I really nailed a pot hole and heard a snap (post-race inspection showed my handlebars slipped by more than an inch!). Other than my bars slipping I managed to regain the 2 guys infront of me to the top of the peak to peak. We were all interested in maintaining our positions so we were working well together. We would actually pick up another 2 casualties from the initial breakaway on the few rollers at the top of peak to peak. This meant there was only 3 left up the road! From this point on it is a long descent back to the finish in Lyons. It would be very tough to attack at this point.

Here is the view on Peak to Peak

The new group of 5 came back towards Lyons together with a few “fake” attacks but nothing serious. I was able to get into the last corner in second position and take the sprint for 4th overall**!

**Now I do have to caveat my finish position. I was listed as fourth place on the standings all day. The final results now have me down to sixth place. The reason for this is the event was ‘chip’ timed, and I guess I crossed the start line several seconds before the other riders in our group. I do not agree with this type of scoring for a bike race (see Tour de France). None the less, not a big deal as I know I can still climb and sprint with some of the top road riders in Colorado!

All in all a great day of racing with some serious climbing! I would highly recommend a Centurion event if you have a chance to do one. (The next one is in Wisconsin!)

Also want to give props to Jess for sticking in there and finishing the race! That is a super tough introduction to Colorado road racing for sure!

The Boulder Peak Olympic Triathlon has long been known as one of the most respected non-drafting olympic distance races in the U.S; and of course its in Boulder so the competition is always stiff. I was able to put together a complete race and get the overall victory! This was my first overall win since moving from Wisconsin. What it took was a solid swim, crushing the bike, and not blowing up on the run.

Swim:
Our wave was one of the last waves to start so there was quite a bit of waiting around in the AM after transition closed. But it was fun to watch and cheer some of the early starters. After some warm-up in the water it was time for our turn. I made some different equipment choices this race going with my fullAqua Sphere Icon wetsuit and Kaiman goggles. I had a lot of confidence in this gear for the swim which made a big difference after a bad swim in my last race. I found a good group with 2 other swimmers for the first half of the swim while 2 others were about 10s up on us. We had a lot of people to swim through which made drafting the feet a bit tougher. On the return trip to shore the 2 swimmers didn’t sight well and veered off course a bit while I was able to see their mistake. They were swimming strong though and came out just behind me.

21:40

Bike:
The Boulder Peak bike course is notorious for its steep climb up “old stage rd”. Because of this I went with my Shimano C-50 wheels vs. a disc set-up. This proved to again be a good equipment choice as my files show my speed to be as low as 7-8mph up the climb (yeah its steep!). I grinded out the climb in my smallest gear having passed the swim leaders within the first 3 miles of the course. Over the climb you have a speed controlled descent down left hand canyon. Then you have to put it in the big ring for the last 15 miles of all out riding. The Orbea Ordu was riding extremely well and allowing me to stay in my anticipated zone without blowing up. I was also glad to have my Rudy Project Wingspan on saving me valuable seconds (more on this later). I knew I was having a good day on the bike, and knew I had to hammer it to give myself a buffer on the run as I am not a fast 10k runner.

1:01:17, 25.5mph, FASTEST BIKE SPLIT!

Run:
It is a triathlon so the race starts now. Off the bike and into my K-Swiss K-ona’s to get me through the last 6.2 miles. I was hoping to go under 6′ pace for the run, so I was monitoring my TIMEX tap watch closely. I really like using the tap watch when racing as it allows me to check my splits and pacing without searching for small buttons. I started off a bit slow with sluggish legs but was feeling in a good groove by mile 2. This is generally par for me as I find my legs gaining steam after 2-3 miles or so. I was a able to drop the pace to 5:55 for the last 3 miles, feeling good. With it being a wave start I knew I had to push it all the way to the finish line. I gave my legs all the punishment they could handle :).

37:06, 5:59 pace
One of my best triathlon 10k run splits.

Overall: 2:01:19, 1ST OVERALL AMATEUR!!

I eked out the win by 2 seconds! Good thing I had great equipment from my sponsors allowing me to save every valuable second across the race. I was happy with my effort- feeling I left it all out on the course. Great motivation for KONA!!!