The purpose of this race report is not to make you emotional, but after reading it you just might find a tear in your eyes.  You see, the Bec Tri that I raced in this past Saturday in Avon, CO was a race that was very special to me.  It was dedicated to the memory of a friend of mine, Becky Yarberry.  She was a Medical Assistant in an office that I called on for work.  I would see her every few weeks and we’d chat about races.  Particularly, she raced in a lot of off road triathlons and placed quite well.  She always asked me about my races, especially Ironman.  We had a lot in common and it was fun to talk with her each time I came up to Vail.  She was a triathlete, daughter, sister, friend, and an overall great person. 

Tragically, she died in a car accident on I-70 in Vail, CO last September when another car flipped over the median and landed onto her car.  She was only 27.  Her dad is a doctor in Vail who I spoke to whenever I saw Becky as they worked in the same office.  It took me a while before I could come in to see him.  I could not imagine the physical and emotional stress that her family had to face over the next few months.
In June of this year, her dad told me that they were going to have a race for her called the Bec Tri in early August, and I knew I had to sign up.  When I told her dad I was going to race, he told me, “Tim, you were one of Becky’s hero’s, she would be honored to have you there.” – I felt my eyes begin to water.

On race morning, I was so impressed with how well the race was organized.  Plenty of sponsors, goodie bags, pictures of Becky, and most importantly, all the people that knew her, athlete or not, were planning to race.  I even racked my bike next to Becky’s mom and brother who were both racing.  The race was a 400m swim, 15k bike and 5k run and it was really fun.  I placed 1^st overall, which meant a lot since triathlon was the passion Becky and I shared.   After the race, I thanked Becky’s dad, mom, and brother for a wonderful experience and told him that I thought about her a lot during the race.  I knew she was looking down on all of us as we celebrated her life as well as ours.   As the tears ran down their faces, her dad told me, “The fact that you won this race I know made Becky happy.  It meant a lot to us that you raced today for her.” 

Its races like these that put things into perspective for me, and make me realize how lucky we are to be able to participate in this wonderful sport.
For more information, please check out www.bectri.com
 

Thanks for reading,
 

Tim

Recently I decided to shake up my training a little, so a few weeks ago some friends of mine and I hiked up Mt. Princeton, a 14,197 ft peak outside of Buena Vista, CO.  Hiking 14ers is one of the things I really enjoy doing here in Colorado because of the challenge it offers me and how accessible the hikes are from our house. 

However, this particular trip was like no other.  We chose to take the “less traveled” route and the reason why it’s less traveled is because it’s classified as a Class 3 route meaning scrambling on loose rock.  After camping the night before, Mark and Steph (friends of mine from college) and Kent (a friend of Marks) started at 5:30AM and after 5 hours of climbing, we made it to the Class 3 section at about 13,200 feet. 

Every step was challenging as you just don’t know which rocks are loose and which are not.  The wrong step could mean a very bad day.  We worked as a team and got through each section successfully with a few minor scares.  These first two pictures are of Steph and I traversing up to a snow patch debating how to proceed.  We are pretty small in the pictures if that gives you and idea of the size of the rock face.  This was the toughest part of the day.

We made it to the summit at around 12:30PM and took an easier way down to the car. It was such a great time, but not for anybody scared of heights as these pictures show.  We had a great time and for Kent, who just turned 65, said it was one of the best hikes of his life.  It’s always great to try something new and challenging!

Yesterday marked one of the few triathlons that I do where I can sleep at home the night before.  I love to travel and race, but it was nice to stay at home this weekend and race in the 17^th annual Boulder Peak Triathlon.  It was especially fun this time because I had the honor to race with my dad and wife.

After our 3:45AM departure from the house, we got into Boulder just before 5 AM and got everything set up.  My mom watched our boys for the morning and we felt so grateful that she was there to babysit!  My dad was in the first wave since he was 64 and Nikki and I were in the last waves so I was hoping to catch him before the finish.  The Olympic distance bike course takes us through Boulder County with a small mountain section carved out on the bike.  This was my 7^th go around at this race and I was excited to see what I could deliver after doing a lot of ½ Ironmans this season.  After the gun went off, I had the usual difficulty in sighting for buoys at this race because of the sun.  The weather for this race, or in Boulder for that matter, is typically cloudless in the morning, so navigation is challenging as we stare directly into the sun at the start.  After rounding the buoys toward the finish, I saw I had a small lead.  I then hopped onto my Trek and was on my way. 

On the 42K bike, I was feeling good, but have felt better on this course in the past.  I just kept pushing thinking that before I know it, the race will be over (2 hrs goes fast when your used to racing over 4 hrs).  I hit the hill in Left Hand Canyon and was feeling strong but was looking forward to the flats for the remainder of the course.  The Power Meter was working well and I just kept trying to keep up the watts.  I came into T2 leading my age group and felt very good beginning the out and back 10K run. 

I was hoping to catch my dad as I knew he was ahead of me somewhere, and sure enough at mile 4 I caught him as we exchanged some Elvis quotes – “Thank you, thank you very much.”  Soon after passing dad I saw Nikki who was looking great!  She is always such great motivation for me.  I finished in 2:04, and was 1^st in my age group and 2^nd Overall amateur, a result I was happy with! 

The best part of the day by far was my dad discovering he placed 3^rd in his age group.  He went up on the awards stage just loving it – you could just see it in his face.  I took some pictures and felt very proud of him.  Coming from sea level the day before, and at age 64, it was an impressive feat! Way to go dad!!!!

Thanks for reading –

Tim

Wow.  I can’t believe as I write this June has came and went.  When signing up for races last year, this month was going to be one of my biggest months of racing of the season.  Each of the 4 races I did worked out very well and I feel lucky to be safe and healthy and have fun at each one of them.  Specifically, with my most recent race, Ironman 70.3 Buffalo Springs Lake in Lubbock, TX.

Two days before the race, I drove down by myself and camped on Friday night in Clayton, New Mexico, a small and quiet town just west of the Texas border.  After I got up and went for a little 20 min run, I was on my way to Lubbock.  After checking in and seeing some friends at the race meeting, I headed to my hotel and got into bed early.  I was very excited to race and was hoping that good things would happen on race day.

Race morning was cloudy and cool, an unusual trait for Lubbock.  Typically it’s very hot and dry, sometimes reaching up to over 100 degrees.  As I got my bike set up and did a little warm up, I certainly felt ready to go and well rested.  My wave was called and I was off!

Right away, I could feel a good rhythm in my stroke and soon led my wave of 30-34 men.  I was in the 3^rd wave while the pro men and women went off 10 minutes before me.  In a way this is a good thing because I can try to catch up to as many as I can during the race.  I came out of the water finishing the 1.2 mile swim in 22:36.  On the bike, I knew this was where I really had to work hard.  With my PowerTap rigged up (http://www.saris.com/) I was trying really to push up the watts.  I was feeling really good and soon caught up to some pro women and even a few men to my surprise.  The rain started to hit at around mile 30, so I just was extra careful on the down hills and turns as crashes could happen at any moment.  As I came into transition, I saw that my ride time was 2:23, my fastest bike time on this course by over 5 minutes!  Out on the run, my legs felt great and just kept pushing my pace.   I caught a few more pros and finished the run in 1:22.  I was the 1^st amateur and 8^th overall.  Total time was 4:11 and I was very happy!  After the race, I made the 9 hour trip home back to Denver to arrive just in time to have dinner with Nikki.  A long drive, but well worth it!

On a side note, and perhaps one of the more memorable parts of the trip for me was when I was walking to the car after I had finished.  I overheard a guy talking to his wife on his cell phone saying how excited he was that he qualified for the Hawaii Ironman in Kona (this race was one of the very few ½ Ironmans that you can qualify for the Hawaii Ironman).  He kept saying how great the race was, how good he felt, and how happy he was to finally able to be going to Kona –you could just hear it in his voice.    It reminded me of that first time I qualified in 1999 and what a special moment it really is.

 A  big thanks to my coach, Nick White from Carmichael Training Systems (www.trainright.com).  He has helped my biking in many ways over the past few months!  Also, thanks to Trek (http://www.trekbikes.com/) and Bontrager wheels (http://www.bontrager.com/) for hooking me up with a great set up for my ride, as well as Bicycle Village (http://www.bicyclevillage.com/) for a stellar bike fit!

Thanks for reading –

Tim

This morning I did the Mt. Evans Ascent which is a running race to the summit of Mt. Evans here in Colorado.  We started at a place called Echo Lake, elevation 10,600 ft., and ran up a paved road which climbs just about 4,000 feet covering 14.5 miles.  I was a little worried about the timing of this race as I did the Kansas 70.3 ½ Ironman only 6 days earlier, but I have always wanted to do this challenge.  Race morning was beautiful with just a few clouds in the sky. 

I rigged up the full Timex Bodylink (HR and GPS unit) as I was curious to see what the profile would look like when I got home.  Here I included a screen shot of the elevation and my heart rate.  Once again, the Timex Bodylink did a superb job of giving me information about my race which I can use to help my future training.

I started the race feeling very good and kept a steady rhythm.  A few people passed me and I passed a few as well.  At mile 9 my good friend Andrew Adamowski and I were running together and chatted a little bit.  By mile 11, he had pulled away and I was once again running alone.  At 2 miles to go, or around 13,500 ft., I was starting to get a little dizzy from the lack of oxygen, but I could see the finish only a few switchbacks away.  I ended up placing 8^th overall in 1:59.12.  It was a great run and very challenging!  Check out some pictures below including some mountain goats who greeted all the finishers!

Thanks for reading,

Tim