Who's got the best board out there?

I am a big believer in trying something new.  Who knows when you might find a new skill right?  This past Saturday night, I entered my very first Stand Up Paddle Board Race at the Boulder Reservoir…and it was a lot of fun!  I had worked all day at the 5430 Boulder Sprint triathlon expo and that night worked the expo for the SUP race and Father’s Day run.  I registered for the 1 mile SUP race that started at 6PM and was very excited to do something different.  All 50 of the participants lined up on the shore and when the gun went off we hit the water and started the 2 loop course.  I wore my Global Trainer and wow…I never thought I could reach 168 HR without using my legs!  I was completely spent by the time I hit the beach!

 
I ended up placing 4th overall with just 32 seconds from 1st place…quite a nice surprise.  The race concluded with some Hawaiian food complete with hula dancers.  Thanks to Henry at Boulder Running Company for putting on such a great 1st annual event!

The 2 loop course map from my Timex Global Trainer

A quick loop around the lake

Just recently I got back from racing Ironman Kansas 70.3 and wanted to do something a little different for my recovery so early this morning I took out my SUP (Stand Up Paddle) board to Chatfield Reservoir and did a lap around the lake.  Not sure if many of you have tried SUP yet, but it is a great workout and a lot of fun.  I rigged up my Global Trainer and HR monitor to track the workout and it worked great as usual.  Check out the attached screen shot of my route on the lake.  The map was so detailed I didn’t realize until afterwards that my route took me across a state county line.  Yes, the Global Trainer works on the water! 

I got in just about 5 miles in 1:25.  At 5:30 this morning the water was perfect and there were only 2 other boats on the lake and myself.  Be sure to read this months issue of Triathlete and you’ll see an article about Chris Lieto’s and Michael & Amanda Lovato’s SUP training for triathlon on page 38.  There are certainly benefits to help you be a better triathlete.  Perhaps it’ll help me at Buffalo Springs Lake 70.3 in a couple weeks? 

Looking forward to my first ever SUP race in Boulder this Father’s Day weekend!  $100 goes to first place!

Taking my son Spencer for a ride a few weeks ago.

Orbea had a great showing at Wildflower this year

Sometimes people ask me why I do races so close to each other.  I like to race and I am always seeking to find out what the most I can do – that is, without getting hurt.  It’s a fine line, but I like to roll the dice sometimes and see what happens.  So I thought about it and I gave the Wildflower Double another go in 2011. 

As in previous years I stayed in the PowerBar trailer just a little ways from transition.  I roomed with PowerBar’s very own David Paterson as well as Tim and Nicole DeBoom.  We all had a great time and got to know each other well.  Late Friday afternoon, Tim and I went on a short ride on our bikes together just long enough to get a good feel and soon it was lights out. 

Tim and Tim

Saturday came and went so quickly!  My wave went off 30 minutes after the pros and right away I felt the smoothness of my Orca 3.8 wetsuit.  I was very impressed with this suit and certainly recommend it.  My swim time was just under 25 minutes, good enough for the 5^th fastest of the day among amateurs.  

The bike was a little more challenging…for everyone.  Right out of the park, the wind was a force.  At mile 5 I knew it was going to be a long bike ride.  I kept my mind dialed and did my thing.  I had one other person pass me in my wave, but just focused on my ride and finished my bike ride looking forward to the run.  The run course is 60% trails, 40% road, and a lot of fun!  I didn’t really feel my good rhythm until 10K or so, but the remaining 7 miles were very strong for me.  I finished in 4:32, good enough for 2^nd in the age, and 3^rd overall.  I was happy considering the much harder effort that I had to put forth than in prior years. 

After having some salad, tiramisu, and chocolate chip cookies for dinner, I was quickly reminded by David that I had another race the next day and I had better get ready.  Before Tim and Nicole left for Santa Cruz, Tim reminded me to “not hurt myself.”  Good advice.  The Olympic distance race is a very fun, no pressure race for me, and I was just hoping that I would get through it pain free (or mostly pain free that is).  It went better than I thought, leading my age group from start to finish and the body responding well from all the abuse from the day before.  

Perhaps the most exciting part of Sunday was the photo shoot for PowerBar held on a helicopter landing pad overlooking the lake.  John Segesta was our photographer and his work was fantastic.  Below are a few shots from the set. 

Attempting to run after 20 + miles of running between 2 races.

All in all it was a full and very active weekend.  Congrats to my Timex teammate Christine  Anderson for a winning the Olympic Distance!  Now it’s back to work and perhaps a few Chipotle burritos.

The end of a long and fun weekend.

I am a big fan of trying new things.  You just never know when you’ll find a new skill.  This past Saturday, Nikki and I were fortunate enough to race in our very first Adventure Race together in Colorado Springs as a co-ed 2 person team for Team Timex – and it was an amazing day.  In fact, Nikki and I were having so much fun that about mid way through the race I said to her, “I was hoping I wouldn’t enjoy adventure racing, because that would mean it’s one more activity that I’d want to do.”   Too bad for us….we had a lot of fun.

Getting a checkpoint somewhere in Colo. Springs

 The race was set up as a point to point race from Monument to Colorado Springs, CO.  The basic events were mountain biking, trail running, and orienteering.  We had to bike to three different orienteering courses (basically big mountain open spaces) where we dropped our bikes, plotted various checkpoints on a topo map based off coordinates, put on trail running shoes, and ran to them.  There were various special challenges we had to do including hitting a hockey puck into a goal, climbing on a wall, rappelling, and a 500 foot zipline.  We had to really plan out our route and search for all the checkpoints using our map & compass skills (which we learned the week before).  I can recall a few times when we were in the middle of a wooded area, looking at our map and had no clue where to go.  After examining the map and really looking at our surroundings (and using common sense) we made it to all the checkpoints.  Our total time was 7 hours and 19 minutes which got us 2^nd place!  For the finish, Nikki had to successfully climb solo a 43 ft. climbing wall.  We were talking  later that night and over all the years we’ve been together, we’ve never had a day like this – we learned a lot about how to work as a team!  I highly recommend  it to anyone out there who is looking for an adventure and a little spice in their racing and training. 

Nikki just about to the top of her 43 ft. climb

The race organizers are all PowerBar Team Elite members from Big Mountain Adventure Racing and did a superior job.  They are putting on two more races this year so if you are in CO check out their website and sign up. 

1 of 3 maps we used to plot our checkpoints

A huge thanks to Erin Kummer for letting Nikki use her Orbea (probably the nicest and lightest bike on the course) and race kit and to my mom who flew in from MN to watch our boys just so we could race together. 

Train safe,

Tim