Boise Half Ironman: Bountiful Splash-N-Sprint Triathlon

I was soooooo excited for this race! My first tri of the year and first tri since starting this Half Ironman training program. I've been hoping all this training would propel me to some awesome times in my sprint triathlons, and I was not disappointed!!

I was really excited about this race because Travis and Tyla and Brendon were competing with me! This is Travis's first triathlon since his leg surgeries and it's been fun watching him get ready. He's amazing! Tyla has enjoyed running with her dad and doing some swim training with me in preparation for the tri. She competed in the Novice division (150 swim, 2.5 bike, 1.5 run) while Travis and I did the Sprint (300 swim, 12.5 bike, 3.3 run). Thanks to Camilla and Ryan and Grandma for coming and helping with our little kids while we ran the race!

And here's the race report: I was anxious for the swim and tried to seed myself properly. I've been swimming much faster than last year (maybe because I've actually been training for it, ha!) and knew I needed to be close to the front. Alas, I didn't get close enough and caught the girl ahead of me by the first length! I then proceeded to pass seven or eight more people until mid-way through it opened up and I could just swim. Near the end, I caught another person who threw me off a bit because he didn't stop at the end and started trying to swim another length. I got confused and nearly followed him. But then I saw the race officials trying to get our attention and jumped out of the pool and headed to transition. I wore my triathlon racing suit this time so had no need to dry off and I chose to not wear socks on the bike and just wore my special triathlon bike shoes. Because of all that, my transition was blazing fast!

I headed out on the bike, my Fuji's first race, and was pushing hard. I found myself panting too much so slowed down a bit and got into a comfortable rhythm. I felt good, though and was maintaining 18-19 mph! The bike course was fairly good, heading out on to Legacy and then back. I am always amazed at the people who blast past me even when I'm going 23 mph!! And they look like they're not even trying! I had one hiccup......FrontRunner! I couldn't believe I had to stop for the train! One female passed me early on and then another passed me at the end. Overall, I felt great about my biking and didn't feel like I was going to pass out.

Transition 2 was a little slower than I expected. I had to put my socks on, however I had put yank shoelaces in my shoes so I didn't have to tie them. I also grabbed a gel packet and then headed out on my run. As I started to run, I thought, "Uh, oh, I'm in trouble." I wasn't feeling great and my legs were not thrilled to be running. I was worried I would have to walk, but I didn't give in. I just worked on that gel packet (funny that I have to work on it because those things are hard to swallow!) and kept going. I found my stride about a mile in and overtook the girl who passed me on the bike near the end. The turn going east on that hot asphalt wasn't super, but at the top there was a water station where I stopped briefly for a gulp of water (I still can't drink and run at the same time). I then felt great for the rest of the race. Near mile 2.5, I heard, "MOM!!" Lo and behold, Tyla was right behind me on her bike! It was fun to see her and cheer her on as she passed me. It cracked me up because she was trying to ride with one hand and then with no hands. Don't you know you're racing here?!? :) I knew the finish was close and so I kicked it in gear and ran hard the last little bit. Once I crossed the finish line, I heard Ryan cheering. I had done a 1:13!! That is almost eight minutes faster than last time! What is even better is that I felt great! I didn't feel dead after this race like I have for so many others. Maybe this training IS worth something!!

Final times: Swim - 6:01, T1 - 0:45, Bike - 39:30, T2 - 1:03, Run - 26:22, Final - 1:13:42. Place - 2nd!! And I missed 1st place by one second!