So I went back to where my triathlon career started in Boise, ID for the second running of Boise 70.3. Since my first race I've done exactly one Sprint tri, so saying I was anxious to see what a year of training can do is an understatement.

Pre-Race: My wife and I packed up the car with my bike and two dogs and made the 13 hr drive up to Idaho. We stayed at my parents house and her parents drove down from Washington, so this time I had a nice little cheering section. Drove the bike course on Wednesday and it looked the same as last year, nothing new. Went for the sign-in, Expo and athlete briefing on Thursday. While waiting around for the athlete briefing my old training partner and I realize that Crowie is over at the Newton booth. And of course since I'm just as big a fan of the sport as I am a participant I quickly convince him to go grab an autograph with me. After waiting for the race director to stop kissing up to Crowie we walk up and introduce ourselves. My friend really just wanted an autograph, but I really wanted to talk tri with Crowie b/c after all...this is Craig Alexander we are talking about, the guy is a Tri God. He was obviously there just fulfilling his obligation to Newton, but the guy seems like a genuinely nice guy. I spent the next five minutes talking with Crowie like I was 10 year old kid again getting an autograph from my favorite baseball player. All the while my friend stood there wishing I would shut the hell up so we could just get our posters signed. It was great hearing Crowie talk race strategy and who he thinks is going to show up big in Kona. And also being a big Lieto fan I had to as, "So, are you ready to run down Lieto this weekend?" Crowie just smiled and said he was hoping not to give him 7 minutes off the bike. If you followed the race Crowie was down 5:30 coming off the bike, 3:00 at the half-way point on the run and ended up running down Lieto 20 yards from the finish. So in the end he showed me.

But enough of my adolescent-like excitement of getting to talk with Crowie.

So in Boise they decided to have a 2:00PM start, which means I got 9.5 hrs of sleep and had plenty of time to worry about everything and anything before the race. My wave didn't start until 2:55, it sucked.

Swim:
This year I was swimming for time and not survival, much better feeling by the way. I placed my self to the left and middle of my wave. The wind had picked up and the water was a little choppy, but not too bad, just not like the crystal clear water from the day before. Cannon goes off, the human washing machine started and my heart rate went through the roof. Instead of getting run over like last year, this year I actually had the chance to swim over some others, I must admit it felt good. I just tried to get into a steady rhythm but it took me until the first turn buoy before I could. After that I had some clean water and got into a nice groove. Now, I had some nice open water b/c I swim like a drunk sailor and always end up way over on the right, damn unbalanced stroke. Other than swimming like in zig-zags I was actually happy with my spotting. Just went from buoy to buoy and tried to stay steady and smooth. I knew my time in open water would be slower than in the pool so I just hoped to keep it around 40 minutes. I stood up out of the water and look at my watch for the first time...39:xx! We had a little run up the boat ramp before going over the timing mat so my official time was 40:36. Overall pleased with my time.

T1:
I had quite possibly the worst spot in T1, all the way in the back corner away from the exit. Ran up to the wetsuit strippers, wetsuit off, quick to my bike, shoes on, sunglasses, helmet, re-stuff the bag and I'm off. The run to the exit felt like it took forever, but eventually I got there. Time of 2:40, not great but with practice I'll get it down.

Bike:
This is where the fun started. The beginning of the course takes you down the dam so there's not much work required. The rain had already started so the roads were slick. Hit the first climb right after the down hill and was just trying to control my heart rate. 10 miles in I finally got my heart rate down to where it should be and tried to settle in. The rain started to pick up and it looked like it was going to be an interesting bike. Some guy on a yellow Ceepo kept putting in surges to pass me, only to slow down 20 seconds later and I would have to pass him again, a little annoying but eventually I left him for good. Since I was in the last wave there were tons of people out on the course by the time I got out there. It was one big rain soaked cluster and a couple of times I had to cross over the line just to pass a large group of riders. The rain kept coming and pretty soon it turned to hail, but eventually settle into your basic down pour. First observation was the amount of people wearing their brand new Boise 70.3 tri suits they got at the expo. Reminded me of Gutter off of the movie PCU, you don't go to a concert wearing the shirt of the band that's playing, I think the same should apply to race day. Got up the big climb to the Birds of Prey Center with no problem. They have a no pass zone on the way down which was fine, until I hit the masses of riders riding their brakes all of the way down in the rain. So, slow going uphill and slow going downhill, it really sucked. Got to the back side of the course and ran smack into the wind and quickly realized that my projected bike split had to be thrown out the door. At one point I was down to 14-15MHP on only a slight uphill with a headwind. Here's where having power would have been great, I really need to work on my pacing and know how hard I can push it. I didn't want to fight the wind too much and risk my run, plus I'm still refining my handling skills so in the rain I end up riding too conservatively. So I basically watched my average speed continually drop. Finally made it back to town to enjoy the downhill into downtown Boise. At this point I was just sick of the rain and wanted to get out on the run course. Bike time was 2:47:20 (20.08 MPH), not what I hoped for, but still decent considering the conditions.

T2:
Now, by this point I really had to pee. It was a running joke all week b/c my wife has said that if I start peeing myself in a race then I'm done with tris. I told her that dammit I'm racing and stopping to pee will only slow me down. Our family took amusement in our back and forth all week. So when I hit T2 I found pleasure in knowing that I listened to my wife and didn't piss on myself out on the bike (its always the little victories in marriage isn't it!). But now I had to go. So, feet out of the shoes, dismount, run shoes on (with socks of course) and I'm off...to the Porta Potty. Apperently my family thought I got lost b/c I figured I would rather have my piss break added on to my T2 rather than my run. So finally I come running out of T2 and onto the course. T2 in 2:39, I swear half of that peeing like a race horse.

Run:
Rain continued and the run path was covered in puddles. But the temperature was right and I had already been wet for 3.5 hrs so it actually made for a nice run. Got into a nice pace and did a quick check of the body. A little tightness in my shins and calves but not too bad. I wanted to negative split the run on the two loop course so I just controlled my pace knowing I had to pick it up on the back end. During my brick workouts I had been at a 7:15 pace for a 5-7 mile run, so I was interested to see how the race would pan out. My heart rate was actually about 5 beats below my average on my brick runs, probably b/c of the cool weather and difference in altitude. Running into the finish area for my second lap I realize that the guy who just past me was the leader of my age group and ultimately took the AG title, made me feel slow...but only for a second. Hit the second lap and picked up the pace, heart rate only jumped a few beats and I still felt great. I started timing my pace off of the mile markers and I was coming in right under 7:00/mile. At about miles 10 or 11 my calves started tightening a little. Just told myself to suck it up and focus on the run. I hit the final home stretch and couldn't have felt better. There is no better feeling than nailing your pacing out on the run. Finished the run in 1:34:27 for a 7:12/mile average, spot on!

Final:
I purposely didn't put an ultimate goal time for the race b/c all I really wanted to do was improve on last years results and work out pacing/logistics/nutrition for the big goal at IMC.

In the end I crossed the line in 5:07:42 feeling great with a smile on my face. Had that feeling that I could have pushed it harder but also knowing that I have a lot to learn about pacing. And given the conditions on the bike I'm more than happy with the results. It was a great race with the absolute best volunteers considering they were out there getting soaked. The mood of the athletes wasn't exactly chipper, but considering the rain and wind throughout the day I would say most had a fun time. Spectators were treated to an absolutely amazing finish so there was some buzz in the crowd which helped out.

So in the end:
Swim:
2008 - 57:46 (3:02/100m)
2009 - 40:36 (2:08/100m)
Improvement - 17:10

Bike:
2008 - 3:03:42 (18.29 MPH)
2009 - 2:47:20 (20.08 MPH)
Improvement - 16:22

Run:
2008 - 2:03:18 (9:24/mile)
2009 - 1:34:27 (7:12/mile)
Improvement - 28:51

Overall:
2008 - 6:17:31
2009 - 5:07:42
Improvement - 1:10:49

Very happy with the results and overall experience and now need to get back to my IM training. I know where I need to work and have a well put together race to visualize as I prepare for IMC. I'm also looking forward to when I can focus on the 70.3 distance b/c I know going sub 5 is easily reachable, it just depends on how far I can push that time down :)