Race Week…WHAT?!?!?!?!?! Well, time moves forward even when we wish it would slow down. I have LOVED my trication in Colorado and would have loved for time to stand still during these last 2 weeks so I could enjoy more of Colorado. BUT…I am SUPER excited for race day and am looking forward to pushing myself to new limits!!
This last week involved a lot of training at an altitude higher than Boulder, which hopefully means we have been acclimating well and are race ready!!
Swim: 4.44 miles
Most of our swimming this week was done at the Boulder Rez. The water temperature has been hovering in the low 70s. We have been doing some rain dances in hopes that it cools the water off in the Boulder Rez just a bit before Sunday. I had two really good swims in the Boulder Rez and am confident this will transfer to a great race!!
OWS complete…I felt GREAT!!Funny that we swim by a sign that says “No Swimming No Wading”
Bike: 48.8 miles
We had 2 bike rides this week. The first was on the Peak to Peak Highway from Nederland to Ward to celebrate the Iron Hippie’s birthday and back and the second ride was the “blue loop” of the Ironman Boulder bike course. Both of these rides were AMAZING and filled me with LOTS of #bikelove
We are all still together…Some of the BEST cookies around are at the Utica Store in Ward, but be sure to bring cash…they do not accept cards and have no ATM.Taking a break from the riding and doing a little core work in Ward!!High above the trees with the mountains in the distance.We’re all good…just riding our bikes 🙂The Iron Hippie was full of shenanigans after assisting Allen with his bike.
Run: 10.6 miles
We had one short run down in Boulder, but our last longish run occurred at an elevation of 7500+ feet. It was fun to go fast on the short run in Boulder and see how much I could push myself to determine how well I’ve acclimated. I felt really good about my runs this week, which have really boosted my confidence for race day 🙂
Post swim/run high…with the mountains in the background and at altitude.Last run at an elevation of 7500+ feet!!
Strength Training: 1 hour & 20 minutes of core work
Other Activities:
Monday morning we went for a walk around Sprague Lake in Rocky Mountain National Park (RMNP), which was BEAUTIFUL and so peaceful!!
The mountains and sky reflected beautifully off of Sprague Lake.I climbed a rock and took a picture of the boys below.Standing on top of my rock at Sprague Lake.
Wednesday morning I went stand up paddle boarding. I LOVE SUP boarding and only wish the water would have been a bit flatter…
Finally able to stand…for a little bit 🙂Lots of wind and whitecaps made stand up paddle boarding more like “kneel paddle boarding”
We spent Friday morning hiking in RMNP up to Loch Vale and back (between 5 & 6 miles round trip). It was a BEAUTIFUL morning!! I can’t believe how green all of Colorado is right now…
Hiking up to Loch Vale.The Iron Hippie hiking along on the trail.Just keep climbing the trail.Eating an apple by Loch Lake.A beautiful waterfall on the descent.Loch Lake…so peaceful and magnificent!Having a little fun throwing snowballs on our way up to Loch Vale.
Weekly Totals: 9 hours and 11 minutes
Weekly Highlights:
We made it to the single digit countdown for race day…
We are now onto single digits for the countdown to IMBoulder!!
Free lunch at Mary’s Market thanks to Lululemon…
These sweet ladies from Lululemon bought our lunch for us!!
We enjoyed some time with the Iron Hippie’s sister in downtown Denver…
The Iron Hippie and his sister look a lot alike!!We found a “sign” of back home in downtown Denver!!
How was your week? What races do you have that are coming up?
We woke up early to head to the Estes Park pool for 2400 yards of #swimlove at an elevation of 7500+ feet. I was a little winded during this swim, but once I got into a rhythm it was great!!
Estes Park Swimming Pool
After swimming, we drove to Rocky Mountain National Park and took a short walk around Sprague Lake…ABSOLUTELY Magnificent!!
We walked the 1/2 mile loop around Sprague Lake and ventured out off the trail in a few places.I climbed a rock and took a picture of the boys below.The view of Sprague Lake from the top of my rock.Standing on top of my rock at Sprague Lake.Two men fishing in a canoe at Sprague Lake.A stream just off of Sprague LakeThe mountains and sky reflected beautifully off of Sprague Lake.
When we returned to our cabin, we spent about 3 hours cleaning our bikes. Mojo is MUCH happier now that she is clean and shiny!! During this time, we also did laundry…everything dries so quickly in Colorado 🙂
We spent 3+ hours cleaning bikes.This is how we dry laundry in Colorado.“A clean bike is a happy bike.”
After lunch, we thought we were going to do some stand up paddle boarding, but the timing wasn’t in our favor, so we’ll have to go later this week. Instead, we walked down on the strip and got a late afternoon treat…I had a caramel apple covered in Snickers and it was delightful 🙂
Caramel apple with Snicker…YUMMY!!
For dinner, we had homemade pasta and garlic bread before heading to bed early so we could get to the Boulder Reservoir early in the morning for our first open water swim (OWS) in Colorado at altitude.
Tuesday:
We woke up EARLY to drive down to the Boulder Reservoir for a 6:10 am OWS with BAM (Boulder Aquatic Masters). LOTS of the swimmers are soon to be fellow Ironman Boulder finishers, since most were chatting about the upcoming race. There were LOTS of others who just swim or are training for other races as well. It was great to have kayakers/lifeguards surrounding the 1000 meter and 750 meter buoys watching out for us while we swam. The $15 was well worth it!! It would be nice to have something like this back home. 🙂
People lining the shore getting ready for the BAM OWS.The Iron Hippie on the left getting his swim cap on and getting ready to swim.
It was a perfect morning for a swim and I was VERY pleasantly surprised by how good I felt despite swimming at altitude.
OWS complete…I felt GREAT!!OWS in the Boulder Res was faster than my IMWI pace last year…hmmm…maybe IMBoulder will be a PR swim.
After the swim, we had a short run, which we did around the Res checking out where we would be staged for IMBoulder. This was the fastest run I’ve had in quite a while and I was super happy about my pace…I started easy and picked it up to sub 8:00/mile pace near the end 🙂
Short run post swim. This is the fastest run I’ve had in quite a while and I was super happy to show this pace at altitude!! Acclimation is paying off 🙂Post swim/run high…with the mountains in the background and at altitude.
After our run, we showered at the Res before driving Allen to the airport in Denver. He had to fly to Las Vegas for an overnight work trip. On our way back up to Estes Park, we stopped in Lafayette at Morning Glory Cafe for an amazing breakfast!!
I’m in love with their food…I wish they were closer to Estes Park 🙂Avocado toast with a side of bacon.
Once back at the cabin, we put all of our swim gear out on the patio to dry (wetsuits, swim suits, tri kits, etc.) before laying down for a much needed nap. When I woke up, I went outside to bring in all of our swim gear and it was SOAKED! It had apparently poured during our nap and all of our gear was more wet than when we put it out there post trip to Boulder. We left it all outside, hoping it would dry.
We had an early dinner at Mama Rosa’s in Estes Park and then walked around the downtown area checking out the local shops and buying a few things.
Caprese Salad for an appetizerSaladShrimp in marinara sauce over noodles and a side of garlic breadSitting on the patio next to the stream for dinner = perfect!!
It was early to bed to try and soak up the sleep during the taper 😉
Wednesday:
We woke up, went to the grocery store before everyone else did (that is definitely the way to go), came back to the cabin to make breakfast smoothies and then walked 2 miles down to the Estes Park Marina so I could rent a stand up paddle board and the Iron Hippie could rent a kayak. The last time I went stand up paddle (SUP) boarding was in Coeur d’Alene in 2012. I LOVE stand up paddle boarding…maybe it is time to invest in my own board 🙂 It was a very windy morning, which made for a rough ride…lots of whitecaps on the lake. It was still a lot of fun, but I think we need to go back and do this again when it is a calmer day…I’d love to be out there longer than 30 minutes!!
A snake slithered across the path right in front of us as we walked around Lake Estes to the marina.Lots of wind and whitecaps made stand up paddle boarding more like “kneel paddle boarding”Finally able to stand…for a little bit 🙂
After our 2 mile walk back to the cabin, we made some lunch, did some laundry and cleaned up before heading down to Denver to meet the Iron Hippie’s sister for the afternoon and evening. We had US Thai for dinner and followed this up with a short stroll along Sloan’s Lake.
I LOVE Thai food!!Thai curry = da bomb!!A walk along the path at Sloan’s Lake.The Iron Hippie and his sister look a lot alike!!Another view of our walk along Sloan’s Lake.We found a “sign” of back home in downtown Denver!!
Then we picked Allen up from the airport at ~8:30. This made for a late night getting back to our cabin.
Thursday: (Happy Birthday to the Iron Hippie Today)
We slept in this morning, made some breakfast, loaded our bikes into the car and drove to Nederland (or Ned as the locals call it). Once in Nederland, we rode a different section of the Peak to Peak Highway up to Ward. You can check out my complete blog post on this section of the Peak to Peak Highway here.
Taking a break from the riding and doing a little core work in Ward!!High above the trees!!
We relaxed at the cabin for the remainder of the day, grilling dinner and enjoying some down time before turning in early for the night, since there are more adventures to be had tomorrow 🙂
PushMyLimits 