2 Days, 2 Races

Sorry for the leave of absence. Final exams were taking up all of my time and I didn't really have much to write about in terms of racing or training. This weekend I finally got back into the swing of things with a bike race on Saturday and a running race on Sunday.

Saturday's race was the North Boulder Criterium, put on by the shop I work at, Excel Sports. It's the oldest and biggest bike race in Boulder, and it used to be a stage in the Red Zinger Classic, at one point the biggest stage race in America with competitors such as Lemond, Hinault, and the Russian Olympic cycling squad.

http://www.boulderbikerace.com/nbp/

I got my Cat3 upgrade this past Tuesday, but I couldn't make the late afternoon start time of the Cat3 race so I asked permission to join the Cat4s one last time. The race started at 9:45am with about 60 guys. Each time a prime came around I went off the front halfway through the lap and took the prize without any fight from the other racers. On the bell for the third and final prime I saw some strong looking guys move to the front at the base of the only "hill" on the course, so I followed them up to the front and urged them to make a break with me. I pushed a little bit to initiate a gap away from the pack, and when I looked back I was alone. I decided to keep going to win the prime. Once I crossed the line I looked back and had a sizeable gap, so I did the dumb thing that never works and kept pushing. Now I'm 10 seconds off the front of the pack with 20 minutes left to go in the crit and I'm trying to convince myself that I'll stay away. Taking care to pace myself, I keep plugging away and the gap starts to grow. I look back with 15 minutes to go and there is a small chase group of 4 trying to bridge up. With the call for 5 laps to go I look back and there are only 2 chasing, but they haven't gained any time. SO, I just kept on keepin' on and I ended up winning the race off the solo break. It was the perfect way to say farewell to the damn Cat4s. The time for me to upgrade has been long past due, I felt a little guilty for taking all 3 primes AND the win. I went home with 2 tubs of Endurox, 1 tub of Accelerade, 3 bike computers, and $65. Cat3s, hang on to your butts!

Start of the Cat4 North Boulder Criterium


Backside of the course. I'm behind the kid in white and maroon.


Throwing caution into the wind. You can see the chase trying to bridge up in the backgound.


Bell lap. If you look closely you can see the 2-man chase group behind the median.


Sweet sweet glory. That's not a fist pump, I was about to wipe my nose...

On Sunday I ran the Colfax Half Marathon. Besides being at 5,000ft+ altitude, the course has 670ft of climbing. This was supposed to be a training race to help get me ready for the Half-Ironmans I plan to do later in the summer. All I wanted to do was to finish, but breaking 1:30 was the goal in the back of my head. I had no idea how realistic the goal was. The longest I had ever run before this race was a whopping 12 miles. At the start of the race I took it easy, then I picked up the pace from mile 5 to 9, and on mile 9 the hills came and my legs started screaming. I kept at it and crossed the line in 1:29:28. I achieved my goal but it came down to the wire. I'm quite happy with the run performance, especially when taking into account the effort I had put on the bike the day before.


Me and my buds after finishing the half marathon!

Next race will be the Pelican Fest Sprint Triathlon in Windsor, CO. I'm looking forward to a short, fast race!