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IM Boulder reviews?
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Oddly quiet today. Normally after a race we have a thread still ongoing from the day before regarding the play by play, another thread by those elsewhere asking for feedback on the event to decide whether or not they want to do the race and another one or two about it positively or negatively... and sometimes some fast typers getting their race report out.

Steve (darkhorse on here) and I drove the bike course and hopped around the run course. Some things we noticed from the perspective of an RD/spectator. Any thoughts from those that raced as to how the event unfolded for you? Hope your day went well!

1) lack of top end
- at one point we got out of the car (~mile 40) and were sitting around watching one athlete go by maybe every 20 seconds or so. I asked to see when these folks had crawled out of the water.... first one or two we spot are between 62 and 74 minute swimmers. This after maybe only 100 athletes tops had gone by our position.

2) spread out bike course at the front end (i.e. very clean racing)
- this is related to point 1. We were on the course from mile 25 to 100. In that time frame we saw _just_ three instances of drafting. One lady with a mirror (we caught her being suspicious 2-3 times... waiting to hear about legality of mirror and if we have any photo evidence on go pro), two mexicans (seriously, you race side by side in the same jersey and you think we are dumb?), and a northern colorado tri club fella. The latter two drafters backed off quite sheepishly when we rolled by slowly with the camera square on them. Back to the original point... this course was SPREAD out. There were times it would be a minute or two between athletes and this was maybe 200 athletes deep into the field. Was so very surprising but very encouraging from a fair racing perspective.

3) absence of refs at the front end
- while we saw little reason to have any refs at the front end we were shocked to not have seen a single zebra all day long. Any thoughts as to why this is?

4) safety of the course out east
- I am RD for a few events out here. At one point we got off course to jump ahead. When we came back into the course we weren't sure we were on the course or not. <--- that should _never_ happen. We entered the course (yes it was an open course) from an unmanned and unmarked intersection. We found about 9-12 others like this. Yes they were seemingly benign intersections but please have a cone with a sign saying what's going on. Or a NHS high school kid or 2 manning the intersection. My concern here is what happens when someone comes along on the cross road and wants to get to the other side when the mass of the field is there?

5) 79th street hill
- 14-ish% grade at mile 100. Highly entertaining. Some folks being good little angels with watts and getting up it as easily as they could... others providing sheer entertainment value by charging up it as if the fastest up it would win a million dollars.

6) Larimer/Weld/Boulder County sheriffs deparments
- super awesome job on traffic flow and athlete control (aside from one very skittish deputy in Larimer). Can anyone comment on traffic hold ups later in the day? Particularly 287 and Hwy 52?

7) run course
- it was busy but not as busy as foreseen. Still saw several instances of faster athletes having to do the sideways run to get thru the throngs of people and speed up and slow down to get around crowds. Occasionally you'd get big ROTC like groups jogging in a pack together taking up the path. 4.5 feet per direction is too skinny for a two lap 2000+ person run course IMO. A one loop course? http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=6395067 (yeah yeah, it's .65m short and goes thru CU and OSMP property... just an idea).

8) run course affecting vehicular traffic
- ZERO. The whole run was done "below grade" by use of the creek path system. If you were on a road a block away from the event you had no idea the event was going on. This was astonishing. In other words the town swallowed up the event and hid the extra pounds well!

9) bike course
- flat, not challenging (weather alone _could_ make it challenging - in last 10 days we've had high temps range from 100 to 58 & rain). Taking it so far east that on a hazy day you wouldn't be able to tell the difference between Boulder and Iowa is a bit of a slap in the face to calling this IM Boulder. When we were hanging out up in Loveland it was gorgeous. Green vegetation, foothills, some views of the high peaks, horse farms.... then the course turned east and it was dry, brown, dusty and there were oil and gas wells every where you looked. We can do better.

10) swim
- rolling swim start continues to work well. It's tough for those racing and knowing where you are, but for full events i think it's good (no way for sprint, oly or half)

11) swim course
- no part of the swim going directly at the sun = WINNING

36 kona qualifiers 2006-'23 - 3 Kona Podiums - 4 OA IM AG wins - 5 IM AG wins - 18 70.3 AG wins
I ka nana no a 'ike -- by observing, one learns | Kulia i ka nu'u -- strive for excellence
Garmin Glycogen Use App | Garmin Fat Use App
Last edited by: MarkyV: Aug 4, 14 15:21
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Re: IM Boulder reviews? [MarkyV] [ In reply to ]
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I plugged this course into Bestbikesplit and it was 2 minutes slower for me that what it spit out for IMFL! Must have been that one climb at mile 100. Honestly, not very befitting for a rocky mountain state. I'm not saying they need to go through a major mountain pass, but I don't know Boulder very well. Maybe it's mostly flat there. I drove through once and I I remember was a really long boring congested road with no shoulder with lots of cyclist and impatient cars... and a canyon road heading out of town towards Estes Park. In between was just typical American suburbia with a giant strip mall for 5 miles in between. But that was 7 years ago so my memory is a little foggy.

Seems like all the fast age groupers are tied up with other commitments. IMWI participant lost looks a little thin too. Lots of fast age groupers in Boulder might be wanting ot do 70.3 worlds, nationals or Kona, and Boulder is just bad timing this year. Plus I'm not sure I'd want to do a first year event after some of the chaos at IMLT last year.


TrainingBible Coaching
http://www.trainingbible.com
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Re: IM Boulder reviews? [MarkyV] [ In reply to ]
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I had a good day, a good long day. The only real negative for me is the long T2 and running over hot sidewalk, rubber mat bridge cover and the high school track to get your bike bag. I left my shoes on the bike, put on a pair of socks for the bike in to the catchers, and still got a blister on one foot, which hurt my run. So that could be better thought out. Or leave the bike shoes on your feet and clomp in. Other than that, I thought most everything went really well. I was pretty stressed and worried about morning parking and the shuttles, and that part was just easy. I was impressed at how efficient and fast and easy it was.
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Re: IM Boulder reviews? [motoguy128] [ In reply to ]
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With all do respect, I'm not sure what was chaotic about IMLT last year. We can't control the weather. The T1 tent was too small but other than that it was a great race. My opinion is that a lot of people from San Francisco/Silicon Valley came into the race under-trained which contributed to the 25% DNF. I'd be curious to hear from someone who finished Boulder how it compares to IMLT 2013 assuming he/she finished IMLT.
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Re: IM Boulder reviews? [MarkyV] [ In reply to ]
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I am kinda shocked at the lack of IM Boulder info as well. It seems after the initial buzz of them announcing the IM Boulder it got lost in the sea of other IMs.

I will preface this by stating this was my first IM distance race.

1) I was shocked during the run to see some of the Pros moving the way they were. Some were moving like they were professionals. Some were actually human. I guess that was something I should have expected or anticipated by having a 2 loop run. It was good to see some of the pros feeling the same way I was.

2) I was nowhere near the front end so i cannot comment on those riders. But as always there was some drafting going on. However, I saw the race officials 4-5 separate times and they handed out penalties when they saw violations. I did see one group of riders with a guy wearing a mirror on his helmet. I am not going to state whether the group was actively working together within the rules or not, but I did notice the mirror and thought it odd.

3) No idea

4) For the most part the roads were well manned. There was some stretch on WCR 13 that seemed to not have any markings at the intersection. The traffic on that part was minimal, and like you stated a cone or sign on the stop sign could have helped. All that said, I didn't feel unsafe due to cross traffic. I can only imagine the hell that some of the volunteers/ traffic control personnel were getting while the bulk of the riders were passing through.

5) 79th St Hill was disappointing. Not from a hell standpoint... cause it was there and the crowds were motivating. But I expected a tent set up with some guys drinking margaritas wearing sombreros and partying. It totally ruined my run not seeing it.

6) Law enforcement was great. They definitely had their hands full having to block off the major sections of roads and dealing with some long lines of frustrated drivers. From my point they did what they needed to in order to allow the racers to maintain their momentum. Kudos for a tough job. (having to block off an interstate intersection, State highways, main county roads... not an easy deal)

7) Run course was adequate unless you came upon the packs of people walking 2-3 abreast and it created some traffic. The shade was nice. The part that bothered me more about the run course was some of the outside influences on the course. It is great to run down by the creek, it is a nice area. That is why all the kids like to hang out on their tubes down there. Most were courteous and would wait for an opening in traffic to walk with their tubes or walk on the side of the path. Some didn't care there was a race going on. Also, I dont know if it is common place, but I didn't see any race officials on the run course. I saw many people throwing trash wherever they wanted. The volunteers did a great job of trying to pick up the trash outside of the trash zones, but there were some blatant disregard for the trash zones.

8) There was 1 or 2 road crossing but it didn't seem to disrupt traffic. (1 was in a neighborhood).

9) Bike course was good from my perspective. I think it did a decent job of showing the front range, not just Boulder. There is so much more to the state than what can be seen in Boulder. Hopefully when people were riding or driving the bike course they stopped in a town that didn't have so much of the Boulder flavor (you know what I am talking about).

I think that it was a challenge for many. The variance of the terrain and environment could really adjust the attitude of the athlete. There was the nice cool mountain breeze in Boulder and Loveland. Once you made the turn south onto the fresh asphalt of WCR 17 the wind changed to the hot dry wind that the plains are known for and you could feel it evaporating the water out of the BTA bottle. I also like that it was one giant loop without many out/backs. While the course may not have had the elevation challenge that some were looking for, I believe the course may have humbled some people.

10/11) Swim went well. Aside from them announcing that the waves would be run by 10 minute intervals and then having different signs at the start. (Briefed 1:00-1:10, 1:10-1:20, etc. Signs 1:00-1:15, 1:15-1:30, etc.). Again not that big of deal, but not a hard thing to know in advance. It was even being briefed the 10 minute intervals on race morning at the reservoir when they had the signs. ????
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Re: IM Boulder reviews? [MarkyV] [ In reply to ]
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Great observations of the race. From my perspective as a racer you are spot on.

2) Totally agree at the front end. I had to work my way up on the bike, since I swam a 1:20, but broke into the top 200 by about mile 50-60. The first 60 miles there was lots of bunching within the middle of the pack. But up front everyone raced clean.
3) I didn't see one ref the last half of the bike course.
5) I was passed by a few people on 79th who were charging up the hill. They were so short that pushing to get up the hill didn't make a difference. I recovered fully on the following descents.
6) Totally agree, fantastic police and very friendly. Although there were a few intersections which I approached where they were still letting cars through. I had to feather the brakes a bit for fear they wouldn't hold traffic.
7) Definitely not busy. Don't know how it was later in the race, but between 1 pm and 5 pm, there were only a few points where the path was blocked by people running two or three abreast. Great volunteers and support also! Lots of fun, but hard run course.
9) I only have the Cabo bike course to compare, so Boulder was cake compared to that. With the conditions we had yesterday, it was a very fast bike course.
10) Loved the rolling start! Really gave room for the 3000+ athletes. I didn't experience any contact at all.
11) Totally winning!

I'll add that I am very amazed with the organization of this race. Being a first year race there was a lot of apprehension about the shuttle situation, parking, etc. But everything turned out really well. Big kudos to the race director and organizers, and I can't wait to see what they have in store next year!

__________

"Thankfully, persistence is a great substitute for talent" - Steve Martin
http://www.trifundracing.com
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Re: IM Boulder reviews? [MarkyV] [ In reply to ]
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7) I liked the run course. The triple out an back IMHO made it feel shorter then a one loop or even double loop course. It also gave spectators great places to setup and watch the runners pass them multiple times and added to the energy of the day.

I only ran into an issue with it being to narrow once or twice and that was from people grouping up three wide and being inconsiderate.
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Re: IM Boulder reviews? [MarkyV] [ In reply to ]
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IMLT 2013 and IM Boulder 2014 is an interesting comparison... in a lot of ways they are similar and a lot they're opposite. I ended up with similar times for both races, and here is the direct comparison. The swim at Boulder was beautiful and uneventful. The swim at LT was brutally cold, offered poor visibility, and the infamous changing tent. The bike at Boulder was challenging but fast. I biked similar wattages and was 50 minutes faster at Boulder. The run at LT was cool, pleasant, and relatively fast. The run at Boulder was a freeking death march. Looking at the weather reports doesn't even come close to telling the whole story. Carnage from mile 0 with people caked with salt, yacking all over the place, and being carted off the course with med staff. I've done 12 and it was by far the hardest marathon. I talked to someone that has done 40 including winning his age group at Kona several times and he also said it was the hardest marathon he'd ever done. Tahoe will always be a very hard race but Boulder could be smokin' fast with mild weather.
Last edited by: iheartfestina: Aug 4, 14 16:38
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Re: IM Boulder reviews? [MarkyV] [ In reply to ]
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Really cool race, I'd do it. Love Boulder!
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Re: IM Boulder reviews? [iheartfestina] [ In reply to ]
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Not sure if anyone else had this on their Garmin, but mine said the swim was 2.6mi???

Team Zoot-Texas, and Pickle Juice
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Re: IM Boulder reviews? [MarkyV] [ In reply to ]
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MarkyV wrote:
Oddly quiet today. Normally after a race we have a thread still ongoing from the day before regarding the play by play, another thread by those elsewhere asking for feedback on the event to decide whether or not they want to do the race and another one or two about it positively or negatively... and sometimes some fast typers getting their race report out.

Steve (darkhorse on here) and I drove the bike course and hopped around the run course. Some things we noticed from the perspective of an RD/spectator. Any thoughts from those that raced as to how the event unfolded for you? Hope your day went well!

1) lack of top end
- at one point we got out of the car (~mile 40) and were sitting around watching one athlete go by maybe every 20 seconds or so. I asked to see when these folks had crawled out of the water.... first one or two we spot are between 62 and 74 minute swimmers. This after maybe only 100 athletes tops had gone by our position.

2) spread out bike course at the front end (i.e. very clean racing)
- this is related to point 1. We were on the course from mile 25 to 100. In that time frame we saw _just_ three instances of drafting. One lady with a mirror (we caught her being suspicious 2-3 times... waiting to hear about legality of mirror and if we have any photo evidence on go pro), two mexicans (seriously, you race side by side in the same jersey and you think we are dumb?), and a northern colorado tri club fella. The latter two drafters backed off quite sheepishly when we rolled by slowly with the camera square on them. Back to the original point... this course was SPREAD out. There were times it would be a minute or two between athletes and this was maybe 200 athletes deep into the field. Was so very surprising but very encouraging from a fair racing perspective.

3) absence of refs at the front end
- while we saw little reason to have any refs at the front end we were shocked to not have seen a single zebra all day long. Any thoughts as to why this is?

4) safety of the course out east
- I am RD for a few events out here. At one point we got off course to jump ahead. When we came back into the course we weren't sure we were on the course or not. <--- that should _never_ happen. We entered the course (yes it was an open course) from an unmanned and unmarked intersection. We found about 9-12 others like this. Yes they were seemingly benign intersections but please have a cone with a sign saying what's going on. Or a NHS high school kid or 2 manning the intersection. My concern here is what happens when someone comes along on the cross road and wants to get to the other side when the mass of the field is there?

5) 79th street hill
- 14-ish% grade at mile 100. Highly entertaining. Some folks being good little angels with watts and getting up it as easily as they could... others providing sheer entertainment value by charging up it as if the fastest up it would win a million dollars.

6) Larimer/Weld/Boulder County sheriffs deparments
- super awesome job on traffic flow and athlete control (aside from one very skittish deputy in Larimer). Can anyone comment on traffic hold ups later in the day? Particularly 287 and Hwy 52?

7) run course
- it was busy but not as busy as foreseen. Still saw several instances of faster athletes having to do the sideways run to get thru the throngs of people and speed up and slow down to get around crowds. Occasionally you'd get big ROTC like groups jogging in a pack together taking up the path. 4.5 feet per direction is too skinny for a two lap 2000+ person run course IMO. A one loop course? http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=6395067 (yeah yeah, it's .65m short and goes thru CU and OSMP property... just an idea).

8) run course affecting vehicular traffic
- ZERO. The whole run was done "below grade" by use of the creek path system. If you were on a road a block away from the event you had no idea the event was going on. This was astonishing. In other words the town swallowed up the event and hid the extra pounds well!

9) bike course
- flat, not challenging (weather alone _could_ make it challenging - in last 10 days we've had high temps range from 100 to 58 & rain). Taking it so far east that on a hazy day you wouldn't be able to tell the difference between Boulder and Iowa is a bit of a slap in the face to calling this IM Boulder. When we were hanging out up in Loveland it was gorgeous. Green vegetation, foothills, some views of the high peaks, horse farms.... then the course turned east and it was dry, brown, dusty and there were oil and gas wells every where you looked. We can do better.

10) swim
- rolling swim start continues to work well. It's tough for those racing and knowing where you are, but for full events i think it's good (no way for sprint, oly or half)

11) swim course
- no part of the swim going directly at the sun = WINNING

Fantastic review. I was wondering why earlier in your post you observed so little congestion drafting and later in your post you mentioned the rolling start. Glad to see the rolling start work again. As for your point about the bike course, it really is too bad that you had the "Iowa in Colorado" bike course option rather than the "Colorado version of Stelvio-Gavia-Mortirolo" (from what I understand, you guys can one up those too). At Whistler they delivered spectacularly on the best that the local roads can offer....on the other hand, the local roads there can't really offer an Iowa or Florida simulation other than the 50k of flats that they managed to give us.
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Re: IM Boulder reviews? [MarkyV] [ In reply to ]
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Just home from racing in Boulder. 19th Ironman for what thats worth (I don't learn maybe)

All things at the high school wasn't the easiest of situations, I stayed downtown but without hotels right there, driving and parking was always involved.

Felt sorry for the registration tent workers, that place was flooded bad and smelled like a pasture.

The bike drop off at the Res wasn't that big of a deal, long walk in, some got charged for passengers, we parked outside the gate and hoofed it.

I was worried with the busing out race morning. All sent super smooth and no stress.

Rolling swim start was awesome. First experience with it. In first coral and just waded in, swam by myself, only contact was when our little trio passed a women pro and she grabbed my leg (we swam the easiest 55 ever)

Bike course was nice and on point to some of the descriptions. mild grades, the out and back early on was a hill. I was expecting way more from the 3 sisters climbs. I think I built it up in my head and it really was nothing (live in the mountains though). Bike course is really exposed so with a windy day could change things dramatically. Traffic control was real good, surfaces all good. Got a flat at 95 so don't know what that was about.

Run on cement was bit unforgiving. The width of the path didn't really come into play for me at least. liked the course layout with the three out and backs, easy to mentally break it down.

Having the morning clothes/dry bag back at the high school was not the best. The truck with those bags should have been right at the finish. If it was cooler, or if you're hurting, it would suck.

They gave us a $25 voucher instead of a pasta party. It was nice because with family there, we wouldn't have gone to the pasty party. Ate at Zeal on Pearl, real good (iffy wine so Im told)

I don't like those satiny polyester Zorrel shirts (its my cross to bear, I like a comfy cotton tshirt)

Thats enough out of me, time to catch up on work
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Re: IM Boulder reviews? [Taugen] [ In reply to ]
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Taugen wrote:
Not sure if anyone else had this on their Garmin, but mine said the swim was 2.6mi???

Yup, mine too was exactly 2.6 miles. I swam far to the right of the buoys, but still had a good line.

__________

"Thankfully, persistence is a great substitute for talent" - Steve Martin
http://www.trifundracing.com
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Re: IM Boulder reviews? [AdamHill] [ In reply to ]
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AdamHill wrote:
Taugen wrote:
Not sure if anyone else had this on their Garmin, but mine said the swim was 2.6mi???

Yup, mine too was exactly 2.6 miles. I swam far to the right of the buoys, but still had a good line.

Hell, I swam dead on the buoys, in fact I hit a few head on. And still my Garmin went off at the halfway point before the buoy color change, and then again at the 2.4 mark far before we hit land. Another guy on the run asked me if I thought it was long as well. Just my observation, but I think the was long.

Team Zoot-Texas, and Pickle Juice
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Re: IM Boulder reviews? [MarkyV] [ In reply to ]
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I think you rode by me right when you saw the Mexican dudes. I was laughing and thinking the same thing. That was really the only drafting or blocking I saw. I didn't care for the St. Vrain out and back. I'm not a fast swimmer, and that was early enough where the was some major disparity in speed descending. It was a bit unnerving at times. Lots of "on you lefts" being shouted.

I loved the rolling swim start. Cleanest swim I've had by far. My garmin also had 2.6 and I swam pretty straight, but my garmin always tends to show a bit longer.

I didn't get much of the run flavor. Tore my calf literally two steps out of T2. Did my best to fight through it but DNF'ed after 7 miles. The run was really hot too for me and the last hour of the bike was deceptively hard. Loved racing in my home state. Great crowds.
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Re: IM Boulder reviews? [Taugen] [ In reply to ]
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Are you using a 910?

I have a 310 and had some luck with it tracking my swim under the sleeve of my wetsuit. Not on this swim. It showed way long. Like 3+ miles. The bike and run were both almost spot on though.
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Re: IM Boulder reviews? [motoguy128] [ In reply to ]
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motoguy128 wrote:
Honestly, not very befitting for a rocky mountain state. I'm not saying they need to go through a major mountain pass, but I don't know Boulder very well. Maybe it's mostly flat there. I drove through once and I I remember was a really long boring congested road with no shoulder with lots of cyclist and impatient cars... and a canyon road heading out of town towards Estes Park. In between was just typical American suburbia with a giant strip mall for 5 miles in between.


Yes, totally flat here. Think Kansas...

http://www.strava.com/activities/11063891






Last edited by: v0coder: Aug 4, 14 19:42
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Re: IM Boulder reviews? [devashish_paul] [ In reply to ]
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I'd attribute the fair racing on the bike (that we saw, obviously there was more congestion further back) to the simple fact there were so very few athletes that swam under 70minutes in the race.

I rode those climbs when in Italy, ain't nuthin here that can compare with those. We've got them on gross altitude but they win in %grade and switchback categories, not to mention the views!!! Plus, 50 people would sign up for it. :-p

The whistler bike course can pretty much only be what it is. that's the only option. boulder? TONS of options. What i think is a short coming is that the original course had no climbing in it. Granted after the floods the course would have needed to been altered to something that resembles what was used this year. I bet if this course had any topography to it it would go the way of St. George, the dinosaur and, in the future, likely, Lake Tahoe.

36 kona qualifiers 2006-'23 - 3 Kona Podiums - 4 OA IM AG wins - 5 IM AG wins - 18 70.3 AG wins
I ka nana no a 'ike -- by observing, one learns | Kulia i ka nu'u -- strive for excellence
Garmin Glycogen Use App | Garmin Fat Use App
Last edited by: MarkyV: Aug 4, 14 19:53
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Re: IM Boulder reviews? [iheartfestina] [ In reply to ]
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Just be glad the run wasn't out a the res like the 70.3. There's no shade on that loop.
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Re: IM Boulder reviews? [MarkyV] [ In reply to ]
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5) you see these guys at the top of the bitches?
http://twitter.com/...068192817152/photo/1
Where were all the fans on the bike course? Heard it was pretty scarce. Bike course at IM Moo is always ridiculous with fans everywhere.
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Re: IM Boulder reviews? [GFOQ] [ In reply to ]
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We were right at the steepest part (probably a 50m section at 12-15%ish) it's the first one right after you turn off of Hwy 52. Didn't see that, um, unicorn man.

This bike course is near impossible for the family entourages to go spectate on. Just goes very far north and west of the swim/run venues. I drew up a course today that did two loops starting at 75th and Hwy 66. That corner could get some love if course is adopted.

36 kona qualifiers 2006-'23 - 3 Kona Podiums - 4 OA IM AG wins - 5 IM AG wins - 18 70.3 AG wins
I ka nana no a 'ike -- by observing, one learns | Kulia i ka nu'u -- strive for excellence
Garmin Glycogen Use App | Garmin Fat Use App
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Re: IM Boulder reviews? [MarkyV] [ In reply to ]
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has this race sold out for 2015?
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Re: IM Boulder reviews? [v0coder] [ In reply to ]
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IM website says a bit over 4000 ft of elevation. So, are you all saying that 4000 is totally flat to you or is the 4000 not accurate?
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Re: IM Boulder reviews? [winchester] [ In reply to ]
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As of now, 7 AM MDT, registration is still open.

--------------------------
The secret of a long life is you try not to shorten it.
-Nobody
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Re: IM Boulder reviews? [iheartfestina] [ In reply to ]
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iheartfestina wrote:
IMLT 2013 and IM Boulder 2014 is an interesting comparison... in a lot of ways they are similar and a lot they're opposite. I ended up with similar times for both races, and here is the direct comparison. The swim at Boulder was beautiful and uneventful. The swim at LT was brutally cold, offered poor visibility, and the infamous changing tent. The bike at Boulder was challenging but fast. I biked similar wattages and was 50 minutes faster at Boulder. The run at LT was cool, pleasant, and relatively fast. The run at Boulder was a freeking death march. Looking at the weather reports doesn't even come close to telling the whole story. Carnage from mile 0 with people caked with salt, yacking all over the place, and being carted off the course with med staff. I've done 12 and it was by far the hardest marathon. I talked to someone that has done 40 including winning his age group at Kona several times and he also said it was the hardest marathon he'd ever done. Tahoe will always be a very hard race but Boulder could be smokin' fast with mild weather.

So did the moderate temps but low humidity sneak up on people combined with the very direct sun? That's what it sounds like. Funny, when it's hot and humid you have a clear hydration plan, when it's not hot but sunny, things get a bit weird.


TrainingBible Coaching
http://www.trainingbible.com
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