My Ride with the Devil

I successfully finished the Boulder Peak – my first Olympic distance triathlon! It was a lot of fun, but definitely a challenge. My time was 3:26:32, which I was happy with.

The race started at 6:45am, but my wave wasn't until the very end and didn't start until an hour later. It was kind of a drag having to wait around (everyone had to be out of the transition area by 6:30) because it just meant more time for nerves and anticipation. I got in the water around 7:30 to get wet and warmed up. I swam out about 15 yards in the warm-up area. When I turned around to swim back towards the beach and saw it swarming with people in wetsuits and brightly colored caps – I always think the start of a triathlon looks like an alien invasion – it finally hit me, I'm actually doing this. Right before our wave started, the announcer said that they saved the best for last and we all cheered.

As per usual, the swim was my strongest leg of the race. I got to use my fancy new goggles, which suction-cupped to my face to prevent leaks and were mirrored like sunglasses so I could sight the buoys marking the course in the glare of the sun. I got out of the water in just under 30 minutes and ran to get on my bike and face the most challenging part of the course – the hill on Old Stage Road.

Old Stage Road has a 600 ft elevation change in 2/3 of a mile, so it's pretty intense. I road by a lot of people who had to climb off their bikes a walk up it, so I was proud that I was able to keep pedaling the whole way. My friend Patty and her boyfriend were there to cheer me on and had written in chalk "Go Emma!" on the street. There was also a guy in a devil's costume who ran along side me saying "Ride with the Devil! Ride with the Devil!" I did wonder for a second if I was hallucinating, but I have photographic evidence that I did, in fact, ride with Devil on Old Stage. The rest of the course was a nice ride – a big downhill and then a few rolling hills back to the reservoir. I averaged 15.1 mph, which I was pretty pleased with, although I must confess that a 78 year-old nun from Spokane, WA beat my bike time by about 2 minutes! But, this was still an improvement for me – my first tri barely had any hills, and I only biked that at a pace of 12 mph.

Even though there was nothing particularly hard or challenging about the run course, it was very difficult that day. The temperatures in Boulder reached into the hundreds on Sunday for the first time in years. One of the race organizers owns a bike store in Austin and he joked later at the awards ceremony that he must have brought the Texas weather with him. The run was hot hot hot and at times felt like a death march. I looked at my watch and realized I was going at a slower pace than I had anticipated, but quickly decided that I didn't care. I just wanted to take care of myself and finish, rather than push too hard and end up dehydrated or sick. It's so tempting to Monday-morning quarterback and think that I could have gone a little faster and shaved a few minutes off my time, but I know that in the moment that's all I could do and I was giving my best.

Some members and coaches from my tri team were there to cheer me on at the finish and it was exciting to hear the announcer say, "Emma Garrison from Denver, Colorado!" when I crossed the finish line. All in all, a good day.

Thanks to all of you for your love and support!