Burr is Boise 70.3

With my family having a major case of Strep Throat - I decided to road trip the 8 hour drive with local pro Haley Cooper and her boyfriend. It had the feeling of my old college days when I had to brave the 15 hour drive back home from Santa Clara during the holidays. Its always a treat to pick Haley's mind on race strategy, equipment and overall attitude towards triathlon.

I was really excited since I was staying with my good friends Todd & Michele Points who I have really seen since my wedding over 5 years ago. They built a brand new home about 20 miles outside Boise in nearby Star. I'm sure it will be a killer pad since he layed about 1500 sf of slate tile.

The weather was pretty crummy the last few weeks in Spokane so arriving in Boise we were greeted with sunny and warm weather galore. Yeah - no pollen for my irritated eyes and runny nose so I won't have to take claritan during the race!

Since the car was so small my buddy Steve Kramer graciously offered to valet my bike to Boise. We decided to meet after I registered in the morning. The whole packet thing is way bigger than Lake Stevens, much more the IM experience. They had a cool store full of lots of goodies which I couldn't help getting myself a cool Boise 70.3 race shirt and shorts. Gotta look the part at least even if I'm slow. haha.

Off we went to the bike check in and to do a short swim. On the way out we ran into IM pro Kate Major. Of course Steve is so shy that I had to go up to her and ask her for her photo, she graciously agreed and said she remembered me from the 2006 IM CdA we did together. She is super nice and fast (later I found out she won the race). Many of my friends call me an Ironman paparozi but I find it always amusing and somewhat educational to get feedback from the IM pros since some of its can be applicable to an age group competitor such as myself.

I won't bore you with my race report but to say the following that the combined time waiting for the race to start at 4:30am and the actual swim of 49 minutes in 50 degree water had me almost do the unthinkable and not start. It was hard to get motivated without my usual family support group but good ole' Steve Kramer kicked my butt and got me moving the start line, cold and miserable. The good news once I got on the bike - which is my favorite part the race I was able to warm up. The run was pretty uneventful knowing that I wasn't in prime running form with only a few long runs prior to the race. Overall a fun and great venue and definitely worth adding to my calendar next year. My race splits were 49 swim, 2:54 bike and 2:32 run for a total time of 6:27 or a few minute faster than my time at Lake Stevens. So even though my time is not where I want it to be (especially the swim & run) - I'm happy to always finish a race with a decent time SO early in my racing season!