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#543 Death to DNF: Why Boulder 70.3 Is a Thinking Athlete’s Race
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In Episode #543 of the Grit2Greatness Endurance Podcast, Coaches Rich Soares and April Spilde break down why Boulder is one of the most misunderstood and execution‑heavy races on the IRONMAN 70.3 calendar. This is a thinking athlete’s race—where small mistakes stack up fast under altitude, heat, and patience‑testing terrain.
We dive into the real reasons athletes DNF at Boulder, including:
- Overbiking relative to altitude
- Underfueling when effort feels “easy”
- Heat and hydration mismanagement
- Swim anxiety and disrupted breathing
- Aggressive early run pacing
- Missed bike lap cutoffs
- Ignoring early warning signs
You’ll learn how to race Boulder with restraint, patience, and intention—so you’re still strong when it matters most.
We also debut a new fun segment: “Death, Taxes… or DNF?”—calling out the most predictable race‑day mistakes we see every year.
If you’re racing Boulder 70.3—or any altitude event—this episode is your race‑proofing checklist.
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Transcript
Intro
Introduction to Grit to Greatness Podcast
00:00:20
Rich
Welcome to episode 543 of the Grit to Greatness Endurance Podcast. We're your hosts, coaches April Spilde and Rich Soares, and we are on a mission to help endurance athletes train smarter, race stronger, and build the grit it takes to achieve greatness.
00:00:35
April
And
Overview of Boulder Ironman 70.3 Race
00:00:36
April
today we are talking about one of the most iconic, misunderstood and quietly challenging races on the Ironman 70.3 calendar,
00:00:47
April
bolder This race has history, altitude, I'll say attitude as well, and a way of exposing mistakes without being flashy about it. So today we're going to give you the full story where this race came from, why it's different and why athletes don't always make it to the finish line.
00:01:07
Rich
Yes, but you are, after you listen to this podcast, we guarantee it. No, I don't think we can guarantee that. Can we put guarantees on there like this?
00:01:14
April
but
00:01:14
Rich
I don't think we can. Hey, but you know, listen, we're gonna give you a fighting chance.
00:01:16
April
We're going to give you, yeah
00:01:19
Rich
That's for sure.
00:01:19
April
Yes.
00:01:21
Rich
No, this has got this. I've raced this race more than any race I've ever raced. I think maybe, maybe second to the Boulder peak. so I've really loved this race. been around it for years and this is a special time of year for me. I always love going to, if I'm not racing it, volunteering for it.
00:01:37
Rich
And, uh, let's, let's get rolling today. We've got, A couple of grit to greatness announcements we want to get out there first before we do get into the main event and the main discussion. so
Athlete Shoutouts and Upcoming Races
00:01:50
Rich
we're going to give a shout out to some of our grit to greatness athletes who are doing some racing coming up, including our very own coach April and one of her athletes, Elizabeth Whelan. They are doing Harvest Moon this Sunday and Elizabeth is doing the Olympic. Is that right?
00:02:08
April
She is, this will be her first Olympic.
00:02:08
Rich
First Olympic?
00:02:10
April
Yes.
00:02:11
Rich
Nice. Awesome.
00:02:13
April
Yeah. I'm super excited for her. It's her tune up confidence booster for Boulder 70.3. Yeah.
00:02:20
Rich
Perfect. Look at that.
00:02:22
April
yeah
00:02:22
Rich
It's almost like a plug for 70.3.
00:02:24
April
I know, I know it's going to come a lot in this conversation, folks, just be ready. I also want to give a shout out to Carolyn young and Gabby Cavallaro for racing Colorado tri boulder. We're excited to see what you throw down for both of you. They're both amazing athletes and, uh, feisty as, as hell.
00:02:46
April
So let's see it.
00:02:46
Rich
They are.
00:02:47
April
Yes.
00:02:48
Rich
Those two together. what a pair.
00:02:50
April
And then we have Chris Shothen who is racing best of the west on July 5th. What is best of the west rich? Do you know?
00:03:00
Rich
Yeah, it's a, it's a triathlon over there near kind of Portland, Oregon. And this is a, he's doing the Olympic and this is actually a tune up for Salem that he's got coming up.
00:03:11
April
Oh, I love it. I love it.
00:03:13
Rich
Salem 70.3.
00:03:13
April
Let's go Chris. Yes.
00:03:15
Rich
Yeah, buddy. And by the way, i got to tell you, huge shout out to Chris. This guy has been putting in the hard yards with swimming. This guy, he is he is out there open water swimming two, three days a week now.
00:03:29
Rich
And he is finding... so much more comfort through having, you know getting some more exposure and, you know, really learning about his body's reaction to cold water. He like, well, know, like go into the water and he'll just monitor his heart rate and watch as it responds to the cold water. And when his body finally starts to adjust and calm down and his heart rate comes down.
00:03:52
April
That is so good for his confidence and mental fortitude, all of that way to go, Chris.
00:03:58
Rich
Yeah. We're really proud of you buddy. going to do great. And then Mike Murphy, this is this is the cyclist turned triathlete now.
Mike Murphy's Journey to Triathlon
00:04:05
Rich
Mike Murphy, who I've been piloting, he's a blind athlete.
00:04:10
Rich
He has been cycling or doing cycling racing. on a track for the LA 2028 games, trying to qualify either in road or track.
00:04:21
Rich
And he's also taking a track crack at triathlon. We did some, uh, swimming together. We actually had him come up to the, USafa pool a couple weeks ago, coach April. Right.
00:04:31
Rich
And he is now going to this dare to try camp.
00:04:31
April
Yeah.
00:04:35
Rich
This is a military injured military vets, uh, basically talent ID camp. And, they are going to also do the Leon's sprint triathlon afterwards. So he's going to really get a chance to test what we've been, training before this camp, take what he's learning in the camp and apply it and see how he does and see if we can get him on a track to Milwaukee.
00:05:01
Rich
So.
00:05:02
April
That's incredible. Just knowing his heart and his commitment level. i fully see this in his future. So let's go, Mike. You got this.
00:05:11
Rich
Yeah. So yeah, all these races, Colorado, Tri-Boulder, Best of the West and the Leon Sprint Triathlon all next weekend with Colorado Tri-Boulder and Best of the West on Saturday and the Leon Sprint on Sunday. So guys, we'll be giving you another shout out next week, but just, you know, so you make sure that you hear it. We wanted to get it out there in the air for you this weekend.
00:05:37
Rich
Last announcement, Boulder 70.3. Oh, get yeah how about that? You know, let's just keep tying in Boulder 70.3. Volunteers are needed. We need Coach April and I are going to be back in the transition area of volunteering.
00:05:50
Rich
Please come and hang out with us. Or i also have an understanding, actually, Jen Sabo, thank you for responding and letting us know your need. They need wetsuit peelers. So if you've never, you want a really fun kind of spectator event or very interactive volunteer event, be a wetsuit peeler. it's It's kind of a fun fun process. so
00:06:11
April
High energy, lots of involvement, lots of adrenaline. It's a great one. I think that's a fun, if you want to be engaged the entire time, that's so yeah that's a good one to sign up for.
00:06:22
Rich
And I tell you what, if it's hot outside, you're going to be getting lots of like residual spray as you're whipping off these wetsuits.
00:06:25
April
yeah
00:06:28
Rich
I have no idea what other fluids are inside them. I'm just saying, but anyway, links, link links here in the show notes.
00:06:33
April
Disclaimer.
00:06:35
Rich
If you dare to volunteer. All right. April,
Evolution of Boulder 70.3 Race Schedule
00:06:40
Rich
you ready to do what we took a little bit of a history on Boulder 70.3.
00:06:46
April
Good, sir. i would love Cause I know you are intimately, intimately connected with this race. I see the polo that you're wearing tonight. You showed me before we got on a couple of different mementos. So I would love to to hear the rundown from someone who actually knows.
00:07:02
Rich
Yeah, well, listen, you know i I'm sure I've not raced as much as some people have, but I've raced it a a fair bit. And just a little bit of history. you know Before it was Ironman Boulder 70.3, it was not originally an Ironman branded course.
00:07:19
Rich
The course was originally owned note what owned by actually barrie sif and both Barry and Jody Siff, a husband and wife team. was called 5430 sports was actually the name of the company. And this was the 5430 long course.
00:07:35
Rich
Now there was also a 5430 sprint. There was a 5430 Boulder peak. Uh, all of those races were all owned by the CIFs back in the day.
00:07:46
Rich
But this particular race really had an amazing following. And it was, you know, it was actually my second full half Ironman.
00:07:58
Rich
Now they owned this from 2009 all the way up until i think it was like twelve or so.
00:08:08
Rich
and then they sold it to Iron Man and now they've been running it ever since. So kind of interesting.
00:08:17
April
Yeah, I'm sure just the the iconic flat irons, the the reservoir itself, the beauty of the bike course, like all of that, just in the history there with, I mean, it's a well-known area for triathletes to train. So I'm sure there's a lot of that, that play at the heart of why it's so iconic.
00:08:39
Rich
Well, this is a fun little history, you know, walk through down history lane with me, for me, because was looking back at my Athelinks account. I did it as the 5430 long course 2008 and 2009. And then, correction, 2007, 2008. Then 2009,
00:08:53
Rich
and then
00:08:55
Rich
correction two thousand seven two thousand eight then in two thousand and nine both Yeah. it says it was the Boulder, Boulder 70.3. No, that was How interesting.
00:09:10
Rich
Well, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, and then 2018 and 2022. That was my track record, Boulder 70.3.
00:09:19
April
Wow.
00:09:21
Rich
Pretty much every other year, I think I volunteered. So and wonder why, there was a couple of years, I guess I didn't do it maybe because I was doing the full, but here's a really interesting here's a really interesting historical fact about this race, April.
Challenges of Boulder 70.3: Altitude and Heat
00:09:36
Rich
the the seventy dot three used to be in August. Okay, this was in August, August, August.
00:09:43
April
That's hot.
00:09:45
Rich
Right, exactly, excruciatingly hot in August. Well, guess what happened in 2014? It was no longer in August, it was in June. you know what happened in 2014? The Boulder 70.3 arrived.
00:09:58
April
Tell me
00:09:59
Rich
the full boulder seventy dot three And what did they decide to do They decided to put the full in August so that people could have the half to do as a buildup to the full.
00:10:06
April
in August. No.
00:10:13
Rich
Would you like to know what happened in August on that full first full triath, full Ironman in August? It got so freaking hot. It was a 25% DNF rate.
00:10:26
April
Oh my gosh.
00:10:27
Rich
It was so bad on the run course that they had all these paramedics going around on bikes. If you were flat on your back and you had a your heart your blood pressure wasn't dangerous, they said, you're fine.
00:10:40
Rich
I have i have other calls I have to get to.
00:10:42
April
Whoa.
00:10:46
Rich
So, yeah, there's that.
00:10:49
April
but
00:10:49
Rich
So anyway, that's just kind of a fun... It's really interesting. So then it stays... So, you know, that happens and they're like, well, whoa, whoa, that was a big mistake. So they move. Oh, no. So they kept, oh, so that's what they did. They moved.
00:11:03
Rich
think what they did, actually, i guess they just kept it that way ever since because it's been June ever since. So anyway.
00:11:09
April
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay. I mean, I think that was a good move.
00:11:13
Rich
I think it was a good move too.
00:11:14
April
Yeah.
00:11:14
Rich
And it has been a hallmark race for pros. You know it's been really cool. Like we've, we've witnessed a lot of the pros out there racing.
00:11:22
April
Wow.
00:11:22
Rich
And, you know, one of my favorite, uh, favorite, uh, memories, I think it was 2024.
00:11:31
Rich
I think it was Well, or the year that we had the camp, the Boulder camp here the tryot camp it was really funny
00:12:01
Rich
But when they came back, Taylor Nib came in to transition first for the females. And it was one pro. I mean, she must've been like the the seventh or eighth bike in overall.
00:12:16
April
Wow.
00:12:16
Rich
so there were all these male pros that came in behind her. And it was funny because we were kind of joking in transition. We're like well, should we give her give them the split off the lead male or should we give them the split off of the lead female? Because that might just really break their heart.
00:12:31
Rich
Cause she started five minutes after you guys.
00:12:34
April
Wow.
00:12:36
Rich
Taylor nib.
00:12:36
April
Yeah, that's a, that's a, that's a punch in the old gut right there. way to go, Taylor. I mean, that is incredible.
00:12:45
Rich
Fun stuff.
00:12:45
April
Sam long too. I remember seeing him.
00:12:47
Rich
Oh yeah.
00:12:47
April
Uh, I think he took a, took a, uh, a tape.
00:12:49
Rich
When he took the win. Yeah.
00:12:51
April
Yep. So cool.
00:12:53
Rich
Anyway. So lots of history here. And one thing's for sure, it's not an easy race. So I think here we go.
00:13:03
April
Yeah. We've got a lot to talk about in that regard. Our feature segment for our podcast today is, Death to DNF. Why Boulder is a thinking athletes race, Rich. I just got to say that is such a brilliant title. And yes, absolutely agree. This is a thinking athletes race. We, we, we can't just go in without a plan for this or just hope to, get to the finish line because there's a lot of,
00:13:30
April
strategery that needs to occur. And I'm going to break it down, uh, as to why, and then we're going to jump right in on how to avoid that DNF. So first off, there is no single discipline that dominates the difficulty.
00:13:46
April
It's not like looking at other courses and saying, well, it's got a river assisted swim. It's got a hilly bike, but a flat run. Each of these segments has its own levels of difficulty to include the location itself. So we're going to cover again, how we go through this. The course punishes aggressive decision-making more than technical errors.
00:14:09
April
Altitude also magnifies pacing, fueling and hydration mistakes. And I'll even say cooling the race rewards, restraint and patience across all three disciplines.
00:14:24
Rich
And this is why we are going to go through the top reasons, Athlete's DNF Ironman 70.3 Boulder. And, you know, DNFs at Boulder are rarely caused by a lack of training alone.
00:14:38
Rich
Most DNFs trace back to execution errors. They just start to compound over time. Nutrition being one of the big ones, but there's also a lot related to heat and sun exposure.
00:14:50
Rich
these are pattern These are patterns seen consistently at altitude races for sure, but Boulder specifically.
00:14:58
April
So the first mistake is over biking relative to altitude. So why it's important to know not to over bike is that there is a reduced oxygen availability, which increases physiological costs at the same power output. I remember you and Bill talking about this on a couple of podcasts ago about changing the relative power for the altitude because it demands a higher effort and your heart rate obviously is going to be at a higher effort.
00:15:28
April
Do you want to add to that? Rich?
00:15:30
Rich
Yeah, i was just going to say, you know, this might be the race that, you know, if if you're not from around here, if you don't train here regularly, this might be the race that you race to heart rate as opposed to power, or at least know what the power conversion is.
00:15:42
April
Mm-hmm.
00:15:46
Rich
Now, of course, if you are a if you are a tri dot athlete you are probably using race x and race x has already figured that out for you but if not you know that's probably that's my best advice you know race to heart rate
00:16:00
April
I think that's excellent advice and I'll, I'll throw a little, uh, sidebar in here. i think that's what saved me for, Xterra North American championships. Cause I hadn't done any heat training, but man, that altitude training had such an amazing carryover to help with the lack of heat training. And it, it was awesome. It was epic. So i want to say that too, like altitude is such, if you get the opportunity to train with altitude, it's a huge, huge, huge advantage.
00:16:31
April
athletes often ride to sea level numbers that are unsustainable, just hitting again, reiterating that, you know, that difference. And if you can, find those numbers, absolutely employ them. But heart rate is a great metric to use for, uh, those who haven't been al altitude trained and the outcome of over biking.
00:16:54
April
Includes missing bike cutoffs and severe, severe fatigue leading to the inability to run. So it it has compounding effects. If you're over biking, you're not going to be able to show up on the run like you want because you're already behind the curve.
00:17:12
April
So how do we prevent this? We can use altitude adjusted power or conservative heart rate caps. We can treat. lap one, I love this as a setup and not a test.
00:17:25
April
And remember that the bike will feel easier early than it actually is. It's compounding effect. So if you're going out too hot, it's going to catch up to you.
00:17:39
Rich
For sure. All right. So this leads me to our my like what I think is actually probably one of the probably the what are the biggest reasons that people make mistakes in Boulder.
00:17:52
Rich
And it's inadequate heat management.
00:17:52
April
Mm-hmm.
00:17:54
Rich
and Listen, high solar exposure and that dry air really can accelerate your dehydration, but it can also make you like really uncomfortable. If you start to get sunburned out there, because you're, you know, that's going to also just heat up your skin and make you uncomfortable. We'll talk more about, you know sun exposure, you know, a little later on, but...
00:18:15
Rich
That, you know, you've got to stay on top of your hydration and you have to know it really does help. If there's any way for you to train out here or get a training block out here, you know, prior to, or get out here a little bit early you know,
00:18:31
Rich
Go out for some test rides and really test your sweat rate at altitude. Learn what it's going to be at this altitude compared to, and you'll get an idea of how much you're losing. And, you know, that's a whole nother topic, sweat testing, but really do understand that. Now, listen, you know, you don't take care of this. You start to overheat and, you know, now you've got all sorts of other issues, right? You're going to start to have, know,
00:18:58
Rich
you know, you're going to start potentially vomiting, right? You're going to feel like you've bonked. Your body will shut down if it starts to overheat. So obviously your prevention is proactive cooling from the start. Make sure you stay on top of your hydration from the very first 10 miles on that bike, right? You should be, you know, and if you know your sweat rate, you should make sure you're starting out strong on the on the hydration.
00:19:24
Rich
Making sure your sodium your sodium concentration is understood. If you haven't tested what your sweat sodium concentration is per liter, are you a 400 milligram per liter sweater or are you a 24 milligram per liter sweater?
00:19:40
Rich
That's an important thing to know and a big difference, right?
00:19:42
April
Mm-hmm.
00:19:43
Rich
Makes a big difference in how much sodium you need to replace. And then ice and fluids. Man, if there is a course to the ice, man, this is 2022, last time it, had these like...
00:20:00
Rich
last time i did it they had these it was brilliant they had these like almost like a t-shirt cloth sort of towels. And they, you could take them and you could dunk them in the ice in like, in in like an ice box, you know ice bin and put it over your head. And it also helped protect you from the sun because you could actually have it as sort of like protecting your shoulders from the sun.
00:20:24
Rich
They really are great with the ice out there. Take advantage of it.
00:20:28
April
That sounds heavenly on a hot course. I think that is brilliant leading into our next tip here. or what can cause a DNF at Boulder is insufficient altitude acclimation. Why this matters.
00:20:44
April
There is acute exposure, which impacts your breathing, your heart rate and your ability to recover. And athletes arriving late are already physiologically disadvantaged and how this can show up when it, when we talk about a DNF outcome is first off swim panic.
00:21:03
April
When it feels like you can't catch your breath. That is such a hard thing to recover from. If you're having, an episode of hyperventilation, and then that leads to a panic attack that because you're not acclimated, that will result in a DNF and it's a dangerous thing also. So it's, that's why this altitude acclimation is so important. It also, time can fatigue cause early fatigue across all disciplines. You could.
00:21:33
April
Show up and to this race with the best fitness you've achieved over an incredibly strong training block, but you have this disadvantage, if you will, because there's a competing force that is holding you back from realizing those gains. And that's why altitude training is so important. So what can we do to prevent this insufficient acclimation?
00:21:58
April
arrive early enough to adapt or accept your pacing reduction. So if you don't have the opportunity to come early to get that adaptation, then wholeheartedly accept that you're probably going to be going at a reduced rate than you anticipated if you were at sea level and be okay with that. Again, we want safety. We want you to have a good time as well. So take that into consideration. it is a big factor and then prioritize your sleep and your hydration in the days leading up to the race.
00:22:30
April
Understand that this is putting stress on you just being at higher elevation. So making that priority on your sleep, on your hydration, on your fueling, on getting your feet up, all of that is going to help you when it comes to offsetting those, that fatigue.
00:22:48
Rich
Yeah. Awesome. Well done, Coach April. I got an awesome tip. Now, under fueling on the bike. This is another big deal, right? this this is Again, these are these little mistakes that you might be able to get away with some places, but man, carbohydrate utilization increases at altitude.
00:23:06
Rich
You need to know kind of what your what your carbohydrate demand is going to be at altitude. and You might need to bump it up a little bit. Listen, athletes who delay fueling, just like hydration, really feel the effects and it becomes unmanageable very, very fast. It's very slippery slope. So, you know if you you know, having that schedule, you know, eating on a schedule, drinking on a schedule, and if you start to feel the effects, you
00:23:36
Rich
Pay attention to it. You know, if you need to slow down to take on more aid, slow down and take on more carbohydrate. if You need to slow down to take on more, you know, more hydration, slow down, bring down the effort level for a little bit.
00:23:50
Rich
Boy, I tell you what, because ignore it, it's going to be a much bigger penalty later on.
00:23:56
April
I'll tell you this too. I remember last year, Rich, there were so many people i saw just hunched over throwing up. I was like, Ooh, and I'm not trying to scare anyone with this race, but it's a, it's a real deal. Sun exposure. You have all these things that are working against you that just do not sit well, literally in your stomach. So you want to take this very seriously that, you know, and have tested and tried this and and are monitoring it throughout the course.
00:24:26
Rich
Absolutely. And you know you brought back in the sun exposure and you know we we touched on a little bit with the cooling and you know managing your heat, but this is this you know on the bike, this is really this could really save your race.
00:24:33
April
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
00:24:40
April
hu
00:24:41
Rich
you are it You are at altitude. There is way less atmosphere for that sun to get through. You're going to feel the solar effect. Seriously, the UV factor here is off the chart and there's obviously no shade. There's no shade on the bike course at all. And there is there's three trees total on the run course. So, you know good luck with shade because you won't find any.
00:25:05
Rich
So, I always carried and train my athletes that are doing this race, know how to put on sunscreen, make sure you're putting on sunscreen in transition, make sure your kit or your sunscreen is really covering your exposed spots.
00:25:13
April
yes
00:25:22
Rich
and have a plan for how to put it on in the race. This is one thing that we taught in our camp last year, how to put on sunscreen while you are riding. You know, you have a tube of it in your bento box or in your pocket and have it such that you can take it out and put it on while you're riding, practice this. You wanna be comfortable with it because you're gonna really want to do that in the race.
00:25:45
Rich
you You ride for three hours in the sun without sunscreen or being exposed, you are going to be a lobster on the run.
00:25:55
April
And we saw it rich. We saw, I can't tell you how many people I saw just looked just burnt to a crisp and just miserable.
00:25:56
Rich
Oh, yeah.
00:26:03
Rich
Yeah, it hurts.
00:26:03
April
And that could have been avoided.
00:26:05
Rich
Yeah.
00:26:06
April
So yes, please take these words to heart. This is a, this is not a joking matter and we want you to have a good day. We don't want you to be carrying the the scars outwardly of this race that you could have avoided with the, with applicating, uh, with an application of sunscreen.
00:26:13
Rich
course.
00:26:18
Rich
ha
00:26:23
April
So death to DNF, we do not want you to DNF or to, uh, get seriously hurt.
00:26:23
Rich
Deaths of DNF.
00:26:31
April
Seriously. All right. Our next, here where we can avoid DNF is understanding swim anxiety and breathing disruption. So
Coping with Swim Anxiety
00:26:42
April
why does this matter?
00:26:44
April
Cold water combined with altitude affects respiratory rate. So that's a really great point. If you are experiencing a a rush of cold water and then your respiratory rate rhythm increases, it is a lot of stress.
00:27:03
April
And again, can lead to that hyperventilation and can lead to that panic attack and can have it can stick with you. Even if you get it under control, when you start, it can continue to happen throughout the swim. And that's just, that is just scary in and of itself. So knowing that, cold water com combined with altitude, it's really important to plan for that.
00:27:25
April
Rich, I know you have a really great technique. Do you want to talk about it with the mammalian?
00:27:31
Rich
Well, yeah, it really Before you're getting in the water, you want to, I mean, as you're getting water, you want to be able get that water on your face and around your neck and around that carotid artery. There's a vagus nerve that is going to is part of the sensory organs that tell mammal that, hey, you're in the wrong environment here and it's cold. And you need to now take all of the blood that is out there in those nice working muscles and you need to start redirecting it to the vital organs to keep and protect
00:28:06
Rich
the body and keep it alive. Well, when that happens, you know, it's a little bit of a process the body has to go through. Chris, we're just talking about Chris and his repeated exposure and and what he's learning about how his body reacts. He sees his heart rate go up by quite a few beats as soon as he goes into the cold water.
00:28:24
Rich
And then he watches it and he can see it drop back down. And when it drops back down, he knows he's pretty much good to go. And so he goes out and then he starts doing his swimming. He keeps an eye on it, but yeah.
00:28:34
April
No, that's so smart. And I think that awareness around it and how to work with it, that is such a great way to prevent it from taking you out essentially later on in the swim, when you don't have someone next to you that you can hold onto a paddleboard you're kind of out there and your heart rate goes, and knowing how to manage that before a race is is such an important skill. there's also the the fact that this is a rolling start, which anticipation to start can also increase stress and breathing. Right. So making sure that you're checking in with yourself.
00:29:18
April
trying to keep that heart rate down, breathing, mindfully slowing that breath rate. Those are going to be some things that are going to help you with not going out too hard and not getting essentially punched in the face with cold water or an elbow from someone next to you, and throwing you off.
00:29:34
Rich
Right.
00:29:37
Rich
Yeah. Yeah.
00:29:38
April
And why this can lead to a DNF, like we said, panic is energy depleting. It takes away. It doesn't add to and an elevated heart rate before the bike begins is just again, adding to that compounding fatigue. That is a ticking time bomb. So to prevent this conservative swim pacing focused on that controlled breathing before entering and in and increasing your effort.
00:30:07
April
And then prioritizing your calm swim exit over a fast exit. I think that's also a really good point. You're going from horizontal to vertical.
00:30:19
April
Be mindful of that as well. You don't need to sprint like a race horse out of the water. Give yourself the ability to readjust.
00:30:26
Rich
Yeah, you're not going to win it on the swim exit, right? You know, and I'll just add to this, couple other like little sidebar tips here, you know, for prevention. You know, this time of year, middle of June, you might not need a long sleeve wetsuit. You know, having a sleeveless wetsuit can free up your arms a little bit.
00:30:45
Rich
Sometimes that lack of constriction also helps, right? You feel little more comfortable in the water, you know? you know find other technique know Find some techniques that help you be ready to get in that water. So you know if you can, before the race, splash cold water on your face. If you can't, hey, have a bottle of really cold water, really cold water.
00:31:11
Rich
And just before you get in, as you're walking down the ramp, pour that cold water down into your wetsuit. That will actually start that process for you. Pour it over your neck, over the back of your neck, down your back.
00:31:24
Rich
Have that process start to happen while you're still standing on dry land instead of when you're trying to swim. You know?
00:31:31
Rich
All right. Tip number six. But we are we are, we're being pretty thorough here. We should probably speed it up, huh? No, no.
00:31:38
April
but Okay. Sounds good. We need to, we need to speed up out of transition T1 here.
00:31:40
Rich
I don't know. I'm just being i being very verbose, I know. all right, i'll be I'll be brief on this one.
00:31:45
April
I love it.
00:31:48
Rich
gastro energy Gastrointestinal distress. It's gonna show up for a number of reasons. you know This is one reason you you may not wanna eat a massive carb loading meal the day before your race, but maybe two days before your race.
00:32:03
Rich
Also, it could be too much fiber or it could be dehydration. If you have not, here if you are vomiting and you cannot take in nutrition, there's a pretty good chance that you are dehydrated.
00:32:17
April
Mm-hmm.
00:32:17
Rich
And when you are dehydrated, the blood flow does not get to the gut the way it's supposed to, puts the gut under stress and nothing gets in Nothing gets in, everything gets back sent back out.
00:32:29
Rich
They're at the front door. The bouncer bounces everything back out and it it's just not fun. I have been there so many freaking times in Colorado.
00:32:40
Rich
don't have this in a lot of other places, but I sure do here. Anyway, take make sure that you know your sweat rate. Make sure you're hydrating to your sweat rate. Make sure you know your sodium.
00:32:51
Rich
Concentration. You don't go to Precision Hydration, find a testing center near you. They're all over the country. Find one. There's two or three right here in Colorado near us in the Front Range.
00:33:03
Rich
Figure it out before the race. Also, avoid over-concentrating your nutrition solutions. Know what you can, and practice it. Practice, practice, practice. you know Practice at intensity.
00:33:15
Rich
Practice at temperature.
00:33:16
April
Oh,
00:33:17
Rich
Really can change. 10 degrees difference, 10% of your power difference could make a big difference.
00:33:26
April
wow. Yes. And you don't want to go into a race with these unknowns. This is not the time for Scooby-Doo in the mystery machine.
00:33:35
April
This should be riddled out before you get to the race.
00:33:35
Rich
Mm-hmm.
00:33:38
April
So great tip. Next up is missing intermediate cutoffs. Why this matters. Boulder includes a critical bike lab cutoff and athletes misjudge pacing relative to cutoff times.
00:33:54
April
What this can do is cause a removal from the course despite having the fitness to finish. So how do we prevent this? We want you to know the cutoff times before race day, where you can find that is the athlete guide. Make sure you read that thing front to back.
00:34:12
April
Also build a pacing plan that accounts for the altitude and wind and use that lap one metric to validate your pacing.
00:34:20
Rich
Awesome. Awesome. Yeah. You know, this is a, this is that course, right? You can make a mistake with hydration. You can make a mistake with nutrition and you can definitely make a mistake with your pacing.
00:34:32
Rich
So speaking of pacing mistakes, pacing too slow, right?
00:34:32
April
Hmm.
00:34:37
Rich
Which can miss a cutoff or to the other side of the equation, aggressive pacing. We talked about over biking, right? And why that, why you want to be really conservative on your biking.
00:34:50
Rich
This is a good place. Hopefully you've got, you know, the powder's still here, a a little dry here on the run, but you do not want to go out hard on this run. Build into this sucker.
00:34:59
April
Mm-hmm.
00:35:00
Rich
I'm telling you, get start getting in in nutrition on the run right away, which means you got to keep your pace and your heart rate down a little bit. it's It's flat terrain for the most part, but there are a couple of hills here and the oxygen debt is going to mount up pretty fast. So,
00:35:17
Rich
you know, intentionally slow down those first few miles, get in the nutrition, walk the aid stations. I did kind of, you know, exaggerate. There's probably like four trees, not three.
00:35:30
Rich
what And there might be like half of the road might have some shade. So you might find a couple. and Oh, and there's also shade in the porta potties. I get that. But that's gross.
00:35:41
Rich
So walk the aid stations, focus on perceived exertion and heart rate more than pace.
00:35:48
April
That is so true with the shade. I mean, when rich and I were out there last year, uh, volunteering, and then also being support for our athletes, it was hard enough for us to find shade and we weren't racing. So you can only imagine. and and again, this is why we're hitting this so hard because this is, this is what commonly takes people out and we don't want that for you. So number nine, mechanical failures, why it matters.
00:36:16
April
Y'all heat affects tire pressure and equipment reliability. Woo. Long straight sections also magnifies small mechanical issues. So just like you would have in any other triathlon race, this is again, why this is different for boulders because of the long, uh, access to heat and then the straight sections magnifying. So make sure that you have a tune up.
00:36:47
April
before this race, if it, even a simple look over would be better than nothing. And then having the right equipment. So the outcome here can be irreparable bike issues. And then again, missed cutoffs because of those delays. So how to prevent this conservative tire pressure, thorough pre rice, pre race bike inspection, excuse me.
00:37:12
April
And carrying that basic repair kit and having the capability to actually fix your bike.
00:37:21
Rich
Practice it, practice it, people. Yeah, for sure, practice it.
00:37:25
Rich
Awesome. All right, so we said the start, this is the Thinking Athletes race. This is why. Listen, we know that you know how to train and practice how to swim. You've probably been
Crafting a Race Strategy for Boulder 70.3
00:37:39
Rich
training and practicing your swim exits.
00:37:42
Rich
We know that you've been training your bike mounts and your power and your yeah hopefully your nutrition options.
00:37:46
April
Hmm.
00:37:49
Rich
And we know that you have been doing all your drills, right? you've been doing all your run drills, you're doing all your run workouts. And you've probably put together this bulletproof plan for this race. You've got, you know, your power numbers and all of that. Great.
00:38:00
Rich
Go back. This is why you got to think. Go back and do the math again. Make sure you're doing the math for here, for this altitude, for the temperatures we're going to have, for the sun we're going to have.
00:38:13
Rich
Think through the preparation that you're going to need for this. What are you going to have to have? What do you have to change? how Then this is best laid plans. That just gets you to the start line.
00:38:27
Rich
You need to be able to, one, b be constantly observing yourself, you know monitoring the systems at the first sign of weakness, at the first sign of fatigue, of of you know any kind of small issues.
00:38:47
Rich
Don't ignore it. What is it?
00:38:49
April
Right.
00:38:50
Rich
And when in doubt, slow down, slow down for yellow lights is my rule of thumb.
00:38:56
April
Yeah.
00:38:56
Rich
Don't speed through it. You know, yellow light. Oh, I got to gun it. Cause I want to get through the intersection. No, no, no, this is not that. This is slow down for yellow lights and, and take care of it. of You know, we don't want to see in the medical tent. We definitely want you to finish and get that finisher's medal.
00:39:12
Rich
Boom.
00:39:26
April
And that brings us to our fun segment. I like that dab. All right, rich.
00:39:32
April
I prepared this beauty for you. Yes. Yes. based on this topic of death, uh, or DNF, I think that's how we put it. We're putting this fun segment as death taxes.
00:39:47
April
or DNF. So but it's time for a brand new segment inspired by Boulder 70.3 called death taxes or DNF, because there are a few things in endurance sports that feel absolutely inevitable.
00:40:04
April
And today we're deciding which category these race day moments belong in. So you're going to tell me rich as we're walking through this, is it death?
00:40:16
April
Is this person paying the triathlon tax or is this a DNF?
00:40:22
Rich
Okay. All right. Yeah, I'm ready.
00:40:23
April
Okay. All right. So we're starting hot here. This athlete flew in from sea level 18 hours before the race and says, I'm not worried about the altitude.
00:40:35
Rich
I'm going to just go with, this is going to be a potential DNF. I'm right out of the gate. I just have seen this a lot. And it usually is. They just, they get, a they don't understand the oxygen depth they're going to be in at, you know racing.
00:40:51
Rich
you you know, you get excited anyway, right? And and you start off and then you you're probably swimming faster than you might normally, you know, you get, just get a little bit adrenaline going.
00:40:53
April
Yeah.
00:41:01
Rich
And then the reality sets in in about a minute or two. hey wait a minute. Where's where's the air? Why am i breathing so hard?
00:41:09
April
asked Yeah.
00:41:09
Rich
i actually
00:41:10
April
Yeah.
00:41:11
Rich
I talked to a pro one year who DNF'd on the swim. And she goes, I have no idea what happened out there.
00:41:18
April
Hmm.
00:41:19
Rich
I've never felt like that. And it must be the altitude. I'm like, yeah probably probably is the altitude.
00:41:24
April
Yeah.
00:41:26
Rich
So that's where I'm going. That one.
00:41:28
April
You're I'm right there with you. DNF. This is a, this is what we've been talking about. All right. Number two, the athlete who skips aid stations because don't really sweat that much.
00:41:44
Rich
well, you know, again I'm again, just going to go with the DNF here thing again, right? You just, this could be the thing that gets you, i don't know. Once you start vomit, it's not fun to race.
00:42:00
April
I'm going with the Grim Reaper on this one, Rich.
00:42:02
Rich
okay.
00:42:03
April
I think this one can lead to hyponatremia.
00:42:06
Rich
Well, that's,
00:42:07
April
Yeah, yeah.
00:42:10
Rich
Yeah, I guess if you if you don't handle your your sodium right, and you over you overhydrate.
00:42:15
April
Yeah.
00:42:16
Rich
Yeah, hypnotremia. Yep. So skipping the aid station because you don't really sweat much. Okay. Just...
00:42:23
April
You're, you're asking for it. but All right. The guy absolutely hammering those first 15 miles on the bike. Like he's trying to win the tour de France. Then he's jogging sideways by mile four of the run death taxes or DNF.
00:42:45
Rich
definitely a dnf this guy is a uh you know or i guess you say dead man walking but this is going to be uh definitely a dnf
00:42:49
April
Yeah.
00:42:53
April
we've seen that when someone's like, can't even stand up.
00:42:56
Rich
oh yeah oh yeah come in blue leader where are you going uh
00:42:57
April
Yeah. yeah Well, leader.
00:43:04
April
All right. The athlete who has a $9,000 bike, but packed exactly one CO2 cartridge and zero backup plan.
00:43:14
Rich
Ooh, I'm going go with taxes. This person probably pays a lot in taxes.
00:43:18
April
Yeah, this is the, this is a high tax situation. You owe the government. All right, good. Uh, the athlete who starts the run at sea level half marathon pace, because it it feels easy.
00:43:32
Rich
Dead man running.
00:43:35
April
This is on the line.
00:43:36
Rich
No, the DNF, DNF for sure.
00:43:36
April
of Yeah. DNF. all right. The athlete who ignored every warning about Boulder and is now bargaining with strangers for pickle juice at mile 10.
00:43:47
Rich
Ooh, I like this one. ha You know, i i immediately went to, you're bargaining, huh? So I just went to, well, you know, there's gotta be a tax on that.
00:43:59
April
Yes.
00:43:59
Rich
So I say taxes.
00:44:02
April
We call it the pickle tax.
00:44:04
Rich
Pickle tax. I like that. Very salty.
00:44:21
Rich
Death to DNF.
00:44:23
April
Yes.
00:44:27
Rich
wait to way to set the wait Way to set the ball.
00:44:27
April
That is the smartest person. Yes. Smartest person on the course for sure. and that is the whole lesson of Boulder 70.3 right there. This race doesn't reward ego. It rewards restraint.
00:44:42
April
It's not usually one giant mistake that causes the DNF. It's a hundred tiny cuts stacking up under altitude, heat and fatigue until the wheels come off.
00:44:52
April
And the athletes who respect the course, those are usually the athletes smiling at the finish line. So if you're racing Boulder this year, be patient, fuel early, hydrate before you think you need to. And remember surviving lap one is not the same thing as racing. Well,
00:45:09
Rich
Awesome. That was such a fun podcast. I mean, golly, the time has just flown and i cannot wait to be out there in just a couple of weeks with you, April.
00:45:22
April
Oh, I know it's going to a blast. Well, you are the PB to my J rich. so
00:45:27
Rich
Oh,
00:45:28
April
you know, we always have a good time.
00:45:31
Rich
Awesome. Well, folks, we'll see out there. Also, listen, speaking of your nutrition, you want to make sure that that you would like have a little bit of help here with managing your carbohydrate demand.
00:45:43
Rich
Use Vespa Power Endurance. It really helps you tap into steady, clean energy so that you can stay focused and in the zone longer. It is not a fuel. Vespa is a metabolic catalyst. It's, it's a, watch this, April, watch this. we got a little, got a little,
00:46:04
April
You all need to be watching this on YouTube. Rich leaning over out of his chair.
00:46:07
Rich
yeah i mean if you yeah i got but I got my refrigerator over here. and i'm Oh, by the way.
00:46:11
April
oh
00:46:12
Rich
Yeah, this is this stuff is fantastic. This is Vespa. It's a pouch. It's a very liquidy pouch. You know what I'm going to do? I've never done this on the air.
00:46:21
April
Oh my gosh. you worked You are having a good time.
00:46:24
Rich
Why not? i mean...
00:46:27
April
a shot. so
00:46:28
Rich
it's Yeah, it's like a's shot. it's like This is orange flavored. It's like a...
00:46:32
April
Oh, I love that.
00:46:33
Rich
It's great.
00:46:35
Rich
Oh, I should have done this on the, you know what to next pod? I'm going to take out my Lumen device that measures my metabolic rate.
00:46:41
April
Oh,
00:46:43
Rich
We'll do this on the air.
00:46:46
April
yes.
00:46:48
Rich
Oh, all right. So anyway, there's your ad read for Vespa. Listen, there's a discount code here in the show notes. There's a link here in the show notes with the code already baked into it. So just hit that sucker. You'll save 15% off of everything in your cart.
00:47:04
Rich
And, Hey, thanks for spending some time with us today on the Grit to Greatness Endurance Podcast, talking about Boulder 70.3 and you know the sun and the altitude and all that fun. And if you enjoyed the episode, please follow us and leave us a rating on Apple Podcasts and YouTube. It helps us reach other athletes just like you. Okay? Stay gritty, train smart, and keep chasing greatness. We will see you next week.