Ironman Boulder Race Day Tracking Details

Only two more sleeps until race day!!!

For those of you that would like to virtually track me here are the details:

• I will be wearing a MyAthlete GPS tracking device for the bike and run. You can download the app here,  or you can visit the website. On the website you should see Ironman Boulder and when you lick through you will see a list of names. Look for Rebecca Neumeier, #480. you will not see anything there until the day of the race most likely!
• On race day you can also use the Ironman website, bib #480,to see my splits for the race. This site can slow down as the day wears on so just because you may not see any updates for a while it doesn’t mean I have stopped. A lot of people will be looking at this site so it can get very slow. From this site you can also watch live video streams of the a few of the busy sections (swim exit, bike exit, run exit) but most importantly you can watch the finish line camera.
• And if you follow me or my hubby on social media you can expect to see updates there as well.

If you are coming to the race the best place to watch will be the run course for sure. Take a moment to read the information for spectators from the event website. There is a lot of good information in there.If I see you on course don’t be surprised if I don’t stop to talk or hug. If things are going well, slowing down or stopping really breaks my concentration.

Estimates of my times can be found here, and I should be starting the race around 6:45 AM. If all goes well, I will finish around 7:00 PM in Boulder in the daylight!!

Below is a picture of what I will be wearing on race day.

Only difference should be a pink visor and BRIGHT PINK shoes.

I hope you all know how much your cheering, in person or virtually, helps me through the day. I think about you all day long.

Ironman Boulder 2015 Race Goals

I believe in setting goals for myself on race day that way I know what I am working towards. I do have the long term goal of making it to Kona someday, so I have to set time goals for myself. I also like sharing my times because I feel like it makes me a little bit more accountable for achieving them. Every little bit of motivation helps on race day! So here they are:

Goal	Swim	Bike	Run	Transitions	Total
A	1:05	6-6:30	Sub 4	<10 min	11:30-11:59
B	1:10	6:30-7	4-4:20	10-15 min	12:00- 12:30
C	1:15	7+	4:20 +	15 min plus	12:31+

Of course the overarching goal is to finish and have fun. If this isn’t fun, there is no reason to keep doing it!

I am fairly confident that I should hit my swim goal. I think the rolling swim start should help a lot and will offset the altitude affects.

The bike is always a guessing game. If there is wind on the course that could greatly affect my time. There is a fair amount of climbing (5000+ feet) so that could make it longer as well. But, I think the course is amazing and it actually rides really fast so I have high hopes that I can finish under 6:30. That would be amazing!

The run is my biggest concern. I had a really good marathon in Arizona, 4:02. I was absolutely shocked how well it went. This course is a bit more challenging because we essentially run up a false flat 5 mile long hill. You can really feel it the last mile. I am hoping that the crowd and atmosphere will help me push through the pain and have a solid run like Arizona.

The biggest concern by far is the weather. We have all become amateur weather reporters now! As of now, it is calling for a high of 90 for the day. That is OK and it should be manageable. But of course, weather can play a huge roll in how the day plays out.

Look next for a post on how to track me race day! Thanks for reading!

Week 17 of 18 Ironman Boulder Training – Tapering and Travel

This week was a bit of a mess due to traveling and life. I ended up missing my long ride (only 2 hours) on Sunday because we were driving out to Boulder. I was very lucky to set things up so I can work remotely for the week before the race which will allow me to sit around and acclimatize. But the trade off was it kind of ruined my last weekend of training. Well, the hay is in the barn so I am no going to worry too much! Below are the numbers:

As I have said before, I am super lucky to be a Brand Ambassador for Coeur Sports. They even made a batch of Boulder T-shirts for me to pass out during race week. I got to stop into their offices and see the operation! Did I mention how lucky I am?

Here are a few pictures from the drive out.

Packing for the race meant making sure I had choices for the Underpants Run!

Big smiles whenever we are together!

Our GPS routed us over the Loveland Pass. It was spectacular!

A little shake out run in Golden once we arrived.

Expect a post on race goals and race day tracking details

Week 16 or 18 Ironman Boulder Training – I did how many hours?

This week was a blur. Things were a little off due to the end of my vacation in Big Bear with the family. When I got done with the week I was shocked to see that I had done 15 hours of training. You know you are training for an Ironman when 15 hours doesn’t feel like a big week anymore!

The swim number is a little off because it includes kayaking with the kids and my bike mileage is low for the time represented because I was on the trainer for 90 minutes but I didn’t have a speed sensor to capture my distance.

Th trip to Big Bear was tough. I got back feeling very tired and that was evidenced by my run on Friday. It was suppose to be a set of interval in zone 4. Problem was I was immediately in zone 4 coming out of my warm up and couldn’t get my HR down between intervals. I felt really awful. I decided to walk home and my HR still wouldn’t come down. 140-150 BPM walking. It was hot and I think I was dehydrated.

I did all I could to recover from the run and hoped it was just an anomaly. I ran Saturday and it didn’t go great, but not as bad as Friday. Consult with coach led to a prescription of feet up and a beer to relax a little. Mission accomplished!

Sunday’s long ride and run was done very cautiously. I was glad that it was hot and humid. There was a very good chance it would be that way on race day so I welcomed the opportunity to train in that weather.

I also got a flat on the bike (stupid goat heads) so I got a chance to test out the flat fix for the tubeless tires I am riding. It seemed to work really well but after riding for 30 minutes the wheel kept going flat. We stopped off at home to fill the tire up with real air but after one more loop I still wasn’t holding tire pressure. Turns out there were still some goat head thorns stuck in the tire. I finished up the ride on my trainer.

My brain is all over the place as I get ready for the race. I know I have done the meat of my training. I am just letting it soak in now while trying to stay sharp. I am most nervous about the run on race day. That has just felt a bit off. I need to trust my body and my training. I am a very trusting person so I think I can do that!

Week 15 of 18 Ironman Boulder Training – Taper Tantrums

Well, technically I am not tapering yet but as this training cycle is winding down I am having a little fit in my head. Below are the numbers for the week.

This week was interrupted by a family vacation to Big Bear California. I thought it would be great to double down and use the vacation for some training at altitude and family time. Once I got out there I felt really bad about leaving the kids to train for long hours in addition to the fact that the altitude was getting to me. Honestly, it was more a problem in my head than anything else and I just needed a short mental break from the training.

I did manage to get in a long run around the lake on Sunday which was good. Don’t tell my coach, but I may have stopped my watch and saved my run just so that I would get a green activity on Training Peaks and then started it again for the run walk home since I was out much longer than I should have been. Crap, she may be reading this… My run would have been a little bit shorter if I hadn’t tried to take a short cut. I wasn’t walking on water I promise! I can’t run that fast (yet).

I thought I was being so smart…

Not a bad place to run!

Other than that The rest of the weekend was hanging with the kids. The highlight was a trail ride on horseback as well as finding silly stuff at the stores in town.

I almost bought this!

We even brought the dogs with us. Cali saw the picture and thought it was a good idea!

This is the final push and I am barely holding on. My saving grace right now is that I only have to hold it together for 2 more weeks of work and then I get my reward of racing!

Week 14 of 18 Ironman Boulder Training – Hulk Mode

For those of you that use Training Peaks to log your training with your coach you may know what I mean by Hulk Mode. When you fully complete a workout it turns green in your Training Peaks. The goal every week is to make all the workouts turn green = Hulk Mode. This week I finally did it! See the totals below.

I think the success of this week results from two things. One, the holiday which gave me an extra day off; and two, the amazing support of my amazing husband Stuart! I also made it a point to try my best to get my workouts done ASAP during the day so that I wasn’t working out late at night. This is really the best approach because my kids really like me to put them to bed!

Overall I am feeling pretty strong and healthy. The biggest day of the week was Sunday. 30 minute swim, 6 hour bike (which I rode loops with some very special friends), capped off by a 45 in run with Stuart. Before he went running with me he set up and awesome aid station for us on our front porch!

Best picture of the week came at the end of my run…

There is still some training left to do but otherwise I am just dialing it all in by figuring out the details for gear, food, and racing strategy. I do have my hopes on another sub 12 hour finish and possibly in the day light! 4 weeks to go!