Boise

“Wow man! You’re doing Boise? That is some goal you’ve set for yourself! That

is awesome!” I was a little surprised by this response. It had started out

innocently enough in the locker room of the local pool, as a brief conversation

with a guy who I knew was a local triathlete. It came up that I was going to do a

triathlon and when he asked me what I was training for I simply said “Boise”. In

my naivete I didn’t realize there was more than one race in Boise. He was

referencing the Boise Ironman 70.3 and I was referencing an indoor triathlon at

Boise State University. Same location. Two very different races and distances.

Indoor triathlons are not that unusual, particularly in the Pacific Northwest where I

live. In fact, there is a very popular series in Washington called the Rainman

series that takes place in several locations around Puget Sound prior to the

summer racing season. I discovered the race in Boise while looking for dates on

trifind.com. I figured it would be the perfect toe dipper for someone new to tris

such as myself.

The format for an indoor sprint tri is the same as any other sprint. The major

difference between this type of a race and a regular sprint tri is that it all occurs

indoors. What further differentiated Boise is that no times were kept during

transition. The racing waves were kept very small so it would seem less

overwhelming. No big crowds, no rain, no headwind, no difficult transitions. The

drive (just a bit over 5 hours) was probably a bit excessive for such a race but it

was a long weekend so for me this was as much a sightseeing adventure and a

weekend away as it was my first foray into triathlons.

I arrived at the Boise State Rec Center for my ‘race’ and checked in. After

changing into my swimsuit I found my way back to the pool. There were four of

us and we would each have a lane to ourselves. We were all assembled and the

lanes were empty so they let us go off early. The length was 750 meters. I was

worried about the distance but I just told myself to relax and if worse came to

worse I could always do a lap swimming the breaststroke. I was only competing

against myself and I viewed this race as simply setting a benchmark that I could

improve upon throughout the coming season. The swim wasn’t spectacular but I

did manage to get it done and yes, after about 550 meters, I did have to resort to

alternating breaststroke with the regular crawl. I survived, got it done, and pulled

myself out of the pool ready for the bike portion.

I changed into my bike kit and headed upstairs to the spin lab. The nice

volunteer went over with me the bike I’d be using and let me know that I’d need

to alert them when I hit twelve miles so they could come over and tell me when I

had completed my ride. Music blared from the speakers. Madonna, The Foo

Fighters, Calvin Harris, and Lady Gaga kept me going at a steady clip. I

discovered that although I like reggae it can be a real buzzkill as far as pedal

cadence is concerned.

Soon I was off the bike, changed, and running around the indoor track. The

surface was nice and springy and felt good, but the laps quickly turned

monotonous. I found myself trading quips with the volunteers as I would go by

and count down laps until I could claim my fictional margarita at the finish line. I

finished, showered, grabbed a snack, thanked the volunteers, and received my

time. 750 swim – 18:30, 12.4 miles 32:47, 5K run 26:33. I finished right in the

middle of the pack. Given that the transitions were not timed and that you could

take up to 15 minutes between stations it wasn’t exactly a race for benchmarks

per se but it was a non-threatening start to my triathlon season, and lifestyle.

A couple of weeks ago I saw my triathlete friend at the pool. We talked about the

past season and what the future held. When he asked me about next year’s

races I mentioned Boise. This time I quickly noted that it would be the 70.3 and

not the indoor tri. We shared a laugh about last year’s confusion and I noted that

this would be my first half-ironman. Once again, I would dip my toe into a new

experience and again, it would take place in Boise. This time I will truly do Boise,

and this time I have a new and more ambitious goal. As my triathlete friend

noted earlier in the year, I hope it will be awesome