Oct '25 • General Discussion
Boulderthon Half
Even before moving to Colorado, I knew Boulderthon was a big race that would be local to me once I got out here. What I didn't realize was when it would be. Turns out 3 weeks before Ironman California -- just enough time to send it and get right back into IM mode.
Looking back, I wanted to do this race for a few reasons:
- Embrace CO endurance culture
- Do my first half outside of a 70.3
- Add more race experience
- PR a half marathon
Lets dig in.
Pre race:
There wasn't much of a taper for this. I wanted to treat this as a C level race: one you just show up and do. The week leading into it was the 4th week out of IM Cal, so the peak of the build was already ending so this was a perfect week to get a little bit of recovery for my first half. The week before was a massive 13 hour week and this race week ended up being just under 8 hours, so kinda of a pseudo taper week.
My goal for this race was to hold a 7:59min/mile pace the entire way. That was my goal for the half marathon in Chattanooga so I wanted to at least hit that goal for a standalone half marathon. For my runs this week I had this number on my mind, so I was mentally thinking of this performance all week.
The night before was pretty simple. Shoes, gels, clothes, bib all prepped on the table. Lights off early. Rice and Four Pepper ground beef consumed. Put water and coffee grounds in the coffee pot. In bed by 10pm, ready for a 4:30am wake up.
Race mornings I like to keep simple too. Some water to start the morning followed by some fruit and bagels. Made myself 2 cups of coffee so I can wake up before the race starts. Quick Google to where I needed to be and what time, then took off about an hour before the race start.
This was a massive race. Thousands of runners across multiple distances. Much different than an Ironman level race. The race blocked off a street for 4 blocks just dedicated to the start line. I thought I was going to be in the back until I noticed the pace time was 2:30 (and 5:00 for the marathon) so started heading towards the actual start line. Hit a quick bathroom break, found the 1:45 pace crew (I still don't remember what that pace was) and waited for the gun to start.
The Race:
The race is always a blur. Most of the things I remember in a tempo effort race like this are mostly the feelings. Something about being at Z3/Z4 for a long time just has me more focused on short term memory and not every step of the race. Regardless there are still some big mental thoughts I do remember
The first moment I recall was how fast everyone was. I started right off with a 7:55 pace to warm up with a goal to get down towards 7:45 after the first 5k. People were flying right past me immediately. But that quickly settled about a mile in. For most of the race, I saw the same people so I got to observe everyone's form and how they were able to hold this pace for so long. Just made me think that I still have a lot further way to go in endurance and how grateful I am to be able to be in this group of people. It seemed that not many people were talking and were focused on having a solid effort. So this was right were I wanted to be.
Miles 1-3:
The first 3 miles were... slow. Don't get me wrong, it was fast for me, but time seemed to slow down. I think it was me being unfamiliar with the course and that effort for a while, but once the 3 mile marker hit the race felt like it actually started. But for those first 3 miles I was noticing everything:
- my cadence was normal (176 for me) when I was expecting 182 (what I was holding for the 10k in the Oly Tri I did a month earlier)
- my HR immediately shot to Z2. No easy miles in Z1/low Z2 here
- I felt really good!
For most of these miles, I was playing this mind game of "stay at 152 HR" and "don't go faster than 7:50". Whatever came first was the one I was tweaking. There were sections that were uphill as well so I had a focus to increase cadence up over 180 to compensate for going slower. Definitely feels like in a race like this, there are 3-5 metrics on your mind and your so focused to keep them in the balance.
Miles 4-6:
Looked down at my watch after a water aid station and realized I was 4.5 miles deep. Still felt pretty good and I noticed my HR start creeping up into Z3. For these miles it was all about feeling smooth in this 155-158 HR zone, which to me is mid Z3. Fortunately, many runners were feeling the rhythm as well so I got to follow some people going the same pace as me and even make jokes with some other guys on the run. I also was able to flag down the 1:45 pacer so mentally I knew I was doing well. My goal for this area was to stay close to the pacer while still keeping an eye on my metrics. This went really smooth! Not much else to say here.
Miles 7-10:
These 3 miles were all on the same straight and somewhat uphill. I noticed here that many people were dropping off so there were much smaller packs than the last few miles. Still, found someone to anchor too and follow so I wasn't looking at my watch the entire time. This is really the best race unlock for trying to hold onto any pace.
This section had the rollers of the course. Thankfully I have had some hill repeat workouts for the IM California build so I immediately understood that slowing down and increasing my cadence was going to help. Ended up cruising through this part of the course without my HR elevating too much and still feeling fresh enough to hold pace.
At mile 9 was the turnaround for the half-marathon runners. Best part of the course by far, mostly because it's all downhill from here.
Miles 10-13:
Mile 10 was easily the hardest section. We moved off the road and onto a winding sidewalk through the woods and a park. For the entire race up to this point, you could see the herd of runners up ahead and you had some idea of where you were going next. Not here. The windy sidewalk had it so that you could really see 20 yards at a time. It was also somewhat hilly here which made it challenging to hold pace well. Fortunately I had some strong runners ahead of me so I made an effort to hold pace with them. After a mile of this we finally had road again and it was all downhill from here, literally.
The last 2 miles felt long but were also short. Running 7:30 became really easy because of the descents. I wanted to test my limits a bit but the smart part of me knew I'd fall apart if I tried to hold 7:00. Thinking ahead of IM California, whatever I decide to do here will most likely show up in that race so made the move to just keep doing what I was doing. No funny business!
Eventually the last little section came and I got to finish strong with a few other runners. Felt super good crossing that finish line, especially when 3 miles ago I was feeling a little annoyed with my hip flexors.
Summary:
Overall, I had an awesome day out there. I didn't expect much from this race, with my only goal to run at an 8:00. Definitely surpassed that expectation.
After taking a few days to reflect, I've noticed some really interesting things going on related to this race:
- Running consistency > One big run block
Leading up to this race, I clocked in 4 weeks of < 20 miles a week. That is way down from my normal 25, but I haven't stopped running since March 2024! That's 18 months of consistency! Showing up matters more a lot more than you think.
2. Performance is more than just a time
After chatting with Ryan and Jordan, it's clear that a successful race is more than a target time. I was way more focused on key metrics at specific intervals than I was with my overall time. Metrics like:
- MY HR for each third of the race. Was I too high? Was I not pushing enough? How can I keep this low and maintain my effort?
- Cadence at uphill and downhill sections. 180+ uphill / ~175 for downhill
- Getting gels in at the 30 min mark, no matter where I was. Don't let this slip!
- My pace when other runners caught up or fell behind
It's very easy to want to compete and let the environment shift how you race. I saw many runners stop at water then sprint past me at a 6:30 pace. I also noticed my mind shift and want to finish too fast. Trying to outdo myself or other people in the moment is what separates amateurs from pros. Sticking to a strategy and being focused on where I am at right now was much more important that trying to go for a specific time.
3. Training constantly allows for races like this to be more fun
There is a world where Boulderthon is a difficult race for me and I spend many nights wondering about my performance, how the race is going to go down, what I am going to wear, is anyone going to support me?, etc.
But when you are always doing this stuff, either in big blocks or small ones, you have the freedom to just rip a half marathon race, get in your car, and get home just in time for church. Always being "on" is awesome and is the ultimate way to do fun and exciting endurance events. It's way better to roll into the next race with a small tweak than have a big epic build for a race every time you want to do something big. Super thankful to be on a team where epic races/challenges are year round and there's never a lull point in the year.
Long post, but lots of insights from this race. Thanks for reading!
-BB
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Boulderthon Half
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