Boulder 70.3 Race Report 2026
Leading into Boulder 70.3, my first triathlon of 2026, I’d been super consistent with training despite intermittent knee pain that I manage with PT exercises. I felt fit and ready on race day. A big change for 2026 was integrating the Fuelin app into my daily nutrition, big training days, and race day. I was able to bump my carb intake to about 100 g/hr on the bike and ~80 g/hr on the run, and I was excited to see how that would affect performance.
Swim The race used a rolling start and I seeded myself toward the front in the 30–33 minute group. I hadn’t touched my wetsuit since last fall and hadn’t done any open-water swims either—lesson #1: get in at least one or two OW swims before race day. The wind had picked up early, and the water was choppy, so I spent some of the swim getting water in my mouth and struggling to get comfortable. I wasn’t feeling great at the start and had to focus on strong exhales to manage my breathing. Once I settled, I found some non-challenging feet to follow and held a comfortable rhythm through the middle of the swim, then pushed harder in the last stretch. I exited the water in 33:52, 3rd in my AG.
The pavement in transition in Boulder is always painful…rough chip seal and sharp little pebbles to torture wimpy feet like mine, but T1 went smoothly and I even figured out my helmet strap clip pretty quickly (if you have a Rudy Project WingDream helmet…make sure to practice as the clip is NOT intuitive : ).
The 2-loop bike course in Boulder is very familiar for me as I have done this race 15ish times in the past and sometimes will train on these roads. It’s basically a solid subtle climb for the first 5 ish miles and then the fun begins with some rollers and usually tailwind followed by a faster downhill section into the flats (yesterday, with a nice tailwind). I felt really good on the bike and the fueling helped me feel strong right to the end of the bike. The winds felt favorable, but it turns out they weren’t, as my bike split was a bit slower than last year, despite putting out more watts and being a bit more aerodynamic. As the bike is my strong suit, I always go quite hard and let my competition chase me down on the run : ). Lesson #2…you are getting too old (59) to go that hard on the bike and still have a good run off! Bike 2:37:04 (2nd AG [by 4 sec]).
Coming into T2, I had some subtle signs of cramping in my legs…an unusual thing for me! I did have some salt in my run pouch, so reached for that early on and sadly, dropped a few of the salt pills while trying to get one out…more on that later. I had to pee but decided to start running anyway and hit a porta potty later if I needed to, which I didn’t. I only made it about ¼ mile when both legs completely seized up in cramps…mostly my vastus medialis muscles, but a little of the calves and rest of my quads too! It literally stopped me in my tracks! I grabbed more salt tabs and chewed them up and let them sit in my mouth and under my tongue while I stretched and attempted to walk a few steps forward. After about 2 minutes of seizing legs…all of my muscles magically relaxed and I went right back to running! Whew! I kept the salt tabs going every 2-3 miles just as a preventative, but was running low half way through the run. I remembered where I dropped some of my salt when starting my 2nd lap and found one of my salt tabs! I grabbed it from the pavement and popped it into my mouth (entertaining for spectators no doubt as I randomly grabbed a pill on the ground and ate it!). I had 2 left to get me through the last lap, which was perfect…cramp free running the rest of the way. I actually felt considerably better starting lap 2 and was able to pick up the pace a bit from miles 6-11. The wheels started to come off by mile 11 so I slowed down a bit and made my way to the finish line. Run 2:00:50. Finish time 5:19:57: Good for 2nd place in my AG!
Finish and takeaways Crossing the line felt great—fit, fueled, and grateful. The big takeaways for me:
Fueling matters: the Fuelin plan and practicing 100 g/hr on the bike, ~80 g/hr on the run made a tangible difference in how I felt across the day. No mid-race bonk, steady energy, and better run legs in the 2nd half of the run. Don’t get behind on electrolytes in your fueling plan too!
Swim prep: don’t skip open-water and wetsuit practice. Even if you’ve raced before, a couple sessions before race day make a huge difference in comfort and confidence.
Knee management works: consistent PT exercises and smart pacing/effort management kept my knee under control. Still worth keeping the strength work non-negotiable.
Race execution > sticking to practiced nutrition and pacing plans, especially on big days, keeps you in control even when conditions are rough.
Overall, a very solid day. This was my slowest Boulder 70.3, but I think that was more due to the chop in the water and wind on the bike than anything else. There is not much I would change outside of bumping up electrolyte intake on the bike. Volunteers were awesome as always….don’t forget to greet them always with a smile and a “thank you!”