Boulder, Colorado, is a sports mecca.
At over 5000 ft, the thin air when you step off the plane is noticeble – and even more so when trying to run up some of the legendary trails here.
There’s the perfect mix of flat riding to the east or onto the planes towards Kansas, and rolling hills north of town to full on mountain to the west – climbs which get you up to 9000ft pretty quickly start right from town.
The local pool squads are a who’s who of triathlon celebrities. Everyone you meet seems to be a pro triathlete, ex-trail running champion or elite coach. This is not a town to train with an ego! I’m lucky enough to be here for 4 weeks training. Not only is it a great altitude training base with fantastic summer weather, but there’s a large contingent of my Timex Multisport teammates up here, and lots of other friends in town training besides – no shortage of training partners.
Having said that, yesterday’s ride was an epic 200 km solo, on fairly tired legs after a good 120km ride the day before (plus swim squad) and trail run yesterday morning. The route took in about 100kms of flats to the east before heading up a 30km climb from 5000ft to 8000ft at Estes’ Park, and then winding back into Boulder and some afternoon headwinds. Beautiful!
Happy training!
