Triathletes Riding in Boulder Near Gross Reservoir

For triathletes that train at or near sea level, going to Boulder, Colorado for a weekend of training can be a fun or heart wrenching experience; depending on how you look at it.  We’re in Boulder this weekend and in awe of all the triathletes and road cyclists that were climbing the road up to Gross Reservoir.

Like you, we train quite a bit during the work week.  We squeeze in a ride in the morning before the office or a swim at lunch.  Regardless of how much time we triathletes or road riders train, it may not translate immediately to an evironment where there is elevation above 5,000 feet.  If you’d tried this, you know exactly what we are talking about.

The legs feel like they are made of lead.  Your lungs and bronchial tubes feel like they are constricted.  If you’re like us, you find yourself thinking, “Wait.  I thought I was more fit than this.  What’s going on?!”  Then you catch yourself and remember that you used to training at 4,800 feet lower.  Then you don’t feel so bad.

One thing to keep in mind when training at higher altitudes than you normally do is to stay hydrated.  Your blood and muscles need that extra little bit of water or sports drink.  Though you’re not at Camp 3 on Everest, the air is thinner and your body is putting in over time learning to adjust.

The key is not to push too hard and not to get dehydrated.  What I’ve found training and hiking in Boulder, Colorado is that the sheer beauty of the surrounding trees, rocks and mountain faces provide a wonderful distraction to how full of lactate your muscles truly are.  Good pain.  Right?  Right.

A few things to keep in mind of you find yourself climbing up to the Gross Reservoir is that the shoulder on the road is not very wide at all and doesn’t exist in some places.  Also, the park rangers and sheriff don’t allow people to swim in Gross Reservoir.  That’s understandable.  People in Boulder need to be able to drink that crystal blue snow melt.  Bottoms up.