I was settling in for a few hours of sleep before an early morning wake up call to make my way from my hotel to the Boulder Reservoir. Before turning in I checked my e-mail and got this message:
It is with great disappointment that we announce the cancellation of the 2016 Life Time Tri Boulder Peak presented by Voler. This evening a local disaster declaration was announced across Boulder County. All police, fire and EMS resources are being mobilized and reallocated across Nederland and Cold Springs in support of the current wildfire. As a result, the Boulder County Public Safety officials have mandated that our event be cancelled.
After exhausting all options, including course modifications and rescheduling, we are unable to provide our athletes with either an alternate event or a safe race experience.
The Cold Springs Fire was the result of a couple of out-of-state idiots failing to extinguish their campfire. Little hint to those who do not know: you have to use water to put out a fire. In fact, you usually need a few gallons to really get it done. If you can’t put your hand on the ashes because it’s too hot, then the fire is not really out.
With that being the case, there was no race. It’s disappointing but understandable. If the fire had really blown-up and the police, sheriff’s deputies and medical personnel were not able to respond quickly because they were working our triathlon, well, you get the idea that priorities had to be elsewhere.
As a result, I took Sunday as a recovery day. The race organizers have given me a code that will allow me to register for next year’s race at no cost. That’s right, not a discount, not extra swag, a completely free race next year. That’s exceptionally generous and since my hope next year is to focus more on short-course racing, it works fine. I’ll probably wait until I renew my USAT membership later this year or early next, but I’ll look forward to being a participant in 2017.
So now it is back to training. This week, in fact, that means a lot of training with a huge block this weekend. I sometimes find myself a little overwhelmed when I see the week I have ahead, but on the other hand, the efforts I make now will not only be a good gauge of where I am in my preparedness, they will also help me in getting ready for the big day which is now less than four weeks away.
While I have no wish to see my summer pass any faster than it already is, I am also quite ready to get out race and get this event behind me. Ironman training for the last couple of years has taken a toll on my middle-aged body and getting back to some saner training regimens will indeed be welcome.
As always, thanks for reading and good luck in your own training and racing.
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