I expected to be writing more race reports this season but alas that was not in the cards for me after Ironman St. George 70.3 on May 1, 2021. I had big plans for this year and I had a lot of races on the calendar given all of my deferral events due to Covid last season. Sadly, as most of you know, I tore my plantar fascia at the calcaneal origin during that race in St George and that injury has been slow to heal. The past four months have been focused on calming that fascial tissue, allowing it to heal and now starting to rebuild as I strengthen that foot. I have just started to get back to some normalcy of training. I have learned a lot about myself during the process. Throughout this recovery, I have been able to swim and cycle to a certain degree. Some days have been more successful than others. Emotionally, it has been hard for me. It’s been a long and unpredictable journey. My foot continues to ache if I exert it beyond what I categorize as a “normal routine” for me. Some days that may be just being on my feet through a typical work day and taking care of my family doing typical things. Granted, my work day involves personal coaching and activity. Other days, I feel like it is healed enough that I can add some load to it during workouts and it feels stronger during the activity just to flare up afterwards and require me to stay off of it the next day. I am finally at a point where this left foot does indeed tolerate a degree of load but it is weaker than it used to be and in constant need of strengthening and stretching. It makes me feel vulnerable. And, it puts a new perspective on my athletic lifestyle and what may and may not be possible in the near and far future. Perspective. Limitations. I am one to encourage others to reach beyond what they perceive to be their own limits. Yet, I am now bound to the thought that I have to be respectful of mine right now. There is a balance which must be embraced for each person and each individual situation.
I have gone through my ups and downs emotionally since May. I have deferred three Ironman events to 2022 because I have been worried that my foot can not handle the run training and load needed to accomplish the training and events. Honestly, I am scared to stress it too much too soon and then have set backs. This has been a painful injury. I really do not want to revisit that if I can avoid it. I had debated whether or not to ride the Triple Bypass this summer. The Triple Bypass is a long distance cycling event here in Colorado which is well known throughout the nation. It begins right here in Evergreen and this year the route to Vail has just shy of 110 miles with 10,200 feet of elevation gain. It is not a race. You can stop throughout the course and eat as needed, wait for friends to regroup, rest at the support areas. This is one of the deciding factors which made me more comfortable taking on this challenge even though I have an injury. I decided that I would train as tolerated. If the climbing on the bike did not cause my foot to flare up, I would consider doing the event. I set out in late June- eight weeks post injury- to begin my longer rides in the mountains. By the end of July, I was riding 4 hours without problem as long as I kept to a routine of morning epsom salt soaks, massage of the plantar fascia, taping of my foot and making sure that I did not climb standing. After my rides, I would ice my foot, massage it as needed and at night I slept in a splint to keep that plantar fascia stretched to prevent any trauma on it in the morning. Those first steps can be a doozy! The beginning training weeks were focused on long, gradual climbs on State Route 40 coming back up from Denver to Evergreen. Nothing overly aggressive but enough to get miles and elevation in to assess my foot and the feasibility to complete the Triple without any setbacks.
By the end of July, my training included rides up Squaw Pass to Echo Lake which is the first long climb of the Triple Bypass. I used that climb as a reference to my fitness and also my recovery/strengthening of my foot. Each training ride, I got faster, my heart rate stayed lower and my foot felt better on the bike during the ride and also afterwards as I got off the bike. I was feeling more confident about attempting the event. I started wrapping my mind around what I could do mentally to best prepare myself for that long day. Normally, I would want to hammer down on my bike and ride the Triple as hard and as fast as I could in order to test my fitness and endurance. In the past, it has been an event I have used as a training day in preparation for upcoming Ironman events. I usually push pretty hard on it. But, I knew in my heart that this was not going to be a smart move this year if I wanted to continue to build successfully for my next Ironman which is in May 2022. Pacing, resting, regrouping with friends, Zone 1 and 2 endurance efforts, easy spinning up the climbs – that had to be my plan for this long day. No Gran Fondo timing sections up the mountain passes for me this year. Just pedal, breathe, keep that foot safe and build some strength and stamina back.
I feel incredibly grateful that I have a group of inspiring women with whom I got to ride the Triple Bypass yesterday. It is a very long day in the saddle and it is not always easy to stay together as a group through 8-11 hours on a course such as this. But, we all managed to do it very well. Julie, Gretchen and I started off at 5:30 am with three other riders- Marcie, Marcie’s son Cale and Marty. We all stayed together as we climbed up Squaw Pass to Echo Mountain and then descended into Idaho Springs. We knew that this would be one of the most challenging sections of the day because even though we had fresh legs and knew the course well, the forecast called for colder air temperatures and the chance of rain. By the time we made it up to the first rest stop on Juniper Pass, the wind had picked up, it was dramatically colder than it had been down in Evergreen and there were purple lips and chattering teeth. We threw on extra layers for the long descent from Echo Lake down to Idaho Springs and hoped there would be more sunshine below. The climb up to Echo Lake from Evergreen took me about 1hr:45min and then I descended quickly down the back side to Idaho Springs. I texted Audra to give her an update on time. We planned to meet her in Dumont so she could ride the next 70 miles of the course with us. I told her we would roll in around 9:00 am to Dumont once we had everyone regrouped in Idaho Springs and started riding again. Audra had knee replacement surgery this year and is now a little less than 6 months post op. I am so proud of her for taking on the challenge of riding 70 miles with us yesterday. I know she was nervous about trying. The longest she had ridden up to this point had been 50 miles. But, I also knew that we all had our limiters going into the event and we would support each other and pace each other for success.
After regrouping again in Dumont, we had our ride team together and continued on course. The next rest stop was located in Georgetown above the climb up from the town, through the Georgetown Railroad area and back to the bike path along Interstate 70. I pushed a bit harder up this climb as my foot was feeling good. The rest of the group wanted to stop to refill the water bottles and go to the bathroom. As I waited for them, I was busy looking for Audra and could not find her. Was she behind us? Waiting, waiting, waiting. She did not show up. I texted her. I pulled out my location app and saw that she had continued riding and was now a few miles ahead. So, we all jumped back on our bikes and continued our ride knowing that we would find her at the next stop. I paced a little bit faster than the rest of the group wanting to catch up to Audra as I did not want her riding alone- which is never really possible with thousands of riders on the Triple course and Audra’s knack for making friends- but I wanted to ride with her. I caught up with her a few miles before the Loveland Pass rest area and we had some time riding through the Bakerville section of the course together. Oy. That is a long slow uphill drag there. But, I had Audra to keep me company for that part and she is always so much fun to be with. We stopped at Loveland to grab a sandwich, refill water bottles and I texted Greg that we were 53 miles into the ride and about to tackle Loveland Pass. Loveland Pass is the second mountain pass of the Triple Bypass. And, it is there that we reach our highest elevation of the day at over 11,000 feet. Although it is a shorter climb in comparison to Squaw and Vail Pass, it is also much steeper in areas and comes at a point in the course when you have been constantly pushing a gradual uphill from Idaho Springs through Georgetown and Bakerville to Loveland. Audra and I regrouped with Julie and Gretchen at the Loveland rest area but we had already been there for about 15 minutes and we were getting chilled. We decided we needed to start moving again so we let the girls know that we would head up to the top of Loveland and try to regroup there or down in Keystone. Audra and I set off. At the base of the climb, Audra told me, “Court, you climb and do your thing. I will meet you at the top. I am not sure how long this climb will take for me.” Knowing that she does better pacing herself as she needs and sometimes it can get hard when you ride out of sync, I started the climb at my own pace and focused on getting up to the top, knowing that Audra would be pretty close behind me. I hit the switch backs and although I felt strong, I could feel the fatigue starting to set in with every pedal stroke- especially in my quads. I took in more nutrition knowing that I was falling a bit behind on my calorie intake. I made it to the top of Loveland Pass in what I now know is a personal best time. I felt good, the sun was out, it was beautiful and there was a bagpiper playing tunes on the peak of the view point. I put on my wind jacket as the sun started to disappear and an ominous cloud came in over us from the West. The wind picked up. Fifteen minutes passed and Audra had not arrived yet. I was starting to get worried and considered riding back down the pass to check on her. My teeth started to chatter, my legs started to shake. I could not stay on top of this mountain much longer without going hypothermic so I had to make a decision soon. By this time, almost 30 minutes had passed and I was getting ready to go ride to look for her. Just then, Audra crested the top of the hill with news that she had had a flat tire about a mile into the climb and it had taken a while to change because her CO2 was not working properly to inflate her tire. She took one look at me shaking and said, “Courty, you need to get on your bike and get down this mountain right now. You are shaking.” I did not want to leave her up there to figure out the tire on her own. But, Julie and Gretchen reached the top of the pass and she then had support. They all told me to GO. We planned that I would ride down and meet them in Copper at a designated rest stop we had organized with Gretchen’s husband David.
Descending Loveland Pass was a bit dicey for me. I was shaking so badly and my hands were so cold that I had difficulty controlling my bike on the aggressive downhill. Normally, I love to descend and I am confident in my skills going downhill. But, yesterday, I was worried about bike control given the wind and my lack of dexterity due to cold hands. I had to grab my top tube with my knees to keep my bike steady in the wind and to keep my legs from shaking with cold. I passed A-basin and felt better as the air temp got warmer and then I came into Keystone relieved that I was down safely, starting to warm up. My left hand was completely numb but I could feel my right one well. I picked up my pace a bit to warm up my body and enjoyed a fast section through Keystone on the way to Swan Mountain. I was about half way up Swan Mountain when I noticed that my bike felt strange and I was a little springier in my saddle. This is always an indication to me that my back tire is low so I pulled over to check it. Yep. It was not completely flat but definitely had a slow leak going on. Not wanting to change my tire right there- I was not in a safe spot- I decided to refill it with my CO2 and try to ride on to the next rest area or to Copper depending on how that tire held up. I filled it back up, made it to the top of Swan Mountain and descended down into Breckenridge and caught the bike trail to Frisco. I stopped to refill my water bottle at the stop in Frisco, checked the tire- still holding- and decided to pedal on to Copper. At this point, I had been riding on my own for over an hour and I really missed my awesome girls so planned to stop and wait in Copper until we could regroup. I arrived at Copper to meet David around 2pm. My tire was somewhat flat again. I debated with the guys if it was worth changing or just refilling again to get me across the finish line. We decided that refilling seemed like a fine option and then I could change it later after the event. David tracked Gretchen and Audra on his app and said they were 5 miles away. This was going to be a longer wait than I expected but I really wanted to finish the Triple together so I decided to use the time I had to change into some dry clothes as I was getting really cold. Fresh jersey, rain coat (as it had started to drizzle and there was a seriously dark cloud over us)- I grabbed my backpack from David’s car and loaded some of Julie’s warmer gear into it as well so she would have it at the finish line.
About 40 minutes later, the rest of the ladies arrived and we were back on our way. I stuck with Audra for the rest of the ride. We started up Vail Pass and she told me to go ahead at my own pace. I told her that my pace was with her and I wanted to ride together and chat. So, we had a nice time cruising up the last mountain pass of the day. The time passed quickly together and it was much more fun than the last few hours which had been mostly on my own. As we neared the top, there was a photographer there, so we decided to time it so we were side by side for the photo as we crested the top of Vail Pass. We cruised into the parking lot there and started to make the final ascent to the top of the lot to start our descent when Audra said, “Court, that tire of yours needs more air before we descend.” Right then, the rain started. Not just a drizzle but a substantial downpour. We took out our rain gear and layered up. Our friend John was with us and we got my tire pumped up- again. There was no way that I was going to change it out in the open on top of Vail Pass in the midst of a thunderstorm. So, we refilled it one more time with feeling, knowing that it would last for the next 15 miles heading down to the finish. It was a cold and wet ride down and it seemed to last forever. We were riding our brakes to keep our speed moderate, roads were slick, it started to hail a bit and sting our faces. We were a muddy mess. John was nice enough to ride behind me to make sure my tire was stable. And, lucky for me it held out to the very end. Sopping wet, cold to the core we cruised into Vail to dry roads and sunshine. We had hit that storm at exactly the wrong time. But, it all just added to the adventure and it was a fabulous and extra challenging day.
No doubt that we slowed down a bit more this year due to regrouping, flat tires, weather conditions and pacing for injuries. But, I think it was by far the best Triple Bypass I have done. It tested my perseverance and strength and courage in new ways. And, it taught me a lot about myself- what I can handle emotionally as well as physically when conditions are not ideal. Turns out, I can handle a lot and still keep a smile on my face. I am proud of that.
Triple Bypass
Ride Time: 7:55:05
Miles Ridden: 106.60
Elevation Gain: 10,467 ft.
Normalized Power: 151 watts (2.81 watts/kg)
TriAptitude Coaching 
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