WIldflower Long Course 2007

Yes, we just did an Ironman three weeks ago, but no way were we going to miss our favorite race of the year, especially on its 25^th anniversary. Wildflower has become a part of us. We went to our first race (we did the Olympic course) back in 2000. We showed up Saturday night completely unprepared for camping. We had bought a couple of sleeping bags figuring on sleeping under the stars or in our car. It gets COLD & dewy at night at Lake San Antonio. Reality hit home once we arrived and we frantically bought a two person tent down at the general store. Since then, we’ve upgraded to the long course & we’ve added to our camping inventory. Every year, though, I always seem surprised at just how dang cold it gets there at night. Most years it’s freezing at night and oppressively hot mid day. Every couple of years, however, mother nature throws a curve ball. In 2003 it was a deluge of rain, and this year it was wind.

The night before the race, our tent was whipping around in the wind which was a first in our seven year stretch at Wildflower. The next morning, things were calmer, but then the wind really starting picking up again around 9am. Mike started the swim at 8:40 while I started at 9:20. The swim start was a first for me. The start line was on the beach & so a run and dive was warranted at the horn. We had these race starts all the time in Florida, so that was nothing new, but the fact that I was the first to dive in & then led the entire swim was entirely something new. Perhaps I was first in because I decided not to wear a watch (I didn’t want to be discouraged if I was slower than normal due to IMAZ), so I didn’t have to start it before diving in. At any rate, it was an anomaly not to have faster swimmers at Wildflower this year in the women’s 35-39! When I dove in I fully expected to get swum over and then would have plenty of pickings to draft off of. Nothing doing. There were two other women up with me, but they slowed down after the first couple minutes, so I was out in front. It was really enjoyable not to get kicked, slapped, etc. Just open water. Once I got around the first buoy I noticed that there was a sizable current & chop in the water. On the way out it was really fun - up and down on the waves, but I was also getting pushed forward. A first for me in Lake San Antonio. I remember a tiny chop in 2003, but usually the lake is glass & there’s no noticeable current at all. There were hoards of 30-34 women to swim through as well as other previous waves. After the turn around I even saw people over on the wall resting, which I’ve never noticed before. I fully expected a strong current and chop on the way back in, but it wasn’t as bad as it could have been. It reminded me a bit of the Alcatraz swim, but only in the sense that I couldn’t breathe on the right side (waves breaking in your face) and there was a noticeable up and down motion to the swim. No salt and no crazy cross currents disorienting you like at Alcatraz. At any rate, I was having fun. It was nice for a change to have a bit of challenge on the swim. Out of the water I enjoyed the crowd since I didn’t have a watch to look at :)

Swim 1.2 miles: 34:51 1/77 in age group, 401/1966 overall

Transition was smooth. Wetsuit off (always takes a bit of an effort), race belt on, sunglasses, helmet, and then a long drag on my inhaler before sticking it in my back pocket. Unracked my bike and headed toward the exit. My shoes were on the bike already. I always put my left foot in my shoe as I get on my bike & then the right one was easy to slip in once I got into the finish chute (you ride through the finish chute at the start of the bike). I looked at the clock as I was riding through the finish line - 1:57 and change. Since I started 1:20 after the first wave of pros, that means my swim was over 34 minutes. I thought “yikes!” since my swim has never been slower than 32 minutes at this race. Never mind, that would be the only clue the whole day on what my overall time was. I purposefully took my odometer off the bike and decided instead just to enjoy the day.

Transition: 2:18 4/77 (but temporarily still in the lead!)

I was pretty sure that I was out in front of my age group, so I decided to count how many people passed me & then barring some misses in the transition area, I could figure out what place I was in. After going through the finish chute, the paths that you ride on are narrow and in bad shape - pot holes and bumps everywhere. This is the stretch that I pinch flatted on back in 2005, and it’s in even worse shape now (I now use Tufo’s tubeless clinchers). Since the women’s start is so late you also have to contend with crazy mountain bike sprinters that share the same path for the first 2-3 miles. At the bottom of beach hill the mountain bikers go to the left on the trails while the long course veers right up Beach hill. Beware of mountain bikers cutting left in front of you & also turning around part way up the hill as volunteers & spectators scream at them “you’re going the wrong way, turn around!”. My advice is simply to stay as far right as you can as you turn the corner to go up the hill. Beach hill isn’t bad as long as you slip into your lowest gear and spin. It’s to early to mash up the hill as it’s a long, hilly ride. So, I took it easy and appreciated the spectators who had climbed the hill to cheer. Once up, it’s a pretty fun ride out of the park (just a couple of ups). Somewhere along that stretch I got passed by a 37-year-old. I was able to keep her in sight for another 10 miles or so, but then she took off. As we turned on the Interlake Road, we were hit with a lovely headwind. Shades of Arizona. I was hoping this meant we’d have a tailwind on nasty grade, but I was wrong. At any rate, the hills are mild on this stretch. The biggest problem was control on the downhills. Gusts would push your bike out of nowhere, so I was out of aero position on every downhill, whereas in years past it was no biggie to stay aero. I was so glad not to know how slow I was going in the headwind. I was enjoying all the wildflowers, but didn’t see any butterflies yet - a bit too windy on this stretch! As we turned on the Jolon Rd, I thought we’d get a crosswind, but shortly thereafter the road winds a bit and the wind became a tailwind. There were still some cross wind sections on Jolon, but for the most part I was flying. This section was exceptionally fun & although the super-fast women from the 40-44 age group were now passing me, I didn’t see anyone from my age group. Then we turned up Nacimiento and were once again with a cross/head wind. It was coming at an angle, but doable. It was here that I started seeing butterflies (my spiritual cheerleaders!). Butterflies always reassure me that I will finish and usually appear when I’m having mental difficulty with the race. One in particular did a full circle in front of me while I was climbing a hill, a beautiful orange and black butterfly that I’ve never seen before. I then got passed by two women in my age group, one following a safe distance behind the other. I kept them in sight for twenty minutes or so. We’ve now made the left turn, around mile 40-42, that takes you up nasty grade. Full blown headwind. Crap. Nasty grade in a 20 mile-an-hour headwind. Half-way up we see the energizer bunny. Now, I’m not one to complain about people supporting the race, but I was promised that the Energizer bunny would be at the TOP of nasty grade (by the race announcers before the race), not half-way up. So, it was cruel and unusual to turn the corner after the bunny and realize I still had to go up. This must have been particularly demoralizing for first time racers who didn’t know any better. There’s a little downhill before the last section of up in nasty grade where I shifted into my big ring. Along this stretch, I noticed a DEAD butterfly on the road in front of me. Dagnabit! Why did I have to see that? That can’t be a good omen. Not two minutes later as I was shifting back to my small ring, my chain dropped & was caught between the frame & the crank cog. I quickly stopped and got the chain back on (maybe 20 seconds tops?). Once I got back on the bike though, I couldn’t clip back in to my pedals. Before the race, we had to walk our bikes through some dirt trails on the way from our camping site to Lynch Rd. I should have stopped and taken my cleats off, but I didn’t. I have Speedplay cleats that do not work well if you get dirt and sand stuck in them. It took me ten minutes to get enough dirt out of my shoes in order to clip them in before the race. So now, I was having trouble clipping in again. It’s not fun to be unclipped on nasty grade, at the very least, it’s suboptimal. With some major effort, I finally clipped in with about 100 yards to go from the top of nasty grade. Well, I was hoping that was the reason for the dead butterfly, but decided I’d better take it easy down the other side of nasty grade just in case :). Last year, I was able to go down the evil winding steep grade on my aerobars (it felt comfortable). This year, with the winds whipping out of nowhere at any given moment, I held on to my brakes for dear life. About five minutes after the downhill I heard screaming sirens and a helicopter. Apparently, I had just missed someone using their face as a brake down the hill. Talking to another woman after the race who was there, a woman was flying down in the aero position when her bike got pushed with a crosswind, she hit the rear tire of a woman in front of her, sending herself over the aerobars and landing on her face. The other woman who’s tire had been hit looked like she had broken her femur. Please, if you are thinking of doing the race, make up the 10 seconds you’ll save flying down this hill somewhere else on the course. It just isn’t worth the risk. So, after this incredibly dangerous downhill, you have more hills to contend with. You think, I made it up nasty grade, I’m practically done. Wrong. Just realize that getting back to T2 is mostly uphill from here. Plus, on this day, you got the unusual privilege to do the last climbs with a head and cross wind. I was mentally fine with it, because I know to think of this last section as tough. You get two nice downhills, the first when you turn back in to the park and the last going down Lynch. With about two miles to go I got passed by another woman in my age group, so I was now in 5^th. I kept her in sight up to T2. I took my feet out of my shoes at the top of Lynch hill (you don’t need to pedal any more after you crest the top). Braked for dear life going down again, while watching some pros finish their race (you run down the same stretch before finishing). If you can peak a look, the scenery is unbeatably gorgeous on this hill, but my eyes are usually fixated on the task at hand.

Bike 56 miles: 3:12:54 9/77 in my age group, 677/1966 overall.

In T2, got off the bike OK. I really need to practice sliding my right leg to the rear of the bike, so I can just run off, but still haven’t mastered this enough to try it in a race. I had a short run to my rack. Racked the bike, removed my helmet, slipped on my running shoes (I don’t wear socks, I just smear a ton of vaseline inside my shoes), grabbed my visor and ran toward the exit.

T2: 1:30 1/77 in my age group

So, since I had a nice quick transition I was now back in fourth place. I only know this, because about half a mile into the race I got passed by the same person that passed me last on the bike. Okay, I was in 5^th again. But, the signs were not good for a fast run. I felt sluggish & after going up the steps out of transition, I had cramping in my quads (up by my insertion point at the knee). I had to stop jogging and massage them while I walked. This hasn’t happened since the first year I did the long course back in 2001. While I was hobbling along, another woman in my age group flew by at a good clip. Okay, so this must be a case of Ironman legs in combination with a lack of hill running in my training. Since I was nursing a foot injury during my IMAZ training, I did all my intervals on a treadmill and for the most part did my long runs on the flats. Hello, I was paying for that lack of hill training right now. Luckily, my quads warmed up to running (I was trying desperately not to use them & was trying to just use my hamstrings) and cramping wasn’t an issue the rest of the run. Again, I was so glad not to have my watch on. I’m sure I would have been mortified with how slow my first mile was. Instead of focusing on time, I looked to the volunteers and spectators & gave them smiles whenever I was able. When you take the effort to smile on the Wildflower course, the volume of cheers goes up tenfold! It’s well worth the effort. The volunteers at the aid stations were great & I took the time to thank everyone. There used to be a naked aid station around mile 4 (just before you go up the steepest, longest grade), but the past couple of years this station has been manned by mostly kids. Kids get so excited when you take a drink from them - it’s fun to watch and it reminds me to do my best since my kids are at home. A nice reminder to make the most of my race time while we are separated! The hill up between miles four and six sucks. It’s not bad at the bottom, but it gets progressively steeper and unless you are feeling really good, your “running” at the top isn’t any faster than walking. The naked aid station is now around mile 6 (?). There were two naked women and two naked men. I high-fived one of the guys, but really, unless you’re ripped, naked men are like that Seinfeld episode (there’s bad naked and good naked & men usually fall into the latter category). I’ll say no more on the subject. I was pleasantly surprised that there is a downhill from miles 7 to 8 and then 8 to 9 are pretty flat. At this point, you’re running through the campground and so lots of people are cheering as you go by. In the past I’ve remembered the entire run as being uphill from miles 0-12. Mentally, this is a good thing to say to yourself even though it’s not entirely true. The run is just so tough. So, miles 10-11 are an out an back section where you go up a hill, down, then back up and down. I had two more people in my age group pass me somewhere in this section, but I didn’t care anymore. I did see Mike as I was heading in to the turn around and he was heading out. He was about half a mile or so in front. Ah, my carrot. It took what seemed liked forever for him to actually be in sight up ahead. That helped me pick up the pace, and he seemed unusually relieved to see me (apparently he was making himself run until I caught up to him!). This was at the base of the last hill before Lynch. I muscled my way up the hill & was relieved that now I really was just about done. Luckily, my quads were okay with the pounding down the hill & I was able to “run” through the finish chute to the line. I was thinking that since I was 9^th in my age group, that historically that would mean my total time was around a 5:40 or so. The clock read 15 minutes later than that - again, I was so glad that I didn’t wear my watch! I waited in the chute for Mike so we could get a picture together. I knew that he’d only be a couple minutes behind me.

13.1 mile run: 2:03.21 16/77 age group, 699/1966 overall

TOTAL: 5:54:54 9/77 age group, 49/459 women, 538/1966 overall

Once I looked at the results, I was really happy to see that my bike was a PR! My previous best on this course was a 3:15 and change. Awesome that I was able to get a PR even with the wind.

I wouldn’t hesitate to take off my watch and odometer again.

So, after the race, we walked slowly up the hill to the campsite. They do have shuttles and bike transport up the hill, but it’s a good 45 minute wait. We talked to a Trek employee doing field research on tri bikes - he was asking why I bought the P3. I tried to state my case that not enough bike companies make small enough frames. I’m 5'4", but short-waisted so I need a short top tube. I was interested in Orbea, Trek, and Kuota, but none of them make a small enough frame. No matter, the P3C is probably faster than all of those anyways :).

Once we got back to camp, we noticed that the ROTC group from Montana (camped in the very cool army tent next to us) was grilling. The night before, they had let me borrow some bike tools and gave us some zip ties. Tonight, they were unbeatably cool as they let us eat their food and later dug out a trench as the camper next to us was creating waterfall of used water. Kelley (I think that was his name) invited us over, and we shared race tales. I love it when people do naively stupid things like pick the Wildflower long course for their first triathlon. I love it! The best thing about the cook out was the sausage - it was made from a wild boar shot after last year’s Wildflower! In past years, I’ve heard the boars outside of our tent before, snorting around and scaring me out of using the bathroom & now I was eating one :). Near the end of our meal, you could hear the shrieks in the distance coming from the naked college students as they do their annual streak through the campgrounds. Much to my surprise we learned from a proud ;) parent of one of these participants that they are all stone-cold sober. The funniest thing was one of the soldiers next to us yelled out to his superior, “I have to run naked, Sir!” “I need your permission to run naked, Sir!”. His officer answered something along the lines of, “Well, don’t let me stop you.” He and another guy ran after the group and returned about 10 minutes later, whooping at their experience. Only at Wildflower. We’ll be back again next year.