Race Report-Wildflower Long Course: May 5, 2007

About the Course (from the website):

The Wildflower Long Course Triathlon is one of the premier triathlons nationally and internationally. The 1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike and 13.1 mile run is one of the most challenging courses anywhere. Beach Hill, Nasty Grade, Polar Heart Rate Hill and the back country trail run will test the skills of the professional, elite, age group triathlete and the first time long course competitor. (Really-it's hard!)

Pre-Race:

I was really not mentally prepared for this race. I was in Mexico the weekend before and then went to a conference during the week and left after work on Friday. We got to the campsite (yes you camp for Wildflower) at about 8 PM as the sun was setting and there wasn't much light. We set up our tent, talked to some teammates and then went to bed. Normally the night before a tri I get all my gear ready, check my bike, and get all my supplies together. Since it was too dark to do that, I set my alarm for 5:30 to do it in the morning.

I was awakened at 5:15 by the people in the next tent over giggling. I got up and prepared my gear, ate some Cheerios, and went to the bathroom. I woke Shaun up at 6 and by 6:20 we had our backpacks strapped to our back and we rode our bikes the 2 miles to check-in and transition.

This was Shaun's first triathlon (he did the Mountain Bike course) and so we checked in together, got marked, and then went to find our spots for our bikes. I accidentally set all of my gear up at 2211 instead of 2111 and had to move it all (oops!). But by 8 am we were all set up and ready to go. I had a 9:10 start time and Shaun had a 9:45 start time. I talked with some of my teammates, visited the porta-potties (numerous times), and looked at the swim course. At one point I turned to the guy next to me and said "Crap, how many loops do we do?" (I was that unprepared) and he said "One. You can do more if you'd like."

I went to get my wetsuit on (it takes me a good 30 minutes to get it on properly). I glided like a mo-fo. I didn't want any of the chaffing that I had had after San Diego. I glided everywhere (or so I thought).

As I was walking down to get ready for my start, I looked over at Shaun and said "I'm nervous. I haven't thought about this race at all." Normally, before a race, I visualize it, I think about what I'm going to do. Ummm....not this race.

Five minutes before our start we were allowed to get in the water and test it out. I got in and was instantly pleased that it wasn't salty. It's in a lake and all my open water swimming thus far this year has been in salt water. I swam around and then got ready to start. This was my first time starting out of the water. I was in the front (and didn't want to be there but no one was letting me move) and the horn sounded.

Swim

Those girls went running and jumping in the water! So I did too. It was craziness at the start. I would say for the first 5 minutes it was just bodies on bodies. I was swimming over people, people were swimming over me-it wasn't fun. But after that first five minutes I got into the groove and started swimming. No shoulder pain and I was just taking it easy. I kept saying to myself "This is just training, it's not a race." It seemed like the turn around point took forever to come. But come it did. Once I turned around the waves started. Now, I was in a lake. Where were these huge waves from? They were bigger than waves I've experienced in the ocean. They were crazy. All I could think was "Poor Shaun, he's going to hate these waves." I normally swim really close to the buoys but the waves pushed me pretty far away. I spent a good 5 minutes trying to get closer to the buoys. And then I saw the swim finish and decided the faster I went the faster I could get out of the waves and I turned it on.

The swim felt great-I was in the best mindset I have ever been and it's because I told myself to take it easy. AND, I had a good swim time (even with the monster waves)

0:39:25

Bike

As I was leaving transition, I hear "And some of the first girls are getting out on the bike course, there goes Chelsea Titus, from San Mateo" So I knew that I had had a pretty good swim and that made me happy. I did have some trouble with my shoes but I got them off and off I went. The beginning of the bike course is really hilly. But I settled in and I climbed. On one of the hills my chain decided to fall off (Great) and so I pulled over to fix it. I had two people in the race ask if I was okay. That's just what kind of race this is-tons of camaraderie. I finally got out onto the flats and knew that this is where I could get in aero position and go a good 23-24 mph. Ummm, not so. There was wind and lots of it. I was pushing and going 15 mph...it sucked!!!

I finally got to make a right (at about mile 20) and the wind subsided a bit and I was able to settle in and ride. That felt nice. And then another right, where I had to start getting ready for Nasty Grade (that means it's steep). I had a girl pass me who was so encouraging and we started talking. She was from Boise and just was happy to be out. The whole group of us started chatting and it was fun. The one thing that really struck me about this race was how nice everyone was. There are a lot of people that do the race and you're constantly around people and everyone talked. That made it really fun. Plus the volunteers all dressed up. I went by an Aid station that was Disco themed. I saw someone dressed as Bono (mask and everything) and then at the bottom of Nasty Grade there was a guy in a pink bunny suit, dressed as the Energizer Bunny. It was hot and there was this guy in a pink furry suit-pretty cool.

I got to the top of Nasty Grade and ate my peanut butter sandwich-yum. And then it was all basically down hill from there. One of my coaches (Dorrette) passed me at about mile 54 and said "Dang girl, you're strong on the bike." I was thinking "Umm...you're passing me, you're stronger."

With the wind and all the hills, my bike time was 3:25:35 (16.3 mph)

Run

I got in and there was Shaun waiting for me in transition. All through the bike I was looking at my watch and trying to figure out what part of the race he was on. I knew that he should be done in about 2 hours and I was hoping I'd see him. There he was, cheering me on. I asked him how he did and he said "GREAT!" and then I was off on the run. This run is all hills. There are barely any flat parts. I just told myself, keep your feet moving. I had a guy that I saw on the bike (who had the longest legs I have ever seen), come up and say "Nice, strong bike ride." I guess I'm a strong bike rider ;)

So I settled into the run. I knew the course and I knew that mile 4-6 were the worst. I started talking to some people and felt really great. I climbed the huge hill and never stopped running. I would say that I only saw about 3 other people running this hill. I passed about 30 people and they all said "Good job, keep going" At the end of the hill I got quite the surprise! There was a group of about 10 people cheering us on-NAKED!!! The girls were definitely worth it-the boys-not so much. Yeah-not a stitch of clothing on. I really hope they all had sun screen on (sidenote:Shaun was really bummed that he didn't get any naked people on his race). I had a good 7 miles to go but I felt great. I just kept pumping it out and I had a big smile on my face and all the spectators were yelling for me and saying things like "GGTC (I had a uniform on), keep that smile going, you look great" The Aid stations also had people spraying us down with water and dunking us with 5 gallon jugs. Everytime I got that I would say "I love you" because it was hot.

Well, with 2 miles to go, I looked down at my watch and it said 6:10:00. I thought to myself "Holy Shit! I can finish at 6:30!" I had set the goal for myself that I wanted to finish under 7 for this race since it was so difficult. But when I saw that I could do 6:30, I pushed myself. UP that last hill and then ran hard down hill. With about a quarter mile to go, I felt really good so I sprinted to the finish line.

Run Time: 2:20:23 (pace 0:10:42)

Total Time: 6:30:16 Placed 34 out of 96 (top third!)

This was the most relaxed I have ever felt. It was a great race and it re-affirmed why I do this. I had a great time and love racing :) Here's to IM CDA!!!!