I was convinced that I was not going to race Wildflower this year...I had a spot... I paid for it but I've been a bit down after injuring myself at Oceanside a few weeks back. I've not been able to run much since Oceanside.. I was limited to two 30 min runs and one 45 minute run a week.. I didn't think I could possibly feel good or ready about the WF Long Course.
Tuesday rolls around and I'm thinking.. hm.. maybe? Wednesday rolls around and I'm still thinking about it.. Thursday comes and done.. I'm going!
Race plan given to me by coach was .. swim hard.. ride hard.. and do as much of the run as I can.. he mentioned something about taking as long as 3 hours to run/walk the run if I wanted to.. just make it an aerobic workout. I am thinking,"aerobic workout? Wildflower? what?"
So Saturday arrives.. and here we go...
Swim- 57:30 - sighting was poor... choppy waters with waves constantly over my head which made for taking in more water than i am used to/want to. oh well can't dwell on that now.. have a ride to do!
T1- 3:22- look at that..that might be a PR T1 for me at WF?!
BIke- 3:56:52- oh that bike felt hard.. i felt like i was getting hit with wind most of the day.. head wind.. crosswinds were tough.. no tailwind to be felt. high heart rate through bike ride.. but since coach told me to just ride hard.. i didn't pay attention to heart rate. the crosswinds were a bit scary as i thought the wind would take my wheels out at any given time esp descending. my bike computer wasn't working so i had no idea how fast or slow i was going. scary moment on the bike aside from crosswinds while descending were the big trucks carrying tanks driving into our shoulder lanes.. what the heck tri cal? can't you afford to close the roads for a few hours for the safety of a few thousand people?! Just a thought...!
Moment of the bike.. up nasty grade was where I passed a bunch if folks even prompting a comment from one of the racers I passed, "smooth pedal stroke." Giggle :-)
Bike nutrition- water at water stops otherwise 265 cal bottle infinit per hour.
T2- 3:48
Run- 2:47:05- took it a mile at a time.. wanted to and was expecting to stop after the meadow leading to the top of lynch but nothing was hurting so kept going... i felt a bit lethargic at the beginning of run though.. for the first 1.5 hours i would say. chiro therapy... pre-race massage... took multiple ice baths.. and compression socks on the nights prior to race = calve pain gone! The pit was a lot longer and farther down than I had remembered...
Run nutrition- water/gatorade switched with water/gel but took in more gel than normal because i felt like i needed more.
Overall--7:48:37... 40+ minutes slower than my last Wildflower two years ago but also tougher conditions this year. Here's to the aerobic workout my coach wanted me to get in this weekend... except there was nothing aerobic about Wildflower but I continue to learn through these events! Overall, a fun weekend in the woods, on the race course and catching up with friends old and new.
Next year is the 30th Anniversary of the event... yours truly is happy to say.. I will not be participating!
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