Race Report - Wildflower Long Course

Ok, picking up where I left off the other day…  Here at last is my Wildflower race report.  I figure I have at least a week after the event to get these up, so I don't want to hear any complaints.  I might be including a bit too much detail, but unlike a med school application, there is no word limit to a blog entry!  Haha!  So I can be as verbose as I want and you suckers just have to deal with it!

What I mean is, I hope you will deal with it.  I’m not trying to scare away my readership.



The Play-by-Play



I'm that one.



The gun went off and I scampered into the water like a little chipmunk who is afraid of getting wet.  Hardly the authoritative starting point I needed, but as I’ve mentioned time and time again, swimming isn’t exactly my strong point, and the pro field is notoriously rough in the opening minutes.  So rather than position myself at the front of the bunch and have people claw and pound their way over the top of me for the first 200 meters, I opted to hang at the back upon entry.  Don’t know if that was the best idea or not.  I may try the alternative next time and see if that helps me find a swim pack.  This time I definitely did not.  I’m a third pack swimmer on a good day, so I gunned it for the first few minutes and looked around for a small group to form.  That never ended up happening, at least as far as I could tell with my mediocre open-water swim sighting.  So I ended up swimming alone for pretty much the whole thing.  I did find this one guy for about 100 meters, but he was zig-zagging all over the place, giving me a headache.

Can't see much here, but this is the turn-around midway through the swim course.

At this point I should probably reiterate the theme for the weekend: that this was a rookie pro debut in every sense imaginable.  In fact, the first hour of the race was basically amateur hour:

Amateur Moment #1: On the home stretch of the swim, I could see a girl in a canoe slowly creeping in front of me.  At first I was irritated.  What does a guy got to do to get a straight swim course?  Didn’t she know I was one of the ridiculously fast pro males?  Then I saw her pointing, and realized I was veering pretty dramatically off course – my mediocre swim sighting continues.  Turns out homegirl was trying to save me from swimming to shore about 600 meters too soon.

I exited the water and glanced at my watch.  27 minutes flat!  Not fast, by pro standards, but my fastest swim ever by about a minute and a half, and not totally out of the race!  Time in the pool this fall and winter is paying off.  I had no idea where I was in the field, but I was pumped.  Unfortunately, then amateur hour continued...

The best picture from the race, running up the ramp into T1, thanks Mowra!

Amateur Moment #2: I had to actually sit down on my ass and peel my wetsuit off around my ankles, like a little girl struggling to take off her rain boots.  So I lost about 25 seconds in T1.  Easy fix though, time to snip my wetsuit at mid-shin.

Mounted my black stallion, stormed out onto the bike course, wheels seemed to be holding, nice, but then…

Amateur Moment #3: Somehow the velcro strap holding my aero drink bottle between my forearms came loose.  The bottle was bouncing all over the place for the first mile or so, until I actually stopped and re-threaded the fricking thing.  Wasn’t going to hassle with that for another 55 miles.  Lost about 30 seconds and got passed by two dudes.

Back on the bike, things seemed secure, started to hammer to regain my position, then things started going up on me.  And I mean up.  The first hill was probably the steepest of the day…

The first hill up from the reservoir. Ouch.

Amateur Moment #4: My legs could not turn the pedals with any kind of speed.  I felt like I was dragging my bike all the way up that first hill.  Then I got to the top and looked down.  Turns out, I actually was dragging my bike!  My rear brake pad had been rubbing on my disc the entire way up.  No wonder!  Stopped again and adjusted my brake, lost another 40-45 seconds (not including the extra time to get up the stinking hill), passed by two more dudes.

Finally things were clicking.  I settled into a rhythm and did my best to chip away at the positions I’d given up.  I’m slightly embarrassed to admit I had Kanye West’s “Power” on a loop in my head.  But really only two lines of it.

“At the end of the day I know I’m killing this $hi%,

And I know damn well y’all feeling this $hi%!”

Knock Mr. West all you want, but there is no denying that the guy is a talented lyricist.  Would have been nice to get the rest of that song going, but I don’t know much else to it.  The mind is a funny thing during a race.  When it’s deprived of oxygen you never know what wacky stuff is going to surface.

There was a tough headwind for a few miles, sharp right turn around mile 20 and it became a quartering tail.  Add to that a slight 1-2% downgrade for a few miles and I had…

Pro Moment #1: I was crushing down that slight grade and began to hear a “wrr wrr wrr wrr” sound.  I thought it was a helicopter or race referee on a motorcycle at first, but then I realized it was my own disc wheel.  BOOYAH!  That is the sound they make when they are really spinning.  If you haven’t heard it, take my word for it, it’s awesome.  My wheels didn’t give me any more grief the rest of the bike leg, so all things considered, I came away pretty lucky having never ridden them before.

I wish I could say the amateur moments stopped there, but unfortunately there were a few more.

Amateur Moment #5: On a particularly long and bumpy downhill section, I heard a “plop” sound behind me and turned my head to see my bottle of electrolytes spiraling off the pavement and into the grass.  Ejected by my saddle-mounted bottle holder, I knew it!  I yelled “shucks” or something to that extent.  No biggie, was able to grab bottles as needed for the rest of the ride.

I came into the bottom of the nasty grade, right around mile 40, feeling pretty good but definitely fatigued.  I convinced myself that I ride up far worse hills all the time in Portland and went to work.  It hurt, but I passed a couple guys and as I hit the crest…

Pro Moment #2: I got fired up and with a huge grin I started hollering and yelled “What hill!?”  The fans and spectators at the top loved that, they really got into it and their cheers pushed me up and over the final 100 meters.

It is nasty.  Just nasty.

Fortunately I saved something for the last 10 miles, because the climbing doesn’t stop at the top of nasty grade, as you can see above.  I was able to reel in a couple guys on the remaining hills and hit T2 feeling pretty good.

Having never ridden that tough bike course, I goaled myself a 2:30 on the bike and ended up riding 2:33:38.  Subtract my amateur moments and inject a little course familiarity and I know I can ride it much faster next time.  But still I thought my overall goal of 4:20 was within reach as I exited transition with my total time at 3:03 and counting.  I knew it was a tough run course, but I felt confident I’d be able to hold 6 min pace and lay down a sub 1:20 effort.  I eased into the first mile, took a gu and split myself right at 6:00.  Solid.  Thinking about the next 12 miles, I set myself up mentally for 2 x 6 miles and the goal of an even split, 36 minutes per side.  Seemed doable.

I was wrong.

Around mile 3, beautiful if you can actually focus on it.



The first half of the run course, while stunning to look at, is an absolute bear.  By mile 3 I had fallen off the pace, and that’s when things really get steep.  Miles 4-6 basically made me want to take my own life.  I started asking myself I became a professional triathlete.  Why not a professional surfer?  Or maybe beach volleyball?  At the steepest part I actually made the conscious decision to walk, so that was rough.  (Later I felt better about it, because turns out many of the pros walk that section, including overall winner Jesse Thomas.)



Who came up with this nonsense?



The second half of the run started to feel better and the legs started to turn over a little easier.  Then I hit the campground section, miles 7-9, and my entire race was redeemed.  This is without a doubt the best 2-mile section of any run course I have ever raced.  The Wildflower campground is like the Garden of Eden.  You hit it feeling like complete garbage, but you are instantly transformed by the throngs of cheering campers and supporters.  You run past tents and aide stations, people are yelling their heads off, you just have to raise your eyes to the skies and thank God for the power of people.  I felt like I flew through that section.  I was cracking jokes, high-fiving kids, thanking people for the support.  Sunday at Wildflower is a big collegiate event, so there were college kids everywhere, including the infamous Cal Poly campground.  I was taking hits from squirt guns, pounding water over my head, jokingly asking the kids for whiskey.  Truth is I felt great, and was just thrilled to be in that moment.  I clicked off a couple 5:30 miles and didn’t look back.

Just entering the campground.  Oh my god oh my god oh my god!

Miles 10-12 are brutal again, but that close to the finish line you just have to give it everything.  The final mile drops you right down Lynch Hill to the reservoir and the finishing chute, which will be your fastest mile of the day if you can avoid a faceplant.  I hit the line with a smile and relief washed over me as I embraced Maura and offered my congratulations to the race winner.  Ended up running 1:23:41, which is the only part of the race I can actually say I’m disappointed with.  Need more run training.  But overall time for my first crack at this challenging course was 4:28:17, good enough for top 25, so I’m pretty OK with it.

Cooked, but happy.

Take Aways

A lot went very well on raceday, but definitely a lot of things to take away and learn from.  Which is what you hope for at your first race of the season, especially if it also happens to be your first pro race ever on one of the most challenging courses in the business and against one of the toughest fields the sport sees all year long.

My run training is where I’m coming up short at the moment.  No surprise there as I’ve pretty much just been doing base mileage type stuff for the past 4 months.  I will make some changes in the coming months and incorporate some speedwork to hopefully get a good run put together in time for my last couple outings this season.  Also some tweaks I can make to my nutrition plan, but nothing too major.  At this race specifically, I think I will do much better in the future because knowing the course is hugely important here.

Another image from the wonderful-but-still-sucky run course.

But enough of all those little details.  I know that’s not why you hordes of devoted fans are reading my blog.  That stuff is for me to ponder and keep to myself, not bore you all to death with.  I think the biggest take away is that WILDFLOWER IS THE BOMB!!!  What a fricking fantastic event.  It’s hard for me to convey in words what it feels like to be a participant.  The 30 year history, the brutally honest race course, the tough competition, the hilarious/fun/communal/supportive/collegiate atmosphere and vibe… it just doesn’t get any better.  I truly cannot wait to do it again next year.  I wish it was next May already.

Also a big take-away for me, and one which gives me great satisfaction, is the way the legs recovered in the days afterward.  Yes, Sunday was a struggle, but I biked to work on Monday and by Thursday was even ready for a cruisy little evening run.  I know there is some fatigue deep down in there, but hopefully that will be gone in another week, just in time for my next race… in Florida!  How 'bout them apples!?

Thank Yous

I’m sorry this is so long.  But you know that you can stop reading at any time, right?  I mean, I’m not twisting your arm here.  I need to end with a few thank yous.

The biggest one goes out to Dixie, Kendra, and all the fine folks at Tri-California, who made me feel like a rock star all weekend.  They put on a fantastic event.  But more than that, as a first-time pro, I was so appreciative of the way they treated the elites that were there to race.  Dozens of emails answering all my questions, a reserved camping space so I didn’t have to fight the crowds, wonderful meals for breakfast lunch and dinner, I could go on and on.  They truly run a classy operation and I couldn’t be more thankful for all of their hard work.  I hope to return for years to come.

Second big thank you goes out to my lovely girlfriend, Miss Maura Lynch, who was with me from start to finish on this one.  I think there are probably very few people in the world who would be willing to put up with me on such an intense adventure for 4 straight days.  Not to mention that 30+ hours of that were in a very confined space (my car).  I really appreciated all of your help and support.  I owe you more than just a few lattes.

I call this one the "sneaking wombat"

Quick shout out to the Best Bike Zone in Paso Robles for your help with my rear disc fiasco.  You guys have a good thing going on there.

And last but not least, everyone who participated in this event, especially all of the volunteers who trekked out to the Middle-of-Nowhere, CA to make it all possible.  Crazy college kids can have fun no matter what they are doing (I remember), but thanks for spending your weekend at the reservoir and carrying me through the end of the run course.  And all of you blog readers and twitter followers, I had you in the back of my head the whole time, which believe it or not is hugely motivating.  Whenever I started to feel like a pansy I thought “Oh man I’m  going to have to answer for this, the people won't be happy.”  Which always helped me find another gear.  You help me more than you know!

Good grief, this is long enough.  Going to take a break now.  Florida in a little over a week.  Looks like a great race and another solid field, including Lance Armstrong.  So stay tuned!

I love your comments and any feedback, so please keep it coming.  Thanks for reading!

Andrew