Guest Race Report: Wildflower

My swim coach Nick from Durapulse raced at Wildflower last weekend. He is a 6 time Ironman finisher with a sub-10 finish at Kona, he also got an IM slot by placing in his AG at California 70.3 a month ago. He is also someone I consider a friend in life and mentor in this sport. As part of his distribution list, I got his race report which he doesn't normally do but he wanted to impress on us just what it takes to do this sport even from front of the pack people like himself.

I was taken aback by the sheer honestly of the recap given his position as a paid coach talking to his clients. It takes tremendous selflessness to do this. The bravado is stripped bare and the essence of what it takes to be the man he is makes the transparent report all the more important.

I am continually blessed to have the people around me that I do in this sport. From Kevin at Tribe Multisport, to my brutha' Bolder and Benny and Nytro my regular callers to my awesome team mates at AZTRICLUB to my constantly growing stable of coaches and mentors all the way along to the people who bring me so much joy in my day, my Commenters. All of you affirm the goodness of this sport and the belief in humanity. Enjoy.

I competed in the Wildflower Long Course Triathlon in Lake San Antonio, California on May 5th. This triathlon is arguably one of the toughest half ironman courses in the world. Why did I decide to do it, for that reason. How tough could it really be? The Wildflower Triathlon Festival has been labeled "the Woodstock of Triathlon." This year was the 25^th anniversary of the race. Lake San Antonio is in the middle of nowhere and the most comfortable accommodations are the ones you bring. Imagine 20,000 camping tents lining the hills of Central California with bikes hanging from trees and "tri-geeks" everywhere. It is a great sight. The total number of athletes competing in the festival (three races) is around 8,000. The long course had 3,000 registered.

I arrived on Thursday evening with enough light to set up the tent for me, my wife, and my 2 year old son. Thinking that I would get a good night's sleep I blew up my comfortable air mattress and laid my head down. Little did I know, I had set up the tent right in the middle of the "Team in Training" camp site. They were up all night yacking away with no regard for me wanting to get sleep. It's my fault. I shouldn't have set up there in the first place. Anyway, Friday went well as I prepared for the race on Saturday. I rested and enjoyed the cooler than 100 degree temperatures. As the evening came I ate my traditional chicken and pasta meal. The wind started to pick up and the temperature had dropped to the 50's by 6 PM. No problem, we brought enough blankets. Wrong! The temperature got into the 30's that night. No longer was it camper's keeping me awake but my body shivering. I tried to tuck in close to my family but still kept me cold. 5:30 AM came pretty fast with only a few hours of sleep. Oh well, the race must go on.

I gathered all of my gear and rode the 1.2 miles on my bike from my tent to the transition area. I gave myself plenty of time to set up my gear, get body marked, and find a calm place to sit down and relax. About 15 minutes before my wave started I began putting on my wetsuit. They announced the water temperature to be 65 degrees and I was glad that I had a wetsuit. With 3,000 people doing the race there were a lot of waves. Fortunately for me I was in the third wave, right behind the professional men and professional women. The swim start is from a boat ramp. It is not an “in water” start. We are standing in between two boat docks spaced about 20 yards a part. I would say there were approximately 100 people in my wave. The first buoy was around 300 yards away before we made a right turn. Even with all of the open water preparation I have done I still felt overwhelmed this day. The gun went off and we all fought for a comfortable spot. That was a mistake. There is no comfort in a congested swim. For about 400 yards I swam with my head above the water trying to get in a groove. By that time I was extremely frustrated and slashing through the water without any form. Many doubts ran through my mind.

You see, the last time I raced was about a month ago in another half ironman triathlon. After the race I had decided that I needed to put more time into swimming. I had committed to swim at least 4 times a week in preparation for Wildflower. In the last month I have swam a total of 5 times. I figured I was a good enough swimmer and that I could "wing it." Never will I do that again. There has only been one other race in my triathlon career (over 100 multisport events) where I felt the swim ruined my race. And it certainly did because I DNF'ed that race. My only DNF. Well, the swim at Wildflower felt very similar. About half way into the swim I had this incredible burning feeling in my gut. It was so painful that I had to stop and do the breast stroke for about a minute to relax. I found a group to draft from that point but still did not feel right. In a triathlon there are a lot of emotions that go through ones head. "Why am I doing this?" and "I am never doing another triathlon" were statements that frequently can into my mind during the swim. I had to reach deep and move past the pain. The last thought that cam into my mind was "the swim is almost over and then it's time to bike." I am a much better cyclist than swimmer so I knew that once I came out of the water the race would begin for me.

As I exited the water I looked at my watch and saw that I was about three minutes slower than predicted. I was a little bummed but was glad that I came in as fast as I did. But, a triathlon is not always about time, especially when I still had to bike 56 miles and run 13.1 miles. I felt horrible coming out of the water, even to the point that I almost called it a day and chalked another DNF on my record. I fought the tendency and ran (jogged/walked) through the transition area with a heart rate of 185 bpm to my bike. I calmed down a little as I grabbed my helmet and bike. I was ready to move on in the race.

The day before I drove the bike course to get an idea of how hilly it really was. I had heard that it was a tough course and I wanted to preview the course to not be shocked on race day. There is a little 3-4 mile loop right out of the transition area that I had skipped on my preview drive the day before. I thought that it wound through the campground and would not be a threat on the bike course. I was sure wrong. The only part of the bike course that I did not preview was the most challenging part for me. A bad swim contributed to the pain on this first part of the course but if I would have known that this 6% grade of a hill that lasted a mile long was there I would have taken it a little easier right out of the water. Never before in a race have I experienced such painful cramps on the bike. My leg muscles began to contract on the front and the back. Usually when I cramp on the bike I stand up and stretch a little. It was more painful to stand than sit and I was climbing a hill so I couldn't stop pedaling to relax. I thought my race was over. I almost pulled to the side to walk my bike down the hill and turn in my chip. But the little angel on my shoulder told me to keep going. I suffered through it and made it to the top excited to find a long decent to recover.

The first 30 miles of the bike are rolling hills with a slight down hill grade. It's a nice time to pick up speed in preparation for the "nasty grade" at mile 42. I was expecting to get a good average speed on this part before my speed dropped to under 10 MPH on the uphill. To my surprise, and everyone else racing, there was an extreme headwind for this stretch of the course. It was so frustrating. I thought for sure that I would be able to make up a lot of time from my bad swim. On spots where I thought I would hit 30 MPH I was barely hitting 20 MPH. It did not help my mental game. The bike course is a loop so we did get tail wind but it came at a point in the race where tailwind did not matter, up the 6-10% hill. I would have much rather had tail wind on the flat part than the up hill section. The only thing I could do was stick to my heart rate and trust in my training. Everyone else had to deal with the same weather conditions so I was not alone.

After about 30 miles I felt that I had finally recovered from the swim. Yes, it was that bad. I was finally enjoying the race. The toughest part of the race was approaching and I was feeling great. The dreaded "nasty grade" or "heart rate hill" was in sight and I was ready to attack. I will be honest, it was not that bad. I rolled up the hill(s) without discomfort. With 5 miles to go I was envisioning transition #2 and the 13.1 mile run.

I ran out of T2 feeling really good. I knew that it was going to be a great run. One thing I did not do was preview the run course. I wish I would have for the same reason I wish I would have previewed the entire bike course. The run course was tough. The first three miles run next to the water along the same course at the off road triathlon. All I saw for the first 10 minutes was off road triathletes finishing their race. It worried me that I was on the wrong course. I did not see a single long course athlete. I trusted my instinct and kept pressing forward. If I was on the right course I was surely in a good position overall. About 2 miles into the run there was a turn around for the off-road athletes and the long course athletes needed to go straight. It was a big relief to see that. I ran by myself for almost 4 miles. The run course was beautiful. It was also challenging. At one point on a mile long hill another athlete passed me. He was clearly faster than me so I did not challenge at all. About half way up the hill he started to walk briskly. It was more beneficial for him to walk fast than to run. I did the same and my heart rate dropped about 4 beats, which gave me a chance to recover. I was feeling really good and was right on target to go under 90 minutes.

The course continued to go up and down through the trees. The scenery kept my mind off of the pain until around mile 6. At this point I felt a little cramping in my left hamstring muscles. This is something I have experienced before. In the past I have run through the pain and it has either gone away or dropped me to the ground in agonizing pain. I took a chance and ran through it. The day had been bad enough and I didn’t want to let anything else halt my progress. I slowed my pace a little and gradually the pain went away. It was such a relief. If I kept the same pace I could still have a decent run split. After that point I felt great. I was passed by a couple people in my age group, but found myself passing them towards the end.

At mile 10 there is a mile long downhill section that takes the athletes to a turn around. I could see my competitors running back up the hill that I was going down. It came as a mental shock that I had to run back up the hill I was running down. I knew I only had three miles to go so I kept pushing knowing that it would all be over soon. The very last mile of this course is a downhill section that is so steep that it forces you to run out of control. It’s nice to have a downhill for the last mile but it is a challenging downhill at the end of a very challenging course. The finish line was in sight and I eased up a little thinking that I was by myself. To my surprise the announcer started talking about someone besides me. I then realized that I was not alone. With 20 feet to go I was passed by another in my age group. I crossed the finish line grabbed a couple towels, some water and oranges and found a place to sit down. I was greeted by other athletes who did the race. It was nice to share stories about the swim, the wind, and the run. Really, that’s all it is now, a story.

I have always said that the swim in a triathlon can rarely make your race but it can certainly break your race. It certainly did that for me. I lost it in the swim. Even though it is a tough bike and run course I felt that it was the swim that kept me from hitting my goals. I am a little disappointed with my results. I did my best and I have to be satisfied with that. I will take what I learned from this race and apply to the next.

The most important thing that I have learned is that it takes hard work to complete and compete in a triathlon. My pride kept me from sticking to my training plan and I surely suffered because of it. When my coach tells me to do something I will most certainly do it. Will I swim at least 4 times a week from now on? Oh yes. My good biking and running skills got me to the finish line but my weakness in swimming caused me to suffer for 4 hours and 50 minutes on race day. The great thing about triathlon is that you can always improve. There are three sports to work on and everyone can improve.

Would I do this race again? Certainly, yes. I had a great time and recommend this race to everyone. It is one race that everyone who calls themselves a triathlete should experience. I feel so strongly about this race that I have already begun planning the trip for the team next year. Mark it on your calendars!

I saw Nick on Tuesday and he 'Ah shucked' his way through the grilling I gave him on the race. He finally fessed up that he came in 10th AG, 32 overall and 1st Arizonian (non-pro) at Wildflower.