Wildflower Triathlon - Olympic Distance - TriathlonOlympic

This was my best open water swim yet. Felt strong and confident but frustrated at the bad navigation on the way back in.

Swim a better line on the way back in!

My transition spot was closer to the swim than the bike so I had to run quite a ways with bike shoes on. Wet suit got stuck on both feet in spite of copious amounts of body glide on my ankles and the outside of the suit. Went 20s faster than last year.

Roll socks on rather than pull them on.

Three minutes faster than last year. Flying on the downhills and flats but struggling to hang on on the climbs. My gearing was definately too steep for this course.

Should have used the cassette from my road bike which is a few teeth bigger.

23s faster than last year. Good hustle.

Had three gels in my running had thinking I would choose flavors. Ended up taking all three without thinking. Should have just had two in there.

Ouch. Thighs were toasted. I knew this would be a rough run for me when I did a 15 minute warm up the day before. Thighs have been very tired for days and with the efforts to learn a new running style I don't think the right muscles are developed yet. That said, I didn't think it would be this bad. Plan was to walk up the tough hills and easy jog the rest. Had stomach cramps in the first half mile that lasted until about mile four. Limiting factor was definately leg strength. Even the run down lynch hill at the end was slower than last year as I didn't have the power to control myself well on the downhill.

I'm sure this will get better as the season goes on. If I had gone a bit easier on the bike, not gone all out in last weekends 8k, started my running season earlier, and ran more hills, this could have been better.

Walk, stretch, Hammer Recoverite, banana, water, egg roll.


Hammies and quads. See above.


Wildflower is an amazing event. The vibe is fun and the people are energetic. Very well run, on time, good support. Fun camping and a beautiful site.

This is my third year at this event with my brother and mom. My bro is a strong swimmer and runner but I'm faster on the bike. I caught him at mile 21 on the bike and he got me back about a half mile into the run and stayed with me the rest of the way. Super fun running with him and finishing together--can't wait to see the finish pics.

Met MadKat in transition before the race, sorry I didn't catch you at the end MadKat, hope you had a grat race! Recognized JWryals in the finish chute and introduced myself. Nice meeting both of you guys even though it was brief.

NUTRITION: Followed coaches strategy of an aero bottle of Perpetuem on the bike, Hammer gel near the end of the bike, and two more gels on the run. Worked out well, grabbed a water bottle at the last aid station on the bike to wash down the gel. Cheated a little bit on the run and had a little bit of Gatorade at two of the stations--the sugary goodness was callin' my name. A big improvement over last year is that my stomach was not upset after the bike. I hope this is due to the change from Gatorade to Perpetuem. Took on lots of water after the finish, would have been interesting to see how much water I lost during the race.

Bro and I both rocked the Tri Donkai kits, totally fun hearing people yelling for Tri Donkai.