Wildflower Triathlon - Long Course - Triathlon1/2 Ironman

If there's one thing I'm going to practice a lot this season it's open water swimming since I'm horrible at it. In a pool I'm good, but get me in open water and I have trouble navigating and sighting. It also takes me too long to get into that swim groove and fully extend my reach for better gliding.

A funny story. A friend was telling me the warm up swim before the start I should pee in my suit to get it out of the way. I can't seem to pee in open water anymore, even when I go surfing. However, after getting out of the water in prep for the start I'm able to pee and do it. No one's the wiser. It's not like the pee runs down my leg or anything.

I would get in a lot of open water swims in preparation so that I'm fully comfortable in open water, and work on my sighting. Too often I'll swim off course either due to my stroke or not sighting often enough. I'm sure I can cut my swim time by 10 minutes if I work on it. Next year!

I'm normally very quick with transitions, but I wanted to take my time. This is my first half iron distance race and I wanted to make sure I didn't forget things. Better to take a couple more minutes now than suffer later. No flying mount for me this time.

I think now that I have some experience with longer courses I'll finish transition a lot faster.

I have a big problem. When I ride longer than 10 miles I get a sharp pain on the left side of my neck and shoulder. I suspect it's a pinched nerve, and it's a consistent situation. This happened to me around miles 10-25 and it sucks so much I can't turn my head left without being in lots of pain. Strange thing is after awhile it got better, enough to finish the ride comfortably. I don't think it's a situation where I just need to spend more time in aero since it's not soreness. It's a sharp pain. I really need to see a chiropractor or physical therapist.

I would take more risks on the downhills. Because of bike accidents earlier this year I'm still not 100% comfortable, but I'm getting there. Switching from road to tri bike also takes some getting used to. I also need to get my left shoulder/neck checked out since time in the saddle could make it worse, not better.

Again like T1 I took my time. This was going to be a tough run so I wanted to take nutrition with me. I took a small water bottle from my Nathan fuel belt to fill at aid stations.

I'll be faster next time since now I have some experience.

I am not a fast runner, but I'm getting better the more that I do it, and I'm enjoying it a lot more than when I started doing triathlons. The first 7-8 miles were tough but fun with lots of beautiful scenery. I'd power walk some of the steeper hills and be just as fast as some of the people running up them. I thought I was doing well until around mile 9, but fatigue caught up with me. There's a part in the run that goes through the TNT area, and there was NO WAY that I was walking during that part.

My legs were shot by The Pit. I had to do a run/walk mix more often than I wanted after that. I was tired even on the downhill part. Normally on downhills I pick up the speed, but the last mile on the course I was so tired that my legs felt like lead.

I think I took in too much fluid on the run when I should have took more on the bike to prep for it. I would fill my little bottle with water or gatorade at every aid station so that I would sip every 10 minutes, but I think I drank too often. It being hot didn't help matters.

I got lots of food but didn't each much until I settled down. My quads were sore so I went to the med tent to ice them down. Going to the grassy field to lie down for a few minutes really helped.


Experience. The more I do it, the better I get.


I did this race with Team in Training as "preparation" for the Vineman full course. So far this was one of the toughest physical experiences of my life. I was hoping for a finish between 6-7 hours. I barely missed it, but upon finishing I was just happy I finished. I said to a friend, "I think I'm done with Wildflower. I don't need to do this again." However, a few days later I was already planning on beating my time. I guess I'm a glutton for punishment.

All of us at Ironteam Los Angeles pretty much stayed for the entire race and cheered in all our teammates, as well as those not on Ironteam. It was an awesome time, and I'm sure all those people appreciated it as well. I even helped the volunteers take racing chips off.