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Wildflower Triathlon - Olympic Distance
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Wildflower Triathlon - Olympic Distance - TriathlonOlympic
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 Swim
Comments: Took in a hammer gel before I got into water, my plan was to take one before the swim and before the run. Watched the first two swimmers come out of the water in 16 minutes, no way! There was a ton of wave starts so I did not get beat up like I expected. The start went smooth, for the first half I could not draft because everyone spread out too much and I could not catch up to the faster swimmers. I was afraid to expend too much energy so I kept my stroke long and relaxed. At the turn some people slowed so I was able to latch on to someone, I stuck with one guy for about a quarter mile the I finnaly had to pass him. Drafting sure does make the swim seem shorter, I really wish I could have done more. By this time the faster swimmers from other waves were passing through, so I was able to draft for short spurts. The last 300 yards I held back and focused on my kick to get the blood going in my legs. What would you do differently?: I could have finished stronger, but I learned my lesson last year, I held back and it was a much better T1 and bike start this time. I felt good at this distance thanks to Masters swim, I am continuing to work on my speed which I hope will allow me to draft more off the lead swimmers in the future.  Transition 1
Comments: It was an uphill ramp out of the swim and a good way from my bike. Hopped from swim finish to bike, there were plenty of stones to land on. After checking the other times I was right about average with this transition time. This transition area was huge. What would you do differently?: Practice more.  Bike
Comments: Its straight up from Lynch hill for the first mile, and the hills continue from there one after another. I managed to pass a few people at the begining, got passed twards the end by faster guys from later waves. After the swim this bike course is brutal, I kept praying for the last hill but they just kept comming, long and steep. 4mph tp 40 mph back to 4mph the whole course. I knew I had to hold some energy back, but the hills would not allow me to keep anything in the reserve tank! I drank two bottles of Infinit spaced by each half and a hammer gel about mile 24. Pete gave me a tip to spin comming down lynch hill, I found out that I cannot spin going 40 mph. He also said save some for the run, I did not do that either,sorry Pete I tried! What would you do differently?: I need more experience on different courses, I am ok at hills but not for this course. I was not able to take advantage of the downhills because I did not feel comfortable going over 40 mph. The uphills were long, very long, I managed to maintain a speed of 4 mph on most hills, could not go any faster,almost tipped over a few times. The road conditions were good, I only saw one flat.I was out of gas about 3/4 of the way through, it is too hard to pace on the bike because the hills force you to work hard whether you want to or not. Transition 2
Comments: Had trouble finding spot. What would you do differently?: Maybe a thousand less spots around me, and some bigger numbers on the bike racks.  Run
Comments: I felt good comming out of T2 so I just skipped the first aid station, huge mistake, but It was probably way too late at this point as I probably did something wrong up to this point. Shortly after that my lower back cramped up and reduced me to walking until I could no longer do that. Somehow I managed to make it to the second aid station and got some gatorade and it helped, it helped even more by the third aid station and at this point my lower back was in much better shape! Now it was my quads turn to act up, did the same drill again as before until that went away.I probably only maneged to run only two miles total, most of it twards the end. I run/walked the last two miles with Tom Gallo(Gallo Wines) he loves to train and we both paced each other as pitiful as we may have appeared.The last mile was all downhill to the finish, that runway is huge, I felt like I was at an IM or something. I crossed knowing I never gave up an a very hard course, Im sure it could have been worse but I can see a ton of improvement from last year, it was a great finish for me, but slow! What would you do differently?: Train better.Fitness,nutrition, bricks! Post race
Warm down: Walked all of my gear and bike up lynch hill! What limited your ability to perform faster: Training, nutrition,experience. Event comments: I will do this race again, maybe the long course in a couple of years. I will be ready next time , better prepared and better trained. Well orginized race but logistics suck and nobody can give any good info, now I understand why people camp, It wears you out getting around at the camp, you have to climb hills watever you do here. I'm glad I did this race, I think it will surely help me become a better athlete. It is painfully obvious that my focus needs to be on the second half of my races, I believe I have spent considerable time focused on the first half. It exposed some weaknesses that I was not aware of and reminded that I suck at running, that is going to change this year!I did some things right, I relaxed and enjoyed the race for one, met some great people and had a decent swim! Profile Album Last updated: 2007-11-07 12:00 AM
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 2008-05-05 12:24 PM |
 Modesto, California |  Subject: Wildflower Triathlon - Olympic DistanceThe plate is a banana honey crepe, it tasted soo good after the race I just had to get a pic, the pictures of the transition area is only half of the area, it was huge! Edited by nevergivin 2008-05-05 12:37 PM |
| 2008-05-05 2:03 PM in reply to: #1382346 |
Expert  1379   Woodland, California | Subject: RE: Wildflower Triathlon - Olympic Distance You really do have to climb hills to get everywhere, I camped in overflow and ended up walking all over the place. I definitely recommend camping though, it was a lot of fun. Congrats on your finish!! Edited by froglegs 2008-05-05 2:04 PM |
| 2008-05-05 2:13 PM in reply to: #1382346 |
Expert 892 | Subject: RE: Wildflower Triathlon - Olympic Distance Congrats... I've heard that course is an absolute bear! |
| 2008-05-05 3:34 PM in reply to: #1382346 |
Extreme Veteran 511 Budapest, Pest Megye | Subject: RE: Wildflower Triathlon - Olympic Distance Congrats! Fast swim time. I also had cramps in my quads after the bike. What a bummer! I was expecting to do high 6's on the run but I ended up doing 8's because I stopped 2-3 times... Those hills on the bike are pretty scary but what's more scary is that they are way harder on the long course! |
| 2008-05-05 3:53 PM in reply to: #1382346 |
Elite 2423 | Subject: RE: Wildflower Triathlon - Olympic Distance I sat looking at the picture trying to figure out what it was until I finally read your post about it. Thank Mr Gallo for Caro Rossi (Rhine flavor) next time you see him, I believe his parent brand owns Carlo Ross. It helped us much during college. |
| 2008-05-05 5:23 PM in reply to: #1382346 |
Master 1588 San Francisco | Subject: RE: Wildflower Triathlon - Olympic Distance Stuart, you did it! Way to go! It's a tough course for sure and that's part of what makes Wildflower...well, Wildflower and now you're a part of it and you should be proud. Way to stick it through to the finish. Love the pictures too. |
| 2008-05-05 6:00 PM in reply to: #1382346 |
| Regular 227 NorCal, near Lake Tahoe, Ca | Subject: RE: Wildflower Triathlon - Olympic Distance Good job. That sounds like a really tough, early season race. Congrats on getting it done! |
| 2008-05-05 11:48 PM in reply to: #1382346 |
Expert 683 Lafayette, CA | Subject: RE: Wildflower Triathlon - Olympic Distance Stuart--It was great to meet you before the race! It was a tough course-but I'm really glad that it wasn't 20 degrees hotter. It is funny that you and I were the only two losers down there 3 hours early! Congrads on an excellent race. Very well done! |
| 2008-05-08 8:40 AM in reply to: #1382346 |
 Veteran 126 Delaware | Subject: RE: Wildflower Triathlon - Olympic Distance Hey Stuart, Way to hang tough with the run at the end. Look on the bright side, at least you didnt have any gear stolen before the race, and nobody crashed into you!! |
| 2008-05-08 5:58 PM in reply to: #1382346 |
Champion 7546 Santa Cruz, California | Subject: RE: Wildflower Triathlon - Olympic Distance Nice job! Sounds like you had a very successful race once you found where it was! why do not all races end with such yummy food?!? CONGRATS ON A GREAT FINISH!!! KIU! |
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United States
Tri-California
60F / 16C
Overcast
Overall Rank = 1600/2398
Age Group = 40-44
Age Group Rank = 128/157
I stayed with family so I had about an hour and a half drive from Salinas to get to the race. I registered the day prior and it was very hectic with the Mountain Bike race and the Half IM so I still was not quite sure where to park or how to get to the transition area without getting lost. After taking the wrong exit for about 25 miles then backtracking for another 25 miles, I arrived at the race, parked , walked with bike and gear for about a half mile until I was allowed to ride down lynch hill. It was cold, dark,and I was going almost 40 Mph with all of my gear on my back, too fast and too early for me so I had to ride the brakes on the way down. I expected to be one of the last at the transition because of my detour, I was the fourth one out of a couple of thousand. Well it was 6am and 50 degrees and my wave did not start for another 4 hours, now what! I froze, only for about three hours though! I was able to go to the bathroom about sixteen times, I only had a half a cup of coffee, whats up with that? Got to meet Peter (PeterAK) and his fiance, best wishes to you and thanks for the tips Peter, I could not do what you said,the bike course took its toll on me!
Half mile walk,and a mile bike downhill getting to transition was enough for me other than some light stretching before I put on my wetsuit and the also the quick out and back swim before wave start. As the transition area filled up it was an amazing site, what a huge event! All of my neighbors were in my age group, as it turned out the guy from Golden Gate Tri club (Bosco)was the winner in our group around us, he did well on the bike, he told me that he does allot of hill work.