So...this was the big one. Our friend Joel had done the Olympic-distance version of this race (1 kilometer swim 24 mile bike, 6 mile run) last year, and had been talking it up for several months. Lisa signed up for it back in December, Joel had already signed up, so I decided to sign up. When I had talked to all the tri-geeks about Wildflower, they assured me that if I was going to sign up for the race, then I should just buck up and sign up for the Long Distance course: 1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike, and a 13.1 mile run. In December, it sounded like a good idea....not so much on May 3rd, as I'm standing with a group of people getting ready to start the race...
The Wildflower Tri has the reputation of being one of the most grueling triathlons in the U.S., so even though I had done a distance like this once before, I knew that I had to train really hard for this race or else it would chew me up and spit me out. I felt like I had spent every Saturday in 2008 climbing onto my bike and going out for longer and longer rides. The funny thing, was that after a 60 or 70 mile ride, I was having trouble imagining running 3 miles, much less the half marathon that I would have to on race day.
Part of the fun of racing at Wildflower is that there are no hotels or places to stay within 50 miles of where the race takes place. So most of the people camp in the park right by the start line, and Lisa and I decided to do the same. Did I mention that Joel had opted out of the race? Tough times at work basically cut into all of his training, so he wasn't able to put the time in and decided not to come out for the race.
We set up a nice campsite, and decided that we would use the tent to store all of our stuff, and the sleep in the back of the Xterra. It was actually quite comfortable! My race was on Saturday so after getting up there on Friday and getting out race packets, we had a little premade pasta dinner, and called it an early night. My race started at 8 a.m. so I got to the transition area and found the spot to put my bike at 7:30 a.m. I noticed that there were a bunch of people around me taking pictures and looking over my shoulder. Thought it was a little weird, until I turned around and saw that I was right next to the rack that the pro's were setting up on. There was Chris McCormack, the #1 ranked pro triathlete and reigning Hawaii Ironman Champion. Pretty cool!
My race started, and everyone took off into the race chute into the lake. After getting kicked and grabbed in the first 50 yards of the swim, I finally found some space to start swimming my stroke. Uh, oh- I had space because most of the guys in my wave had gone ahead and were leaving me in the dust with a few other stragglers. Swimming in the lake was a welcome change from the usual ocean swims that I had done in other races, so I found my stroke and did my best to not panic about my 'turtle like' swim. 41 minutes later I was out of the water, and happy to have this leg behind me.
I consider cycling my main area of expertise of the three legs of a triathlon, so I was happy to get on the bike so I could actually pass some people. After mile 1 I hit the first climb. This hill was as steep as any hill I had ever ridden up. If I stopped peddling, I would've fallen over-no joke. I was already pouring sweat and could feel my heart racing, and I was only one mile 2!!! Luckily, after that mile it flattened out a while. The race course was actually really nice for a while. Rolling hills, a few of which I powered through in the big ring of my bike and was able to pass a few people. After 20 miles I was getting discouraged. As hard as I felt I had trained for this race, my glutes and back were already absolutely burning. I guess no matter how hard you train, when you're racing and in one position for over an hour, things are going to hurt. The race was going along as planned, until we hit mile 42, aka "heartrate hill." Just picture it: here I am feeling good, passing people slowly but steadily. I was climbing for about a mile and thought that I was really grooving going up this 6% grade. Then I round the bend in the road, and see that the road gets steeper, and seems to be another mile to go. Everyone I passed started passing me back, it would've been a perfect commercial for blowing all your energy a little too early.
I had to squint as I got to the top of the hill, but yes; in fact there was a guy dressed up like a pink bunny beating a large kettle drum for the riders as they got to the top. I was in another world after this hill, and feeling dizzy and a little bit like a broken man. I had 10+ miles more to go on the bike, but wasn't sure how I was going to be able to get through it. Finally...finally I saw the last downhill down to the transition area. I got to the transition and the people cheering were enough for me to get a little energy together to make a quick change into my running shoes. Lisa was right there when I came in, so I wanted to make a good impression for her and her friend Mark & Brian that had come to the race. I put on my best face and set out for the run, trying to look like I was feeling good.
After the first mile, I realized I was not feeling good. This was backed up by the cramp I got in my thigh-it was so weird to see one muscle completely tense on my leg as I was trying to run. I admit it- I did a lot of walking. Every time the trail turned up hill a little bit, I was dying and doing my best to try and just keep moving forward. One part of the trail was a huge uphill, equivalent to hiking in Topanga Canyon in Malibu. The worst part was on mile 9, I had to run down this hill, and I saw that at some point down the hill you had to turn around, and then come back up the hill. I later learned that this portion was called the "pit" and for me it was the pits. The road was steep and was a mile going down, just to turn around a cone and then start going back up again. I was hurting so much at this point that I started to play a game with myself going up the hill. I told myself if I could run 100 steps, then I would be allowed to walk 50 steps. I did this all the way up the hill, and somehow made it up to mile 11. The last miles were downhill, so I started picking up the pace towards the end, and then got to the last portion that was in the finishing chute. There was plenty of people lining the course and cheering, so I ran as hard as I could to cross the finish line. I was done! But when I came across and found Lisa, I couldn't find my breath. I could only spit out "chair. I need a chair..." because I started to see black and thought that I was going to go down. She grabbed a chair from some tent (what a good girlfriend...) and I sat down and tried to recover. Finally, the vise started to loosen around my chest and I could take normal breaths.
I can honestly say that I was physically beaten after this race. This was different than other things I had tried, because I knew what I was in store for, trained as hard as I could; and was still ruined afterwards. I vowed never to do it again....but after a nights sleep in the Xterra, and watching Lisa's race, I've started to think that maybe this would be a fun race to do in 2009...
