Wildflower race report - Triathlon Week

**daphne** · 05-02-2005, 11:17 PM

I may not have broken a course record but I clocked a personal best!!! Yes..triweek triathletes..I did it!!! I cut 29min overall from my last year's olympic course time.

my times:
3:26:15 0:32:13 0:03:43 1:39:40 0:03:07 1:07:32

I went to the race feeling very grateful and so lucky that I was even able to race after my kneecap injury. My goal was to have fun, enjoy the swim, and gain more racing experience. I had time goals too --but I did not obsess about them. I beat all my goals, except swim (1 minute off from my goal).

If you haven't heard about wildflower, it is just the best triathlon race-IMHO. It is a hard course, but what makes it special is the large number of triathletes who come together to race. I heard there were over 7000 athletes racing between the long course, mountain bike course, and olympic. Wow!! All of these athletes, they camp by the course. I have never seen a highest concentration of tents and motorhomes per sqf. Crazy!

Race morning and i was thrilled the day has come..finally!! I biked to the transition area which was a mad house. I decided to block them all from my head and focus on me. I waited 20 minutes on the line for the bathroom. I met a good friend of mine and we chatted about girls stuff while waiting for the loo. Next was the warm up. Since they didn't allow to warm up on the swim..I went for a run to get the HR up and loose up last minute nerves, stretch, and listenedd to uplifting music on my iPod. Got into the swim start..and then I really got focused.

Swim: I underestimated my strength and positioned myself in the middle sides. I somehow ended up in the middle of the pack. I wanted to pass the swimmers in front of me but couldn't. I got kicked and I kicked back as hell. However, I lost some valuable time at the beginning trying to pass people. Big mistake!! I think that cost me at least 2-5 minutes from my swim time. I finally went to the side and found my pace. The rest of the swim was great. I pushed hard and actually enjoyed the swim. I came out feeling GREAT!! T1 was fast for me. I usually take 5 minutes or so. In any case...I was ready for the bike.

Bike: The course is hilly. The start of the bike course is a steap hill almost half a mile..may be more. No chance to warm up the legs..it just hits you by the time you get on your bike. I am typically very strong on the straights but I am slow on the hills. Since this is a hilly course I had to take full advantage of all the flats. I seriously powered through them so hard my legs felt like burning. The hills were...painful, but I did them. I was paranoid I was going to get a flat and I kept looking at my wheel. I drank a full bottle of sports drink and half a bottle of water. That saved me on the run. I passed a whole lot of people on the flats..but got seriously beaten on the hills. Played cat and mouse throughout..but that was fine with me.

Run: That was the big surprise, in a good way. Because of my injury I had the least training hours in the run. I already was weak in the run, and it put me in a serious disadvantage. However, 2 weeks before wildlfower I felt very strong on the run. OK- Started the run feeling a little scared. Last year I almost quit at mile 1. This time I was cautious. My B/F was there supporting me..he sprayed sun screen on my shoulders..and told me I was going too fast (9mim/mile) for so early and that I should pace myself. I did..and I gave myself 20 minutes to get into a good pace. At mile 3 it started getting really hard. My legs were hurting..it was hot...I got drenched in water (head to toe) in every aid station. the incline horrible. My legs were in serious pain. I decided to walk for a minute as fast as I could. Good idea: I did that and then I started running again. On mile 5 I was faced with a downhill (the one I had to bike up earlier), and I went all the way. Towards the finish line I saw that I was going to beat the 3:30 time. What a feeling!!! I was targeting 12 min/miles and I did less than 11 min/miles. i couldn't believe it.

I have to say this was a fantastic experience. Here are some plugs for my support team: (Haven't received a penny from them for that)

Michael Smartt from RST Coaching: the greatest coach ever!
Nicole Haas from Performance Peak: The greatest psysio therapist. She understands women runners and helped me recover from my injury
My "hb"--you know who you are...

and TRIWEEK..you ROCK!!

I hope this brought you some motivation as much as I get when I read personal race reports.

keep well!!

julian · 05-03-2005, 12:13 AM

Nice one Daphne i'm really pleased you enjoyed your race and spanked your PB. I love reading race reports it sort of brings all at TRIWEEK together as a huge tri team, can't wait for my next race.
Cheers.
Julian

fittotri · 05-03-2005, 05:34 PM

Pleased your race went well. Hope this good fortune continues for you this season. Sounds like a cool event. Take Care, Later.

pyschosyd · 05-04-2005, 04:15 PM

Well done! sounds like you had a great race! Keep it up! I'm getting excited. Our season is just starting. I've got my first duathlon next weekend and I can't wait.
Syd

Das · 05-04-2005, 09:04 PM

WOW! Your an inspiration! And by the way, my name is also Daphnie. So your even more of an inspiration. Im going to start going to local triathlons in the area before I start raceing to learn and see. Your story really helps me to look forward to this amazing sport. Thank you for sharing! And Congratulations in your PB! What a great feeling.

DAS :bannana:

ethanmac · 05-06-2005, 08:03 AM

Daphnie, I just read your post regarding your injury which made your race report much more inspiring. My first triathon is one week away and I now have the stomach flu. This will make tapering alot easier.

**daphne** · 05-09-2005, 11:03 AM

Thanks everyone for your support and your kind words.
D-Runner: Catch triathlons on TV also. It helped me a lot with motivation
Ethanmac: Let us know how your race went!