Wildflower 1998

May 2, 1998
1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike, 13.2 mile run

Results

Great Swim, Good Bike, and I did run.
166 out of around 232 in my age group
674 overall out of around 1500 people
5 hours, 58 minutes, 46 seconds

Event	Time	Place In Age Group	Place Overall
Swim	28:12	13/232	73
Bike	3:11:03	161/232	571/1600
Run	2:11:27	194/232	714/1600

Pre-race

We had planned to be camping with Larry and Jane and kids, but they backed out because they had to move and Jane was turned away because the mtn bike race was full. Collette and I got to the lake at around 3:00 and setup camp. We went down to the lake and checked in and got our bikes checked. Collette noticed her front tire was flat when we got our bikes checked. No time like the present to practice fixing a flat, the only problem was, we didn't get the chance until 9pm.

9pm, in the tent with Collette's front tire:
wood> Now that we have it patched, we just have to fill it with air
Collette finishes pumping up the tire.
Collette> This pump is hard to get off the valve.
Wood> I'll help... Grunt Grunt Grunt
PssssssssssssPoooooffff.
Collette> What was that?
Wood> I just pulled the valve stem out of the tube.
Collette> YOU WHAT???
Wood visits 10 camp sights at 9:45 at night begging for a mountain bike tube. Finally finds someone who sells him a tube for 5 dollars. Whew, that was close!!!

It rained most of the night. A little water in the tent, but in general we stayed dry.

Swim (1.2mi)

Didn't get any warm up time, but I felt like I had a great swim. A huge mass of people at the start (~260). I started at the front to the left and went hard to stay out in front. Chad started his swim 3 minutes ahead of me in the younger age group. I passed him somewhere in the swim as he passed me later on the bike. Finally looked at my watch when I got to my bike 29:33. There was at least 2 minutes of running to the bike.

Bike (56 mi)

Immediatly off the bike was the huge beach hill. About a mile straight up. I was getting passed a lot, but decided to keep the pace I had planned on and stick to my race. I was hoping to hold off Chad for a long time, but around mile 15 he pulled up next to me as I was stretching a cramp. I was hoping to get further down the road before he caught me. Bummer, we talked a bit and he took off. I didn't expect to see him again until the end of the race. I started feeling strong around mile 30, but held back a little because I knew there was a huge hill at mile 42. Feeling strong at the start of the hill was was able to start passing people finally. The HILL came in three tiers, at the top of the second tier, I couldn't believe my eyes as I came around a corner. There was Chad standing stradling his bike. "Are you okay?" I asked. "I just needed some food". Later I found out he couldn't get a power bar open while climbing. I decided not to wait for him and cranked up the last hill. He still beat me by 3 minutes on the bike, but because of the staggered start and the good swim, I made it to the transition first.

We followed the top of a ridge for a few miles, then a really fun down hill. I hit 80kpm (50mph) going down the hill. That was fun. At mile 48 I passed a guy running in bare feet carrying his bike on his shoulder. I later found out he had crashed and his bike had a problem. Later when his feet got sore from the pavement, he took the tubes out of his tires and tied them around his feet. After running the last 8 miles of the bike leg, he put on his running shoes and did the 13 mile run. Do you still think I'm crazy?

Back down the big hill we climbed in the morning.

Run (2:10)

I saw Collette as I was leaving the transition area on the run. I was feeling good and wondering how she did on her race? Didn't have time to ask, but she looked like she survived just fine. Rolling hills along the river for the first two miles then a good sized hill at mile 3. Chad caught me at the top of that hill. I stuck with him for about 1/2 mile, but the let him go after a quick comment: "Chad, my leg hurts, why don't you run behind me for a few miles and tell me if you see anything wrong?".

The race was 60% on trails and they started at mile 3. A rolling trail along the lake. At mile 4 was a fire road that went straight up for about 2 miles. I had to stop and walk a lot. Finally got to the top and ran down the other side. Rolling hills until mile 9 where we headed down a paved road for 1 mile. Chad was coming up the other side at least 2 miles ahead of me. The mile 10 marker was at the bottom and I turned around and headed back up. I had to stop a few times, but only let myself take 20 steps then I started running again for at least 50 steps. Made it to the top to run down the road to the lake and finish 14 minutes behind Chad. He is going to be in trouble on the shorter races this summer where the swim actually counts for something. On these long races the swim is a very small percentage of the race.

Post Race

Chad met me at the finish with a banana and a bottle of Gatorade. Collette took a picture of me as I ran towards the finish line, so I knew she would be there soon. I really wanted to know how she did. I learned that she was having a great bike until her chain came off and got stuck between the frame of the bike and the crank. It took 10 minutes to get back on the road. An eternity on a short race like that. Overall, I think she liked it. She's a champ!

Chad finshed in place 506 overall (me at 674), so I know that at least 175 people passed me on the run. As usual, my run is what I need to work on .

I can't complain too much about my running. After two months of limited running with a bum hamstring, I had no pain and was able to at least finish. Thanks to Larry who gave me two new stretches two weeks earlier that solved 90% of the hamstring problem. Looking forward to being healthy for my next Ironman Qualifier on August 9 at Lake Perris.

Lessons Learned:

Need to practice running on steep hills for Wildflower next year.