Wildflower 2008
The short version
I did better than I hoped in the swim and on the bike, and paid for it with my run.
The slightly longer version
I was feeling good going in, tipping the scales at just under 160 lbs - 20 lbs down on my New Years weight.
Unfortunately, things didn't quite pan out the way I had hoped
The swim - 1.2 miles w/ a goal of 45 minutes
I started off at the back of the crowd as I usually do, but this time I didn't get left behind! Conditions were good, with water temperatures in the 60s and just a bit of chop about 15 minutes in. As I emerged from the water, I glanced at my watch and was pleasantly surprised to see a 42:57 - I was ahead of schedule! Considering it took me the same time to do the 0.9 mile swim at the Santa Cruz Sentinel triathlon last year, I was stoked!
The bike - 56 miles w/ a goal of 3 hours 15 minutes
I didn't think I was overdoing it on the bike, but evidently I did. I was conservative on my hill climbs, but ended up pushing a little harder than I should have, playing a little draft and pass game with about three other riders for right around an hour. I know it's illegal, but they slowed down once they got in front of me - I had to get em back!
At the top of Nasty Grade, I stood up to crank the final 50 or so meters to the summit, but felt my legs starting to tighten up. I sat down and rolled in from there, hoping I still had plenty for the run.
As I rolled into the transition area, I was once again pleased to see that I was ahead of schedule, as my watch read 3:07:40 - my 6:30 target time was looking good! Just to compare, I did a 3:24 at Wildflower two years ago, a 3:02 at Big Kahuna two years ago (way flatter), and a 3:02 at Vineman last year (flatter, but not as flat as Big Kahuna). Needless to say, I was pretty happy
The run - 13.1 miles w/ a goal of 2 hours 15 minutes
I felt a touch on the weak side for the first couple of miles, but still managed to pull some 9:30 / miles on some relatively flat terrain. Since I needed 10:30s to make my goal, I was feeling pretty good.
Then came the hills. Running for longer than 1/4 mile would cause sharp pains in my neck and lower back, with hills putting my quads and hamstrings on the verge of locking up at anything more than a walking pace. Carefully, I continued on.
Then came the blisters on my heels and the arches of my feet. I whispered to myself, "ignore the pain and 6:30 is yours", and kept moving.
Then came the bits of dirt / gravel that got into my shoes, burrowing into the soles of my feet. Once again, I whispered to myself, "ignore the pain and that 6:30 is yours", and kept moving.
Then came the cramps - there was no ignoring those. I threw down water and gatorade, and Thermolytes as I limped along, massaging my hamstring as I went after stopping momentarily in pain. I looked at my watch - barring some kind of miracle, my 6:30 wasn't going to happen. But I kept moving.
In the end, I crossed the line 2 hours, 41 minutes, and 18 seconds after starting the run - over half an hour longer than it took me to complete my 13.1 mile training run. It turned out that I missed my goal by just over 9 minutes, with a final time of
6 hours, 39 minutes, and 6 seconds - over 40 minutes faster than when I last did it in 2006!
Final thoughts
- I just picked up the Total Immersion book, and am looking forward to seeing what the difference the drills make. My swim improved by leaps and bounds, but there's still lots of time to be made.
- My bike was still on the aggressive side. Deep down, I'm still the same overaggressive motorcycle racer that wants to keep picking people off - that needs to stop. According to an AFMer who was a nationally ranked Ironman competitor, giving up 10 minutes on the bike will get me 20 minutes on the run.
- More and harder brick workouts.
- More and longer bike rides where I slow it down to go the distance without bonking.
With a 300 person waiting list for Vineman, it looks like I'll be waiting until October for my next shot. As slowly as I'm limping around right now, it's almost hard to believe when I say I'm looking forward to it. But really - I am
