Race Recap: Avia Wildflower Long Course (4/30/11)

My home for the weekend

OK, I'll try to keep this as brief as possible, but not only is this my first 70.3 race, but it's Wildflower, you know, the "Woodstock of triathlons."  Me and my carpool buddy Frank headed up Thursday night so that we could have Friday to get settled, checked in, and check out some of the course.

Race Morning (Saturday):
I woke up around 6am, with plans to walk to the race area around 7am. The race started at 8am and my wave went out at 8:40am. Our camp-site was at least a mile away, so the early morning walk helped get me warmed up.

The transition area is huge, and organized by race numbers, so it was pretty easy to find where I set up. I went through the usual set up routine and as I unpacked by transition bag I realized I left behind my sunglasses. Oh well, another lesson learned, I guess. Anyway, after I was done, I headed down to the swim start area, about 15 minutes early.

the swim exit

1.2 Mile SWIM (39:14 or 2:01/100):
The starting waves were 5 minutes apart, so there was plenty of time to get in and out of the water to get wet before the swim. The horn went off, and my long day started. The start was pretty smooth, no major collisions. The 1.2 mile swim is basically a large rectangle after you make it to the first buoy. I'll have to say, the swim was pretty non-eventful, and I chugged along at my usually slow pace. There was one section of the swim where we swam through some floating branches, twigs, plants, etc. That was a first for me in a race. The one low point of my swim was a cramp in one of my calves. Ultimately, it probably only cost me about a minute.  It's happened before, but I ultimately didn't know how it would effect me on such a long and tough course.

T1 (4:48)
Found my bike, no problem there. The water exit is maybe 50 yards from the transition area.  I took my time, because I knew I wouldn't be back there for about 3 hours. I made the decision to wear gloves. I thought they would be helpful with the up and downhill sections. I also decided to use my heart rate monitor, another race first for me. 

56 Mile BIKE (3:11.49 @ 17.52 mph)
The start of the bike is flat, but windy and a little slow, until you get to the first hill, Beach Hill. I think this is the steepest climb of the course, and it's about a mile. At the top, I spotted another OC Tri Club member on the bike. We weren't the biggest club in the race, so it was cool to see another member. Right away, I could tell the bike was going to be rough, because of the winds. There was one stretch, maybe about 8 miles, with a solid head wind. I was working hard to keep a 15+mph pace in the aero position. Next was a right turn, onto another 2-lane country road, now the wind was coming hard from the left. This was a long stretch, maybe 20 miles, of flat road with some rolling hills. Along here, there were a couple bike crashes, likely from the winds. As the miles piled up, I knew Nasty Grade was coming. Nasty Grade is the 5 mile climb that starts at about mile 42 of the bike leg of the race.  There was an aid station at the bottom, so I dumped any extra water, and began the climb. I mixed it up between standing and sitting while peddling. It was a tough 5 miles, but I made it. The view towards the top is great, looking down on both lakes. Now, the downhill...I'm not a fast downhill rider, especially when there's wind, so I don't think I let myself get any higher than 35. The last 5 miles before T2 are all just a blur, but I was pleased with my time of 3:11. My goal was 3:00, but with the winds, I didn't want to push it too much.

T2 (3:18)
Again, I took my time here. I chose comfort over speed and even changed my socks. I did have one little delay, when I went down the wrong aisle to rack my bike.  I did take a moment to apply sunscreen on my arms, but I later learned that it was too little too late.

13.1 Mile RUN (2:01.33 @9:16/mi pace)
I don't know the exact count, but the run course is probably 70% trails, with quite a few hills.  Anyway, off the bike, I really had to go to the bathroom. I 'held it' while on the bike, but couldn't anymore, so I stopped at a portable about a mile into the run. I actually started running at a good pace. I checked my watch a couple times and my pace was 7:45ish, which is too fast for me, so I intentionally slowed down to conserve my legs, because I knew there were plenty of hills ahead. Just before mile 2, we run up a little hill and right by the OC Tri Club camp site. The cheers were a big boost, and great motivation. After mile 2, the run course varies so much, and is rarely flat for even 1 mile. I loved that there were aid stations nearly every mile. A little water, Gatorade and gels spread out so frequently along the course make the run a little more bearable. Some of the hills are killers, I had to walk several stretches of climbs. 

 

Around Mile 3 on the Run

I think around mile 7 or 8, the course goes through the main campground. This area was a lot of fun. People cheering, cowbells, crazy costumes, all help distract you from your legs screaming at you. As you exit the campground area, your back on asphalt, and downhill for a good mile, but the entire time, you see others heading up the hill you're running down. In your head, you know that the further you run down this hill, you need to run back up after the turnaround point. Needless to say, the last uphill is a killer. I kept running, no matter how slow my pace, and quite a few people would mix between running and walking. Finally, the final turn to the last mile....all downhill. The bad news for me was that my knee was hurting, bad, and downhill running was making it hurt more. I couldn't run faster than a 10:00/mi pace. As I rounded the final corner to head down to the finish line, I realized that I was going to hit my stretch goal of 6 hours, and of course, I instantly thought about all the little things I could have down to get me to 5:59.

I ended up at 6:00:42, 78th out of 216 finishers in my AG. Not bad for my first 70.3. I'm already mentally planning for next year.

Special thanks to all the club members, their friends and family, that came out for such a great weekend. It was great having such a good crowd of friends around, and it was especially nice that Stan and his wife Nancy got there early to claim some camping real estate for all of us. 

The finish line!

The view down the finish line

Race Recap: Big Rock Olympic (4/15/11)

So this is my first race of the 2011 season, and two weeks out from Wildflower.  The goal here is to iron out any kinks, and start to mentally get into race mode.

This is the second time for me at this race, and this time my fitness is much better, so the expectation is to cut some time off my last race. The race started at 7:30, and there was a sprint and a mountain bike tri also running at the same time and location. This is a smaller race, so probably a good race to choose for a first triathlon.

The 1.5k Swim (27:50 @1:51/100 pace)

This is also the first race in my new Xterra wetsuit.  I've only done one pool swim with it so far.  I made my way down to the water to give myself at least 15 minutes to get acclimated to the water. It was chilly, but not bad. If I had to guess, low-mid 60's. Well, as I was walking into the water, I went to pull my goggles on and the small plastic piece that goes across the bridge of your nose, snapped. Doh! Fortunately, I always bring a spare set, but anyone that has done this race knows the run back to transition is long and uphill (see T1 times later). So, I jogged up the beach, across the grass, across the asphalt and back to my transition area. Then, back to the beach. I still had a couple minutes to get in the water before my wave left (7:33am, wave #2).

OK, so the horn sounds, and into the water we go. It took about 100 yards for the group to space out a little, I think there were about 50-60 in my wave. Anyway, the swim went ok, I just chugged along around the 2 lap course. It was probably nerves, or just lack of open water practice, but I pretty much scrapped my usual mode of breathing every three strokes, and stuck with every two. If I had to guess, my second lap was a little faster, because I was relaxing more and actually thinking about swim technique.

I was surprised that my swim time was slower than last year, which was 25:45. Looking at others' swim times, it seems that overall, swim times were longer this year than in October. Not sure why, maybe the course was slightly different.

T1 5:06):
This is a long run up the beach, and a slight incline, then across some grass, which is actually nice because it helps get the sand off your feet. I actually made the decision to strip the wetsuit on the grass, rather than taking it off in my crowded transition row.

My T1 time was 5:06, versus 6:05 last year. Last year, I had some issues with cramping and getting the wetsuit off. 

40k Bike (1:11.48 @20.77 mph):
The bike course is two loops, with a small hill leaving the park area and then one steeper hill coming back into the park. Road conditions are ok here, and overall it seems like a safe course. The bike is my favorite of the three portions, and this year, I rode a borrowed carbon Specialized Transition, rather than my road bike. I was able to cut a few minutes off last year's time (1:11:48, versus 1:16:09). On the second loop, I was feeling the pressure to go to the bathroom. I've never been able to do this while riding, so I made the decision to hold it, and fortunately, it never became an issue and I didn't have to stop at the port-a-poddies

My bike leg actually started stressful before the race even began. I realized I left my c02 at home. I decided not to risk riding without a way to fix a flat, so I taped a small pump to the top tube. Yes, I had tape and an extra bike pump in my car, but no c02. I felt bad taping a pump to such a beautiful bike, and a little embarrassed too.

T2 (1:18):
Not much to say here, rack the back, change your shoes and grab the visor and go.  (last year was 1:04, versus 1:18 this year) A little slower, maybe I was quicker with the shoes last year.

10k Run (49:59 @8:02/mi):
This course is an out and back, along a running trail near the lake. This year, I decided to wear my Garmin for the bike and run. I've been running with it quite a bit, and it helps me keep pace sometimes. Anyway, as usual, I started slow, but kept short strides. I'm a relatively slow runner, so my goal was to average 7:59 pace for the 10k (I just wanted to see that 7, instead of an 8). Well, my first three miles had splits below 8:00, but the next three were 8:09, 8:11 and 8:06. My time was 49:59, which was a little better than last year's 51:53. Almost 2 minutes better.

So, last year was 2:40:59, and this year was 2:36:03, just about 5 minutes better than October, not bad, but I was hoping for a little more. I still think something changed with the swim course, but oh well.

And finally, what I'm sure we all do, here's how I did against everyone else:
Overall, 55/217 (my age group is going to be bigger than this at Wildflower)
Age Group, 9/31 (two minutes faster and I would have been 7/31)

Anyway, hope this is interesting or helpful or encouraging for someone out there. Now it's time to finish the last of my training for Wildflower long course, my first 70.3 race.

The Finish Line (a day early)