2012 - Wildflower Long Course

Wildflower Long Course Triathlon; Bradley, CA - Saturday May 5, 2012

1.2m swim, 56m bike, 13.1m run

If there is one race I have always wanted to do, besides Kona, it is Wildflower.  I could never pull off the logistics while living on the East Coast (it’s 3 hours from both SF & LA) but now that I’m local I had to make it to Bradley, CA.  This was the 30^th anniversary of the weekend-long festival that is frequently referred to as the Woodstock of triathlon.  I raced the Long Course and am glad I did!

I arrived in the small town of King City after an enjoyable 2-hour drive south through some massive farming operations in Monterey County.  I was forced to break race tradition and stay in a motel and not a tent at the race site.  I can hear your disappointment, but I get a bye this year since my gear (and family) is still stuck in NYC!  After a short night’s sleep and an additional hour in the car dodging coyotes in the pre-dawn darkness, I arrived early for check-in while the rest of the village slept.

The course’s setting next to Lake Antonio is idyllic.  I was excited to enter the water and see just how much my swim has improved after a few weeks of swimming with the Stanford Masters Group.  The gun went off and we dove into perfect 68 degree water.  I was able to find some feet and draft for the first half but then found myself alone for the back half.  I exited the water in 36:37, a few minute PR for me.  Not as quite as fast as I wanted but I felt fresh and relaxed which was a welcome change.  Now for a quick transition and onto the bike. 

The bike course is pretty hilly and sort of reminds me of REV3 Quassy.  The course is rural and rolls through some gorgeous countryside.  The uphill sections were pretty steep and sharp but there was still quite a bit of flat that needed to be negotiated.  I felt great going up but I didn’t have quite the same strength when TT’ing on the level (Climbing Challenge hangover).  It was a nice change, however, to be out of the water and on the bike course with others in my age group and actually race.  The few extra minutes on the swim and early wave time were fantastic!  I jumped off the bike in 2:51 (19.6 mph), switched shoes, and hit the trails.

Trails.  Yes trails.  A big draw of this course (for me at least) is the fact that 60% of the run is on trails!  Pretty cool as it mixes things up a bit and is definitely easier on the body.  The ~1500ft of climbing is hard on the body, but that’s beside the point.  I started running very well but as the heat rose and the fatigue set in, I started to fade.  By mile 12 I was pretty cooked and anxiously looked to the last mile since it was entirely downhill.  In reality, I would have much preferred climbing that hill!  It was super steep and I gave up a few minutes going down it as person after person flew by!  Bummer.  Fortunately all things (both good and bad) come to an end and so did that descent.  I made it across the line with a 1:39 run time (7:39 min/mile) and total time of 5:13:57.  My next stop was the fruit table just past the finish line where I ate no less than 3lbs of chilled strawberries.  What an awesome post race delicacy!

I am pretty happy with my performance as it places me within the top 10% in my new, and more competitive, 30-34 year old age group.  For my next go at the course I will certainly do some more focused cycling beforehand and hone my downhill running skills!

My next race is down the aisle in July.  I will definitely need some prep and taper for that one!  Later this summer I hope to jump into a few local races – hopefully a flat one where I can try to break the elusive 5 hour barrier.