I am hesitant to call this a Race Report...when I can't really say I raced - or finished. So, let's just call it a race "experience". It was certainly a good experience! A few weeks before the race I had to make the decision not to go to Rev3 Knoxville due to a lingering hip injury sustained at my training camp in February. (It has FINALLY decided to go away!). With a big race only a drive away, I decided to go to Wildflower with the intention of swimming well and riding hard and get in as much of the run as I thought was manageable without hurting myself. I found it hard to miss Knoxville since I committed to the Rev3 series but without being prepared to run a fast 10k I couldn't justify the travel costs. I'm excited to be at the next one at Quassy though!
On the other hand, I was really happy to get to experience the Wildflower Triathlon. It was the 30th anniversary of the race and it is legendary in the sport of triathlon. Now I know why. It's in the middle of California in the middle of mountains - and the race venue is a campground. The course is hilly and by the time we got to the run it was in the mid-90s. I never felt cold!
I decided to warm up in my new ROKA wetsuit and then swam in just a bathing suit. I led the swim for half of it and then got sort of dunked on the last turn and ended up coming out of the water 3rd. We had to run up a giant hill out of the swim and I quickly got on my bike with almost a minute lead. Poor scounting on my part but I had no idea which way to go on the bike...it was twisty and technical at the beginning and I was wondering if I was even going the right way because all I saw were mountain bikers warming up for their race! As soon as I hit the first hill I knew I was in the right place. Halfway up the hill Kat Baker zoomed by and I never saw her again. I loved being out on the hills and despite not feeling great for the last 15 miles I am really glad I got to experience the course. When I finally got to the run in about 10th place I just wanted to see how long I could go and get in a solid workout without beating up my feet. I got in 7 miles with no blisters and wasn't sore at all. This allowed me to go right back into training for my next race - The Columbia Triathlon. I'm really excited to go to Maryland next week and looking forward to seeing everyone!
Thanks to Tri California and everyone who made the weekend possible. Jim Garfield, Emily Cocks, Damon Barnett and Mackenzie Madison all did their part to cheauffer me around - THANK YOU!!
It's been a slow start to the year, but I'll be back soon! 