My borrowed house for the weekend
Wildflower Training Weekend marks the halfway point in my Iron Adventure. This moment deserves a half-Iron distance event, and, of course, a celebration.
Wildflower is a 70.3-mile triathlon held in May at Lake San Antonio, near San Luis Obispo, CA. Triathlon clubs camp at the lake and train on the course during spring months to prepare. This was our team's weekend.
FRIDAY
I drove down to the campground on Thursday to be able to do part of the course on Friday with a few other staff. This way, we could be available to man water stops and support participants at the main event on Saturday. I didn't plan to run, since my Achilles is still acting up, but completed the swim and the bike legs.
The swim was perfect: water at 60 degrees or so (my face didn't freeze!), calm though a little choppy coming back, fresh and clear. I was happy during the swim.
The bike course is challenging. My Garmin tells me it has 4000 feet of elevation gain over the 56 miles. Added to some big, big climbs was an almost constant headwind (every direction, I swear!), plus side gusts at times. I felt strong for much of the ride, and though wind is the weather condition I despise most, I could distract myself by focusing on my cadence and the scenery and getting used to having aerobars back on my bike.
But at about mile 44, things went wrong. More specifically, my nutrition went wrong. I didn't eat enough the entire ride, I can see in retrospect, particularly considering the extra effort needed to maintain pace in the headwinds. At the tope of Nasty Grade, a 3-mile hill that I managed to maintain about 4 mph on, my tank officially hit E. Nausea, my hunger warning sign, reared its head. My legs felt drained of all energy. I stopped to force some Clif Bar into me, but I could tell that I had reached a wall and the last 12 miles were going to be hard ones.
In addition to my poor nutrition, the pollen and dust in the air irritated my lungs, causing me to cough and have difficulty breathing deeply. My pace on those final miles was abysmal, and I lost the battle with negative self talk. A mantra of "I want to be done" cycled through my head. Then, at the last mile, I missed the turn and rode down a hill in the wrong direction for 1/4 mile. When I realized I would have to climb back up what I had just descended, I started to cry.
Back at the start, I could barely breathe through my tears and irritated lungs. I laid on a towel in the parking lot and tried to get some food in me. Even if I had been planning to run, I would not have been able to. This realization was incredibly demoralizing.
LESSON LEARNED: fix nutrition. This was a wake-up call. I need to ensure I can get the calories I need into me during long, hard rides, because on race day, there will be a marathon at the end of the ride, and I plan to complete it.
SATURDAY
This was a training event, but we treated it as a race. A 5 am wake-up call by Coach with a bull-horn led to a 7 am swim start, with all participants in by 5 pm (many much sooner, of course). I cheered participants in from their swim (another beautiful day on the water!), and then staffed a water stop at mile 3 on the run. The Wildflower run is more grueling than the bike course, mostly trails with massive hills. I got teammates up the first of the big hills with my cowbell and the lure of ice. Many of them were struggling with the heat and the hard course, but there was so much good effort out there. I felt proud of my team for working so hard, but also jealous that I couldn't be slogging away on the course with them. What can I say, I'm a masochist (aka, a triathlete).
That night, the coaches and staff (me included) did a dance number for participants at the team dinner, and we raised a Tequila Toast to their achievement in getting halfway to Iron. Then we didn't stop drinking for about 5 more hours. It's a really BIG achievement, worth celebrating!
This was a learning weekend for me, as it was meant to be. I'll need to build on that learning in the weeks to come. I'm also going to try out running again this coming week, and I'll need to be ready for a heck of a lot more learning and adjustment if I still have pain in my Achilles.
I'm halfway to Iron, and bracing myself for the challenges of the next 6 months.
Wildflower is a 70.3-mile triathlon held in May at Lake San Antonio, near San Luis Obispo, CA. Triathlon clubs camp at the lake and train on the course during spring months to prepare. This was our team's weekend.
FRIDAY
I drove down to the campground on Thursday to be able to do part of the course on Friday with a few other staff. This way, we could be available to man water stops and support participants at the main event on Saturday. I didn't plan to run, since my Achilles is still acting up, but completed the swim and the bike legs.
The swim was perfect: water at 60 degrees or so (my face didn't freeze!), calm though a little choppy coming back, fresh and clear. I was happy during the swim.
The bike course is challenging. My Garmin tells me it has 4000 feet of elevation gain over the 56 miles. Added to some big, big climbs was an almost constant headwind (every direction, I swear!), plus side gusts at times. I felt strong for much of the ride, and though wind is the weather condition I despise most, I could distract myself by focusing on my cadence and the scenery and getting used to having aerobars back on my bike.
But at about mile 44, things went wrong. More specifically, my nutrition went wrong. I didn't eat enough the entire ride, I can see in retrospect, particularly considering the extra effort needed to maintain pace in the headwinds. At the tope of Nasty Grade, a 3-mile hill that I managed to maintain about 4 mph on, my tank officially hit E. Nausea, my hunger warning sign, reared its head. My legs felt drained of all energy. I stopped to force some Clif Bar into me, but I could tell that I had reached a wall and the last 12 miles were going to be hard ones.
In addition to my poor nutrition, the pollen and dust in the air irritated my lungs, causing me to cough and have difficulty breathing deeply. My pace on those final miles was abysmal, and I lost the battle with negative self talk. A mantra of "I want to be done" cycled through my head. Then, at the last mile, I missed the turn and rode down a hill in the wrong direction for 1/4 mile. When I realized I would have to climb back up what I had just descended, I started to cry.
Back at the start, I could barely breathe through my tears and irritated lungs. I laid on a towel in the parking lot and tried to get some food in me. Even if I had been planning to run, I would not have been able to. This realization was incredibly demoralizing.
LESSON LEARNED: fix nutrition. This was a wake-up call. I need to ensure I can get the calories I need into me during long, hard rides, because on race day, there will be a marathon at the end of the ride, and I plan to complete it.
SATURDAY
This was a training event, but we treated it as a race. A 5 am wake-up call by Coach with a bull-horn led to a 7 am swim start, with all participants in by 5 pm (many much sooner, of course). I cheered participants in from their swim (another beautiful day on the water!), and then staffed a water stop at mile 3 on the run. The Wildflower run is more grueling than the bike course, mostly trails with massive hills. I got teammates up the first of the big hills with my cowbell and the lure of ice. Many of them were struggling with the heat and the hard course, but there was so much good effort out there. I felt proud of my team for working so hard, but also jealous that I couldn't be slogging away on the course with them. What can I say, I'm a masochist (aka, a triathlete).
That night, the coaches and staff (me included) did a dance number for participants at the team dinner, and we raised a Tequila Toast to their achievement in getting halfway to Iron. Then we didn't stop drinking for about 5 more hours. It's a really BIG achievement, worth celebrating!
This was a learning weekend for me, as it was meant to be. I'll need to build on that learning in the weeks to come. I'm also going to try out running again this coming week, and I'll need to be ready for a heck of a lot more learning and adjustment if I still have pain in my Achilles.
I'm halfway to Iron, and bracing myself for the challenges of the next 6 months.
Week 19 Mileage
Tuesday, March 19 Cardio - 20 minutes (stair climber) Core - 50 minutes (strength class) Wednesday, March 20 Spin - 1 hour Thursday, March 21 Swim - 40 minutes, 2000 yards Friday, March 22 - Wildflower Training Weekend Swim - 40 minutes, 2,100 yards (approx.) Bike - 4 hours 5 minutes, 56 miles (Ride Time: 3 hours 45 minutes) Saturday, March 23 Hours of standing around cheering - exhausting! Sunday, March 24 Travel/Rest Day | Total: Swim - 1 hour 20 minutes, 4100 yards Bike - 5 hours, 56 miles Cardio/Core - 1 hour 10 minutes Total - 7 hours 30 minutes |
Week 18 Mileage
Tuesday, March 12 Core - 50 minutes (strength class) Wednesday, March 13 Spin - 30 minutes Cardio - 20 minutes (stair climber) Core - 10 minutes Thursday, March 14 Swim - 1 hour 10 minutes, 3133 yards Swim Marker: 2500 yards in 56:40, which projects a 1:35 2.4-mile swim time. My markers are slowing, but it's hard to stay focused on keeping my energy and pace high when I'm so bored. Friday, March 15 Rest Day Saturday, March 16 Bike - 2 hours 20 minutes, 31 miles (3125 ft of elevation gain) Sunday, March 17 Bike - 2 hours 25 minutes, 36.5 miles (3100 ft of elevation gain) Bike Marker: 18.75 miles in 1:11, which is 1 minute slower than last month, but last month I had a 10-minute rest helping a teammate, so it's not an accurate measure. | Totals: Swim - 1 hour 10 minutes, 3133 yards Bike - 5 hours 15 minutes, 67 miles Core/Cardio - 1 hour 20 minutes Total - 7 hours 30 minutes |