We had a short taper week for the race. I did an hour spin on Tuesday, a short run on Wednesday, and a swim on Thursday. On Friday, I picked up a teammate and drove down to Lake San Antonio. With temperatures in the 90s, setting up camp in “Iron City” was a workout on its own.
Mental Preparedness
I hadn’t put a great deal of mental energy toward Wildflower because most of my focus has been on Ironman Lake Tahoe in September. That’s my A race. The training calendar is built around Tahoe, not Wildflower. I started to get excited about Wildflower this week, thinking about the fun of camping with teammates and pushing hard at a race, but on Friday, when I had time to sit and think about what Saturday would bring, I found myself feeling unprepared. With my Achilles acting up, my runs have been shorter recently. Would I be able to handle 13.1? When we did the bike ride during training weekend, I messed up my nutrition and ended up wasted in the parking lot. Would I be able to run after the bike this time? Only racing could answer those questions.
Wildflower Hates Women
Wildflower is not a woman-friendly event. Racers start in waves, with all the men swimming first. This means my wave started at 9:15 am (though we had to be down setting up transition by 7:30 or so). So there was lots of waiting around, where I got to ogle the elite athletes as they raced out of their swim, through transition, and onto the bike in about 30 seconds flat (I like to re-apply sunscreen and body glide, so my transitions take 5 or 6 minutes). Finally it was time to start.
Swimming
The swim was good. I don’t usually worry about the swim. It’s not my strongest event, but I’m a good swimmer and it’s the shortest part of the race. The water was warm, about 71 degrees, so wetsuits were optional (for the elites, they were banned). I wore mine, of course, but actually felt a little hot in it. They really work! I have new goggles that stayed clear for the whole swim, so I think my sighting has improved (unlike some people, who managed to end up perpendicular to me... where are they going??).
Riding
After a few minutes of dithering at transition, I was out on the bike. It was about 10:00 am, the sun was high in the sky, it was creeping up into the 80s by that point, and the course puts a Category 4 hill at mile 2. It’s a great way to warm up those legs! The wind is the real terror on this course, but luckily, it was less intense than I’ve ever experienced it. This meant I didn’t have to pedal downhill into a headwind, or go 10 mph on a flat straightaway. It meant I could have fun on the bike!
This lasted until Nasty Grade. This is a long, steep hill at mile 43 – 48. High noon, with no shade, over 2 hours into a hard ride, Nasty consistently sucks the life from me. Saturday was no different. I knew it was coming, and I made sure to eat before getting there, but I think I burned every calorie in my system getting myself up it. I was left feeling woozy and out of it, sleepy even. I knew I needed to get fuel in me, but I started feeling nauseous, and couldn’t get solids down.
Scaring Myself
After Nasty and few more rollers upward, there’s a massive 2-mile descent. I took it fast, but in control. I’ve done it twice before and had a good sense of the road. I started slowing toward the last curve, knowing that there had been road work there the last time I did it and I didn’t know if the pavement was smooth. Luckily I slowed, because a guy in a Team in Training jersey was curled in the middle of the road. He had crashed a few moments before I got there. Since there were already about 8-10 people stopped to help him, I rode on, but it was a sobering moment about the danger of riding. When I uploaded my Garmin data to Strava, I saw my max speed was 51 mph. I’m not sure I fully believe that, since my prior max was about 43 mph, but if I hit 51, it was on that descent, and it is pretty scary. (I heard later that he was okay, taken to the hospital, hurt, but no head/neck damage.)
The last 8 miles of the ride were a bit of a let-down. I needed fuel, but had trouble taking it in, and my speed suffered. Despite this, I managed to finish the bike portion in 3:40, which is 20 minutes faster than my bike leg in 2011 (and also from training weekend, when I bonked).
The Run (ish)
After a little more dithering in transition (sunscreen, body glide, a few sips of Gatorade), I was out for the run. This leg could more accurately be called a slog. There are mountains here, hills with grade so steep it makes no sense to run when walking is faster and uses less energy. I spent many minutes mentally castigating the sadistic designers of this race for their malevolence. What assholes. It was nearing 2:00 pm and well past 90 degrees. Moments of shade were rare, but at least the water stops came every mile. If only the water had not been tepid, they would have been wonderful oases in the wasteland of the Wildflower run course.
You can, perhaps, tell from my language that the run did not go so well. I was doing okay for the first 4 miles, which was when the first big mountain started. I walked it, as most people did, but when it came time to run again, my stomach started acting up. I was feeling nauseous and uncomfortable, drained of energy. I ended up stopping twice at port-a-potties. I felt chilled at times, but hadn't stopped sweating. I was eating Shot Blocks, but had some trouble getting them down. I drank Gatorade at the water stops, which I think helped a great deal because it was easy calories to take in. I should have had more Gatorade, but my stomach was so sloshy and weird, I was nervous to drink too much. I took Enduralytes (salt) regularly, and re-filled my water bottle at almost every water stop, so I think my hydration was good, but I lacked nutrients.
When I was able to run, my legs felt tired but capable. It was my stomach weirdness stemming from poor nutrition that was holding me back. Then, after climbing out of the Pit at mile 11, some cramping started. I was expecting it, because this is how I roll. My ankle and calf started to want a piece of the action. So I walked a little more, even though the finish line was so very, very close. In 2011, I ended up walking most of the finisher’s chute because of cramping calves. This time, I made it through, thinking the whole time “please don’t cramp, please don’t cramp, run light, run easy, please don’t cramp…” Whew, I made it. I think I may have even smiled for the camera.
Needless to say, this was not the race I wanted to have. I improved my swim and my bike, but my run was so slow that the total time for this year was 15 minutes slower than in 2011, my slowest half-Ironman to date. I finished the run in 2:53, and had a total time of 7:33.
In summary (chip times):
Swim: 0:45:35 (I was out of the water in :43, but the mat was up the ramp a bit)
T1: 0:06:44 (dithering)
Bike: 3:44:40 (not sure why it’s 4 minutes different than my garmin?)
T2: 0:03:44
Run: 2:52:59 (oh jeez, that’s a 13-minute mile)
Total: 7:33:42
Rank: 64th in my age group; 1424th overall (woohoo!)
I feel pretty good about my swim and bike, though if my nutrition had been better, I think my bike time could have been 10 minutes faster in those last 8 miles. The run was really quite a poor showing, and I’m not happy about it.
Geeking Out about Nutrition
I’m not sure why I’m struggling so much with nutrition this season. I did better than training weekend in March, but not good enough to get me through Ironman Lake Tahoe. I want to be able to eat solid foods during the bike, but it may not be possible, or I may not be able to rely on it to the degree that I have been expecting. I have teammates who rely almost entirely on liquid nutrition, putting hundreds of calories into a water bottle and timing intake. I will experiment with doing that this weekend. We have a double brick (35-ride, 5-mile run, repeat), which should be a good, intense day to see how liquid nutrition compares to solids.
Deep Thoughts
While my own Wildflower wasn’t the race I wanted it to be, I was so happy to be there and watching everyone succeed. It’s a stupid hard course. One teammate missed the bike cut-off by 5 minutes (woman-hating rules: her boyfriend had a longer bike time, but because he started earlier, he didn’t miss the cut-off), and they took her chip and wouldn’t let her run. She was so disappointed, and felt like she had gas in the tank for a run. Instead of being defeated, she got them to let her sign up for the Olympic-distance course the next day so she could complete her first triathlon.
Everyone had a hard day out there, everyone struggled with the heat and conditions. Some people met their goals, others of us did not, but everyone tried, and that is inspiring and beautiful. Just thinking of the spirit and energy and drive of my teammates fills me with such happiness. We’re raising money to cure cancer, we’re pushing our own bodies to their limits, we’re putting positive energy into the world. This is a wonderful thing. Go Team!
Week 25 Mileage
Tuesday, April 30 Spin - 1 hour Wednesday, May 1 Run - 40 minutes, 4 miles Thursday, May 2 Swim - 50 minutes, 2500 yards Friday, May 3 Travel to Lake San Antonio Saturday, May 4 - Wildflower Long Course Swim - 45 minutes, 1.2 miles Bike - 3 hours 45 minutes, 56 miles Run - 2 hours 55 minutes, 13.1 miles Sunday, May 5 Recovery Day | Totals: Swim - 1 hour 35 minutes, 2.5 miles Bike - 4 hours 45 minutes, 56 miles Run - 3 hours 35 minutes, 17 miles Core - n/a (does setting up camp count?) Total - 9 hours 55 minutes |