WILDFLOWER!

While I have done a couple road running races and a duathlon this year, Saturday was my first chance of the year to race a Triathlon and get a good idea of where I am at in my fitness and what else I need to work on to snag a Kona slot at Ironman CdA in June.
I travelled down to the race with first year Pro- Damian Hill (Alaska's first ever Professional Triathlete) who trains and races with the Skyline Racing Team out of Portland, OR. Since he was able to score me a VIP pass as an "Elite Guest" (not "Guest of an Elite", my name tag said "Elite Guest" lol). And so I was priveledged to be able to eat in the VIP tent amongst all the other Triathlon superstars who I have looked up to for years. This was really fun for me, although I tried to play it cool and didn't ask for any autographs. Instead of camping at Wildflower, we got to stay in a vacation rental home about 6 miles down the road with two other veteran Pro Triathletes. One was Peter Clode (he's too old to blog I think, so no hyperlink for him) a professional triathlete for 19 years, who was racing  his first race after a 2 year hiatus from the sport.
The other was Donna Phelan of Team TBB. I was really excited to meet her, as I have been a big fan of Team TBB and follow all of their athlete's results for a couple years now. It was a great experience and humbling to surround myself with such elite athletes in the days leading up to the race. The only negative is Donna may have been a bad influence on me since she eats like every 15minutes, and she rubbed off on me over the weekend, so now I am starving trying to get back to my "eating every few hours routine"!

RACE DAY:
Swim- 32:29 (239th place)- Ewww, not a good start to the day, I was expecting my first sub 30min swim! Not sure if it was the pink goggles I borrowed from Krazy Kat, or if I just did not push hard enough, or if I was just a little rusty swimming in the open water my first time since November. Last year I swam a 30:30 on this course. I think I just did not push hard enough, especially the first 400 yards where I usually swim all out and then settle in to my race pace. Another problem I have is my eyesight is not the greatest, so I have to look up and sight more often to figure out where the next buoy is and make sure I am swimming on course.
A couple things I will work on: 1- Go out HARD, then if anyone passes me after 400 yards in, I know they are a strong swimmer and can trust to get on their feet and catch a draft. 2- Get comfortable with drafting in the water. It is perfectly legal to do and it will give you free time. All the great athletes do this. 3- Get prescription goggles to help with the "sighting" in open water.
One thing I didnt do when I got out of the water and looked at my watch, was my dissapointing swim time get to me. Its a long day out there and going 2 or 3 minutes slower in the water is not the end of it....

T1- 2:01- 5th fastest of the day. Up a very steep ramp and a long run through transition to my bike.

Bike- 2:36:32- 17th fastest split and 3.5minutes faster than last years. Last year I was much more agressive the first 40miles of the bike and paid for it big time the last 16miles. This year I stuck to the game plan religiously. The plan was to capp my wattage on all uphills and stay conservative the first 25mile and then start pushing it the next 26miles, then ease up just a little the last 5miles to prepare for the run. This was a very lonely bike ride for me. I passed maybe 10 guys in my age group the first 20miles, but I never had any one around me that was riding a similar speed and no one came up from behind me so the last 36miles I would pass up women pro's and even a few pro men but I was usually all by myself. On the big five mile climb up Nasty Grade I felt GREAT. Completely opposite of the way I felt last year when I was struggling after pushing too hard early in the race. It was such a good feeling to be able to push big watts late in the 56 mile ride and feel good vs. trying to push big wattage and just really struggling and feeling like crap going into the run. Being conservative and not burning too many matches early on is the way to go in a race like this!

T2- 1:19- Not the fastest. But I had to put on a fuel belt and socks to get ready for this run

Run- 1:26:23 (6:35/mile pace)- 7th fastest of the day and 8 minutes faster than last years time! I am really really happy with how my running is coming along. Damn, I felt great and like a champ out on that tough run course. And I even think I could have gone a little faster on this run had a couple things not happened.

I was racing with a fuel belt with 3 doses of nutrition to take 20, 40 and 60 minutes into the run. This was my first time racing with a fuel belt on and only my second time running with one on (the first being a week prior to the race). My coach and I agreed that it would be a good idea to get some race experience with the fuel belt on since I will NEED to race with one at Ironman CdA. It is really too much to write in this blog, but long story short is I made an error on my nutrition and did not get my first full dose in until 40minutes into the run. Its my fault and I accept responsibility for it. I also accept responsibility for the full flask that flew out of my fuel belt at mile 8. A was running hard hard hard and just kept running, but a volunteer picked it up and sprinted to catch me and give it to me. I wasnt even thinking about the "no outside assistance" rule because it was an aid station volunteer. But just as he handed me the bottle a USAT official was riding a bike my way and saw it and was shaking his head. I asked if it was ok, he said "not really" so I threw it back down on the ground and kept running. I borrowed the fuel belt and flasks from my coach, so I owe you a flask coach!
The run was pretty lonely too. I was passed by no one. I passed maybe 10 or so guys in my age group or the 20-24 age group. But other than that the only time I had company and would gain extra inspiration to keep pushing was at the aid stations with all the energetic volunteers. The rest of my motivation was all in my head. The plan was to take it conservative up the hills and really let my legs go on the down hills. Then after 8miles in, I would really really let my legs go. I did just that, and really pushed those last 5miles, but the lack of calories on the run I feel did slow me down just a little. But that is all part of the race. (I plan on running with a fuel belt, nathan or amphipod on all my long runs leading up to Ironman so I will not have to deal with this stress in the big race).

Altogether, it really was a great result for me. I am finally running really well off the bike and feeling incredibly confident out there. I am really thankful for my Coach right now.
I  finished 10th Overall Amateur, and 3rd in my age group. This is a huge race with a long history and some of the best athletes in the country come out to compete, so I feel great about the Top 10 result. Last year I was 46th overall and 11th in my age group... I went a whole 10minutes faster than I did last year, and beat a handful of guys who finished well ahead of me last year as well. I also came in just a little over 10minutes behind overall winner Tim Hola, and last year I was a good 26minutes behind him! The guy that was first in my age group and 5minutes ahead of me, went 9:07 at IM Arizona in November for good measure. So the HARD WORK is paying off, but still more to do.

I really want to thank all my family and friends for their support and encouragment and belief in me, you all know how much I appreciate you.
I feel blessed to race with the big "a" on my back (Athletes Lounge), and would be a complete wreck if I didn't have the shop to lean on when it comes to getting my bike ready to go and having anything I need for raceday and training at the store.
And of course thank you to GU Energy for being there for me for the 3rd season now.

Finally, here is a short video clip of me on the podium (#3) in my Age group at Wildflower awards ceremony: