Wildflower Long Course Report

I originally meant this recap to be for my donors and supporters, but figured what the hell, there's nothing really secret about it.

Time for Wildflower Race Report part II! I'll try to keep this way shorter and somewhat less self-indulgent than last year's report. Can't promise absolutely NO rambling though....

First though, a huge thanks again for your generous donations. Because of you guys, I raised $2946.38 for the Leukemia and Lymphoma society, 169% of my minimum. This is the reason we're really all out there. Blood cancer victims are very literally alive today because of the efforts of the LLS.

T0 (Transition 0) Getting to the start:
Had a great swim and run at our last weekend practice before the race. After that though, I had 6 days to get really nervous about the race. My nerves were mainly due to how hard I anticipated the run would be, given that I was dead after we rode the bike course for practice and how hard I remember the run being last year. I did calm myself somewhat by breaking the race down strategically and telling myself I was out there for an adventure. I was far from relaxed, though.

Prepped well on Thursday for the weekend getting some last minute tri supplies. Got up Fri morning, my friend Eric came over, we loaded up, and we were off to Lake San Antonio (about an hour away from Salinas.) Eric is a really cool guy, and basically one of the bravest people I know. He has survived Leukemia himself and is now a Lutheran pastor and 1/2 Ironman finisher. We were having a good drive, until I noticed my car's thermostat had gone into the red zone.

After 20 miles of mild panic, refilling the engine coolant, keeping the heater on desperately to keep the engine's temperature down, and having an Autozone rep look at my car, we realized that she wasn't going to make it. I parked in Greenfield and tried to come up with options. Miraculously our head coach Dave was 15 minutes behind me and able to haul me, Eric, and our bikes to the lake. We made it, but by that time I didn't think I had it in me to have a good race the next day. My cool was gone. I did my best to prep gear/nutrition for the race and sleep. Somehow when I woke up the next day though, I started feeling a lot better. I got to the transition area, set up my bike, and hung out with other TNTers. I was somehow very relaxed. Could it be that somehow I could still have a good race out of all this?

Swim: Maybe. The swim went really well. Things were very crowded, I got elbowed, my ankles grabbed, and run into, but I knew that was coming. And I knew once things calmed I'd have my own part of the water. And I did. The first half took forever, but towards the end I was having.... fun! And I did not want the swim to end.

T1: I did eventually have to leave the lake though. I ran out, took my wetsuit off, put bike stuff on, and left the transition area. My swim has become my personal strongest leg of the triathlon. Weird, huh? I have the TNT coaches to thank for this.

Bike: On our first hill, I started to get nervous again, knowing that "nasty grade", a 2 mile steep hill, awaited me around mile 41. For some odd reason though, my bike felt to be moving much more fluidly than I remembered recently. Did I lube the chain right? I don't know, but I was really glad it felt solid. I basically felt great the whole ride. Even old nasty wasn't all that bad. Once again, towards the end of the ride, I was having fun.

T2: This is the easy transition. Helmet off, switch shoes, and go. Nervous? You bet, but I did have some legs in me. It was time for the run. I knew though, that with the run being very hilly, the day being hot, and me having gone 56 miles on the bike, the run would be brutal.

Run: I was able to run the first mile and a half. After that I had to walk a bit, though. I almost threw up a few times around mile 3. I knew though, that so long as I kept moving, and walking when I needed to and running when I could, I would make it to the end. I also knew that I wasn't the only one suffering. This is the benefit of experience. The run took forever, but I never doubted I'd finish. At one point I saw our coaches and tried to pick it up a bit for them, only to completely cramp up. I looked awful crossing the finish line because I couldn't run anymore yet was clearly trying to. Well, I couldn't let my friends catch up to me. The thing is though, I couldn't help but smile and have fun the whole way. Weird huh? The pain was there, but not a surprise.

I loved being a training captain this season. I felt about 50% a participant myself and 50% a staff member. I felt like my first varsity year of crew in high school. And like I was an RA again. I knew what I was physically capable of. But somewhere the magic of discovering what I could do wasn't there. I miss that. But I saw it in the new triathletes. I knew what they would think about the triathlon before they did. But I couldn't tell them, I could only try to calm them and help them prepare. Their magic was in figuring out how they felt for themselves.

A fellow staff member, Jennifer Harris lost a bike pedal on mile 9 of our bike ride. She finished the entire 47 remaining miles on one leg. This is true courage, and I think almost as courageous as the three blood cancer survivors on our team who finished the race. Thank you again for your support. And I wholeheartedly recommend this experience.

Matty

PS. T3, or back to Mountain View happened on Monday after supporting our Sunday racers and waiting in Greenfield for 4 hours while my car got a new radiator.