Wildflower !!!

Wildflower long course was my first Half-Ironman Distance in my short life of triathlete. One should expect months of hard training and commitment, and so did I.

But life came on the way. Months coming to this race I was having a hard time at work, not able to eat, sleep or train accordingly. All I had was the thrill of the first Half distance, and the challenge of beating the course closure times. Truth to be told, I registered for Wildflower as a rehearsal for Vineman 70.3, certain that I needed a wake-up call. With all the bad schedule, that was the right decision, and I came to Paso Robles, CA with the goal time of less than 7hours and 30 minutes. Talking about rehearsal, this was my first race on a Sugoi trisuit, and I have to say: it was more comfortable than wearing pajamas.

After touring the bike course by car, on race morning I set up my transition time almost certain that I would not be able to climb Nasty Grade all along. I just did not do my homework, and I knew I missed precious training hours over the last few months.

I was not nervous, I knew what I could do thanks to my previous races and my training. But again made the mistake of not avoiding anything new on race day: worried about foggy goggles, I tried the anti-fog spray on my Aqua Sphere goggles; by the second buoy I had water on my goggles, and since then my sight was blurry, and at the turn around I missed one corner, being instructed by the officials to turn back. After that, I lost my confidence, and my pace was jeopardized by more often blurry sights. I finished the swim in 57:58 and with a red eye that lasted two days to heal, possibly a chemical conjunctivitis. It was less than one hour, as expected, but probably I could have finished the swim leg in less than 50 minutes. I need new racing goggles, that is for sure.

T1 was a little bit more than five minutes, due to a mix of run/walk on rough cement and dizziness at wetsuit strip.

For the bike leg, the challenge was to finish before the course closure, what meant to be completed in less than five hours. I was not sure about my abilities, and for that reason I was a bit anxious for about three-fourths of the course. I had lumbar backpain, probably because of the swimming efforts followed by the climbing right at the beginning, and that contributed to my almost despair. I did not stop, until the last few yards of the Nasty Grade, when, as expected, I had to walk my bike. I was not alone at that point, but I swore I will never do that again in a race. Another valuable lesson. Nutrition was not a problem, and I was able to keep myself up-to-date with pieces of Triple Threat Powerbar and gels. To my surprise, I did the bike leg in 4hours and 5 minutes, a nice surprise to myself, not before feeling angry on seeing people finishing their run while I still had the whole half-marathon ahead. Those made my T2 about 2 minutes, not bad for such a large transition area.

I really enjoyed the run, at least the first 11 miles, because of the trail course, and because I did not bonk. But I was rushed to finish, and forgot nutrition. Took only three gels during the whole leg, and paid the price; at mile 10 there was a long hill, and I had to walk. Even running the last mile and a half, I finished the run in 2hours and 24minutes, not enought to beat my goals.

I finished in 7 hours and 36 minutes, happy to be able to complete a Half distance, but upset by 6 minutes on my expectations. But I will never forget my fond Wildflower memories, and I know what went wrong, and I am ready to improve. That is all that matters.