Wildflower Recap

(Erin Kummer, Myself and Tim Hola)

Well the trip to Wildflower was a good time. I went out there to have fun and work on a few things, such as nutrition, the swim and bike and just enjoy the run as if it was a long training run with friends.

Leading up to the race it was great to see friends from Zoot, PowerBar, Laura and Colleen from Cal Tri and Grady from Clif Bar. Thursday was pretty much arrival day, re-building my bike and getting settled. Billy and Erin where in the crew and it was lots of laugh from the moment we sent food shopping.

I can say that camping is part of the tradition at Wildflower and I was spoiled sleeping in the RV the last couple years. I wish I took Andy and Justin up on their offer to sleep in the RV too. Oh well, I wanted to be like the majority of racers and tent it out. Erin who talked me into camping bunked out and took Billy Edwards (pro friend) up on the offer to take a spare bed at the house he was at.

Friday was a day of easy workouts, a photo-shoot for Blueseventy and their Timex/Helix wetsuit. Tim and Erin did a great job of not laughing or smiling to much like they did at Team Camp in April..Thanks ya’ll.

AJ and Billy (Colorado Boys)

To say that I didn’t sleep much is true. I think that I may have only gotten 4 hours of sleep, not great the night before a race. It was great to know that it happens to others and people I respect and look-up too as athletes and people. Tim Hola was kind enough to let me know that he too has butterflies the night before races and that it’s a good thing. I can say that getting to know Tim over the weekend was fun and seeing the other side of people is great. If no-one knows Tim, I can say that he is one of the best Top elite age group triathlons out there. If anyone can have a mentor in the sport, Tim should be on everyone’s list. So thanks Tim for the support and advice. Wish you the best in the rest of you season and see you around Denver.

OK, Race day and it’s time to space out, get my head in order and ready to race. I was looking forward to the swim, especially in my Zenith Zoot Suit. Once the horn sounded, I dashed to the front of the line knowing I could hang and create some distance. The first leg of the swim was awesome. I was seeing different colored caps from waves 10min prior to mine. I was in good form. Then we hit the turn buoy and the winds created some nasty choppy water that wasn’t so fun to swim in. I can say that all those years of being the family dingy getting the boats in Sebago Lake back in Maine came in handy swimming in the chop. I kept up my form even though I slowed a little in the waves.

(Swim images, and may do I make the Zenith look good in the water..hope you like it Karen)

The bike ride was a good test and hilly course. The 20mph headwinds did a number on a lot of racers. Times where slow across the board and I wasn’t too happy with how I rode. I realized after the race that in my spaced out mind, I had laced a 9 speed cassette on the race wheel and NOT my 10 speed... Damn it that is why Nasty grade was so flipping hard. Again a good test and learning experience to take away. Make sure I double check my crap before I leave!
(The start of the bike leg)

The run started out good. I felt comfortable after a minor adjustment with my race shoe. I did take off a little to fast for only being on a “long run with friends”. I dialed it back a little and found a good comfort zone at 8min/mile. Then the hills on the run kicked in and I took it easy and pushed a few when I saw a few guys in my age group pass me. Probably not the best idea as I felt a slight pull on my left hamstring. I didn’t think much of it and ran through it. Around mile four with a large steady climb, I tried to pick up the pace again when I felt a pull on my left hamstring this time. One so hard and tight that I had to stop and massage it for a second. I stretched it and tried to run again. My hamstring wasn’t going to have any part of that. At the aid station I asked for some medical hoping to wrap the leg and keep on running easy. No luck. I was told that if Medical came to me, I’d be DQ. So I chose to make the run a mental test and gut it out. I took the Jeff Galloway program of Running/walking into full effect for the last nine miles of the run. To say it was painful is an understatement. I am happy that I did gut it out and finish the race even if it was as slow as possible.

(the finish of a very long day, but a positive one, for what I found in it)

Over all it was a fun weekend, seeing old friends, meeting new ones and catching up overall. I want to give a big shout out to Tim and Erin for having an awesome race both winning their age groups and making Team Timex standout.

Thanks for reading and keep checking in as I’m only 45 days away from my Ironman Race. To say that out loud is a little crazy. Only seems like yesterday that I had signed up. Cheers.

Andy thanks for taking the race day photos for me mate, see you at IM-CDA!