Monday, May 10, 2010

Pain is Temporary, Pride is Forever - Wildflower 2010

Wow! 2010! It is crazy to think that this year is my 7th season racing triathlons, and my 5th season racing long course. I would've never thought that a little boredom in Ohio would lead to the thought of doing A triathlon, let alone moving to San Diego, meeting some great friends, and completely changing my lifestyle.



Over the years, I've had the opportunity to compete in some amazing races: Free TCSD races, KOZ series races, a half ironman in Baja (my first HIM), scattered half marathons, 10K's, 5K's, O'Side Half Iron (x2), Big Kahuna (x2), and Ironman Arizona. Missing from this list was a little race called Wildflower.

Held the first week of May, Wildflower is considered the "Woodstock of Triathlon." While the Woodstock comparison comes primarily from the fact that most racers camp on-site - the race is still quite a fun party. Unfortunately, for the past few years, Wildflower weekend has corresponded with finals at school. Now with graduation behind me, it was my chance to take a stab at this race.

Stacy Schlocker and I left bright and early Friday morning for the trek up to Lake San Antonio. About 15 miles or so from Paso Robles, the Wildflower race area was a beautiful mix of lakes, hills, vineyards, and of course, fields of wildflowers (sorry allergies)!

TCSD once again showed that they were the best club around, as we were able to turn in our tents the week before so they would be set-up when we arrived. AWESOME! Thanks to the Hays family!


Race Day


9:15 race start time for my wave meant that I got to sleep in until 6. That is unheard of on race day! Awesome! Not so awesome was the sub 40-degree temps outside at 6 in the morning. Did I really have to jump into a lake in 3 hours?


In summary - the race was not my best. Not even close to my best.

The swim was ok. Freshwater and flat. I came out exactly where I thought I would (~46 mins).


The bike is where the real "fun" began! Hills, hills, and more hills. My glutes were cramping and my back was hurting. The ride was not fun, and pretty slow (~3:45...ouch!). I kept on muttering to myself as I went up the hills "Pain is Temporary, Pride is Forever. I can do this." That got me through, but barely. In the picture below, I was yelling to Shawn "I hurt! This sucks! Do I really have to run?!?!?" I was NOT looking forward to the half marathon ahead.
The run turned out to be more of a walk. My glutes were tight, and I could not get my heart rate down. Add a bright sunny and warm day, plus hills around every corner, this run was more like a death march. I just couldn't get it together to run more than a quarter mile to half mile at a time. Not fun at all. Even walking hurt! What should've taken me ~2:15 on a good day, took me ~3:00 on this day.


Overall time: ~7:45! Eek. Considering my best half ironman time is 5:49, this was tough to swallow. This race, although half the distance, was harder for me than Ironman Arizona! The race was so painful, that all Saturday night, I was swearing off all long courses. No need to put myself through that pain!


After a good dinner, lots of water, and a night sleeping in my compression tights, I woke up on Sunday morning feeling....pretty good! The pain WAS temporary! By the time Stacy and I reached our breakfast stop in San Luis Obispo on our way home on Sunday morning, she had convinced me to take another stab at the race next year. Am I crazy? A glutton for punishment? Who knows! I think I need to start doing some hill repeats now! :)

2 comments:

Chris said...

Congrats Jess! I agree, WF is tougher than IMAZ by a long shot - and way more fun! After three consecutive years doing WF I missed this year, but I'll be back in 2011 - lets head for the hills next January and show all those poser NorCal triathletes how it's done :)

Jennifer Yake Neuschwander said...

You'll kill WF next year. It's a humbling course the first time but next time you'll own it. Congrats on the finish and all of your accomplishments.