Wildflower

Another wildflower weekend is complete...one of the best race weekends Paula and I have had there.  Only a decent race though, should be more happy as I went a bit faster than I've gone there before, but so did a few other dudes.

The work week before was wild.  We're (luckily) very busy these days and I'm on a new project, re-imaging Fashion Island.  Starting the site work on this one along with a presentation to big dogs from Saudi Arabia on the South Hotel project made the pre-race preparations a bit tight but we got the car all packed by Thursday morning and Paula and I headed up the coast.   I've been pretty relaxed about this race and the training since Cali 70.3 has been light with trying to get my hip healthy.  But of course, I knew as soon as race morning came I'd be itching to throw down a fight. 

We were the first to arrive at the Lake San Antonio from our group and searched for an hour for a good camp site.  Apparently you have to get to the site a week early or be on a 'list' to get any campsite with a picnic table and less than 2:1 slope...luckily, our San Diego Team in Training friends allowed us to set up camp in the TNT reserved loop.  Which was fitting as we've always associated Wildflower with great Team in Training friends and memories.   Set up camp, saw some old friends and got a pretty good nights sleep while trying not to think about the rain rumors floating around.  

Our group arrived to the camp throughout the next day.  A very solid crew, Kim Mcdonald, Brian Scott, Chad Green and family and his buddy Steve, Amanda, and James Dorris all shared our site.  Good people and fast racers.  We cooked the pre-race ritual of pasta, broccoli, and tuna and tried to ignore the steady rain that had been falling all day!  I don't mind racing in the rain and camping in the rain is okay if you're prepared. But what I was afraid of was camping in the rain, racing in the rain, and then going back to camping in the rain...not a fun weekend.

Luckily....we woke to this!  

Sun was burning away the clouds as soon as it came up, it was going to be a fast day of racing.

I was pretty excited to get out and race.  More relaxed than usual and feeling a great deal of confidence.  Had a nice jog down the lake shore path and ran into the groups of Cal Poly student volunteers heading down to the race.  They had all pretty much just finished up their kegs and were in great form!  One girl staggered up to me and handed me a cup of Gatorade and proceeded to squat down and take pee right next to me, priceless.

I was in the first wave of 3 of my age group.  I found out later that they had seeded the waves by previous wildflower times so our group was stacked with some of the top guys from around the country.  Had a a nice clean start without getting too pummelled and rounded the first buoy with just a small group ahead of me.  After a couple hundred yards I noticed somebody drafting off me.  It was cool though as I could tell the guy knew what he was doing as he was swimming very steady and in control.  I was cool with it, ok I did throw in a few zig zags (hey I'm a competitor! ) to see if he'd fall off but we ended up swimming the course together.   Caught up to a few folks near the end and blasted up the boat ramp to T1.  As soon as I pulled the goggles off I saw the guy drafting was my buddy Grady Funk who I now is a solid swimmer.  Struggled with my wetsuit, gotta practice the details...but was soon off with a quick shout out to Paula who was waiting for here own wave to go off.  

I exited T1 with Saul Raisin.  Saul is a former pro-cyclist who had a terrible bike crash a few years back.  We saw him speak a year ago and picked up his book, Tour de Life,  which details his life as a pro and his recovery from brain damage from the crash, a good read.   It was cool to see him ride, you can really tell the difference between a true rider and the tri-geeks like me.  He floated around the narrow corners of the first few miles looking effortless.  I laid it down on the first big hill though and never saw him again.   

The wildflower ride is epic.  It's relentless from the start.  It's not the slowest course, but it's rolling the entire way with a few big climbs near the end.  I moved up into first place in my wave by about mile 25.  Passed a few heavy hitters, Brandon Del Campo and BJ Cristenson along the way which gave me some confidence, but they are both incredible runners so I knew I had to stay on form.  A little after 30 miles one of my aerobar pads flew off, never had that happen.  It was minor now, just uncomfortable and have some big bruises though.  I think I forgot about it after a few miles.  Really crushed the big grade at mile 40 but unfortunately, paid for it...

Had a really tough 5 miles or so with cramps and fatigue.  Shifted up and spun the legs out a bit to try and shake things out and ended up getting passed by somebody I didn't know at mile 50 or so.  As I made one the final turns back towards the lake, the legs were picking back up and I got back up to speed.  Had an epic bomb down the steep grade to T2 and was quickly off and onto the run.

The Wildflower run is just as relentless as the bike.  Again, it's not the slowest course, but it has some serious off-road climbs which most often I really like.  At least I tell myself I do...I was struggling from the start.  The guy that had passed me was just running out of T2 as I came in and I thought (or hoped) I would be seeing him again.  But with the injuries and missed run sessions this year, I didn't have the greatest confidence.  I'm a runner though with many years and many miles in my legs so I can 'fake it' sometimes.  You can't fake Wildflower though...

I hit the Trails and Brandon caught up.  He's a great guy and a great racer.  He gave me some words of encouragement but I didn't think I'd be able to stay close. I'm strong when I can race steady but the legs didn't have the strength to keep pace on the uphills so I was up and down with the speed.  Really dug deep for miles 3 through 8.  Both half IM runs this year have been by far the toughest of my career.  This sport just doesn't get any easier, you just learn how to push yourself harder.  I guess that's why I keep signing up for more races.

By mile 9 I caught up to one of the women professionals, Tyler Stewart.  She was running very steady, same pace on the uphills and flats.  She was being pretty cool, thanking all the spectators and volunteers, chatting with the other racers, but working hard.  I gave her some props as I ran by and she stuck with me as we headed out on the final 4 miles of paved rollers.  She was going to work off of me.  She was in 6th place and we saw 5th place a few hundred yards ahead.  5th place was starting to shuffle a bit so I knew we had her.  We bombed the hill to the turn-around and caught 5th just past it.  I saw Brandon about 2 minutes up along with the other dude about 1 minute up on me.  Also as I headed back from the turn-around, I saw 2 guys in my divisions about a minute behind me running strong.   

After Tyler and I had passed the 5th place girl, I hear a whisper behind me...'lets get another'.  It was awesome.  I think I'll remember that line and how she said for my next races.  The determination in the voice was great and I saw 4th place a hundred yards up.  As we neared I told her to look strong and we raced past.  She was so happy and invigorated with the endorphins of racing.  She just laid it down then and dropped me...yes she dropped me.  I guess in my head my race was over.  I was pushing hard, harder than I've ran in some time but didn't have the turn over to keep pace.  

Hit mile 12 and the big downhill mile to the finish.  I tried to bomb it but held back a bit to protect the hip.  I didn't think anyone was close but did hear the announcer at the top of the hill saw a name I thought I recognized at the top of the hill but I though he was in a different division (earlier wave) and I was already ahead of him.  But I guess he was in my division and had been waiting to pounce on me all the way down the hill.  He waited till about 50 yards from the finish and sprinted by...I couldn't do anything.    I guess it was payback time for him though.  I had passed him at mile 24 of IM CDL last year and won our age group so he took a shot at me and won this time.  Guess I learned to take a peak back near the finish of my next race...

This race drove it home for me that I need to get the hip healthy.  I can't race 100% when I can only train 90%.  I think I am almost there but have to be smart.    The rest of this month is full recovery mode.  It's all about Kona this year and know I can reach my goals there if I am smart.

Paula ended up knocking over a half hour off her previous WF time.  She was very happy which in the end matters more to me than my own results, so it was another successful weekend of racing for the Baldwin family.  We tool an extra day to relax and celebrate our good friend Billy Duval's birthday in Paso Robles on Sunday.  A beautiful afternoon filled with wine tasting and great food.  Somehow ended up with a case of wine for the house as well!  Great times...

patrick