Wildflower Long Course - Race Report

Wildflower Long Course is a race I have been looking forward to for a long time. The race takes place at Lake San Antonio in central California, about 30 miles west of Paso Robles. This is a breathtakingly beautiful part of California with native oak tress dotting rolling, golden hills. Because of this rural location, many of the participants choose to camp out at the race site, giving it a “Woodstock-like” feel and legendary festival atmosphere. And the course is tough as nails, always regarded as one of the toughest half ironman races around. My kind of stuff!

I arrived to the race site plenty early on race day and took my time setting up a good transition area and walking through all that I would need. This is a HUGE race, with 3500 participants, so I felt it was worth taking my time to get well-organized.

As I was setting up my transition, I noticed that the athlete next to me was also racking a red Kuota K-Factor in his area. This is the same exact bike that I have, so we made some jokes about making certain to grab the correct bike. I remarked, “Well, that’s all up to the person with the fastest swim time” before even noticing that he was a challenged athlete – he did not have a right arm. He smiled and said, “That’s going to be you” with a wink. Only later did I learn that he was a veteran of the Iraq war who had lost his arm in combat! Wow, talk about a great reminder of why I love this sport: constantly interacting with courageous, inspirational people who share an optimistic, can-do spirit. A perfect lift before my race!

Swim 30:34

I had hoped to swim under 30 minutes, as I felt like I had been making some progress with my swim over the past few weeks. One of the mistakes I sometimes make is not to seed myself properly and get caught in too slow of a pack on the swim. (This mistake is consistent with my overall lazy approach…ha ha…). So, I went right up front and center of my wave and got off to a quick start. I didn’t have much contact and got going rather easily. I couldn’t quite hang with the lead pack but kept a good pace while leading the second chase pack. I felt like I swam a good line and made the turnaround feeling great. The way back was quick and I exited the water feeling like I had swum a very solid race – good line, good form, solid effort. But, dang, just missed that sub-30! Oh well. T1 went nice and smooth, but it was a long run through the transition area to the bike exit.

Cycle 3:01

As I started out on the bike, my heart rate, as usual, was sky high. This is a combination of hustling through transition and race adrenaline. Usually, I am able to back off a bit, settle down, and find a groove so that I can work at the proper effort level. However, after a short jog down the edge of the lake, this bike course has a killer climb up Beach Road. This climb required a big effort, and after cresting the summit, my heart rate was up to 170 (I like to race between 145 and 155). So, I spent some time trying to relax and get my effort under control. Finally, after about 5 miles, I was settled in and began to ride steadily north and west out and around the lake.

Through the first 25 miles or so, the scenery was gorgeous: rolling California hills, oak trees, horse farms, wildflowers, and ranches. I was enjoying myself incredibly and keeping a steady, but not spectacular, pace; I was just lacking a little power that kept me riding about 20 mph, rather the 22 mph or so I might be able average on this type of terrain while rested and tapered. Thankfully, I was on top of my nutrition and starting to feel stronger as the ride went on.

By about mile 35, I was riding much more strongly, and this was important because the climbing began at mile 40. By the time I got to the base of the climb affectionately known as “Nasty Grade” I felt ready to get after it, but before I did so, I need to relieve myself. Usually when I need to do such on the bike, I stop at a port-a-pottie and get off the bike. This is kind of the amateur way of doing it – a statement that you’d rather be comfortable than fast…plus I find near impossible to relax enough on the bike to, uh, go while riding. Anyway, I was able to relax enough to, uh, take care of business on the bike. While I was so proud of myself for doing so, I rounded a corner and came right on one of the race photographers! So, I immediately dropped into a racing position, looked serious and competitive, and had a good laugh at nearly getting caught in the act! On to dreaded climb!

The climb was every bit as difficult as advertised, and I felt strong up it and passed a few athletes who were struggling and over-geared. After making it up one summit, there was a right turn and then the truly steep section began. With a big surge, I pushed up this climb to reach an awesome summit – view in every direction of the lake, the valleys, and the rolling hills. My heart rate again reached 170, indicating what an effort it took to get up that climb. From the summit, the fun really began with some fantastic descents that rewarded good handling and sound riding. I was almost able to reach 45 mph down these descents, which was exhilarating! After a few easy miles, it was back into transition to get ready for the run.

Run 1:53

I felt pretty good starting the run and was happy to get going along the edge of the lake for the first few miles, following a cool, sandy trail. After reaching mile 4, the trail turned away from the lake and straight up a steep hill. This was a difficult climb and my heart rate shot up along with the terrain. To keep it under control, I slowed the effort and finally made it to the summit. After reaching the top of this climb, the trail dove down the other side of this ridge in a steep drop. Running down the loose, sandy, and steep trail was a challenge – I constantly felt like I was going to loose my footing and take a dive! I was glad to make it down to flat terrain safely. After a bit, the trail again climbed up over a steep ridge, and, once on top of this ridge, the trail headed through the campgrounds. This section was fun, with many supporters cheering and providing a needed lift though miles 7 and 8.

Another cool part of this race was the aid stations. Each station was staffed by students from Cal Poly, and they were having a lot of fun in the sun…although the notorious nude aid station was missing this year! At about mile 9, I came up to an aid station and a loud, outgoing college guy yelled, “you in the white top, can I get you a Gatorade, water, or a splash?” I yelled back that I wanted Gatorade, a splash, and a VERY loud cheer. I got all three, as the kids gave me a cup of Gatorade, all doused me with water, and screamed their lungs out! As always, I was having a blast with the great race volunteers!

After my energetic aid station visit, I took stock of my race, how I felt, and what I had in me for the last 4 miles or so. Usually, during the race, it is hard to do even some simple math and estimate where you might come in. But I was able to figure that I had a good chance of breaking 5:30, which would be ahead of my expectations and a big day for me on a course this tough. So, that became the next goal as I tried to pick up the pace.

I was right on track through miles 10 and 11, and I realized I had 15 minutes to run the last 2.1 miles to beat 5:30 – a tall task given my usual run pacing and the fatigue of the Wildflower Course. So, I got moving and gave it everything I had. The last mile of the race takes you down Lynch Hill, a steep descent back down to the shore of the lake. Running down such a grade on tired legs was a real quad-buster, but I kept after the goal time. Coming into the finish, I could see that I was just behind pace, so rather than be disappointed, I decided to have some fun. With the long finish chute all to myself, I raised my arms, asked the crowd for some love, and soaked it all in. The announcer seemed to appreciate my enthusiasm, and he gave me some special shout outs as I was pointing, waving, and goofing off! What fun! As they say, the finish is ALWAYS worth it!

My final time was 5:30:25, which I am happy with. That’s one tough course, and I handled it very well. My average heart rate ended up being 157, which is at the very top end of what I am capable of holding for an endurance event, so I truly did give it almsot all that I had!

After the race, I hung out at the finish and soaked up the party atmosphere. I was lucky enough to chat with Ironman World Champion Chris McCormack for a bit. He had won the race for the 4th time and was enjoying himself. As when I met him at the Silverman in Las Vegas, he was totally fun and cool to chat with. After joking that he “barely nipped me at both Silverman and Wildflower,” he laughed and said “Cheers mate!”

What a great day and great race. I recommend it to anyone looking for a fun challenge!