Ray Gylnn Wildflower 2006 1/2 IM Race Report

I know, I know, where's the race report? Well its here, finally a month and a bit after the race. We just had the small matter of getting married and then celebrating a fine honeymoon which sidelined any race reporting activity!

The Build-up:

Suffice to say there was none. We enjoyed our first week in California immensely, recovering from the trip over and the dreaded jet-lag while soaking up the atmosphere of San Francisco. We went for a couple of runs and a swim but training sessions were pretty much non-existent. When I finally got my hands on the bike that was kindly lent to me (Thanks Nick O'Connor) I took a quick spin through the city and nearly had heart failure, what with the tramlines, hills, stop signs, traffic and of course riding on the other side of the road. The propect of a tough 1/2IM on the approaching saturday morning was pretty much ignored, which I guess was a good thing!

The Trip to the Race:

Lake San Antonio is the site of the Wildflower event. Its a state park about 200 miles south of Frisco. Our host, Philip, hired an SUV for the weekend which we packed on the Friday morning with grub and camping gear before hitting the road on Highway 101. The journey was cool, down through Silicon valley which in turn was replaced by miles of rolling hills and farmland. As we approached the race site we noticed more and more vehicles with bikes packed in, all on the way to the race. We arrived about mid-afternoon and were shepharded into the camping area which was pretty large. Close to 15,000 people stay at the race site over the run of the weekend, all there racing the various races and spectating as well as catering for all the triathletes. It was like a music festival except everyone was there to race. Very Cool. Plus the weather was hot and the skies were blue, nice!

We got our tents up and met up with Philip's gang in "Team In Training" many of whom were competing in there first triathlon over the weekend, be it Long course or Olympic Distance. Their excitement was tangible and its when I finally started getting the pre-race jitters. Registration was similar to here and we got numbered up for the following morning.

Lights out in the campsite about 10:30.

Race-day:

I was up at 5:30am, one of the advantages of the jet-lag! I hopped into the SUV to put on the heavy-duty suncream and warm up. Porridge and coffee were soon brewed up and most of the other heads competing were up by then. We left the campsite at 7am for the cycle down to the transition area. I think my age-group was seeded by swim time as I got numbered in the first wave of M30-34 to go (it was the largest wave start of the day). Found my numbered area in Transition and got prepared. I think I freaked out my transition colleagues with my Galway Triathlon top and "DAZ" white skin. The boys looked like they were pros but I know not to be fooled by posers especially in this sport! 8am arrived accompanied by the US national anthem and a prayer (we may encorperate this into the Galway race!), and the pros were off. My wave started at 8:25am so I hit the porta-loo and then got suited up.

Swim (1900m):

I lined up at the front right and got a good start. The water temp was perfect for wetsuit swimming. Hammered for about 200m, round the first buoy and then settled into a comfortable stroke. The rest was uneventful, no-one really to draft off so just kept it going and tried to stay relaxed, 28:30 for the 1900m so can't complain.

Bike (56 miles) :

Wetsuit came off nicely considering it was the first time I swam in it this year! I got through the long transition area quickly and out onto the bike course. The first few miles you weave down by the lake before climbing out of the park. The bike course is described as "relatively difficult" but its not really. The roads are much better than here so i just got stuck down in the aero position and pushed out the miles. The first 20 or so I was passing loads from the age-group waves in front of me. I was worried I was moving too fast as there are some big climbs at the end of the course but I felt Ok so just kept banging out the miles. By mile 25-30 I was on my own and enjoying the good weather and downhill roads. At this stage I was catching the female pros and some of the male pros (they must have been fakes!). Mile 40 signalled a change in terrain and the infamous "Nasty Grade" a long climb at the backend of the course. I was 2 hours on the bike at this stage and I was looking forward to the change of position for the climb. Unfortunately my back started complaining (first time ever this happened) and by the top of the climb my lower back had all seized up. I spent the 50mph descent trying to stretch it out but it wasn't to be. I just couldn't push anymore and my average speed came way down. I started feeling down (always happens at some stage in a race this long) and quite a few heads overtook me coming back into the park. Thankfully the end of the bike arrived. I was just hoping this wouldn't affect my run. 02:48:00 for 56 miles.

Run (13.2 miles):

Into transition and the running shoes went on. I took a moment to stretch my hammies and lower back. Thankfully when I started running the back wasn't as issue so I got stuck down to it. The run weaves down by the lake again and along some trail which is narrow and sketchy underfoot. It was hot (26deg) and I was grabbing water at all the aid stations which were manned by Pol-Cal college students in beach attire! The first 4 miles were slow and painful. I was hurting but so were the other runners so I just hung in there. At mile 5-6 there was a nasty, nasty hill which brought all my fellow sufferers to a walk. I kept running though and once over that the trail opened up, I found my legs and I cheered up immensely. At this stage I had caught all the lads who had overtaken me on the way back into the park on the bike, and I was catching runners every 400m or so, which is great for your mental health especially when hurting.

The run course arrives back through the campsite so Siobhan had generated a mini fan-club who were all surprised to see me so soon. The support all around the course was amazing and the last couple of miles passed along nicely. Mile 9-12 were evil, you were out on a road running down a hill to a turnabout point where you run all the way back up the hill again, cruel and very hot. That said the last few miles in every 1/2IM are tough. The last mile was downhill to the transition area where the finish line was a welcome sight. The race clock said over 5 hours but I not idea what time I did as I didn't race with a watch. Turns out I did 01:33:00 for the run. Elated to be finished.

The Evening:

By far the hardest part of the day was the walk back to the campsite, that was just a killer! We chilled out for the evening and enjoyed some lukewarm beers. Siobhan was racing Sunday morning in the Olympic distance race, as were loads of other people (4000 of them!) so it was lights out again at 10:30pm. It was great to wake up the next morning and not be hungover and dying as is the usual Kenmare experience! All in all an amazing event and experience, we'd recommend it. Mucho thanks to Philip O'Toole for being a great host and to Nick O'Connor for the use of his bike. The stop at In'and Out Burger on the way home was the job as well! It was a bummer to travel to Hawaii on the Monday but had to be done.....

Ray.