The Wildflower triathlon's olympic distance: 1.5K swim, 40K bike, 10K run.
But I had to get there first.
Annually held up in the hills of Paso Robles, CA, its one of the more famous triathlons in the country, especially w/the collegiate championships. They also do a long course thats about a half-Ironman distance (1.2m Swim, 56m Bike, 13.1m Run). That and its a big campout tri weekend for the athletes and their families.
My main gripe was getting there; the directions were so bad, I ended up driving ~90 miles more than I had to. I finally got to the front gate of the location around 10pm, only to be asked to pay a $50 camping fee. Fuck that, turning around to a nice grassy meadow 2 miles up the road, I got a scant few hours sleeping bag style before waking up @6am to get registered, and stow my gear in the transition area, about the size of a football field and full of expensive race bikes (The tranistion area is where you keep your stuff, from taking off the wetsuit, to getting on your bike, to getting off your bike and throwing on your running shoes).
The race was nice, actually. The water warmer than the ocean I swim in, and nice and glassy. The first transition was kinda rough, feeling really nauseated from being all aerobic horizontally to running aerobic vertically and all of my blood dropped to my legs. The bike went up this huge-ass hill, called Lynch hill, up outta the lake area and out and back amidst the rolling hills. Got stung by a bee. Still felt good at that point. Not even hungry.
Bad idea, not eating, and especially not popping some salt pills. 'Cuz ya see, it was hot by the time I was off the bike, me 2 hours into the race, and sweatin' lots. Didn't think about electrolytes, cuz shit, I was drinking the salty gatorade. Mmm, hmmm, boy did I feel it by mile 2, legs all cramping up like in mile 24 of a marathon. After a grueling run, I finally came through the finish line.
And was greeted by the LA Frontrunners! Who I hung out with for a couple hours before taking off back to San Diego. All in all despite the bad drive up and a slow race (2:44), it proved to be quite the nice learnin' experience, and I hope to return next year, all the more wiser and ready.
And now, another week of my legs lovin' me something special.
But I had to get there first.
Annually held up in the hills of Paso Robles, CA, its one of the more famous triathlons in the country, especially w/the collegiate championships. They also do a long course thats about a half-Ironman distance (1.2m Swim, 56m Bike, 13.1m Run). That and its a big campout tri weekend for the athletes and their families.
My main gripe was getting there; the directions were so bad, I ended up driving ~90 miles more than I had to. I finally got to the front gate of the location around 10pm, only to be asked to pay a $50 camping fee. Fuck that, turning around to a nice grassy meadow 2 miles up the road, I got a scant few hours sleeping bag style before waking up @6am to get registered, and stow my gear in the transition area, about the size of a football field and full of expensive race bikes (The tranistion area is where you keep your stuff, from taking off the wetsuit, to getting on your bike, to getting off your bike and throwing on your running shoes).
The race was nice, actually. The water warmer than the ocean I swim in, and nice and glassy. The first transition was kinda rough, feeling really nauseated from being all aerobic horizontally to running aerobic vertically and all of my blood dropped to my legs. The bike went up this huge-ass hill, called Lynch hill, up outta the lake area and out and back amidst the rolling hills. Got stung by a bee. Still felt good at that point. Not even hungry.
Bad idea, not eating, and especially not popping some salt pills. 'Cuz ya see, it was hot by the time I was off the bike, me 2 hours into the race, and sweatin' lots. Didn't think about electrolytes, cuz shit, I was drinking the salty gatorade. Mmm, hmmm, boy did I feel it by mile 2, legs all cramping up like in mile 24 of a marathon. After a grueling run, I finally came through the finish line.
And was greeted by the LA Frontrunners! Who I hung out with for a couple hours before taking off back to San Diego. All in all despite the bad drive up and a slow race (2:44), it proved to be quite the nice learnin' experience, and I hope to return next year, all the more wiser and ready.
And now, another week of my legs lovin' me something special.
glad your experience was over all good!