Prologue
What should I write here? Should I write about the 75yr old who raced past us in the run leg in his 5th (yes, only 5th) year as a triathlete? Or should I write about the one-legged athlete who did the long course? Should I talk about the super amazing Team Asha family support at the race or should I pen down my thoughts about the one-armed athlete who did the Olympic distance triathlon? Maybe I should talk about the camping experience before the race or, maybe, should I talk about the beautiful lake which brought us all together?I should not talk about this OR that! I should talk about this AND that and all things around. It was not a race, it was a wholesome, extremely fulfilling and a much needed experience! It was the best of all and I feel so blessed to have been part of it!
Wildflower half ironman was going to be my first real race of the big year that I have planned. I was going for gold in 2013..... and so it started.. the race report that I started writing long time ago!
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| Wildflower race start location |
The year, the plans
Now, when I sit back to start writing again, it all seems a blur! I am done with all the running, swimming and biking for the year and it is about time to take stock of what has been. It has been such a busy year, but not too shabby either. It's been just that so many things have happened that it is easy to forget some things! Like the one-legged athlete who did the long course (1/2 IM). So, I am glad I penned down the first paragraph when I did.Coming back to the race -- so this was going to be my first real race of 2013. After running Morgan Hill marathon in Oct 2012 and riding Seattle-to-Portland in July 2012, my biking and running seemed to have the requisite foundation. But swimming could really use a leg up. I was excited about Wildflower, but what I "really" was excited about was doing Sharkfest. It is a swim from Alcatraz island to aquatic park in San Francisco. Yea, the name sounds so daunting that I had already registered for it twice before and was a no-show for it. And I was so eager to not repeat that again this year.
Gearing up for the year meant a lot of planning around the events, the timing of them, the training plan, etc. 2013 had a not-so-rocking start when I slipped off the stairs on a rainy day towards the end of December and hurt my back. Luckily, the injury was not a big deal after the first week or so. After a week or two of recuperation, I was ready to warm up with Advait and Manisha at the Surf City marathon early February. That race was probably what kick started the training for 2013.
Starting with the Wildflower in May, I had an event spaced about exactly a month apart (Sharkfest being the except and being 2 weeks after Wildflower). I knew I was needed to go into a higher gear pretty soon. And keeping up with the training for so long meant planning for sufficient breaks along the way. After all the planning, I was (finally!!!) ready to hit the pool towards the end of February. Not something coach Char would be proud of, as he found out at the Marin county swim end of March. He reckoned lot of work was needed for the swim, and I was willing to put that effort in.
After sufficient swims at the San Francisco bay and enough training on the bike and on the feet, I felt I was ready to give Wildflower a shot. And Wildflower was not just about the race, but also about all the people involved - the camping, the Wildflower planning parties, the whole lot.. :)
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| Vivek with the North Park gang |
Eve of the race
After listening to previous year's stories from Venki, we figured the key was to get a nice spot in the open park. And Vivek, Venki and myself arrived early and were lucky to get a nice spot under a tree for everyone. Wildflower always welcomes us with searing temperatures, so, it is a blessing to find a shaded spot to minimize your risk of getting dehydrated even before the race started. :)
And it was a hot day! But probably little cooler than previous year (or so I hear). Lots of water-sipping (and feet-washing with drinking water, my friends would point out) ensued on Friday during the entire registration/check-in process. And eventually, the rest of the gang arrived. The best part of the trip though, undoubtedly has to be the part where Muthu and Protima took care of everything!! The big part of everything was the food. We did not have to lift a finger! :)
There was a big contingent of folks taking part in the race. Along with me, there was Vivek-Venki duo doing the 1/2 IM relay, there was the Amit-Jayant-Venkat trio doing the same relay, coaches Char-Naresh duo for the 1/2 IM relay again, few veterans Rajeev Shankar and Harpal Kochar doing the 1/2 IM - all on Saturday & Laukik for his first Olympic triathlon on Sunday. And none of us had to do ANY WORK on Friday (except of course a small training ride a few of us went for). It was all taken care of!!! :) Amazzzzing stuff!! I am sure, come 2014, it will be time to give back. :)
On the way to the campsite, having never been on the Wildflower bike course, I was getting a rundown of it from Venki's previous experience. As we were riding along, I was marking the course into speed zones. And by the time it was time to sleep, I was dreaming of some finish time expectations. Only problem was I actually said it out loud!! I think I was aiming for a 7:00 (7hr) finish and 6:30 (6.5hr) being the dream finish. :) And that's how Friday ended!
Race Day
The transition zone (the starting point) - what a sight!!! And so vastly different from how it looked the previous day. The whole place was throbbing with life. It was so exciting to see so many athletes and here I was, nervous for my first ever triathlon! Is this how triathlons are? WOW!! Now, that is something! |
| Transition zone (each leg - swim, bike, run ends here) |
I started the swim first in the gang (all the relay folks were going to start after individual racers and Rajeev & Harpal were out somewhere else :) ). It was a nice warm day and some of us swimmers had a short warm-up before the official start. They had like a minute or two warm-up before each wave of swimmers started. I probably had enough time given the cutoffs were a little relaxed for individual finishers. The race started alright amongst the crowd and about half-way through the turn-around point, I was still bumping to other swimmers. At about the half-way point, my timing chip started to become lose and started to play on my mind. (At later races, I saw that they had replacement timing chips after the swim leg handy. :) ) After swimming few more yards trying to keep that in place, I found a support staff on a surf board. I quickly got on to the board and fixed my timing chip and got back into the water with a nice dive :) (yoo-hoo). Soon after, my left calf, or was it the right, hmm... one of them started cramping. Swim is considered the easiest part of the Wildflower half (it is flat too :) ) and here I was already cramping. I figured I had to slow down and not use the legs as much. I eventually completed the swim in about 1:12.
Bike
The bike leg, the most anticipated leg - the leg where we heard horror stories about heat and the hills - that was the next one! After an uneventful transition, I was off on my bike. As soon as we head out of the transition area, we head into a small hill I hear is about 10% grade. And we are greeted by a topless girl! Brought a chuckle but didn't make climbing any easier! After the initial hill was a section of rolling hills and rest stops where I had the first experience of being handed over water-filled bottles (happens in tris). I was going at a good clip and down to a flattish section around mile 19. I got a shot in my arm when I heard folks cheering my name frantically. It was Neha, Puja and Shashvat who drove in that morning. After some drama on whether they were coming or not, I was thrilled to have their company and was excited to see them at the end of the race.
The next portion of the bike leg was a slight gradient and a slight down hill before the Nasty Grade at around mile 40. I remember reaching mile 36 or so in about 2hrs or little more than that, with about 20 more miles to go and the Nasty Grade to contend with. There goes my 2:45 dream. :) I was already 3.5hr into the race. I got to meet Puja, Neha and Shashvat again at the rest stop before Nasty Grade. It was already getting quite warm and the aid stations were beginning to run out of water. And the water that my friends were carrying there had already heated up! This was the my first triathlon and one of the aims was to try and minimize the stop time. So, I did not bother stopping at any aid stations, eating and drinking on the bike (which is mostly the norm and not the exception at tris). However, it was my first triathlon and it was a different experience. Soon enough came the much awaited hill. As I was trudging along (on my bike), I watched so many folks struggling. Some walking up the hill, some looking devastated. I bore a thought or two for some asking how they were doing and relaying their information to support staff ahead. And soon, about 3/4ths of the way up the hill, I started cramping up on my quads. It was time for a break, finally. I stopped and pulled over to the side, massaged my legs, pleaded them not to give up on me yet and got back on the bike once they responded to my pleas.
After the hill was a steep downhill followed by some more rolling hills in hot pockets. As soon as I started descending, I saw a man sprawling in the middle of the road from a bike crash. Boy, that was close I thought and focus was back on the road. After the covering the remaining 15 miles or so, I completed the bike leg in little more than 4hrs. By the time I started the run, I was about 5:30 into the race.
Run
I had no idea what the run course looked like. I only knew the fact that it was a hilly course in hot weather but when I saw the first hill, it almost seemed like a hike. :) And that was nothing compared to the hill around mile 4/5. I barely trained on hills, so I decided to walk the hilly section. More so, it was a long season ahead and what was the point anyways. I had already got cramps on the swim and the bike. :)
As I was hiking up mile 5, Vivek caught up with me and gave updates on the rest of them. And from that point, he ran/walk alongside me for the rest of the journey. There would be sections where I would run, Vivek would cheer me by saying I was too fast and then my legs would cramp and I would have to walk. And then it felt like I ate/drank too much, so, I did not have a good nutrition plan for the cramps. You live and learn.
After mile 10 or so, Vivek and I are overtaken by a 75-yr old man. The age is etched in markers on one of the calves, that's how we know. As we speak to him, we figure he started doing triathlons at the age of 70. What an inspiration!! After walking and running through the remaining uphills and downhills, it was finally time for the finish chute. And Vivek decides to let me finish ahead and get the limelight! I mean, c'mon, who does that! Really?! It is a great thing to be surrounded by fabulous people! At little over 8:30, I finish my race.
Post Race
Soon after the race, I meet up with the rest of the gang. Jayant and Naresh had tough times on the bike leg but the rest did okay. And I get to hang out with the little tots and the rest of the cheering squad as well. And Laukik/Sampada had arrived by then for Laukik's Olympic triathlon the next day. Soon, I started having a nose-bleed (an indication of hot weather) but nothing serious.There are so many little things that were learnt for this experience - the need to train more & the need for a better nutrition plan being the primary ones. I heard from somewhere that Wildflower (referred to as the Woodstock of half IM's) time is a good indication of a full-IM finish time. Just double it. So, I was pretty much looking at a 17-hr full ironman finish (which is just on the cutoff).
The real icing on the cake, however was being able to see the whole action from the sidelines the next day, cheering Laukik on at his Olympic tri. If participating in the event is one thing, cheering and being 'part' of the event is altogether a different experience! As the experience of finishing my first triathlon was sinking in, I was soaking in the whole atmosphere the next day again. As we were heading back to the tent, we see an athlete with just one leg who just completed the Olympic triathlon!
On a personal front, even though I came out with a less than perfect race and lots to improve, watching the elites and amateurs finish alike was memorable. And the sheer number of athletes present along with the aura and such inspiring stories made for an unforgettable experience! I could not have asked for anything better for my first triathlon, and I thank everyone present for being a part of it.
