Wow! Time Flies! Wildflower recap

I've been negligent with my blogging....sorry to those of you who actually read my musings!



Wildflower was quite an event. I've never seen so many tents, trailers, RVs, people and dogs. and BIKES!! It really did have a Woodstock feel to it. It was raining when we arrived. Terry & Obdulia had put up our tents....bless them! We walked down to the race venue and checked in, looked around, and came back up to work on our gourmet (Togo's) dinner. Couple of quick rounds of UNO, a walk in the dark for Jeff and me, and then the kids were off to their tent. We weren't far behind them - and we had a new air mattress!!! Still no mint. ;(



Saturday was cool, but the sky was clear and the rain was gone - yea!! We ate a quick breakfast, loaded up our gear and rode down to the transition area. Zach's ankle was too bad to run on, so Obdulia stepped in for the Nollette relay to go on! They did great. 7th overall.



I got my transition area set up with lots of advice/help from my men. When they left, I fixed it up! Got body-marked, bot my wetsuit on, meandered on down to the starting ramp with about 15 minutes to spare. Learned that not only CAN I pee in my wetsuit, it really does warm you up! The start was rough - lots of kicking and flailing, but I was able to clear out pretty quickly. missed a couple of the bouys, so I added a bit to the 2100 swim, but it wasn't too bad. The finish stunk.....all the big boys that I had been passing from waves 20-25 minutes ahead of me were milling around blocking the exit....frustrating! Swim time was 36. Not far from my 35 goal - I'll beat it next year! I was first one in my rack back - that was exciting!



T1 was, hmmmmm, slow. Took me forever to find my bike (no glasses!) and just as long to get the wetsuit off! Yukky. Did get a quick suncreen on, had all of my equipment, and took off at a run - wanted to get on that bike!



The bike was just fun. I rode faster than I thought I could, stayed aero longer than I thought I could, did a good job with my nutrition and hydration, and only dropped one bottle on a volunteer! Never stopped - not to pee, not to walk the nasty grade....never. weeee! I did the bike in 3:27 - 18 minutes ahead of my goal!



T2 was different.....my family was all there! They'd finished their race, so they became my support crew. It may not have been the most efficient use of my time, but it was so much fun to have them all there. Made me almost cry - thanks, guys!! Still a slow transition, but I didn't forget anything!



The run was hard, much harder than I thought it would be. I had ran part of the course before, but I really wasn't well prepared for all of the dirt/heat/hills. I was hoping for a 2:10, expecially considering I had ran a full marathon 2 months ago in under 4 hours. I finished with a 2:21, but with a smile! It truly was all I had in me that day. It got into the upper 80s in the back hills, and that was tough. Volunteers were pouring water over our heads, and hitting with hoses. It felt SO good!!



Came across the finish line with a large group of fans - man, is my family loud - lots of hugs. I finished in 6:35. I placed 18 of 58 in my age group. Beat my 'public' goal of 6:45, didn't beat my 'private goal of 6:00'. Next time! More training, smarter racing......I can't wait!!

Keep reading.......the road to Wisconsin has a pit stop in Auburn......this weekend!