wildflower, finally

Well the Wildflower triathlon has come and past, and I have still not posted about it. It is one of those things like when somone calls you or emails you and you dont immediately call or email them back, that the longer you wait, the harder it is to do. Well, this report is only about two weeks late.

Widlfower is one of the greatest triathlon events in the world. People from all over come together at Lake San Antonio in Norhtern California and camp literally in the middle of nowhere. And yes, for those of you who are not aware, there actually is some open space in California that does not have 300,000 people per square foot living there.

The swim went ok, as Luke Bell and I fought hard for the end of the lead pack. The problem was we were fighting each other and as a result neither of us made it on. I arrived about 45-1min down on the leaders into the first transition, but solidly amid the second chase pack. Onto the bike, I was climbing well, but just didnt have the power on the flats. This year there was crazy wind on the course, and I felt as though I was back in Nebraska. It wa quite a lonely day as I only had company on the bike for 2 out of 56 miles. It was just me, my bike, and the wind trying to blow me over. I faded quite a bit on the bike, but did not blow up like last year. Onto the run, I felt quite good all things considered, but my achilles was really acting up. I have been battleing an achilles issue for about 2 months or so now. Every step I took it felt as though it was going to rip. It took about 4-5 miles to loosen up a bit. Finally it started to feel a little better, but right at that moment the wind picked up again (just my luck). I battled it out to the end and got 18th, one place higher than the 19th of 2005. My time, 4:30 and change was by no means fast. In fact, it was my slowest time ever at Wildflower. But, since the winning time was the slowest time since 1996, I dont feel so bad. It was an ok result, but I was hoping for a little more.

It has been really crazy with school and work the last month, so my leadup to Wildflower was not as good as I hoped for. I am now currently in sunny California for 5 weeks of training and getting ready for the upcoming sumer season. Next up is Escape from Alcatraz. I have been training hard and hopefully will be prepared.

My buddy Mark joined me in the Wildflower triathlon experience, and we got to go out to Half Moon Bay to check out the sights. Unfortunately Mavericks was not breaking (no surf), so we just enjoyed the great weather. (See above pic's of HMB)

Cheers,

B