Many firsts

Well, Wildflower was this past weekend and what a weekend it turned out to be.
I left on Thursday arriving into LAX at 10. I was hooking up with the RaceAthlete.com crew of about 20 people. We had 4 RV's rented for everyone. The plan was to for everyone to be in by 1, so I had plenty of time. I grabbed my bags (no bike thanks to Julia for driving it out), and headed up a tucked out of the way escalator. When I got to the top I took a left and there not but 15 feet from me was Bono! I have been a U2 fan for some time, and my wife is a huge fan. I know Bono when I see him, and this was not an impersonator. I fumbled with my phone to get a good pic. I didn't want to be in his face, but he saw me and gave me this cheesy smile. I walked up to him and said that I had seen him multiple times and that Courtney had seen him on every tour since Joshua Tree. He was polite, shook my hand and asked me if I knew what the big hold up was in the line. I snapped a few more pics and headed out to call Courtney. The strange thing was that no one else recognized him and he was just hanging out in line with everyone else. It was a great way to start the trip.
The drive to Lake San Antonio took a bit longer than expected. We took the 101, but we should have taken the 5. The good part was that we found this little out of the way shack that had some decent food and great atmosphere. We loaded up with groceries as well and made our way to the site. We didn't get in until 10:30 and we were shocked to find most of the camp sites filled. After some debating and putzing around we got the RV parked and settled in.
The next morning we jumped in the lake from where we were. The race start was 2 miles away so no sense in riding there just to ride back. Plus it was a hilly route and there were plenty of hills for race day. After the swim and some breakfast I went for a short spin to make sure the bike was working fine. It was, until I punctured the rear tire. Great, one more thing to deal with. The expo and registration were all together, plus I had to drop my bike off at the Kuota booth since they wanted it there for display. I got a ride down, got the tire taken care of and went to register. Since I initially registered as an age grouper, I did not have a number yet for the Pro division. I was told I would get it at the MANDATORY pro meeting at 5.
Back at the camp site I got organized and took a little nap. Then it was back to the expo/race start for the meeting and some dinner at the VIP tent. Laurent with SBR Organization had given me a VIP pass, as well as one to Julia, a client of mine, and an extra one for her friends. I got another VIP pass since I was a Pro and gave mine to Dave with Zipp. It worked out great. We had dinners and lunches and snacks all weekend in the VIP tent.
Race morning came and I felt ready. I wasn't nervous since this wasn't an A race, but you always want to do well. I picked my bike up from the Kuota booth, got setteled into my assigned rack and started my warm up routine. Before I knew it I was putting on the wetsuit and heading for the water. My plan was to hopefully come out with the second pack, hit the bike hard and just see what happens on the run. Well, that plan came undone about 3 minutes into the race when the pack left me behind. I had picked a bad starting spot and got caught behind some slower guys. I worked like crazy to get on the back of the pack, which I did. But then 30 seconds later I found myself off the back with one other guy. We worked together a bit, but it was not good. I hit land in 27:40, about a minute slower than I hoped, and 1 minute behind a big pack. I worked hard early on in the bike and picked off some racers here and there. At mile 5 or so Josiah Middaugh went by me. I knew he was 8th last year, so I thought if I can stick with him I can claw my way back in to the top ten. That plan was working great. Josiah was 20-50 yards up on me, but never pulling away. At times I was making up good ground too. Then my race really took a turn for the worst. A moto pulled up beside me and told me to stand down. I had no idea what I had done to get a penalty. I was at least 20 yards behind Josiah and there was no one behind me. I was told I was being penalized under the stagger rule. We were racing under the stagger rule and as I understood it, it was a 10x2 meter box. Since I was well back of 10m I thought I was OK. It turns out, as Charlie Crawford explained to me while I sat there, that the stagger rule is an infinite distance. So, whether you are 11m or 111m back, you need to be 2 m to the left or right of the rider in front of you. A hard way to learn that lesson for sure. Under the stagger rule you are allowed to pass on the right or left, so there is no blocking fouls.
The 2 minute penalty hurt. I tried to put it out of my mind and get back to work. My rhythm came back pretty quickly, but I knew my chances of a top ten were gone. The bike course is all up and down. Add in the winds that we had and it made for a really tough day on the bike. The last 10 miles were a struggle since you were either going into a wind, or uphills. Mentally it was pretty draining.
Coming into T2 I figured I would just run as hard as I could and give an effort I could be proud of. 20 yards in Billy Edwards went by me. He is a very strong runner, so I decided to hand on with him as long as I could. The legs were actually OK and I thought I could still have a fast run. Then I hit the hill at mile 4. It is steed and dirt and both hamstrings started to go. I wasn't catastrophic, but I had to stop. Now Billy was well ahead of me and I was all on my own. I lost focus a bit and trudged through the next few miles. The course flattened out a bit and I started to push again. I focused on my cadence and not letting my mind wander. Even though I was pushing and felt good, 2 more athletes went by me. This really hurt mentally. I kept trying to find another gear, but it just wasn't there. My HR was at 138-145 when it is normally at 155+ for a 1/2 IM run. The last miles were sort of depressing, but I finished.
It was not what I had planned on, but it was what the day gave me. I knew on Thursday that I was a bit tired and didn't have any snap, but you put that out of your head and tell yourself you will have it on race day. Well, I didn't and that's how it goes some times.
The next day I watched Julia who is a client of mine race the Olympic Distance. I felt nervous watching her then I did for my own race. Thankfully she had a good day and posted her fastest 10k run ever. The sun was out and the temp climbed quickly. I was able to even out my tan lines a bit, which is very important. I also spent a lot of time at the Kuota booth talking with athletes about these awesome bikes. We had about 6 to 8 bikes and the booth looked great.
The trip back was pretty funny as well. I didn't fly out until Monday, so Stu and I dropped off the other 3 people in our RV and ended up parking near the beach for the night. In the morning I went out to the beach and put my feet in the water. I love the ocean and any chance I get I try to take it in. Since the RV had to be back at 9 I ended up at LAX around 10:30 and my flight wasn't until 2:40. I found an outdoor bench near some grass and read my book, On the Road. Finally I was on the plane and headed back to the Rockies. Seeing Court when I came up the escalator was a great feeling. It was good to be home. We drove home, I had some dark chocolate, a glass of red wine and went to bed.
Looking back there are some things I would change in my training, but I took a risk wanting to get more miles in for Roth. WIldflower was not the big race for me, but I still wanted to do better. There are some positives to take away from the weekend and that is what I will do.