2013 Wildflower Recap

I raced the Wildflower Olympic Triathlon two weeks ago, but work travel and general laziness prevented me from writing a race report. I'm not going to claim this as a report, but I thought I'd share some highlights and few pictures.

Pre-Race
I arrived Thursday to nab a quality camping spot and settle down.  Friday and Saturday were spent just hanging out with an occasional jog or spin to keep the legs fresh.  Because I am a wimp and it was pretty damn hot on Saturday, I was glad I chose to not race the long course this year.

Race-Day 
The weather conditions were completely different on Sunday compared to the previous days.  As I was setting my stuff up in transition I knew the wind was going to prevent this day from being a record setting day.  The swim, which is normally a calm lake swim, was super choppy.  The out portion of the bike leg had a strong tailwind with occasional side wind gusts to keep us paying attention.  This tailwind turned into a pretty nasty headwind coming back.  Although a little slower than previous years, I made it back to T2 safely without getting blown into a ditch.  The cold weather was actually quite nice on the run.  In the last mile while running down Lynch Hill and into the finishers chute, I was slowly catching up to the eventual overall collegiate female winner, Liz Gruber.  As we approached the finish line I noticed the finishing banner going up so I decided to pull to the side and try to not photobomb Liz's finish line photos.  I ended up walking across the finish line with a time of 2:08:00 which put me at 1st overall amateur (two speedy college kids beat me).

I am very pleased with my result. My only goal coming into the race was to complete the bike course without crashing (like I did two weeks before in San Diego).  Even though the winds made it difficult, I was happy to get to T2 safe and sound.

My "camping desk" and tent (Subaru Outback)

Camping Buddies

Running down the finishing chute

Shutting down to let Liz have her championship moment

Strolling across the finish line

I suppose 3rd and 4th were too cold to stick around for the awards ceremony

Thanks to TriSports.com for the continued support.  Remember to use coupon code "MTRIPP" for 15% off of your purchase at Trisports.com.

Next up is the Santa Monica Classic 10K this weekend followed by Vineman Monte Rio on June 2nd.