Wildflower Long Course

First of all, if I would have typed this the day of the race the heading would probably be something like “the history of the race I will never do again” or something like that. But, because I’m human and we tend to forget the severity of the pain we endure my attitude seems to be a bit different these days. Let me also say for the record that this is one tough race! One that in my book compares to about ¾ of an Ironman rather than ½ an Ironman. I think that this is why it is called wildflower long course rather than ½ iron man (not to mention legalities). If it were to adopt such a name, they should call it., “Wildflower 70.3 Ironman- that tends to feel more like 140.6”.

That being said , on with the race report. The week before the race I had come down with a little stomach bug that didn’t let me eat like I normally would eat. Not that I have a specific way of eating other than A LOT. J I had skipped my swim classes, and called in sick to work….Friday night I was FINALLY hungry and decided that that was my “sign” to race and that my stomach was getting better!

Saturday morning I ate a small breakfast, waiting to see how the ’ol stomach felt….as it’s hard to discern against race morning stomach and upset stomach. My race didn’t start until 9:10 which gave me plenty of time to over-analyze how I was feeling. I had promised my mom over the phone the night before that I would stop the race at any point if I truly felt terrible. (she thinks I’m tougher than I am, of course I‘d stop!) I got down to transition area with plenty of time to wish Ben well (he started at 8:10.….they don’t want the 25 year old men complaining about the heat I guess) and watch all the pros come in from the swim! Wow, they were amazing. I ate some more food…..trying to get as many calories in as I could knowing I was in a bit of a deficit.

The swim was nice and smooth….after the initial 400 yds of elbows and feet I had nice open water the whole time. My body felt pretty good too….but I was intentionally cruising knowing I had a LONG day ahead of me!

Out of the water onto the bike I was hoping my stomach hurt from the usual drinking of lake water and not my bug. I immediately felt terrible on the bike and was thinking I just needed to get my legs warmed up….the first 6 miles of hills were enough to warm me up and almost enough to send me back to camp! I really really felt terrible, but decided I just needed some calories and some flat ground to spin my achy legs out. Luckily for me miles 20-40 were nice and flat…my legs never came back though. Mentally I felt ok, and seeing mile 40 was pretty refreshing only 16 miles to go ….not to shabby. Little did I know the hill everyone complains about starts about mile 41 my legs were no match for this baby. On this mother-of-a-hill I decided I was DEFINALTY too weak to be doing something stupid like this. All the old guys I usually FLY by on the hills were passing me or zig-zagging across the road AHEAD of me! So sad. This hill handed it to me that’s for sure….. Luckily there were a few nice long descents and I then decided I had better at least attempt the run.

Into transition I had my fuel belt ready to go as Coach Amy had suggested…..but putting anything extra on my body seemed agonizing. I sun-screened and headed out without my hydration hoping I didn’t ruin my race. The first mile I felt pretty good actually. I surprisingly didn’t feel more horrible than usual coming off the bike and decided it might turn out to be a good day. I had been running a lot and felt confident about my run. I was flying by all these walkers, sucking there energy as I went by. I then made a pact with myself (as I usually do, mental games keep me going). OK, I won’t walk until mile five and you‘re only allowed to walk because you‘re sick. My legs won’t feel good until mile 3 anyways, so mile 5 I’ll have earned it. At mile 1.5 I decided that walking up hills was ok. At mile 3 I wondered if the whole course was truly all uphill and if it was, was I allowed to walk it all? By mile 5 (ha ha, the “walking mile”) I decided that walking in the shade as well as the hills was acceptable. Miles 6-8 there were people lining the course so I had to put on my “running show”. (people commented after, “you looked great”….good then my plan worked!). Finally! I was back onto the trails at mile 8 ish and I could walk again! PHEW. At this point I was walking in the sun, in the shade, on the uphill….it didn’t matter….the tank was EMPTY. Mile 9-10 was downhill so I couldn’t really think of an excuse to walk…mile 10-11 was right back up that same hill and I gladly walked. At mile 11 I tried the ‘ol “anyone can run two miles” trick to get me going, it only lasted until I go to a dirt mound that I counted as a hill and decided I could walk again! J Unfortunatly for me mile 12-13 was downhill again and I had to run. It was so agonizing…my quads were in knots each step I wondered if laying down and rolling would be faster?easier? I made it through the shoot passing some 80 year old guy (not really). Ben and my friends Scott and Lea were worried because I (and I quote), “didn’t have my Katy smile in the shoot, and was out there for a LONG time!! we mean…..you did great!”. Thanks guys. J So, it wasn’t a pretty race I was cursing and crying about the whole thing for a while, insisting that I would boycott the whole event forever because of the pain it caused me. That only lasted a day when the real Katy came back life and decided I really needed to come back and kick it’s ass when I’m 100%. In retrospect (I’m almost recovered) It’s a tough race that I can’t wait to do again…..and have my NO WALKING rule in place. Hopefully more friends will join us next year, there are plenty of events for everybody even if there’s not enough toilet paper or warm water it’s still pretty fun. If you ever want to do this race I have the packing list saved on my computer that I update each year! J Don’t forget hand sanitizer and your toilet paper and you’ll be fine.

P.S. although I didn’t use my fuel belt, I used coach Amy’s advice by taking extra water from each station and folding the top over to have sips between stations. (I wasn’t moving fast enough to spill it, so it worked!)

Quote of the day:
“mommy why are all the girls running and all the boys are walking?”
-some little girl between mile 6-8