WFTW 09

Saturday Morning swim

Where does all the time go? I swear it was just Monday yesterday. Well it was a busy, hectic week, half of which was also spent recovering from the weekend and what a weekend that was. Last Friday, in the early afternoon, I headed south with two friends to Lake San Antonio in Monterey county. We were there to attend our triathlon club's annual Wildflower training weekend, so called because Lake San Antonio is the home of the Wildflower Triathons. Wildflower is the largest triathlon event here in California and is made up of three races; Long Course (Half-Ironman), Olympic and Mountain Bike Sprint. They call it the Woodstock of triathlons because you camp for the weekend. It feels like the middle of nowhere and if your carrier is AT&T you won't even get a signal at the lake which is a great thing.

So we were down there, about 150 of us; members, coaches and some of our sponsors. Our bike sponsor, Pacific Bicycle, sent down a wrench who fixed and adjusted our bikes all weekend at no charge. Avanzare had three of their therapists/specialists in attendance and they offered free 20 minute ART (Active Release Therapy) sessions on Friday and Saturday. I had ART done last year after Kettle Moraine 100 because of a knee injury and at least for me it worked wonders.

Why come down to a triathlon training weekend if I'm taking a hiatus from triathlon? Because it's fun; not a lot of distractions, coached hard workouts, beautiful weather, a hilly bike course, a hilly half-marathon course that is mostly on trail, catered Saturday night dinner, free beers on the club and the opportunity to cause some trouble at night with some of my favorite people. Well not a lot of trouble, just some.

For myself I think I did alright. It's a 3.5 hour drive from San Francisco so by the time we got there it was already late in the afternoon. Nevertheless I laced up the shoes, grabbed my headlamp and headed out to do a loop on the half-mary course. We were not the only ones out there training, a huge group of Team in Training folks were camped at the top of the hill along with other clubs and individuals scattered all over the park. The sun set while I was halfway through my run and my weekend almost ended right there when I ran straight into a chain stretched across two metal poles to prevent cars from driving into the fire road. I missed it because I was too busy trying to figure out if I was lost (I was)and my attention was focused on the turns up the road. Lucky for me I wasn't going very fast, you know how you slow down when you're not quite sure where you are. Still caught me in the groin area though and the psoas is making noises again. Haha it was a good thing it was dark and I was alone.

Saturday was my best day. I skipped the swim early that morning. Happy to be taking pictures instead but joined on the long bike that was schedule right after. Since I had put the bike away last July I've only been on it once but that didn't stop me from dressing up in spandex and joining the cyclists. I'm in my best running shape ever so the legs and back felt fine however there were a couple of bike specific things that I've missed out on and the realization came to me at mile 16 when my crotch started to really hurt on the bike seat. Mile 16 on a 56-mile bike ride! Hahaha I can tell you there was a lot of shifting around for the next 40 miles. I would even stand on my bike on the flats just to alleviate the pressure, you cyclists out there know how ridiculous that is. Just something that you get used to when you ride consistently and a major pain when you don't. It was painful. I wanted to get off the bike and run back to camp. I was out on the course 40 minutes longer than I'm used to but the run after the bike was pure joy. I was tired but felt very strong and having a great time, my best run all weekend. The rest of Saturday was spent cleaning up, eating, socializing and making a little bit of trouble during the evening hours. By Sunday I was pretty much done but joined in on the long run, one more time. By noon the team was pretty much out of there and headed back to the bay area. I was looking forward to a relaxing Sunday night and a day-off from training on Monday.

Torture device

Another great weekend in Lake San Antonio. I'm sorry I'll miss the Wildflower long course triathlon this year but not too sorry because I will be running the Miwok 100k instead. They are always the same weekend. This remains my favorite video from WFTW, from the 08 weekend. Enjoy the pictures and you all have a great weekend!

Jennie, all smiles before the bike ride.

Open road.

With one of my favorite people - Tina.

Hanging out Saturday night. The guy in the blue Boston Marathon shirt is John B. Just back from Ironman New Zealand, an 11:14 performance that's worth at least a few beers. He took it easy during the weekend.

Big shout out to friends racing Oceanside 70.3 Triathlon this weekend.
To Bob and Tony who are racing the Umstead 100-mile Ultra. And lastly to friends racing the American River 50-miler like Victoria.

For the picture set, click here.