Wildflower Triathlon

Allrighty then, time to share about the Wildflower Triathlon. This is the annual tri that my roomates/friends and I do at Lake San Antonio the first weekend in May. This was my fifth time - woot.

I drove down Thursday with some buds and we claimed our camping spot. Friday was soooo nice. Because we did nothing. We had breakfast, chilled, biked down to the lake to pick up our registration packets, walked around, went back to eat lunch, took naps, welcomed other friends who were arriving, played with our friends' kids, made dinner with everyone, had a fire, and went to bed.

We woke up super early on Saturday - RACE DAY! We carbed up before we left. We got to the bike station (to rack our bikes) by 8:30 am. Our race didn't start until 10, so we had an hour and a half to get ready, drink as much water and Gatorade as possible, stretch, get numbers written all over our bodies in permanent marker, go to the porta-potty, set up our stuff by our bike for "transition time", etc.

Around 9:45, we headed to the lake to get in line with our fellow age/gender peeps. We prayed together and then put our caps and goggles on. Game time! There were about 100 women in each wave of women. So imagine trying to swim with all those other bodies kicking, flailing, slapping water around you. Crazy but never a dull moment! I really felt good about my swim this year. I jumped out of the lake and ran up the hill with my friends cheering on the sides. Wooooo! Adrenaline!

After I transitioned, I jumped on my bike and took off. The bike section was pretty good. It was fun to see my buds on their bikes at different times. Some of those hills were SO HARD. Yowsers. I dropped my bike off and then headed out for the run. This is the part that always kills me. I get so tired by this time, my poor feet are dragging.

But this year something funny happened that made my run a lot more enjoyable. I was about halfway through the run, when I saw a guy running toward me. He was a "Long-Courser" which means one of those crazy people who do the half-IronMan. They swim 1.3 miles, bike 60 (?) miles, and then run a half-marathon. No thank you!

Anyway, so this guy is probably 40, doing the Long Course, he's on the run section, which means he's close to the end. I was going to wave as I passed him, BUT I didn't get the chance, because just as we were about to pass, he suddenly stopped running, stepped to the left, and started peeing!! UM!!!! HELLO!?!?

The best part was that there was a tree two feet away. He could have taken 2 steps and peed behind the tree. You know, out of courtesy to the young woman who was about to run past him? But no. He couldn't be bothered. So he just whipped it out right there on the curb of the course, and I ran by chuckling to myself. And just as I ran by, I saw a HUGE group of runners coming in his direction, about to go by Mr. Pee as well. I guess after you've swam, biked, and ran that much, you just don't care. Because he sure didn't. He just kept going number 1 in front of the world. Gotta love it.

So anyway, great race. When you turn the last corner and start your way down the finsh line, it's SUCH a rush! There are tons of people screaming and cheering, the announcers are broadcasting your name, all your friends are there shouting for you, YEAH! I did a dramatic leap across the finish line and then immediately sought out the fruit/Power Bar/gatorade station to re-fuel.

If you ever have a chance to do a triathlon, go for it! It is great motivation to work out and there is a great feeling of accomplishment when you cross the finish line. Can't wait till next year!