The time has finally come, I will be competing in Wildflower half-Ironman distance triathlon in two days, May 3rd, 2008. Now, being that this is a half-Ironman, it is among the most difficult halfs. Many of my friends and colleagues, who competed in the course, along with other full Ironman events, say that they would much rather do a full than the Wildflower half. I will put my body to a test and see if all this hard work will pay off. The race will take place in California's beautiful central coast, near Paso Robles in Lake San Antonio.
Swim
The 1.2 mile swim is probably the easiest portion of the course. Nice and calm lake swim. Nothing more to say.
Bike
The 56-mile bike ride is very difficult. Wildflower is notorious for having head-wind in virtually every direction. The course has almost 4500 feet of climbing and 80% of this effort is distributed in the last 10 miles of the ride. This wouldn't be that bad if it wasn't followed by a 13 mile hilly trail run.
Run
The 13-mile run course isn't going to be any easier. During the first 6 miles of the run, runners are expected to climb almost 1400 feet. The rest of the run also has plenty of rolling hills which amounts to another 1000 feet for a grand total of nearly 2400 feet of elevation gain during the 13 miles.
I don't have any set specific time range to finish the event. Instead, my body will be my guide. Being that this is my first Ironman, my goal is to finish the event. Depending on how I feel during, either I'll haul ass or take it easy. Nutrition will be the key for this race considering that the temperature may reach in excess of 90 degrees ... Good luck to me :)
For more information on Wildflower, please visit: http://www.tricalifornia.com/index.cfm/Wildflower2008-main.htm
Full race report with pictures will follow early next week.... Stay tuned
1 comment:
i am so inspired by you...the iron man half is over by now...how did it go?
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