Beautiful ride today through the Elfin Forest. 48 Miles in all with 2500′ of climbing, from Moonlight Beach in Encinitas, up to Carlsbad, inland through the Elfin Forest, then back to the coast.  The weather was great overall and the pace was fairly fast.

As Wildflower had passed, the team is refocusing on Vineman and everyone was looking forward to this long ride.  While we have a few months left until the event, it is time to bring up the intensity a bit.

Though we all started the ride together in a large pack, by the time we were to Calsbad, we were in much smaller groups.  I was in a fast-pace group for a while and tried to stick with Emily who ate up the hills like they were candy. Once we hit the Elfin forest, the pace really picked up and I was struggling when we reached Harmony Grove.  By the time we got onto Del Dios, I was left on my own.  

I wasn’t familiar with the route and while on the Elfin Forest, my map blew away, so I was concerned about taking the correct course back to Moonlight Beach.  I knew the way from Del Dios, but we were making a turn to the north to add another 8 miles or so to the ride.  Fortunately, while going down Del Dios, I managed to make up enough distance where I had someone in my sights and was able to follow them the rest of the way back.

Part of my struggles was from nutrition.  I had Clift shotblocks as well as two bottles of Cytomax.  I also stopped at Sag before we entered the Elfin Forest.  But my stomach wasn’t feeling great from so much Cytomax and by the time I made it back to the start, I was fairly nauseous. 

Chasing the group and having an unsettled stomach left me with empty legs when it was time for 30-45 minute run.  I ended up walking with Penny since she was still recovering from her bad crash during the half-ironman in Oceanside this past March.

Wildflower

Wildflower was what this weekend was all about! A weekend of camping, racing and fun. Amazing would sum it up the best!

Wildflower is a camping triathlon and is knicknamed “The Woodstock of triathlons”.  More than 7000 particpants, families, and friends all descend to Lake San Antonio for the Long course triathlon (half-ironman distance), Mountain Bike sprint triathlon, and Olympic triathlon races.

I wasn’t racing in either of the events, but I went up to support my team mates and especially my “mentees” Erin M., Leavy, Tony, and Shae who were all doing their very first olympic distance triathlon. I cheered them on and took hundreds of photos of the races.

Friday

It was fairly long drive from San Diego, taking a little bit more than 5 hours to get to the camp site.  I elected to take the 5 all the way up to Hwy 46, which wasn’t very scenic, but the traffic gods were favouring me as I made it through Los Angeles without any significant delays.

It was raining when I arrived and setting up a tent in the rain isn’t so much fun, but Erin R. gave me a much needed hand and most everything stayed dry.  The mud was another issue all together.  I hung out with the team for a bit, and it was great seeing that our honoured team mate Alfred Duron made it up for the weekend!

Honoured Team mate Alfred Duron

Dinner was at Team In Training’s Inspiration Party, with great food and a wonderful recap of why we are here this weekend — supporting the mission to find a cure and supporting our honored teammates.

After dinner we all shared a few stories while huddled under a canopy safe from a gentle rain.  Eventually we all turned in for the night as the long course team had a very tough day a head of them.

The rain was soothing as it softly hit our tents.  The NYC chaper of TNT was still out and about singing but sleep came quickly anyway.

Saturday

Blissful sleep was rudely interrupted by the large truck that came at 4am to clean out the portable toilets.  Nothing like a loud diesel engine and lots of slamming doors to jar you out of that dream of better things.

Around 5:30 the camp site was stirring as the long course participants began to get ready to head down to the start in a few hours.  We shared a great breakfast with the team and Coach Trent was masterful with the coffee — thick and strong!

The morning air was crisp and cool and the sky was clearing. A welcome relief from the showers of yesterday.

I made my way down to the start with some of the olympic course team mates and began the day of taking pictures for the team.

Marnix on the run!

The transition area was huge and looked like total chaos as athletes racked their bikes and setup their spaces as the race was soon starting.  Coach Trent was out talking with each of the team and making sure they are ready for the full day of racing. With fresh coffee in hand, I made my way down the boat ramp for the race start.

The Pro “Elites” started the first waves. It was amazing to watch them start and see how fast they competed.  Andy Potts was favoured and he had a strong swim, but slipped exiting the water.  Making up time, he eventually took the race in 3:59:41 — under four hours!

Marnix, Tony, Allen, and Brian, Theresa and Vic all put on a great race – 70.3 miles of swimming, biking and running.  They all looked great, though a bit tired!

Congrats Long course finishers!

Another TNT Inspiration dinner and then relaxing around the camp fire.  More stories and celebrations for all the long course finishers.  Coach Sam talked to the olympic team to prepare them for their race on Sunday.

Everyone turned in early again as the morning was going to come fast.

Sunday

Again at 4am the sound of a large diesel engine startled me awake.  Some of the team were up by 5am as nerves started to take over.  Breakfast again with the team and everyone went through their pre-race rituals of eating, stretching, and packing gear while the rest of us enjoyed pancakes and coffee.
The morning was pleasant though it did look as it would be warmer than the day before. It was still a great day to day for a race and it wasn’t as hot as in past years.

After checking and re-checking to make sure they had all their gear (and not forget their bike shoes as Coach Trent infamously did one year), the olympic team left down to the transition area at 7:30am.

I made my way down again and gave lots of encouragement to my nervous mentees.  I knew they were all well trained and they would do great, but having been in their shoes years ago, I know all the crazy thoughts in their heads.  Serious pre-race jitters!

A pleasant surprise was seeing Coach Gurujan participating in the event.  This was his 274th (or so) triathlon! He was my first TNT coach when I trained for and completed the 2004 Los Angeles Olympic distance triathlon.

Coach Gurujan and Diana

The collegiate waves went first, and there was some serious competition in that field. After the collegiate waves, it came time for the TNT waves — there were 260 or so TNT participants from 6 different chapters (including NYC) with athletes participating.  The adrenaline was already flowing and everyone was getting anxious to get started.

The first TNT men’s went first, followed the first TNT women’s wave. With only 5 minutes separating the waves, it was likely that some of the fast women swimmers would overtake the men, so I told Leavy I would give her $50 if she caught Tony in the wave ahead of her.  She gave a valiant effort, but wasn’t able to catch him out of the water.  Leavy still had a great swim! Shae and Erin were in later waves so they still had work at keeping their anxiety under control.

Getting Ready!

So much was happening as waves were coming out of the water while other waves were just starting.  A continuous flow of triathletes swimming and exiting and then transitioning to the bike.  As the collegiate waves went first, they were already finishing their bikes and heading out on the run while some of the later waves were still in the water.

It was tough to watch everyone as they were spread out across many waves and they all had different race paces. I moved to the bike in/out transition to try to get some pictures of the team doing this leg of the race as well as getting photos as they entered the finishing chute from the run.

To top off the race day, the team took a jump in Lake San Antonio. How refreshing!

Go Team!

Congratulations!!

Journey Home

I elected to take the 101 along the coast instead of taking 46 to 5. It was a beautiful drive back, though it did add about an hour extra to my drive.  I have never taken the 101 north of Los Angeles before. The extra hour was well worth it as the scenery was simply lovely!

Avia Wildflower

The Wildflower triathlon is next weekend. Five of my mentees will be tackling that race, while the rest of us continue on with training for Vineman in July. As this was the last long swim for the Wildflower team, the goal was to head out from The Shores to The Cove.  A two mile swim, round trip — a big step for some.

The day was wonderful — lots of warm sun. But the ocean wasn’t playing the same game as it was rough and swelly though there was good visibility in the water.  The group had to battle 6 foot surf and a fairly deep set of breakers.  And once out, the swells were large and frequent with a lot of chop. 

I swam out with some of my Mentees but some turned back after 500 yrds or so because of the chop and swells.  I stuck with Mahsima who pushed on another couple hundred of yards before it was too much.  In all we got in about 1500 yards or so, not nearly the 3500 yards that was our goal.  Considering the conditions, it was still a good swim and definitely a challenging workout.

Other team-mates made it all the way to The Cove and back! Great job for them!

Capping off the day was a fundraiser BBQ.   Burgers, Hot dogs, chips, tea, and desserts.  All  the stuff to nourish the body after a long swim!  All this work and fun to support an important cause!

We were joined by our Honored Teammate Alfred Duron.  He is doing great so far and it was wonderful to talk with him!

Getting ready

Time for the start

Out of the water

Transition to the bike

Run transition

Strong finish!

After everyone completed the practice tri, we all had a nice breakfast put on by the Coaches, mentors, and support staff!

Post-tri breakfast and pre-Wildflower talk

Around noon I decided to head out for a ride up the coast. I did 28 miles in 2 hours, going from La Jolla Shores to Encinitas and back. I wanted to go to Carlsbad, but there was the Encinitas Street Fair going on, so I cut my ride short.

Take a look at the rest of the pictures!

Go Team!

I still have a long way to completing the half-ironman event.  But Alfred has an even longer way to go to win his battle.  His is a daily fight — a fight of life or death.  With your help a cure might be found.

In the afternoon we met for an unofficial ocean swim as most of the team hasn’t received their wetsuits yet.  So mainly Coach Sam, mentors, and some alumni gathered to brave the water.  Official water temp was 57°F and the sun was shining but the brisk winds made it feel a bit cooler than it really was.  After gathering enough courage, we began the ritual of squeezing into our wetsuits.  Making our way down to the water, we tried to keep positive about staying warm. 

Talk about system shock!  The water was cold!  I managed to get out past the breakers but still didn’t want to get my face wet.  Eventually I sucked it up (and apparently half of the ocean too) and w all regrouped with the goal of heading to the 1/2 mile buoy.  My feet and hands were getting numb so I cut the swim short and headed back to the shore with Erin, Jay and Jake.

It was great to get into the water, even though it was much colder than I prefer.  I am looking forward to more ocean swims.

Today we hit the infamous Torrey Pines hill for some strength work and practice for the elevation profile for Wildflower.  A wonderfully perfect day it was, sunny and warm, with a nice on-shore breeze.

Climbing Torrey Pines

Torrey Pines is a wonderful and popular hill to ride in San Diego.  Many pro and amateur athletes have made the trek up Torrey Pines as part of their training. I have made the Torrey Pines climb many times in the past and it is something that I seem to enjoy more now than in the past.  Much of the climb is simply mind over matter and keeping focused on climbing to the top.

As I was working with the Wildflower Olympic team today, the goal was to complete at least 4 repeats — a decent amount of climbing for the day.  The Wildflower Long-coure and Vineman teams had an easy ride up the coast instead of focusing on the hills.

Unofficially, I am acting as photographer for the team.  I might need to get a helmet-cam for some good action shots…  Take a look at the photos from today’s training!

Go Team!