Memphis in May

Thunder, lightning, rain, snakes, and it turned out to be a great super fact race.  Heading to the Memphis in May race for the 2nd year I was excited, it would also be my first Olympic distance race in the pro division.  I flew in from Boulder via Nashville and drove over to Memphis as the airfare direct to Memphis was much more expensive.  The race director had arranged a home stay for Peter Clode and myself with a family in Memphis.  They were more than accommodating, opening up their home, cooking meals, and providing anything we needed, thank you Abbay very much! 
I just met Peter that Saturday before the race, but we hung out together the entire weekend and seemed to have much in common, aside from making a new friend I learned a ton about New Zealand.  Just preparing myself for when I travel to this great country.  Saturday before the race we rode some of the bike course, got checked in, and attended the pro meeting.  What a surprise to see such a huge pro field when I entered the room, everyone was there for HyVee points for sure not the 25k prize purse.  So after the race meeting my top ten aspirations were kind of out the window, but I would race my own race and with a time trial format how could you not?
Abbay made Peter and I a great pasta dinner that night and we were ready for the race on Sunday.  The pro start was to be at 10:30, but as we drove past the race site and it was pouring rain and lighting we figured it was postponed.  We soon realized that the race was still on in the very heavy rains.  I got all my gear setup in transition in the rain, tried to keep my running shoes dry and got ready to race.  The start was postponed about 45 minutes, but we were still able to swim in the brief moment that storms subsided.  Which was a great call by the race directors as it worked out perfect and we got a whole triathlon in.  There was talk of canceling the race and making it into a duathlon.
The time trial start for which this race is famous for was to be 10 seconds apart alternating male/female, alphabetical order by sir name.  So this meant that I was #1 starting first, I thought that this was going to be a good thing, but I ended up pretty far off on my swim time.

I hit the water first starting the pro race and tried to keep a decent pace and a dead straight line through the swim.  It was a non-wetsuit swim and I found it hard to keep a hard pace swimming out in front by myself.  I exited the water still in the lead, but could tell it was not a great effort as I was not very tired at all.  The transition was muddy, but I got through without falling and was out on the bike course.  The bike was very flat and straight, which was to be fast if it was not wet and full of puddles.   But I made the best of it and managed to hold off getting passed until mile 10 of so by Dye and another.  The rest of the bike went well; 2 stray dogs, one snake, and rain towards the end.  I ended it in 54.27, 324 watts, at 27.3 mph, this was a pretty good time for me, but still well off the leaders of the day.  I will get there soon I hope.  I found my Zoot Ultra Tempos bone dry under the plastic bag, got them on quickly and headed out of transition only to step in a huge 4-5" deep puddle about 2 steps out of transition.  These shoes drain so well it was not an issue and continued on through the run.  The rain subsided a little for the run around the Tunica MS casinos, but there was a little lighting in the area.  I was passed by Kris Gemmell like I was running backwards, and I passed one other during the run.  I dug deep to run the last mile quite hard and came through the line 4th, which ended up 12th overall.  Only 8 seconds behind my home stay partner Peter Clode finishing 11th.
So I finished just outside the top 10 yet again, but I was happy with where I landed in this race considering the tough competition.  I have to commend the race staff at the Memphis in May this year, they had a new venue, totally different course, and mother nature gave them a huge storm to deal with.  They more than made then the best of it, got the pros out on course without incident, and in hindsight made the best decision they could have, thanks again guys for a great race!
After the race Abbay made Peter and I a fantastic dinner and on Monday we went over to Beale street in downtown Memphis and enjoyed some great BBQ ribs at Blues City Cafe before heading back to Nashville to fly out.

In Nashville apparently this is the year for the cicadas to come out of their 13 year hiding, because these little guys were everywhere, my rental car wind sheild was covered in nasty bug goo.

Swim - 00:19:39
T1 - 00:00:45
Bike - 00:54:27 @27.33
T2 - 00:00:50
Run - 00:37:04 @5:59
Finish - 01:52:45 12th place

Wildflower

I finally pulled the trigger a month or so ago and decided to register for Wildflower, I had heard so much about how much fun this race was I had to do it for myself, and I was not disappointed.  So my sister Christine and I decided to drive out to the race from Boulder, since it meant bringing all our triathlon gear and camping gear to get the full Wildflower experience.  She was going to do the Olympic race Sunday and I was to do the 1/2 Iron distance Saturday.  So Thursday the road trip began, loaded with all our gear we headed out of Boulder set for California.  We made it to Vegas that night and found a sweet hotel "Near the Las Vegas Strip" for $32, not bad.

A little run around Vegas in the morning and we were off again, we needed to get to the race site before 4 PM for me to make the pro meeting and packet pickup.  Arriving at the race site the venue was beautiful, we picked up all the necessary passes at the gate and headed over to pick up my packet and attend the pro meeting.  The pros were treated as VIPs throughout this race so we were able to drive directly to the site, attend breakfast, lunch, and dinner each day, and get a campsite or cabin.  What great treatment, this race was turning out to be one of the best I had ever attended.  We headed over for dinner after the pro meeting which was great, but I was getting a little worried that I still had nothing unpacked.
After dinner we went over to check out our campsite, the place was completely packed with cars and tents on every inch of the campground.  Our site was still empty though and it look like a fairly nice one, running water and electric at the site, hardly roughing it.  We unpacked, setup camp, and went for a short ride.  I think I was ready now and could relax around the camp fire...finally.

Race morning came, but not really that early as we had a 8AM start and I was still on CST.  I made breakfast, got a few final things set, and biked down to the start with my gear.  At transition I got my place set and readied for the start.  The men's pro wave had around 35 guys in it with top competitors from around the world, it was to be another great race.  The water temp was 63 degrees so the race was wetsuit legal for everyone, we had time for a little warmup.  I tried to start in front as usual but only managed second row, no worry I could swim there. 

There was a countdown and the gun went off.  The cool water felt good as I fought my way to the front in the first 200 meters or so.  Before we even arrived at the first turn there were two guys off the front and I was swimming with another couple guys.  The rest of the swim was uneventful, I held third place.  The two off the front were Dustin Mclarty and Clayton Fettell they were over 1:30 ahead by the end of the swim.  I could see them but not keep pace. 

I held third place the entire swim and lead the chase group out of the water.

T1 went well I put on my new LG helmet which was the first time, it is a great fit and very comfortable, I think I could wear it as a normal helmet not just for races.  The bike course headed south around the entire lake, starting uphill.  Near the gate exiting the park at mile 2 or so I went to put on my sunglasses that I had just bought a week ago and dropped them right on the ground.  500 meters of so down the road I yelled to the CAL Poly volunteers at that aid station that I lost my glasses back there number 69!  I was not turning around, but hopped for the best.   After a few miles a couple of the guys passed me and I had to make sure I was following the stagger rule for this race every time I was passed.  The bike course at Wildflower I knew was hard with the hills, but throw in the head and cross winds as the day was bringing and it was really tough.  I was there to race my own race and I knew where my power was to be held at not to over exert myself for the hilly trail run yet to come.  The bike course was littered with camera crews, motorcycles, and officials.  The big nasty was just that very big and very nasty at mile 41.  Once you thought you were at the top the energizer bunny was drumming  and you were ready to come down, only to find around the next bend was more big nasty hills.  The end of the bike was down hill to transition, I had fallen to 12th place or so, I needed to make up some time on the run now.  I felt pretty good for the run as I held my power at 313 watts average for the 56 mile bike.

T2 went well I was quick and got my Zoots on and hit the trail.  The run course at Wildflower is really nice with 60% trails, but there are a lot of hills.  As I found out they were quite steep as well and slowed my run to a snails pace heading up.  I ran with Joe Umphenour for the first 7 miles, he passed me heading down hill and I passed him going up.  We were passed by only one other racer.  At mile 7 there was a long uphill and I pulled ahead of Joe for good.  Each aid station was filled with CAL Poly volunteers cheering me on, plus the various groups of people throughout the entire run course it was great to have all the support.  I could not really tell where I was in the race until mile 10 where there was an out and back, I could see the leaders and the two guys in front of me I needed to catch before the end of the race.  They were only 30 seconds and a minute in front, the rest of the group was not within distance for me to catch.  I managed to pull each in during the next 2 miles up some long hills.  The last mile of the run was down a huge hill and I could not let off as there was one guy still behind me by 20-30 seconds.  That last hill hurt pounding downhill the whole way.  Heading into the finish line chute I felt good again, tired yes, but good.

I ended up 11th overall just out of the prize money, but 10th place was over 1:30 in front of me.  They had these great strawberries at the end....mmmmm.

Overall a great race, great course, and one of the best managed/run races I have ever been too, I will definitely be back again next year.  Thanks TriCalifornia for putting on such a fantastic race.  Oh and I even went back that afternoon to the aid station that I lost my sunglasses at and the great CAL Poly volunteers had them waiting for me, incredible.

Thanks Christine for all the support and company to and from the race.

Swim - 00:22:51 00:01:10 pace 3rd   
T1 - 00:01:17   
Bike 02:26:48 22.80 avg 17th   
T2 - 00:01:34   
Run - 01:24:41    00:06:27 pace 18th
Total - 04:17:11    11th

Sunday Christine and I swapped places and it was her day to race and I got to pull race support.  Her wave was not until 10:10AM, so it was a late start as well.  I slept in the tent much better that night, had some nice camp coffee and headed down for her start and breakfast.  She blew the competition out of the water and took 1st overall women in the Olympic race by 2 minutes.  Nice job Christine, way to come back after injury and show them all what is possible.

And the drive back to Boulder began soon after, next year I think I will fly...