Wildflower...The One & Only!
This was my second year doing Wildflower so I knew what I was getting myself into...well kinda. This year the water was very very low in the lake so instead of the standard 1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike & 13.1 mile run, the dynamics of race were different. We had the standard 1.2 mile swim but in a different location, 2.2 mile run to your bike, the standard 56 mile loop course followed by a 10.9 mile run.
My warm up consisted of about a 1 mile run with Joe Thorne and then a 15 minute swim.
The swim was borderline wetsuit legal so I decided to go with my BlueSeventy sleeveless which was a great call. The middle of the lake was rather warm and I over heat easily so the sleeveless was the right choice. From the gun I felt pretty good but after the first buoy the pack that I knew I needed to be in slowly started to slip away. It wasn't the easiest water to draft because it was murky...like Ironman Arizona. The rest of the swim I pretty much swam solo with a few people behind me. I exited the water in 25:09 in 19th place out of 32. Almost 3:30 back from the lead swimmer and less than a minute from Jesse Thomas. It was certainly a personal best swim by far but it would have helped to be drafting in a pack. This was my 3rd open water swim of the year so I was still happy.
The 2.2 mile run from swim to bike was knarly! The first 400 meters was a run up the boat launch which was about 18% grade and the last 200 meters we ran up another boat launch. I passed a few people during the run. Once I got to transition I pulled up my Castelli Timex kit, put on my Rudy Project helmet grabbed my Trek bike and started running. Then people started yelling to me...your shoes! I liked my Skechers GoRun shoes so much that I forgot to take them off. I sat down my bike and ran back to my rack to take off my shoes.
On to the bike I was determined to catch some guys. The first half of the roads were really rough. Around mile 15 I was riding about 35+ mph down hill and I launched my aero bottle which had my nutrition in it. The first time I was lucky and I caught it in my hand. A few miles later the same thing happened but I wasn't so lucky this time. I had to put on the brakes, turn around, ride up hill to my bottle. Then stop and unclip to pick up my bottle. This frustrated me because I lost a minute because of this which could be 2-3 places in a half ironman race. From there on out during some of the bumpy descents I would stop pedaling and almost pinch the bottle with my knees so the bottle wouldn't pop out again. Thankfully the bottle didn't pop out again as the 2nd half of the bike course was on much smoother roads. I was able to make up a lot of ground during the bike section. I really powered up the hard and challenging Nasty grade hill and my legs felt great. I got off the bike in 4th position with no one behind me.
In T2 I quickly put on my Skechers GoRun ride3 shoes and thankfully I knew I had my running legs. I felt strong which is very important on this course because it's very challenging with all of the hills on the dirt trails. I couldn't see anyone in front of me as I pushed myself out there. Finally at mile 11 with 2 miles to go I saw someone. It was Andrew Starykowitz. He was about a minute in front of me. Mile 11-12 is about a 7-8% grade uphill and the last mile is a screaming 12% downhill grade. "It's now or never" I thought. I started to push hard and I was gaining time on him. I wasn't sure if it would be enough but I kept pushing. Halfway through the downhill section I saw Starky stop. It was then that I knew I could catch him. I kept pushing down the long hill as my quads were screaming at me. I kept it strong all the way to the finish in a time of 4:10 in 3rd place.
1. Jesse Thomas (USA) 4:06:13
2. Callum Millward (NZL) 4:08:20
3. Matthew Russell (USA) 4:10:27
4. Andrew Starykowicz (USA) 4:11:32
5. Justin Daerr (USA) 4:13:32
Post race Interview with Triathlete: video HERE
The WildFlower crew and all of the volunteers were great. Wildflower really treats the professionals with a comforting place to stay along with tasty meals. Thank you for another great year! Thank you to all of my Sponsors for the continued support to help be my best.
My warm up consisted of about a 1 mile run with Joe Thorne and then a 15 minute swim.
The swim was borderline wetsuit legal so I decided to go with my BlueSeventy sleeveless which was a great call. The middle of the lake was rather warm and I over heat easily so the sleeveless was the right choice. From the gun I felt pretty good but after the first buoy the pack that I knew I needed to be in slowly started to slip away. It wasn't the easiest water to draft because it was murky...like Ironman Arizona. The rest of the swim I pretty much swam solo with a few people behind me. I exited the water in 25:09 in 19th place out of 32. Almost 3:30 back from the lead swimmer and less than a minute from Jesse Thomas. It was certainly a personal best swim by far but it would have helped to be drafting in a pack. This was my 3rd open water swim of the year so I was still happy.
The 2.2 mile run from swim to bike was knarly! The first 400 meters was a run up the boat launch which was about 18% grade and the last 200 meters we ran up another boat launch. I passed a few people during the run. Once I got to transition I pulled up my Castelli Timex kit, put on my Rudy Project helmet grabbed my Trek bike and started running. Then people started yelling to me...your shoes! I liked my Skechers GoRun shoes so much that I forgot to take them off. I sat down my bike and ran back to my rack to take off my shoes.
On to the bike I was determined to catch some guys. The first half of the roads were really rough. Around mile 15 I was riding about 35+ mph down hill and I launched my aero bottle which had my nutrition in it. The first time I was lucky and I caught it in my hand. A few miles later the same thing happened but I wasn't so lucky this time. I had to put on the brakes, turn around, ride up hill to my bottle. Then stop and unclip to pick up my bottle. This frustrated me because I lost a minute because of this which could be 2-3 places in a half ironman race. From there on out during some of the bumpy descents I would stop pedaling and almost pinch the bottle with my knees so the bottle wouldn't pop out again. Thankfully the bottle didn't pop out again as the 2nd half of the bike course was on much smoother roads. I was able to make up a lot of ground during the bike section. I really powered up the hard and challenging Nasty grade hill and my legs felt great. I got off the bike in 4th position with no one behind me.
1. Jesse Thomas (USA) 4:06:13
2. Callum Millward (NZL) 4:08:20
3. Matthew Russell (USA) 4:10:27
4. Andrew Starykowicz (USA) 4:11:32
5. Justin Daerr (USA) 4:13:32
Post race Interview with Triathlete: video HERE
The WildFlower crew and all of the volunteers were great. Wildflower really treats the professionals with a comforting place to stay along with tasty meals. Thank you for another great year! Thank you to all of my Sponsors for the continued support to help be my best.
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