Finally - time to see what kind of metal I was made of! Wildflower is alternately called the hardest triathlon in America, and the Woodstock of triathlons. It is the second largest triathlon in America, and is held at Lake San Antonio in Monterey County. The lake is surrounded by hills and is in the middle of nowhere. Half of the people there on race weekend just came to watch, and the other half were there to run the races (Saturday - mountain bike tri and half Iron Man, Sunday - Olympic tri [which doubled as the collegiate National Championships] and Kids tri). Olympic tri team coaches were on hand looking for racers (this is a qualifying race for the Olympics). I just don't understand how they missed me...

There is one great equalizer at Wildflower - everybody camps. (Note: camping perk - streakers. Every night. See what happens when you let men loose in the woods). Friday morning we arrived. Representing Team in Training were the Northern California Chapter (the number one chapter in the nation, 300 triathletes), San Diego, Long Beach, and Hawaii. On Friday afternoon I got one last swim in the lake - at 67 degrees I didn't even have to put on my wetsuit! Bike check and helmet check were on Saturday. In triathlons you wear a number on your helmet, you have a double sided number on your bike, a tag number on your wetsuit, a runner number for your jersey, and, just in case, your number is painted on both hands, the front of both legs, and on both arms.

Sunday morning comes - I have been training 6 days a week since February for this. I'm ready to race. We are up at 5 am, double-checking transition bags, water and supplies - getting ready to go down to the lake and set up in the transition area. I carry with me my race essentials, everything I will need, because I can't come back and no-one can help me on the race course. I take my bike, my wetsuit, a camel back (water pack), 6 gu's (don't ask, it's a gross runners thing), 4 Luna bars, Bull Frog, Body Glide (another weird runners thing), 2 towels, running shoes, socks, a singlet, running shorts, bike shoes, gloves, a helmet, sunglasses, runners hat, two extra bottles of Perform, goggles, and my swim cap (I'm wearing my swimsuit).

It takes over an hour to set up and calm down in the transition area, which is a very long parking lot above the boat dock where we will enter the water. I'm ready. At 9am the race stars. We go in waves by sex and age group. Each wave wears a different color cap to prevent cheating (starting early) and there is a 3 minute separation between groups. I am in the largest wave, in green caps, starting at 9:21 am. We are 400 strong at the start - women 25-29 years old. This is super important because it was only about 30 years ago that we weren't allowed in any races at all. No exceptions. Ever.

I loved the swim. It was an out and back loop course of .93 miles and it took me about 38 minutes. Out of the water I flew, taking off my wetsuit as I ran back to transition (yes, it's sick, but to get to transition you have to come out of the water, run up the boat dock, up a flight of stairs, and down a VERY long parking lot...barefoot and taking off your wetsuit as you go, because the drier you get the harder it is to get the stupid thing off).Off come the goggles and cap, on goes the bike gear, and I'm off! It is a 30k ride and about 300 yards out of transition is a the first hill. A 1.2 mile 12% grade (basically you're going really up for a really long time). Actually, there aren't any flat places on the course, you go up or come down. To make matters worse, it is an out and back course, so after an hour of riding you get to do it all again, backwards.

There are race officials everywhere on the course, monitoring for cycling penalties and looking for crashes. Lots of people went to the hospital during the bike course, it is the most dangerous of the three parts of the triathlon. I had a great (but slow) ride. All smiles and wahoos, it was back down the big hill and into transition. My time was about 2:05 (not including transition). Straight away I was into my running shoes and back out on the race course for 6.2 miles of rollers and all out hills.

This is where I passed lots of people (finally!!). I loved the run - but I knew that I would. I ran and walked, finishing in 1:12 (about 11 minutes slow, but hey, it was the last thing!) I came down the 1.2 mile 12% grade (my third time on that hill during the race) grinning all the way through the finish. It was my first triathlon, my dad was cheering me at every transition, my mom was at the lake side, and my sister and niece and nephew were at the finish line. It was a great race!!

By the way, of the 400 women in my age group who started the race, 287 finished. A fair amount of people went to the hospital, and even more went to the Red Cross tent (not me ‘cuz I'm a stud). I have been picked to be a mentor for the upcoming season, which means that I get to guide 5-8 new TNT triathletes and train with them for two more triathlon, Pacific Grove (in Pacific Grove, CA), and Sentinel (in Santa Cruz, CA).

With your help I raised $5,140 (way over the minimum of $2,700) for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society on behalf of my family, and in honor of my cousin, who would have done it himself if he had the chance. There's a lot of good stuff going on here in Nor Cal, we have a high powered Team in Training and a lot of super motivated researchers. I won't be raising funds again this year, but don't be surprised if you hear from me next year...Iron Man...Hmmm...maybe!

To see video clips from Wildflower, go to www.tricalifornia.com and click on Wildflower.

Thank You, Thank You, Thank You!
Stephanie Anderson :)