Shane's Wildflower Report

Hello all,
As many of you know and others may not, I have been gearing up for the World Age Group Championships in the triathlon on June 7 of this year and I wanted to take this opportunity to update you all on a great race I had over the weekend in California. The race was called the Wildflower triathlon and it consisted of 3 races (Long Course, Off Road Triathlon and the Olympic Distance Triathlon) and there were over 7000 athletes competing over the weekend. Prior to going to the race it was told to me that this was one of the hardest courses in the United States for the triathlon.
I competed in the Olympic Distance Triathlon, which happened on Sunday May 4. The weather was almost perfect for racing, with the temperatures nearing the +25C by the time I ended my race. For those of you who do not know the distances, it consisted of 1500m swim, a 40K bike, and a 10K run. Now, onto the race, I had a little trouble in the swim but still finished in a fast time of 22:14. The bike was very hilly but I had a lot of fun on the course, passing lots of people going up the hills and many more going down the other side. The bike was a lot of fun but very hard. I finished in a time of 1:18:28. Then onto the run. I felt great coming out of transition and felt pretty good throughout the run. The run, just like the bike was very hilly, and it climbed for 8K and then flattened out at the top for a couple 100 metres and then a mile down a hill to the finish. I finished the run in a time of 42:18 and set a new personal best in the 10K. My overall time was 2:28:41. I felt great in the race and when I looked at the results I was even more excited about Worlds coming in just over a month. I finished 17th in my age group out of 250 athletes and finished 103rd overall out of 2400 athletes in the Olympic Distance Race.
So, I am into my final weeks of training before the big race and after the race on the weekend, I am really looking forward to Worlds. Thank you all for your support and I look forward to telling you all about my big race in June. In case any of you are in the Vancouver area on the 7th of June, the race is taking place in Stanley Park.
Shane