Why Wildflower Triathlon? Triathlons are a sport I love in life. I started trying this sport with the thought of keeping myself healthy. Having loved swimming and running since my junior college days, I thought, “Why not give triathlons a try?” Upon arriving in Silicon Valley, I signed up for a Half-Ironman distance triathlon called the Jamba Juice-Wildflower Annual Triathlon in California. A Half-Ironman race requires the athlete to complete a gruelling 2 miles of swimming, 90 miles of cycling and a 21 mile run.

Race Site… It was a 3-hour drive down to the race site at Lake San Antonio, and it was a trip I made with a few friends of mine. Upon arriving, we were immediately greeted by beautiful pastures, rolling hills, blue lakes and, unfortunately, treacherous slopes. The start point and transition area offered a great view and gave me a good idea of what to expect in the entire cycling leg of the race.

Race Start!!! I headed down to the race site at an early 7am the following morning, but soon realized that I was late for the start. Cursing, I leaped in and began the swim segment of the race. Apart from the numbingly cold water, it was otherwise an enjoyable swim. The swim leg of the race was short and smooth, and quickly transited to the biking leg.

The cycling leg presented a beautiful sight as we went along the lake. The 1st 30 km were filled with massive up and downhills, made worse by gradients so steep that after the 30 km mark, I found myself wondering if I could even finish this brutal course! I had done a Half-Ironman race previously, but this one was definitely much tougher! Fortunately enough, the slopes on the remainder of the bike course were less punishing. At mile 40, I faced the hardest part of the whole race course, a 1000ft vertical climb. By then, I had been racing for 2.5 hours and was plain exhausted. Inadequate training was taking its toll. Not wanting to drop out of the race due to muscle cramps, I walked my bike up to the peak. At the top, I saw the beautiful Nacimento Lake and hills to my left and the massive Lake San Antonio on my right. This was the toughest and the most painful part of the whole course. But I was determined to finish this course because it is not in me to give up.

Fortunately, I had more opportunities to run during my stay in Silicon Valley and it paid off during the run leg, as I felt more comfortable with that segment of the race. Adopting a more cautious approach, I walked up the long slopes to avoid cramps. By the halfway mark, I was still feeling relatively good and knew I would be able to finish well below the cut-off timing. As I approached the finishing line, the support and encouragement from spectators and friends was awesome. Without those people cheering me on, this race would probably have been a lot harder to finish.

Race thoughts…. As I began my life as a triathlete, I saw how closely parts of life mirrored long triathlon races. Triathlons require long hours of training and preparation. They call for pacing and endurance. You can’t sprint all the way in a triathlon, and neither can you do that throughout your life. You need to find a suitable pace for yourself so that you wouldn’t tire out too quickly. Determination is a must to get to the finishing line. Your timing might not be as critical because it is not a matter of how fast you do it, but a matter of whether you can finish it in the first place. Life, like a race, needs lots of dedication, passion and perseverance to make it through. I started on this sport not to prove anything to anyone, but to find out what a physically weak person with a strong desire can or cannot do.

It doesn’t matter what bike you ride or what triathlon gear you buy. It is the legs that will carry you through. And legs are not just powered by nutrition gels and bars. They are driven by your passion and determination to finish. The Jamba Juice-Wildflower Triathlon is probably one of the toughest and the most physically painful races I have ever attempted and definitely a race to remember. Some say triathlons are a sport for a different breed, driven by a masochistic need for more pain. I say triathlons drive me to continuously challenge my mind and soul to my physical and mental limits. Through the years that I have done triathlons, the mentality of pushing through each race has cultivated in me a “never-say-die attitude”. This mentality has gotten me through many other trying situations and problems in my life. To the many like-minded people among us, I urge you to continue challenging yourself in whatever you do and not to ever give up in life. The Wildflower triathlon has taught me this brutal but valuable lesson in what I can or can’t do:
If you believe, you can do it.
Anything is possible.
Alan

This entry was posted on Monday, September 18th, 2006 at 9:34 pm and is filed under Passion/Fruit. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.