The Wildflower Triathlon was this past weekend. A whole bunch of folks from the Clif offices were down there taking part, and a number of the TCB Sponsored athletes made the trip too.
This posting is a little tardy due to my Santa Rosa misadventures.  While I was up north breaking my wrist, TCB sponsored triathlete extraordinaire, Becky Lavelle, was down south doing business. Congrats on a great race Becky! 

Here's what Becky had to say about her big win...



 

May.05.07

WILDFLOWER HALF IRONMAN—USA Long Course National Championships—1st place

Well, before I give you the run down, I must say I am really glad I decided to race Wildflower this past weekend. As you know, I was a little disappointed after feeling less than stellar at St. Anthony’s and I wasn’t sure if racing a half would be better, or if it would put me deeper in a hole. I decided to take my chances after a week of taking it easy, and it paid off. I also made some adjustments to my bike position (mainly raising my seat height) that were pretty significant and may have been the cause of my issues at St. Anthony’s. I felt ten times better on the bike this past weekend! 

I have been second at Wildflower three years in a row, ’01, ’02, and ’03, and have not raced there since then for various reasons. I felt I had some unfinished business there and was ready to take it on.  The swim was a bit choppy as the wind was starting to pick up, but I found the feet of Linda Gallo and was able to come out just 2 seconds down from her. I was then able to find my rhythm pretty quickly on the bike despite the strong winds and tough hills. I decided to ride my Felt DA Time trial bike with a disc wheel (in the past I have always used a road bike with clip-on short aerobars). This was a good decision but did make it rough descending when I would get hit with some nasty crosswinds… I was hanging on for dear life in some sections!

Coming into T2, I wasn’t sure exactly how much time I had put on the other women, but I knew it was at least a few minutes. I wanted to stay controlled, but steady and try to build into the run.  I finally got a split around mile 8 on the run and I was about 5 minutes up from the next woman. I knew I couldn’t let up much, as I had bad memories of having the lead and getting passed with less than 2 miles to go!

I kept pushing and tried to work those last couple of miles so I could enjoy the last mile downhill and savor the win.  This was a big win for me… not only has it eluded me for several years, but it’s the only Tri-Cal race I had yet to win, AND I was crowned USA Long Course NATIONAL CHAMPION! 

Thank you again for your great support. I’m looking forward to racing again in 2 weeks at the USA Short Course National Championships in Honolulu.

All the best,

Becky

Read more about Becky's win at triathletemag.com and xtri.com.


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