The Peak Performance gang was proud to see Heather Wurtele place 10th overall in her pro debut at a tough day out at Wildflower. PRPP’s chief correspondent, Writerguy, caught up with Heather after the race.

Writerguy: Wildflower is famous for its unique scene; a special triathlon experience, how did you enjoy it?

Heather: It was great. The race organizers were fantastic, and the VIP treatment they gave the pros was awesome. I have never had such a relaxing pre-race experience.

I was going to travel and camp with an age-group athlete from Victoria, but this fell thru at the last minute. They hooked me up with a with a new tent site, no problem. I actually ended up close to a whole bunch of athletes from Canada and met some great new people from all over NA. I can definitely get used to this pro-thing

Writerguy: So I hear you had a bit of an adventure before the race

Heather: Well… I learned how to change a tubular tire pretty fast, and I also learned that driving all by yourself over 1500km to a race isn’t the greatest. The adrenaline was definitely pumping averaging 130 kph in five lanes of madness in and around San Jose

Writerguy: How were the conditions for the race?

Heather: Windy and hot; hot for a Canadian coming from a record cold winter in Victoria anyway! Having never done the race before I had no past experience for comparison, but the consensus seemed to be that the conditions were pretty tough. Times were slower than last year by a fair bit.  I found the dryness to be a big factor… the aid stations on the run seemed really far apart and I was thirsty. It was easy to under-estimate your sweat rate on the bike b/c you stayed so dry.

Writerguy: It was your first race as a professional athlete, in title anyway, not many of your competitors likely work 40hr weeks. How did you feel going into it?

Heather: I was a bit nervous in the days before the race. But race morning I just felt positive and excited. I felt that my training was spot on, and I was just looking forward to having a great race.

 

Writerguy: Can you break it down for us?

Heather: Sure. The swim was fun! It was so great not to get totally beat up in the mass, 1000+ age-group athlete swim starts that I am used to. I felt somehow too presumptuous to stand in front of all theses haunch athletes that I see in magazines, so I started sort of “second row”, there were so few of us it felt like the front to me! I came out of the water in 4^th. Guess I can stand in the front next time.

My first transition was far from smooth, but once I actually got to the mount line, all was good. There was a serious head wind for the first part and some crazy side winds in sections. I wasn’t used to getting thrown around on such a light carbon frame and race wheels. I felt strong though, and I was happy to reel in all the people that passed me in T1, and to catch another on the nasty grade. I got a bit too “in the zone” though, and I really didn’t take in enough calories.

T2 was better… it was a trip to have a camera guy following me the whole time… zooming in on my shoes etc., but my race went downhill from there. I forgot some critical race-morning nutrition, and was lacking calories big-time. I felt better by the end, as all of the gels I was imbibing started to kick in, but it was a pretty painful experience getting passed by 5 other woman and being unable to respond. Live and learn I suppose!

Writerguy: Wildflower is known for having a deep field of top pro athletes, so 10^th place in your first wildflower is decent.

Heather: That’s what people tell me. I felt like I made huge improvements in my running over the winter, thanks to guidance from PRPP, and I was upset that I didn’t reach my potential on race day. All in all though, it was a good experience.   

Writerguy: So what’s next?

Heather: I am doing a Tri One-O-One in Clearlake CA on June 10^th, and the Victoria, New Balance Half Iron on June 17^th.  Can’t wait!