by Jesse Thomas, Professional Triathlete

Just like last year, Wildflower proved to be one of the most memorable days in my athletic career. But the 2012 version wasn't the shock and surprise of victory in unbridled naivety. It was victory over pressure, fear, and relentless self-doubt.

Pre Race Mental Games

Wednesday and Thursday were super fun. I did a webinar with Matt [Dixon, purplepatch fitness coach]. I drove down with Linsey and Chris Corbin. We stayed with super buddy (yep, I just said it) Matt Lieto, Jen Luebke, and legend Chris Legh back in Cabin 10, who told us all ridiculous and entertaining stories from his years of racing. I was in a good spot, excited, happy, enjoying it.

Thursday night things started to derail. I didn't sleep more than a couple hours, and it had nothing to do with sleeping in the closet. I got nervous and worried. On Friday I had interviews, photo shoots, a magazine signing, Q&A panel, a stairway dedication, and I had to prep for the race. I tried to nap, but couldn't. It was a non-stop day, mostly fun, but a lot of answering questions about the pressure to repeat, targets on my back, etc. I told everyone, and myself, that I really didn't feel added pressure, I just wanted to enjoy it. No big deal. I was lying.

by Matt Dixon, Elite Coach and Owner of purplepatch fitness

It has been a couple of weeks since Jesse manage to deal with the great internal and external pressure and repeat his Wildflower championship. I wrote about that day extensively in a previous blog at purplepatchfitness.com, but this piece is about the path from Stanford runner to Wildflower Champion.

Jesse has a rich endurance history, with a strong resume as a Stanford Steeplechaser and runner. He took up cycling and triathlon as the next chapter of his endurance life, and progressed quickly to become a strong amateur triathlete with aspirations to take the next step into the world of professional racing. It was at this point, about 18 months ago, that Jesse reached out for my help. As with any athlete I work with, I felt it was absolutely key for Jesse to take a long term view of his triathlon progression, and create a multi-year roadmap to guide his training.

Meredith Kessler won the challenging Ironman St. George (Utah) on May 5, 2012. Meredith was the first female pro out of the water and continued her lead through the race she finished 41 minutes ahead of the second place finisher. This year was the last full Ironman for St. George as the race will be converted to a 70.3 next year.

On May, 5, 2012, Jesse Thomas won the Wildflower Triathlon for the second consecutive year. Linsey Corbin placed second and Paul Matthews, Trevor Wurtele, and Melanie McQuiad all for stong, top 10 finishes.

by Sarah Piampiano, Professional Triathlete

Winning New Orleans was nothing short of a complete shock – to me, to my family and friends, to my coaches, and certainly to the rest of the triathlon community who had no idea who I was.  I could hardly believe it (and quite frankly, am still a bit mystified by how it all happened), but it was a thrilling experience for me, and a big win for a little first year pro against a fairly strong field of professional women, including Mirinda Carfrae (2010 Ironman World Champion), Caitlin Snow (the top American finisher at the Ironman World Championships the last two years), as well as Heather Wurtele, Amy Marsh, Magali Tesseyre and Amanda Lovato – all mutli- 70.3 and Ironman Champions.  With the level of competition in Sunday’s race, where I am developmentally as an athlete and the duathlon format – if this were a horserace and I were a horse, I definitely would have been the longshot bet! 

Needless to say, the last week has been a huge emotional roller coaster for me.  I was so high on adrenaline for the first few days, I could hardly sleep, much less focus on anything at all.  I was just so amped up and kept on replaying the race again and again in my mind, trying to savor the moment for as long as I possibly could.  On Thursday I pretty much hit a brick wall and crashed big time, and spent Thursday and Friday as a total zombie.  My daily activities included waking up, eating, swimming, napping, running/ cycling, eating, napping, eating, napping, sleeping.  I was exhausted.  Luckily Matt, my coach, anticipated this all, and encouraged me to rest as much as needed, versus pushing myself back into hard training.  I finally feel back on track now and also ready to move on and get back to work. 

During the 2012 Ironman New Orleans 70.3 on Sunday, April 21, Trevor Wurtele won the Men's division and Sarah Piampiano won the Women's with Heather Wurtele close behind in second. Due to harsh weather conditions, the event was a duathlon with a two-mile run replacing the swim.

Visit ironman.com to learn more

Cold temps at IM 70.3 California didn’t slow down the competition, and CycleOps athletes put in incredibly strong performances. 4 of the top-6 pro women and 3 of the top-10 men were CycleOps-powered athletes. Melanie McQuaid took the huge win, laying the groundwork with the fastest women's bike split, and big congratulation goes out to Meredith Kessler, Linsey Corbin, Lesley Paterson, Jesse Thomas, Chris McDonald and Matt Lieto (who recorded the fastest bike split on the men's side).

Also Congratulations to Sara Piampiano and Heather Wurtele on strong showings at the Texas Iron Man 70.3!

5:50 Hrs., 188 km's, 4,320 KJ's

By Steve Chapin, CycleOps Marketing Director

The dream of being a professional cyclist most often involves glory in both training and racing. We like to think of ourselves as a tough, hardscrabble bunch, and our dreams frequently culminate in epic battles from which we emerge victorious. The dreams come easily and comfortably, especially as we compete vicariously from the comfort of our living rooms. We play the part to the best of our ability, sometimes defined by our actual abilities and others by the other things which keep us busy: jobs, family, etc. We train through the winter and get outside as frequently as we can, and take pride when we overcome the obstacles which prevent others from getting in the work.

5:12 Hrs., 156 km's, 4,250 KJ's, 8,470' climbing

By Steve Chapin, CycleOps Marketing Director

Day 3 of camp is typically when fatigue begins to set in.  From the outside, you probably wouldn't notice, but there are small clues in the speed at which the riders move about the hotel, how energetic and talkative they are at breakfast.  Today will be another big day with over 5 hours and almost 8,500' of climbing, so perhaps the riders are not showing signs of fatigue, rather preparing mentally for the day.

CycleOps-sponsored Dutch squad, Vacansoleil-DCM, captured three stages, two classifications and nearly won overall at Paris-Nice.

Gustav Erik Larsson captured stage one, Lieuwe Westra took stage five and Thomas De Gent won stage seven of the race.

Thomas De Gent, Team Vacansoleil (photo by Cor Vos)

Lieuwe Westra also finished second overall in the time trial, only eight seconds behind winner Bradley Wiggins of Sky. Frederik Veuchelen also won the King of the Mountains classification and the team finished first in the team classification.