I
guess the best place to start is always the beginning. I found out I
had qualified for both the sprint and Olympic distance races on New
Years Day and finally decided to focus on the Olympic distance.
As the
race drew near I began toying with the idea of doing both and finally
decided too. Unfortunately an easy trail run brought an end to that when
I badly rolled my left ankle. After that my training came to a halt
for nearly a week before I started to ease back into everything but the
running. The only time I ran was to compete at Wet Dog which I planned
to use as my dress rehearsal. I took four weeks off from running before
I began testing the water so to speak, the only problem was I had about
10 days till Nationals. I used that time to focus on my bike and swim
but this was when I decided to only race the Sprint (really my doctors
suggestion).
We
arrived in Milwaukee about 1 in the morning the Friday before the race.
After roughly 6 hours of sleep we went down and got the full breakfast
the hotel provided; amazing food and kudos to the chef for being able
to remember everyone’s order. After breakfast I picked up both of my
packets (we weren’t able to cancel my Olympic distance registration) and
then hopped in the water for a quick swim.
It didn’t seem like it
would be all that cold and wasn’t but the chill I received after jumping
in the water reminded me how much I dreaded cold water. I managed to
brave the cold water without a wet suit and jogged an easy mile before
attending the rules briefing and checking out the expo. Chrissie
Wellington was at the expo signing autographs and selling her book but I
decided food was a necessity and would try to make it back in time for a
picture, I unfortunately ended up about 30 minutes late.
Milwaukee
is a very beautiful city, but the people there must not get very hungry
because we spent about an hour and a half trying to find food, finally
settling for a sketchy Wendy’s. After dinner we went back to the venue
to relax and study the race set up.
The next day I watched the Olympic
distance race and cheered on Evan Pardi whom I raced at Heel and Crank
last year and who now races for the University of Oregon.
Then I
checked out the Discovery World Museum which was a great experience.
After a light lunch we made some last minute checks to my bike and then
I checked it into transition for the night, only after memorizing the
exact latitude and longitude of my spot (I sort of lost my stuff at Wet
Dog in T2).
We finally got in the water and lined up on the front. Having never
been in a crowded mass open water start I was pretty calm. The horn
sounded, I started my watch like I always do only to find a wall of
kicking feet. I then took a nice constant barrage of hand, feet, and
elbows to my head for about 5 minutes. Someone kicked as I was
breathing near the end of that 5 minutes and I unfortunately took 85% of
the splash down my throat and calming spent the next 30 seconds
attempting not to puke to much as I swam. I finally hit calmer waters,
regained my form and took off but the damage was done. I came out of
the water and saw I was about 3 minutes slower than I had planed to
swim.
As
soon as I got my feet in my bike shoes I new I had a ton of time to
make up and was not in the slightest bit happy so I threw all my rage
into the bike. The bike had two turn arounds and three massive climbs.
I hit the first climb, shifted to heavier gear and stood up pounding
all the way to the top. Having worked on likes lately I gave it my all
to the top, made the turn around and pounded it out back down making
gravity my new best friend. The course backtracked be transition
staying flat as we went by some large estates on the right and beach to
our left. As soon as we passed transition we started the long climb
onto the interstate and across the bridge which was close to a mile up
overlooking the city and unfortunately for me and my disc wheel, Lake
Michigan.
I again stood up but had to really work to keep my bike in
line. Had one near mishap where the wind made me bump shoulder with
another racer as I passed, thankfully there weren’t any refs watching me
at the time. There were some photographers near the top of the climb
so I made sure to really put the hammer down there hoping for some epic
photos (still haven’t seen them yet, I’m kind of depressed). I started
to feel the climb some on the decent but it ended up being a little more
of a case of watching for bumps in the road and keeping the wind in
check. By the turn around I had fought my way back into 18th place in
my age group and Team USA and didn’t plan to loose it easily. Once we
started back up and over the bridge (the back side was slightly steeper)
it was straight into a strong head and crosswind. That climb consisted
of me keeping the bike in a straight line and not think of the increased
burning in my quads. So I did what I’m best at on climbs, I put my
head down and stood back up. Once I reached the top it was straight
down, around a blind curve with a bush and into transition, because of
the bush I didn’t push the pace very much. I got toT2 in between groups
so I didn’t have to fight anyone for the line and managed to switch
shoes and get out in under a minute.
I
left T2 in 18th place still with my Team USA slot, still not letting
you pass me! I managed to hold a solid pace and avoid getting overtaken
until the first aid station, then I started to feel the ride. By mile
two I was really feeling it and lost two places but they were not in my
age group so I let them go. Plus my feet were still numb from the cold,
not my favorite way to run but it happens. With a mile to go I picked
up the pace some but my quads weren’t too pleased with the idea, a
couple people got by me but I didn’t notice their age. Then with
3/10ths of a mile to go I saw my sister yelling something about pick it
up at the road, I really didn’t feel like asking for specifics at that
time. Then with 2/10ths to go I saw my mom saying, “better go now!”. I
summoned all my will and picked up some ,hearing breathing behind me.
I though it was the older guy that had been on my shoulder since I
caught him at mile 2. As I made the right turn onto the road I let up
just a bit and this junior from Tennessee I talked to before the race
flew by me, I tried to come back by him but my body had just about had
it and I started dry heaving with 1/10th to go and lost him. He would
beat me by 14 seconds. As I approached the red carpet I saw the guy
that had been on my shoulder make a move and I just managed to pull out
enough of a sprint to edge him out at the line.
My watch said 56
minutes and I was sure I made the team.
I had one of my best races, left
it all out on the course and had an amazing time! I will defiantly be
back again next year if I qualify. I would like to say thank you to
everyone who believed in me these past 8 months and encouraged me: my
family, friends, team members and training partners. Next up: Frantic
Frog!!!!