USAT Elite National Championships (Buffalo)

Race Recap:

With a 12pm race start, my race morning went: wake up, eat a snack, short jog with some strides, shower, big breakfast, chill time, ride down to race start (Buffalo, NY in Lake Eerie), get all equipment and uniform checked, and swim warm up.  The water temp was 72F (no wetsuit for elites), but I did my swim warm up with my wetsuit on because I wanted to stay as warm as possible for as long as possible.  I was able to keep  warm all the way up until the start of the race, which allowed me to have a faster swim start.

The first 350m of the swim was aggressive and I just tried to keep my head down and go hard to the first turn buoy, when the group would hopefully string out some.  It was a two-lap swim, with a run out in between laps.  I came out on the first lap with 4-5 other girls, and saw that Haskins and Duffy had a pretty big gap on us.  I stayed with the group I was in on the second lap, trying to get as much of a draft as possible.  The wind had picked up and there were waves blowing in on the second lap which caused  some person-to-person contact and some water-swallowing!

I had a good T1 and got out on the bike with 4-5 other girls that I'd just been swimming with.  We caught up with two girls just a little up ahead, and then caught one more during the second (of eight) laps.  So we had a group of 8 working together for the next few laps.  The pace was punchy..some people taking really strong pulls, and then a lull in the pace.  This bike portion harder than the bike was in Kelowna a few weeks ago, where the pace was pretty chill.  Coming out of a 180 on the 5th lap, two girls on the front surged, and I got gapped in the back, which meant I had to go really hard for most of that lap to get back on to the group.  I remember thinking "dang, this hurts", but it had to be done.  

Here is a video of one of the 180s on the bike.  Those are my folks cheering in the background :)

I had a slow T2 putting my shoes on, which cost me some time and meant that the first few girls ran off together and I was a little bit behind.  This is something I can't afford to let happen anymore, it's the small stuff like this that can make a big difference in these races.  I caught a few girls out on the run, to end up the 3rd american, 2nd u23, and 5th overall (a few different categories since this was a national championship).  I'm still learning each time I race these ITU - draft legal races and I have things to work on as I prepare for my next race in Cancun.  It's starting to feel like fall here in Virginia, which is great for training!  I'm feeling extremely motivated to end the 2012 racing season strong and excited for the next few years. 

As always, I am so thankful for my parent's support.  They came to the race to cheer me on and it was awesome.  I am grateful for the prep and support from my coach, Paulo, and my teammates on The Triathlon Squad.

Hy-Vee 5150 Elite Championship

This past weekend I traveled to Des Moines, Iowa for the Hy-Vee 5150 Elite Championship.  This race attracts many of the top pros in the world because of the large prize purse.  It's the biggest prize purse for any triathlon or marathon in the US, with the winner taking home $151,000 and the last place finisher (30th) still taking home $3000.  Who would have thought that a grocery store in Iowa puts up the most cash in the US for a race?  Anyway, Hy-Vee and 5150 put on an incredible weekend - putting us up in the Embassy Suites which was right on the race course, giving us great swag/goodies, all the race logistics, and promoting the event throughout the city.

In the days leading up to the race, I tried to keep to my pre-race routine as much as possible and to get some rest as I'd been traveling more than usual in the week before.  Paulo (coach) said to just take it like any other race and do what I needed to do in order to perform at my best, which is a good reminder when I'm getting too interested in who my competition is and what they are up to.  

My race went off at 1:30, so I got up at my usual time, had a small breakfast , went for a warm up jog, then had a bigger breakfast.  I had some orange juice because I figured that would give me some electrolytes to store for the warm day ahead (water temp near 80F, air temp 87F).  I snacked up until 2 hrs before the race, and then just had water during that window.  Even as I was doing my swim warm up, I kept telling myself to be more pumped up because I just still didn't feel it yet.  That extra race fierceness can make a huge difference in how I race, so I was doing everything I could to conjure it up.  As we were lining up on the platform, I finally got the excitement and was ready to swim fast.  I was one of the last women to be called down to line up, but there was a spot right in the middle with a direct line to the first turn buoy, so I took it.  It was a two-lap swim and I came out of the first lap in the first pack and right behind Becky Lavelle, so I dove in right behind her for the 2nd lap and stayed on her feet. I just wore my Kiwami Amphibian race suit (without a speed suit over it for the swim) because the extra layer may have done more harm than good in the warm water, and I feel like the Amphibian is fast anyway :)  I also saved the time in T1 by not having to take it off!  So I exited T1 on my bike in 8th position. 

 The bike course was 4 loops with a bunch of 90deg turns each loop right through downtown Des Moines.  I went hard on the first lap, trying to stay with the girls ahead of me.  I stayed with the girls ahead of me, and then Lisa Norden blew by me, followed by Alicia Kaye and Lisa Marangon a little bit later.  It was hard to stay out of the drafting zone with all of the corners, but I was extra cautious because I did not want to get a penalty for that.  I had two Gu gels out on the bike and 20 oz of water/gatorade.  

I exited T2 in 15th place, and took the first lap of the run conservatively, drinking a LOT of water at the aid stations as I was missing a whole bottle of water on the bike and did not want to cramp up in the heat.  After that first lap, I was feeling much better and tried to increase my speed and chase down some women up ahead of me.  I was able to catch 5 girls during the run (and get passed my kelly williamson) to end up 11th. I am happy with how I raced and how I finished.  Here is a link to full results: http://edge.raceresults360.com/hyvee/EMI7e/results#/results::1346939079650. 

If you are ever in Des Moines, Taste of Thai and Open Sesame (Lebanese) have super good food.  And I must also thank Rasmussen Bicycles in Des Moines for helping me with last minute bike details and giving me directions!!  And thanks to my family, coach, team mates, and friends for supporting and cheering me on.

2 X 2nd Place

Here are a few photos from my previous two races, where I placed 2nd.

On August 20, I raced in Kelowna, BC.  This was my first trip to Canada and I LOVED it.  I don't even know how many times I said that I wanted to move there.

My friend  Joe and I got to stay with our team mate, Heather Wurtele's parents.  They were amazing hosts and we both felt so lucky the whole weekend.  Thank you, Danforths!!

At the end of July, I raced in Columbus, OH at the Giant Eagle 5150 Triathlon: