70.3 World Championships - Race Report
I started writing this post right after Vegas, but never finished it. Well, here it is (albeit very late)
So the Vegas World Championships was everything a championship race should be….exciting, tough, competitive and humbling.
I finished 50th in my division and while I would have loved to do better, I gave it everything I had on that day. Most importantly, I had fun (well, for the most part) and I learned a few things along the way.
Pre-race: We walked outside to find it was raining…hard. Not what any of us expected (but weather is unpredictable). When I arrived in the transition area, I started to stress (as I hate riding in the rain and it was pretty chilly). Then I reminded myself that I was prepared for this and I needed to focus on what I could control. So instead I spent the next 20 minutes trying to decide if my tires needed more air and if I had arranged my nutrition correctly in my bike’s bento box ;) – ha, at least it distracted me.
The Swim – Waiting for my swim wave took forever (prob. b/c it was raining and I was wet and cold). However it was really cool to see the professional start. I tried talking to a few girls, but realized they didn’t speak much English (or maybe just very thick accents). Then I found my friend Terry, who also swam in college and I know from races. I decided to plant myself near her so we could pace each other. My nerves were at an all-time high but as soon as I hit the water, I felt calm and relaxed. I formed a mantra in my head (which stuck with me the entire day): don’t let up, you’re tougher than the (insert whatever word I needed during the day). The gun went off and it was a true shit show (hah, love that phrase). In most races I’m up front with one or two girls, but in Vegas it was like a washing machine/mosh pit of swimmers. Kicking, hitting, swimming over each other, etc. I tried to stay relaxed and swim my own race, but quickly threw out that idea and went full sprint to get away from the crowd. Eventually I settled into a pace and exited the water 6th. The best part of exiting was seeing my dad and brothers (who surprised) me in the crowd!
The Bike - The rain was coming down. It was slick and hard to see. I took my coach’s advice and stayed steady on the first few hills and settled into a decent pace. Mile 10: right contact fell out. Whoops, well this was going to be interesting (see I’m pretty much legally blind in both eyes). Mantra was repeated: Don’t let up, you’re tougher than a contact lens. Ha. Mile 15: I start hearing a strange noise and realize my tire is pretty much flat. Instead of trying to change it, I used the Pit Stop sealant (which seemed to work well). Not too much time lost, though. Mile 25ish: a bunch of the slower swimmer age group guys started passing me. I know the rules. I let them pass and settled back four bike lengths. However for the next 20 miles or so it was like cat and mouse. I would pass them on the uphills, they would pass me on the flats/downhills. At mile 45ish, just after a downhill, an official pulled up next to me. He said I had been overtaken and didn’t get back four bike lengths in 20 seconds and was given a drafting penalty. Four minutes in the next penalty tent. The guy behind me yelled at the official for calling me out instead of the age-group guys who had actually been drafting and the official turned and gave him a penalty for arguing (I felt terrible). Anyway, mantra repeated…while tears ran down my face. I slowed down my pace and stayed far away from everyone. I started letting people pass me and just dropping back. In hindsight, I need to not let something like this affect me so much, but I was upset and felt stupid for not getting back in time, etc. Lessons learned.
The Run – At this point, I knew it wasn’t going to be my best race or time, but I also wasn’t going to just give up. I had worked too hard to get here to not give it my all. I managed to stick to an 8ish mile pace and was pleased with that given the nature of the course (ugh, hills).
I finished about 20 minutes slower than I wanted to, but I gave it everything I had on that day. The best part of the day was seeing all my sponsors, wattie ink teammates and my family.
I sent some time in the med tent but ended up feeling great after two IVs…good enough for a crazy all-nighter in Vegas...the beginning of some much needed downtime from triathlon
