Hy-Vee Triathlon, 5150 Championships

This is number two of my championship races that are back to back. I competed in the Elite Age group wave in the Championship 5150 race. I'm excited to get another opportunity to race some of the same girls from the National Championships. Oh yeah, there's also a huge prize purse for amateurs, one of the largest ever of its kind! 

First place gets a Mini Cooper plus $5000 and prizes go 5 deep. 

Second place- $4000 in prizes

Third place- $3000 in prizes

Fourth place- $2000 in prizes

Fifth place- $1000 in prizes

So, there is a lot on the line and people are extra anxious and stressed. Coming into the race all the pre-race briefings kept stating this would NOT be a wetsuit legal swim. The water was above 83 degrees, but what do ya know, it ended up coming down to a legal temperature of 78. There was definitely a lot of chaos in transition and I have to say a lot of upset Male Elite age group athletes. Apparently most of the females had prepared for the unexpected and brought the wetsuit with them anyway, mine just required a trip back to the vehicle; Thanks Mom! 

The swim had six turns on the course, and I was a bit concerned, especially after what happened at Nationals. So I made sure to get a good look at the buoys and angles and all that before the start. The swim went well and its always nice to not have to swim through bodies of past waves. I started working together with another swimmer half way through the swim and she helped keep me on track once we hit the section heading into the sun.

Heading out on the bike I tried to settle into a pace, but it was a hard thing to do with more than 25 corners on the course. We were also constantly being watched by officials on motorcycles and at one point I was almost certain I had received a penalty for blocking. I was riding in the same lane as the girl in front of me but it was a bit left of the gutter. I didn't have the greatest day on the bike, and on the last corner into the park I came in a bit hot and crashed. HARD. My disc caught some wind and started fish tailing and swung completely around. I ended up facing the other direction and in bike traffic leaving the park. I knew for a fact that I had bounced my head off the pavement and my hip was pretty injured at the moment. After sitting there for what I think was a few moments I saw a chic come around the corner and that's what got me up and back on the bike. 

I started the run with a bleeding shoulder, torn shorts, and a huge contusion on my butt/hip. I was in 7th place. NOT GOOD. I started out running as hard as I could but it took over three miles to get within site of the females in front of me, but I got there. I started passing girls with less than 2 miles to go in the race and passed my last girl on the hill right in front of the finish line to take 4th place overall and a personal record on the run of 39:07.  Sadly I was only five seconds behind 3rd and barely missed the podium. But I did get a pair of Zipp 404's as my prize!!

Overall Place: 4th, 2:14:27 

Hy-Vee Swag Bag

USAT AG Nationals

USAT Nationals has really been the focus of the whole year. I've wanted to do well at this race ever since I started racing six years ago. My very first experience with AG Nationals was in Kansas City, MO in 2005. This particular race was completely rained out, and I have to say I was almost relieved on that particular day. I was in no way prepared for the level of competition that year and honestly I think it might have really discouraged me. Just looking around at all the other racers I felt I was in way over my head. My next National race experience was Portland, Oregon in 2007 and 2008. I fared well placing 13th in 2007 and than 11th the following year, but it definitely wasn't satisfying enough for me. I wanted to place and bring back a medal.

    Race day morning I was excited and a bit nervous, but felt well prepared and ready to kick some butt. I was one of the last groups to go off, so that meant waiting and watching everyone else start their swim. It also meant we would be out there a full hour later in the heat of the day. The swim was a bit different with four turns to make and it made it crucial to swim a straight course in order to have a fast time. Unfortunately at the first corner it turned straight into the sun and I couldn't find the next corner buoy, and neither could the hundreds of people in front of me. Almost the whole field swam out way too far left and swam extra. This was a costly mistake that would later cost me.  SWIM TIME: 24:08
   On to the bike I was looking for revenge to make up lost ground. I paid close attention to how many in my age group I was catching. I believe I caught four girls and I assumed there were still a few ahead and maybe some gaining, so I kept the pace at a leg burning speed. I caught my friend Beth, who was in a prior wave, before the turn around and gave her a shout out of encouragement. After the turnaround two girls in my ag did catch me and it was a battle back and forth to keep them in sight and also put some time on them. I was able to drop the one in all black and put some time on her, but the girl with green socks stayed slightly ahead. BIKE TIME : 1:05:38

  Next up the run headed straight up a steep hill right out of transition and it was there that I passed the girl in green socks and didn't see her again. This was a steep and surprisingly long hill and it definitely took a minute or two to recover from afterwards. Around mile 3 I was surprised to see a girl from my age group catch up. I ran with her for a minute or two to try and challenge, but I couldn't hold on. Frustrated I tried to accept the fact that I was now definitely in second place and needed to keep on the pace if I had any chance at passing her back if she started to falter. The finish line was definitely a welcome sight today, but overall I felt pretty strong with the effort I put out.
RUN TIME: 39:51

OVERALL TIME: 2:11:56
AGE GROUP PLACE: 3rd

Beth and I the night before the race being silly.

Boulder Peak Triathlon Race Recap

   Me and Boulder Peak have had quite a journey to say the least. It's been five years now, and I have just completed my fifth Boulder Peak race. I remember the first time I was preparing to do this race my coach had me come up to Boulder, probably a month prior and ride the course. I made it up Old Stage Hill swearing at him and on the verge of puking. I wanted to get off my bike and walk, but he wouldn't let me. Don't you people know there are no hills in Iowa where I am from? Ok, so it's not so bad now, I can ride up it swiftly.
   Coming into this race I was pretty nervous. I had alot of expectations for myself and to be honest, I wanted to win- BAD. Just some history of me and Boulder Peak- in 2007 I placed 73 overall Females in a time of 2:42:27. In 2008 I was 25th overall females in a time of 2:31:28. In 2009 I was 24th overall in a time of 2:35:00 (long swim). 2010- I was 12th overall in a time of 2:25:47 and not far off of a top finish.
   Before the race I was warming up and spotted one of my rivals, a girl on Team Timex. A girl that had recently beaten me at 70.3 Kansas.  Last year she won pretty much every race she entered and beats most of the pros. So she's pretty good....So I do my best to shake it off and pump myself up and mentally tell myself that she is about to have a very bad day. I gather my wetsuit and head down to the swim start to shake off some nerves and get ready to battle for the day. There is a lot of joking around in the water as the Elite Amateur wave is treading water getting ready to start. The swim went by with not much event. I had a hard time seeing anything, including any other swimmers with the sun at its worst glare of any start I've been in. I couldn't even see the shadow of the buoys. Finally I was out of the water and my Mom was yelling minute and a half down from first female. I thought ok, I can handle that.
    On the bike I work hard getting to Old Stage and sure enough, I caught some girls before the hill and passed them on the way up. Once at the top I pass yet another female, the last one that is ahead of me. Now approaching the descent and the speed limit of 35 mph, a girl flys by me going definitely around 50 mph. Frustrated, I watch her pull away until she is just a speck in the distance. With no one around me to motivate me it was hard to push hard on the bike. Soon enough a guy passed me wearing the CTS kit and yelled some encouragement!!
    Finally into transition the announcer is yelling second female in and she has some catching up to do. He gives the spectators a play by play of me pulling on my socks and taking my helmet off-which I found a bit bizarre but also motivating.  Off on the run, I can sorta see first female in front of me with the lead bike escort. I keep trying to pump myself up and tell myself that I can catch her but things are looking down. Slowly but surely I keep getting closer, until at mile 3 at the turn around I pass her out of necessity because she was about to get her first glimpse of me chasing her. For the next mile she stays on my heels and keeps trying to challenge me for the lead, but slowly drops off a bit. By mile 5 I had built a gap of about 15-20 seconds on her. But I'm starting to not feel so awesome, I'm getting sluggish and can feel a bonk coming on.  My legs are getting heavy and I'm getting sleepy. I keep thinking get to the pavement and the crowd will pull you in. It worked, into the chute and breaking the tape for my first time ever!!!! While I won the Elite Amateur wave, two age group amateurs edged me out of first. I lost second overall by a mere six seconds. While disappointing I have to be ecstatic by the performance. One of my toughest races yet.


Results: 1st place Elite Amateur, 3rd Overall Boulder Peak
Overall Time: 2:22:13
swim: 23:55
bike: 1:14:51
run: 41:10

Loveland Lake 2 Lake Race Review

Loveland Lake 2 Lake, on June 25, 20ll~  The week coming into this race it didn't seem as though we were doing much of a taper for this event. With all the swimming workouts and track repeats on the Thursday before the Saturday race I was a bit concerned, to say the least. Which is always a bit scary, because you don't know how fresh your legs will end up being for the race, but always good training. The night before the race I arrived in Loveland. This was my first time doing this race and visiting the area. While driving the bike course I was surprised with how beautiful the town and surrounding countryside were. The bike was definitely one of the hilliest courses I had ever done and proved to be a challenge that I was excited to tackle.
     Race morning I was relieved to be able to park so close to the venue, especially with no race support or spectators there to help me. The swim went well compared to my last two triathlons. I apparently have gotten into a rhythm of sweeping wide off the buoys and overshooting the course. Which translates into swimming more yardage than necessary. Good training, but not kind on the race splits. I exited the swim feeling good that there were maybe only 3 women to track down. The run from the water to the beach was so long I thought maybe we were trying to recreate the Alcatraz Triathlon. Either way I got to transition and headed out on the bike, apparently passing a few of my competitors in the process.
     Out on the bike I was passing a lot of people from previous swim waves at pretty quick pace. This was my first time wearing an aero helmet, Lazer Tardiz, and heeding my coaches advice I was careful not to turn my head too often, which is a hard thing for me to do. So much scenery and not able to enjoy it!! I had passed all of the women in my swim wave (34 & under) and started to settle in on a pace and got comfortable. Too comfortable. Soon enough a woman from my group caught up to me and passed me at mile 20. I adjusted my pace and the race was back on! We took turns passing each other back and forth. I would beat her on the uphills and she would beat me down. Within about 3-4 miles of the transition a group of five or six men that were blatantly drafting passed me going at record speeds. Oh well they are not my competition, let them sort it out-wait that was a woman tucked onto the back end. This just burns me from the inside out. Nothing pisses me off more and gets me going than cheaters. I vowed to chase her down on the run.
     On to the run. Cheater, Cheater, Liar, Liar pants on fire. Where are you? Approaching mile one I find her and pass her without a side long look. At the turn around I get a good glimpse at who is chasing me. I'm surprised to see the second woman too close for comfort, so I adjust the pace and try and run harder. Approaching the finish it was really starting to burn and I took a look behind me and was relieved to see that no one was close. Realizing that someone else from another wave could still beat me I keep the pace strong.
     After I finished I found a group of fellow Carmichael Training Systems athletes. Chatted for awhile, but wanting to get on to my cool down run. After the run I took a look at the results and was surprised and thrilled to learn that I had won!!
RESULTS:  1st Place Overall Female!

Overall time: 2:31:47
Swim: 24:20
Bike: 1:25:28
Run: 40:27

Some local papers that I did an interview with afterwards:
 The Reporter Herald:  http://www.reporterherald.com/sports/local/ci_18361766
The Coloradoan:  http://www.coloradoan.com/article/20110626/LOVELAND04/110625011