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I’m hoping you all don’t mind two races being covered in one blog!  It won’t be much more than my usual blog because, honestly, there isn’t much to say about the first race.  As many of you know from my Facebook status update, the Milwaukee Super Sprint Showcase did not go as planned.  After the race, I didn’t write a blog because there really wasn’t much to write about!  But, since I decided to race last weekend, I figured I would tag it on.  So here we go, hold on to your hats, two races in 1 blog!

It is always a tough balance when I’m in Milwaukee because I LOVE to watch my husband race and want to support him the best I can, but also keeping in mind that I’m racing later in the day and need to stay out of the sun, eat enough and stay hydrated is a hard balance.  Luckily, I know the venue pretty well and had my spots all picked out.  It was great fun to cheer on my husband and other friends of ours who were racing!  There were many times while watching when I wished that I was racing in the age group race because I miss racing with friends!  Todd has a great race despite coming back from an injury that completely halted his running for months to finish 19^th in his age group!  Okay, back to the super sprint… I already knew it was going to be a rough day because although my legs felt fresh and ready to race, my chest was tight during my warm up run. 

I went through my usual routine, but I was worried about the water.  Many of the other women were wearing wetsuits, but I didn’t even bring mine!  The distance is so short, I wasn’t planning on wearing one.  Mistake #1.  I had a successful dive in to start the race and I was swimming as fast as my arms could possibly go!  I was on the feet of another girl and I could see I was with the pack!  Then, just shy of the first buoy, I felt my chest slowly tighten and then squeeze.  I’m not sure what the final water temp was, somewhere in the low 60s I believe, but the cold made my asthma even worse.  I suddenly felt like I wasn’t moving and I gasped for every breath.  It’s hard to watch the video because I can see myself suddenly fall off the back of the pack and I remember that gasping feeling all too well.  Basically, my race ended there.  But when I’m racing, something happens.  I have had this unfortunate characteristic my entire life.  When something is so badly wrong with me that I am no longer capable of actual thought, my baseline function is to keep going.  When I was in high school, I suffered a fairly bad concussion in the District Championship game, but I kept playing.  I don’t even remember the game or the award ceremony afterward (yes, we did win), but apparently I kept playing.  During the swim, I went into that mode.

I’m not even sure how I got on my bike because I do remember it took me a couple tries to even mount my bike.  But my body kept going through the motions all through the first bike and into the run.  It’s also hard to look at the pictures because my face is so blank.  On the run, one thought came into my mind: If I get in the water, I’m going to drown.  The thought kept repeating through my mind, but when I got to transition I was surrounded by people yelling that I could catch her.  My body grabbed my goggles and my cap and I was in the water again.  Mistake #2.  Thankfully, I didn’t drown, but I certainly realize how lucky I am.  The rest of the race was what it was; I finished a race that I shouldn’t have even started.  I was mad at myself and I was scared that I had gone to that point (again), but the race was over.  Then I spent most of the next few days thinking.  Thinking about what I want to do next season, what I want to do with the rest of this season and all that good stuff.  I’m not quite ready to share that process yet, so you will have to stay tuned… but there is one more race left!

I’m not really sure what to say about my decision to race the Detroit Triathlon last weekend… with all the breathing problems I had, I certainly can’t say it was an intelligent decision!  That being said, I did take much better care of myself after Milwaukee by doing breathing treatments around the clock and taking higher doses of inhaled corticosteroids to help my lungs recover.  During my pre-race run the day before the race, I felt a little tightness in my chest (granted, it was in the upper 80’s and super humid!), but nothing that would present a problem come race morning.  And after the past 2 weekends, I felt that I needed a little racing boost!  And it was draft legal, which is always fun!

The guys went first, so I took some careful notes while watching them race.  I did my best to cheer on my friends Todd Buckingham and Louis Cayedito, but also kept my pre-race needs in mind.  I noted on the swim start that the men were clearly putting in a LOT of effort, but looked like they were hardly moving!  I checked it out during my swim warm up and noted a very strong current with the start of the swim going against the current and then coming back with the current.  Then it was race time and introductions!

Race numbers were assigned based on the order in which athletes registered… so I was last!  That meant getting out to the in-water start quickly and setting my goggles because the horn blew shortly after I got to my spot.  Not an ideal scenario, but I was determined to make it work!  I knew the women would go out fast, so I got into my sprinter mode and spun my arms as fast as possible and kicked much harder than I normally would.  The gamble paid off as the group started to thin into a line and I worked myself into a decent position on the feet of another woman.  After we turned the top of the rectangle to come back with the current, I checked ahead and saw two women up from my group.  I debated trying to bridge the gap, but the speed of my group was already at the top end of my swim speed at that point.  As we came toward the last buoy, my group picked up speed and I fought to stay with them.  I knew if I was dropped from this group I would be in no-man’s land for the entire bike!  I sprint hard toward shore, the feet ahead of me only pulling away a bit.  I was a few seconds behind coming out of the water, so I put on my very determined face and hustled my butt up the beach and into transition! 

Yup.  That's my out-of-the-water-determined face!

This exact scenario was one my coach had me practice weekly.  I quickly mounted my bike just a bit behind two other women and then SPRINTED with my feet on my shoes to catch them.  I biked about a mile before I felt was comfortably “in” the group and could slip my shoes on.  Then it was time to get to work.  The two women were about 45 seconds ahead of us according to the crowds, but there were 3 of us and 2 of them.  We took short pulls and pushed the pace hard for the first of 3 laps, but only made up about 15 seconds.  As we started the second lap, one of the girls dropped from the group.  So now it was 2 trying to catch 2, but we were very determined!  I couldn’t have asked for a better bike partner than Sarah Alexander!  She was upbeat, encouraging and never gave up!  We pushed the pace hard and made up more ground as we headed into the third and final lap.  I knew if I was going to have a chance at finishing on the podium, we had to catch the lead women.  Sarah was definitely up for the challenge and we pushed our pace even higher.  With maybe about a quarter of the last lap to go, we finally drew even with the two women!  I took the chance for a brief rest as our group of 4 headed into transition, knowing this was going to be a tough run!

I wanted every advantage I could get and my transition was smooth and speedy.  I was first out of transition, but I was quickly followed by Sarah, who is an excellent runner.  She passed me as we headed out onto the run course and I knew my lungs didn’t have enough to keep up with her pace.  Shortly after, I heard footsteps behind me.  Laura Mathews, one of the lead swimmers, drew even with me.  Initially she passed me, but I was determined not to let her go.  So we ran side for side to the 1 mile mark, then the two mile mark.  We both threw in surges, but neither of us could shake the other.  She would lead for a while and then I would lead for a while, but neither of us could pull away. 

We rounded the final turnaround with about a fourth of the run to go side by side.  I threw in one more surge, but she held fast.  I knew the podium would be determined by strategy and it would come down to a sprint finish.  As a former semi-professional soccer player known then for my speed, sprint finishes happen to be one of my favorite things, but I knew my legs were very tired and I didn’t know how much I had left to give.  So I stopped surging and let the pace fall a little bit as I gathered myself.  My nerves were racing; I kept waiting for her to surge!  The finish line came into view and I started a partial sprint, not wanting to throw in my full speed just yet.  And I started to pull away!  Just then, I realized the finish line was a little further away than I had initially thought… crud.  I held my speed, pumping my arms hard and the gap grew.  Then I was across the line, finishing in 2^nd place! 

Sprinting a little too soon before the finish line, but creating a gap!

Although I’m not entirely certain I deserved to have such a great race after all the stupid things I had done over the previous weeks, it was still awesome to have so many things come together!  And to be able to race surrounded by friends, my awesome husband and my amazing coach made it so, so much better!  I can’t say thank you enough to my husband Todd Kennedy for supporting my insanity and to my friend and teammate Abby Geurink for coming along with us to cheer!  And of course it is always awesome to race with the infamous Other Todd and his awesomely supportive parents, Tim and Lisa Buckingham!  And congrats to Louis on 4^th American!  It was also good to see another MSU face and I hope you feel better soon Elaine!  And it was cool to be able to meet some of Barb’s other athletes, who are all very awesome people! 

So, what’s next?  Well, for once, I am going to be home for a weekend!  WHAT?!  Crazy, I know.  My next race will be the Boyne City Triathlon on September 6^th and the morning after the race I’m going to try to swim the Straits of Mackinaw!  Should be a very fun time!  And that part I hinted at earlier will come in time.  Thank you all for your support and friendship!