Blog

Race three of three in three weeks is in the books, and what a way to end!  This past weekend I had the great pleasure of heading to Milwaukee to support my husband and many others racing the USAT Age Group National Championship.  As an added bonus for me, I received an email about a new event this year, a Super Sprint Showcase, that would be happening Saturday afternoon after the Olympic race.  Sounded interesting to me!  Just a couple problems... the race was draft legal and I didn't have a usable road bike and I had never raced draft legal before.  Ever.  Not to mention, people riding in a group with me normally give me a nice wide berth as I'm not well known for my bike handling skills.  But hey, I was going to be in town anyway and it sounded like a blast!

To solve my first problem, I decided to put out a call for help on Facebook on the Oak Park YMCA Triathlon Team page.  I never imagined the response I would get!  It was absolutely amazing how many people reached out and offered their bikes, it made me feel truly blessed to know so many amazing athletes!  Not only did I hear from the Oakie, but from members of the Lansing Triathlon Team and the MSU Triathlon Team.  I was lucky enough to be offered an amazing Trek Madone by MSU Tri Team alumni Jamie and I was super stoked!  With help from my dad, we found some wheels that would work on the bike.  Next, I practice my bike handling skills.  That went slightly less better... I managed to slow motion fall in my driveway. Awesome.  Unfortunately the fall had unforeseen consequences and during the fall I tweaked my right hip, the one I had surgery on 4 years ago.  More on that later.

Fast forward to race day: It was amazing to watch my husband race!  I was sad that I couldn't stay out the whole morning and watch more Oakies and Lansing Tri Team members, as well as other friends who were racing, but I had to do my best to stay off my feet and out of the sun.  I followed my husband's race from a few key locations and cheered him on as he finished an amazing 25th in his age group!  How cool!!  Eric Abbott and Aaron Denner also had great races, finishing 20th and 21st respectively.  Then it was time to chill in the parking garage in the car.  After a quick nap I grabbed my bike and my gear bag and, with my husband in tow, we headed down to the race site.

The transition area was sureal.  It was set up by the swim start with cool signs with names on them showing out spots as well as a little basket for discarded gear.  A quick course preview, a quick swim warm up, and some last minute questions about draft legal rules and it was time for introductions.  Introductions are pretty cool!  I felt incredible walking down the ramp and hearing people cheering for me.  We lined up on the dock and I glanced over at Sarah McLarty (too cool!!) and my teammate Abby.  One last good luck, then we were in the hands of the starter... we took our mark and the horn blew.  I dove into the water, turning my face up at the last minute to keep my goggles on.  The swim starts are so fast!  I sprinted as fast as I could to stay with the group, it was madness with water spraying everywhere!  I managed to stay near the second group, which was what I had hoped to manage.  The swim was only 325 meters, so it was over quickly and I was yanking myself up the wrap.  The long run to transition was, well, long!  

I mounted my bike near the back of the second group.  Uncertain how a draft legal race would shake out, I stayed at the back for 2 laps while getting used to the pace and the turns.  The bike loop was only half a mile!  And we had 5 laps before the run.  Then I made my move and during one of the straight aways I sprinted and moved to the front of the group.  I wasn't sure about this drafting in the back thing and wanted to take my race into my hands.  I dismounted at the front of the group and transitioned quickly to the run.  I wasn't sure how far I would make it in the race, with the bike loop only being half a mile, falling behind the leader by a little over a minute could mean getting lapped out.  I had swam and biked as hard as possible in hopes of staying in the race longer, but now I was to the run, ut oh!  I forced my legs to turn over quickly and by the second lap of the run I had managed to move toward 4th.  

I really hadn't expected to make it to the swim, but before I knew it I was fumbling in my basket for my goggles and cap.  Oh yeah, did I forget to mention that?  The super sprint is a swim-bike-run-swim-bike-run.  I ran down the ramp, smashed my goggles in place on my face and dove into the water at a full sprint.  That was by far the fastest part of my second swim.  It is so hard to swim after running!  I was gasping for breath from the run and now I my face was in the water, yikes!  I kept trying to move my arms faster, but 3rd place stayed ahead of me.  I slipped and slid my way up the ramp then pushed my body to the transition area.  I mounted my bike and took off, hoping to catch 3rd place.  After a couple laps I caught up to her and we finished the bike together.  I took off on the run, but Zara's legs were faster than mine and I just couldn't keep up with her pace.  But before I knew it, I was running down the finishing chute.  Before the race, I didn't even think I would be finishing, and there I was, running down the chute in 4th place!  Just amazing!  Thank you to everyone who stuck around to cheer me on!  My teammate Abby finished 2^nd overall, on the podium!  It was very cool to be able to hang out with another teammate, Ryan Rau, who also raced and then raced Steelhead today!  And of course, can’t forget Ross and his amazing support!  Thanks for the helmet reminder! 

There are so many people to say congrats to, there is no way I can list them all!  Congrats to the members of the Oak Park YMCA team, and it was awesome to meant Michelle at the Super Sprint and thanks to Danielle, Anige and everyone else as well for sticking around!  Congrats to the Lansing Tri Team, such a solid group of people all around and amazing races to Jason, Todd, Kim, Aaron, Ken, Tim and Nathon, and thank you Todd and Jenn for your support!  Congrats to again to my collegiate tri team alumni friend Eric Abbott who did the Olympic and the Sprint and finished 4th in his age group in the Sprint.  And also to Kate Vann, who finished 7th in her age group.  And to my awesome group of friends, congrats to Jef Mallett who raced both the Sprint and the Olympic and Brian Bess.  Congrats to everyone who race!!  

Now looking forward could be a tough road for me.  Remember that part about my hip that I mentioned above?  Turns out it was really not good.  I have seen my sports med doc a couple times to have it evaluated and it looks like my labrum is torn again.  It has partly to do with the fall I took and partly to do with the fact that when I had my surgery 4 years ago, it was a new procedure.  There is a trend being discovered now that the original type of surgery, which I had, isn't holding after 3 to 7 years.  This may mean another trip to the OR for me.  The confirmation test is tomorrow and my appointment with my surgeon is the following Monday.  More to come on that.  But the good news... in two weeks my husband and I will be racing the Chicago Life Time Triathlon!!  I love this race and how cool to race in the pro division!  Looking forward to it, happy training!