Congratulations! You are being contacted because you have earned a spot on Team USA for the 2011 ITU Long Distance Triathlon World Championships because of your outstanding performance at the 2010 USAT Halfmax National Championship. The 2011 World Championships are set to take place November 5, 2011 in Henderson (Las Vegas), Nevada.
I just received the above email in my inbox. I got my slot!!! Woo HOO!
Wait... this means I have to do an ITU Long Course race on the Silverman course...
"The Silverman has been branded the "toughest course in North America," featuring a 2.4 mile swim in Lake Mead, a 112 mile bike ride with over 9,700 feet climbing, and a 26.2 mile run that boasts an additional 2,000 ft elevation gain. "
Yikes! I better get working!
Soo, who's interested in a trip to Las Vegas next November??
Thursday, October 14, 2010
Friday, October 8, 2010
The Race Of Many Names
The Myrtle Beach Triathlon, The Halfmax Championship, The USAT Long Course National Championship.... all sorts of fun, rolled into one 70.3 mile package. Or actually, 69.1 miles, but I'll get to that.
The Venue: Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. One of the best beaches in the US. I had thought the swim was going to be in the Atlantic, but it was actually planned for the Intracoastal Waterway. That ended up meaning that although I spent 4 days in Myrtle Beach, I never did see the ocean.
The Trip: 832 miles each way in the El. My first long road trip in the new car, and it was a champ. 13 hours? Piece of cake! I was accompanied by 2 Cervelos- Hazel of course, and fellow NOLA racer Dann's P3, who would be reunited with his owner upon arrival. I was also hoping to be accompanied by a certain pit bull, but that didn't end up working out. No dogs at the host hotel. Boo.
The Crew: My mom, my Aunt Denise and my 7.5 yr old cousin Cecilia. This would be Denise and Cecilia's first experience as spectathletes so my mom supplied them with lots of useful info on what triathlon is and how to watch one. They did great. They made some awesome signs:
My coach was there too but I can't really count her as 'crew' since she was there for the race herself. She did provide tons of great help and did make me feel a little like a rock star though, so that deserves mention.
Thanks, Jen, for tolerating my crazy!!
The Hotel: Or should I say the palace? I found myself in a two-bedroom suite with two full bathrooms, three balconies, and a full kitchen. It's a good thing I ended up having some crew come stay with me, or that would have been a very lonely place to stay in by myself!! Also, it was a VERY good idea to stay at the host hotel. It made packet pickup, bike checkin, race morning and everything else sooo much easier.
And now, the good part- The Race!
Prerace: Rehearsed my T1 and T2 run route. Since we were only assigned to a rack and not a particular spot, I was able to put my bike stuff on one side of the rack and run stuff on the other. I really liked that setup. After a little of my usual routine of 'staring at my stuff trying to convince myself that this is more complicated than it really is', I left it alone and went out to wait. I was about to put on my wetsuit since I was in the 2nd wave. A lady walked by saying something about the swim being canceled. My mom, Denise and I all thought that it was her way of trying to be funny. We acknowledged that it was a stupid joke and went on about our business. Imagine my surprise when about 2 minutes later, I heard the race director on the PA system saying- you guessed it- the swim was canceled. Too much e.coli in the water due to all the recent heavy rains. The race would now start at 7:50 and would be a time-trial start, beginning at swim exit. OK, slight change of plans! I called Jen, who was chilling in her room and who thought I was kidding at first when I told her. If I had been kidding about that at that moment, I hope she would've slapped me because that would've been a really dumb bad joke.
Swim: So yeah, no swim. Instead of swimming, we got to pack in like sardines on the concrete walkway where we would've gotten out of the water. There was no order to it at all. At 7:50 they were supposed to start letting people go, one person every 3 seconds, to start their run up to transition. We couldn't wear shoes, it had to be just like we were getting out of the water. They did let us wear socks though, and I also wore my arm warmers and my Garmin. That would save time in T1. To give an idea of how packed it was and how long we stood there, there was one girl who was sitting on the ground and asked up to the girl next to her, "have they started yet?" The girl replied, "yeah, they started about ten minutes ago." We weren't even all that far back and we hadn't moved an inch yet. All in all, I stood there waiting, on concrete in socks, for about 45 minutes before I finally got my turn to go. Great warmup!!
T1: My support crew was waving and cheering as I ran past on my way to transition. Having the arm warmers, socks and Garmin already on helped me to be speedy. Helmet, shoes, go! We had to run across grass in our bike shoes and mount on a little bit of an incline, but it went fine. I was off!
Bike: The bike course was shaped like an uppercase letter "i" and we did two loops of it. That meant that there were seven 180-degree turnarounds, but most of the rest of it was straight. It was also flat except for a couple of onramps. It was also VERY WINDY. I knew it would be, and I wasn't looking forward to it. I'll take a hilly course over a windy one any day. Jen had told me the day before that a windy day is a mental game- if you're not mentally tough, it'll break you. And if you are tough, then you can take advantage. I know that being mentally tough is one of my strengths, and I tried to tell myself that, but I couldn't help being a little intimidated by the wind. It was fortunate that the wind was at our backs for the longest straightaway on the course. But the section just before that was where the headwind was the strongest. That meant that not even 10 miles into the bike, my legs were burning and my HR was sky-high. Not good! I told myself I could use the tailwind to regroup and get my legs back a little. But of course I wanted to take as much advantage of it as I could, so I didn't want to slack off either. I ended up going 23-24+ for most of the long straightaway. Sweet!! It felt SO much better than that damn headwind!
On the 2nd lap, I was a bit slower all around and my legs were REALLY feeling it. My quads were burning and cramping like they were going to lock up any second. I was worried that I'd get off the bike and not be able to move, much less run, but I remembered that I'd felt a little bit like this on the bike in IMNOLA and my legs were fine for the run, so I tried to just not worry about it. When I realized I was grinding out barely 17 mph into the headwind, I was NOT happy. What was even worse was getting passed by a bunch of girls in my age group all throughout the bike- even when I thought I was going fast! The bike is definitely my weakest area, and I know I've made a lot of improvements in these last several months but I also still have a way to go to get it up to the same level as my swim and run.
Finally, the end of the bike was getting near. I really wanted to go 2:48, which would be a 20.0 mph average for the 56 miles. Looking at my watch, it looked like I was going to miss it by a few minutes. Bummer. But the bright side was- I was about to be OFF of the BIKE!! No offense Hazel, you do rock- it's not you, it's me :)
T2: For the 2nd time in a race, I took my feet out of my shoes before getting to the dismount line. For a second there, my foot was tangled in the strap of my shoe and visions of a faceplant ran through my head. But it all worked out fine, and I was able to run much faster to my spot than I would if I had my bike shoes on. Made a quick swap and was off to the run- how would my burning legs hold up??
Run: The answer- this was easily the best 13.1 miles I have ever run. I couldn't get over how EASY it felt. I kept thinking over and over, "it feels like I'm floating". It was an out and back 2-loop course. I didn't even feel like I started working until the 2nd lap, and even then I was well under control. I went out a little slower than my goal pace, as planned. I knew that meant I'd have to do some time at faster than my goal pace, but I was OK with that.
I loved the way the course was set up- I kept realizing that more and more as I went. There was a veeeery slight downhill for a good portion of the way out. It was barely perceptible, but just enough to get your legs turning over quickly without having to work as hard as you think you would. This worked out really well for the beginning of the run when I was trying to get my run legs under me and settle in to a pace. Then on the first time back, it was a little harder but that was OK because I was settled in. On the way out the 2nd time, I really took advantage of the "downhill" to work my sub-goal-pace effort. Then on the way back the 2nd time, it was harder but that was OK because I was almost done so I just went for it.
I took in more gel than I normally do, and I think this was a good idea (I called it my "fruit punch" gel, because it was 3 different flavors mixed together- hey it's the end of the season, I was running out... that's all I had left!). At one point late in the run I started to feel a bit of fatigue, so I gulped some extra gel and water and felt much better. Usually I put off sipping my gel while running because it's kind of a pain to get it out of my tri top, open it, sip, close it, and put it back... but seeing how well this run went, I'm definitely going to be better about getting those calories in on the run.
There was a weird little dogleg out-and-back section at the end of the loop that you actually did twice per loop. So whenever you were on that short section, there were four lanes of traffic. The volunteers were yelling themselves hoarse trying to tell the runners, "1st and 3rd times on this road, go around the cone and to the left side; 2nd and 4th times, to the end and then the sidewalk"... huh??? There were people all over the road, people crossing traffic, it was chaos. Fortunately I made it through correctly and unscathed.
I really can't say enough how awesome this run felt. Even when it got tough, I was in control. I kept an eye on my average pace for the run and it was right on. I thought I was maybe going to miss my stretch target by a minute or so, but I was going to make my major goal. I cheered on the 2 other GNOTri guys when I saw them, FINALLY found Jen and waved at her, and then cruised in towards the finish line feeling AWESOME. Slapped high fives to my mom, Denise and Cecilia, then across the mats and DONE!
Results: I ended up placing 23rd in my AG out of 39. Doesn't sound so awesome, but considering this was the national championships and there was some SERIOUS talent there, I think that's OK. I ended up getting a PR both for the bike and run legs, which was cool but also made me super bummed that we didn't have the swim so I couldn't get a 70.3 PR. Argh! But that aside, I was very happy with my results:
T1: 1:41 (fast, but bc of me having socks, arm warmers and Garmin on already)
Bike: 2:48:43 (I got my 2:48 after all! Sah-weet!)
T2: 2:48 (that's more like it for me.... sigh)
Run: 1:44:47 (I MADE IT! I got my 1:45 and 8:00/mile average! I really didn't think I did! Totally happy about that)
Total: 4:37:59 (...not that that means much, since it was 69.1 and not 70.3)
So about Team USA- the top 20 get automatic slots. The slots will roll down to the top 25 if anyone in the top 20 doesn't claim theirs. Also, since Worlds is next year (which is what we're qualifying for), they have to score everyone against the age groups they'll be in NEXT year, not the ones they're in now. This doesn't affect me directly, but it does affect how many people will be in my AG for scoring purposes. They said they'd send out emails within 2 weeks or so, notifying you if you got your slot. So keep your fingers crossed for me! Nevada 2011, baby!!
Oh and I almost forgot- after the race, Cecilia really wanted to go swimming. She and I both thought this would be a great idea, since I didn't get to go swimming that morning. We had a great time. So thanks, my Cecilia Buddy, for making my triathlon experience complete!
The Venue: Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. One of the best beaches in the US. I had thought the swim was going to be in the Atlantic, but it was actually planned for the Intracoastal Waterway. That ended up meaning that although I spent 4 days in Myrtle Beach, I never did see the ocean.
The Trip: 832 miles each way in the El. My first long road trip in the new car, and it was a champ. 13 hours? Piece of cake! I was accompanied by 2 Cervelos- Hazel of course, and fellow NOLA racer Dann's P3, who would be reunited with his owner upon arrival. I was also hoping to be accompanied by a certain pit bull, but that didn't end up working out. No dogs at the host hotel. Boo.
The Crew: My mom, my Aunt Denise and my 7.5 yr old cousin Cecilia. This would be Denise and Cecilia's first experience as spectathletes so my mom supplied them with lots of useful info on what triathlon is and how to watch one. They did great. They made some awesome signs:
My coach was there too but I can't really count her as 'crew' since she was there for the race herself. She did provide tons of great help and did make me feel a little like a rock star though, so that deserves mention.
Thanks, Jen, for tolerating my crazy!!
The Hotel: Or should I say the palace? I found myself in a two-bedroom suite with two full bathrooms, three balconies, and a full kitchen. It's a good thing I ended up having some crew come stay with me, or that would have been a very lonely place to stay in by myself!! Also, it was a VERY good idea to stay at the host hotel. It made packet pickup, bike checkin, race morning and everything else sooo much easier.
And now, the good part- The Race!
Prerace: Rehearsed my T1 and T2 run route. Since we were only assigned to a rack and not a particular spot, I was able to put my bike stuff on one side of the rack and run stuff on the other. I really liked that setup. After a little of my usual routine of 'staring at my stuff trying to convince myself that this is more complicated than it really is', I left it alone and went out to wait. I was about to put on my wetsuit since I was in the 2nd wave. A lady walked by saying something about the swim being canceled. My mom, Denise and I all thought that it was her way of trying to be funny. We acknowledged that it was a stupid joke and went on about our business. Imagine my surprise when about 2 minutes later, I heard the race director on the PA system saying- you guessed it- the swim was canceled. Too much e.coli in the water due to all the recent heavy rains. The race would now start at 7:50 and would be a time-trial start, beginning at swim exit. OK, slight change of plans! I called Jen, who was chilling in her room and who thought I was kidding at first when I told her. If I had been kidding about that at that moment, I hope she would've slapped me because that would've been a really dumb bad joke.
Swim: So yeah, no swim. Instead of swimming, we got to pack in like sardines on the concrete walkway where we would've gotten out of the water. There was no order to it at all. At 7:50 they were supposed to start letting people go, one person every 3 seconds, to start their run up to transition. We couldn't wear shoes, it had to be just like we were getting out of the water. They did let us wear socks though, and I also wore my arm warmers and my Garmin. That would save time in T1. To give an idea of how packed it was and how long we stood there, there was one girl who was sitting on the ground and asked up to the girl next to her, "have they started yet?" The girl replied, "yeah, they started about ten minutes ago." We weren't even all that far back and we hadn't moved an inch yet. All in all, I stood there waiting, on concrete in socks, for about 45 minutes before I finally got my turn to go. Great warmup!!
T1: My support crew was waving and cheering as I ran past on my way to transition. Having the arm warmers, socks and Garmin already on helped me to be speedy. Helmet, shoes, go! We had to run across grass in our bike shoes and mount on a little bit of an incline, but it went fine. I was off!
Bike: The bike course was shaped like an uppercase letter "i" and we did two loops of it. That meant that there were seven 180-degree turnarounds, but most of the rest of it was straight. It was also flat except for a couple of onramps. It was also VERY WINDY. I knew it would be, and I wasn't looking forward to it. I'll take a hilly course over a windy one any day. Jen had told me the day before that a windy day is a mental game- if you're not mentally tough, it'll break you. And if you are tough, then you can take advantage. I know that being mentally tough is one of my strengths, and I tried to tell myself that, but I couldn't help being a little intimidated by the wind. It was fortunate that the wind was at our backs for the longest straightaway on the course. But the section just before that was where the headwind was the strongest. That meant that not even 10 miles into the bike, my legs were burning and my HR was sky-high. Not good! I told myself I could use the tailwind to regroup and get my legs back a little. But of course I wanted to take as much advantage of it as I could, so I didn't want to slack off either. I ended up going 23-24+ for most of the long straightaway. Sweet!! It felt SO much better than that damn headwind!
On the 2nd lap, I was a bit slower all around and my legs were REALLY feeling it. My quads were burning and cramping like they were going to lock up any second. I was worried that I'd get off the bike and not be able to move, much less run, but I remembered that I'd felt a little bit like this on the bike in IMNOLA and my legs were fine for the run, so I tried to just not worry about it. When I realized I was grinding out barely 17 mph into the headwind, I was NOT happy. What was even worse was getting passed by a bunch of girls in my age group all throughout the bike- even when I thought I was going fast! The bike is definitely my weakest area, and I know I've made a lot of improvements in these last several months but I also still have a way to go to get it up to the same level as my swim and run.
Finally, the end of the bike was getting near. I really wanted to go 2:48, which would be a 20.0 mph average for the 56 miles. Looking at my watch, it looked like I was going to miss it by a few minutes. Bummer. But the bright side was- I was about to be OFF of the BIKE!! No offense Hazel, you do rock- it's not you, it's me :)
T2: For the 2nd time in a race, I took my feet out of my shoes before getting to the dismount line. For a second there, my foot was tangled in the strap of my shoe and visions of a faceplant ran through my head. But it all worked out fine, and I was able to run much faster to my spot than I would if I had my bike shoes on. Made a quick swap and was off to the run- how would my burning legs hold up??
Run: The answer- this was easily the best 13.1 miles I have ever run. I couldn't get over how EASY it felt. I kept thinking over and over, "it feels like I'm floating". It was an out and back 2-loop course. I didn't even feel like I started working until the 2nd lap, and even then I was well under control. I went out a little slower than my goal pace, as planned. I knew that meant I'd have to do some time at faster than my goal pace, but I was OK with that.
I loved the way the course was set up- I kept realizing that more and more as I went. There was a veeeery slight downhill for a good portion of the way out. It was barely perceptible, but just enough to get your legs turning over quickly without having to work as hard as you think you would. This worked out really well for the beginning of the run when I was trying to get my run legs under me and settle in to a pace. Then on the first time back, it was a little harder but that was OK because I was settled in. On the way out the 2nd time, I really took advantage of the "downhill" to work my sub-goal-pace effort. Then on the way back the 2nd time, it was harder but that was OK because I was almost done so I just went for it.
I took in more gel than I normally do, and I think this was a good idea (I called it my "fruit punch" gel, because it was 3 different flavors mixed together- hey it's the end of the season, I was running out... that's all I had left!). At one point late in the run I started to feel a bit of fatigue, so I gulped some extra gel and water and felt much better. Usually I put off sipping my gel while running because it's kind of a pain to get it out of my tri top, open it, sip, close it, and put it back... but seeing how well this run went, I'm definitely going to be better about getting those calories in on the run.
There was a weird little dogleg out-and-back section at the end of the loop that you actually did twice per loop. So whenever you were on that short section, there were four lanes of traffic. The volunteers were yelling themselves hoarse trying to tell the runners, "1st and 3rd times on this road, go around the cone and to the left side; 2nd and 4th times, to the end and then the sidewalk"... huh??? There were people all over the road, people crossing traffic, it was chaos. Fortunately I made it through correctly and unscathed.
I really can't say enough how awesome this run felt. Even when it got tough, I was in control. I kept an eye on my average pace for the run and it was right on. I thought I was maybe going to miss my stretch target by a minute or so, but I was going to make my major goal. I cheered on the 2 other GNOTri guys when I saw them, FINALLY found Jen and waved at her, and then cruised in towards the finish line feeling AWESOME. Slapped high fives to my mom, Denise and Cecilia, then across the mats and DONE!
Results: I ended up placing 23rd in my AG out of 39. Doesn't sound so awesome, but considering this was the national championships and there was some SERIOUS talent there, I think that's OK. I ended up getting a PR both for the bike and run legs, which was cool but also made me super bummed that we didn't have the swim so I couldn't get a 70.3 PR. Argh! But that aside, I was very happy with my results:
T1: 1:41 (fast, but bc of me having socks, arm warmers and Garmin on already)
Bike: 2:48:43 (I got my 2:48 after all! Sah-weet!)
T2: 2:48 (that's more like it for me.... sigh)
Run: 1:44:47 (I MADE IT! I got my 1:45 and 8:00/mile average! I really didn't think I did! Totally happy about that)
Total: 4:37:59 (...not that that means much, since it was 69.1 and not 70.3)
So about Team USA- the top 20 get automatic slots. The slots will roll down to the top 25 if anyone in the top 20 doesn't claim theirs. Also, since Worlds is next year (which is what we're qualifying for), they have to score everyone against the age groups they'll be in NEXT year, not the ones they're in now. This doesn't affect me directly, but it does affect how many people will be in my AG for scoring purposes. They said they'd send out emails within 2 weeks or so, notifying you if you got your slot. So keep your fingers crossed for me! Nevada 2011, baby!!
Oh and I almost forgot- after the race, Cecilia really wanted to go swimming. She and I both thought this would be a great idea, since I didn't get to go swimming that morning. We had a great time. So thanks, my Cecilia Buddy, for making my triathlon experience complete!
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