World Championships 9/11/11
What an amazing race! About 1800 amazing athletes participated from 56 different countries. On Friday morning my friend Tori and I drove to Henderson Nevada to check in for the race. While I went to an athletes meeting my poor friend Tori biked in a 107 degree weather around Lake Mead. We camped out at Lake Mead, and the sleeping bags we brought were not necessary. In the morning we learned that the water that we drank at the campground could be bad for our livers, but hopefully it didn't do to much damage. We woke up to see the beautiful sunrise over Lake Mead, and I went to the practice swim in Lake Las Vegas, while Tori went for a run. I found out the skin suit I bought at Power Tri was not legal, so I ended up getting a funny looking black speed suit, that covered my tri jersey and shorts. The practice swim felt good, except the string that helps pull down the zipper kept hitting my arm, for race day for I tucked the string in. After the swim I went back to the campground, picked up Tori and had an awesome french toast breakfast in a little cafe in Boulder. I love french toast! With a little encouragement Tori convinced me to stay in a hotel with air conditioning, near Lake Las Vegas on Saturday night. We went to a movie, ate dinner at the cheese cake factory.
We woke up early at 4 am, on Sunday. Walking from the parking lot to the race start I began to get nervous. I pumped up my tires, made sure everything in transition was set up, and tried to stay hydrated. We had to exit the transition at 6am, and lined up in age groups. My wave didn't start until 7am. Finally the announcer called for the female 30-34 age group to enter the water. The water temperature was 80 degrees. I loved swimming without a wetsuit! Swimming with a wetsuit, seems to restrict my shoulders. The first half we swam into the sun. The last half, was great except for swimming under a bridge, that I was a little nervous about hitting. My swim time was 33 minutes. After exiting the swim, we ran over blue mats covering the sand to transition. The blue mats made the transition look so official. We had to run our bike uphill about a quarter of a mile on the blue mats, to the start of the bike course.
Thankfully, the temperature was below a hundred and there was not too much wind! The bike course went into Lake Mead National Park and then into the city of Henderson. The bike and run course included a total of 5,200 feet of climbing. I felt fairly strong on the bike, could have made through the aid stations a little more smoothly. Had a honey stinger waffle and 5 gus. The last 15 minutes were the hardest for me. The bike time was 2:49. I transitioned pretty quick but I forgot to take my jersey off and after loosing my jersey in Boulder I ran back to the start and tried to find where my bag was to put my jersey in.
The run was hot with three loops of running-that went something like 1 mile down, 2 miles up, 2 miles down, 2 miles up, 2 miles down, 2 miles up and a mile down. Alternating between gu and coke helped me stay strong for the run. Reality set in on the last two miles uphill, and I struggled despite the positive mantras. I ended up running an extra 0.7 miles, somehow I missed the turn for the finish. There crowd offered great support on the run. I would have finished the run at a 1:39, my Boise half run time, but with the extra mileage finished at 1:44. None of my times were a PR, but considering the course, the heat, and a little longer run I was satisfied with a 5:14:14. Also, I think trying to hydrate two days before the race helped me stay out of the medical tent. I am thankful for my friend Tori who came down to support me! It was nice to know somebody was out on the course cheering for me! Also thanks to all the thoughtful texts, face book messages, and phone calls from friends and family members.Also a special coach to my dedicated coach Wes Johnson. Next race is the Cozumel Ironman in November.....
What an amazing race! About 1800 amazing athletes participated from 56 different countries. On Friday morning my friend Tori and I drove to Henderson Nevada to check in for the race. While I went to an athletes meeting my poor friend Tori biked in a 107 degree weather around Lake Mead. We camped out at Lake Mead, and the sleeping bags we brought were not necessary. In the morning we learned that the water that we drank at the campground could be bad for our livers, but hopefully it didn't do to much damage. We woke up to see the beautiful sunrise over Lake Mead, and I went to the practice swim in Lake Las Vegas, while Tori went for a run. I found out the skin suit I bought at Power Tri was not legal, so I ended up getting a funny looking black speed suit, that covered my tri jersey and shorts. The practice swim felt good, except the string that helps pull down the zipper kept hitting my arm, for race day for I tucked the string in. After the swim I went back to the campground, picked up Tori and had an awesome french toast breakfast in a little cafe in Boulder. I love french toast! With a little encouragement Tori convinced me to stay in a hotel with air conditioning, near Lake Las Vegas on Saturday night. We went to a movie, ate dinner at the cheese cake factory. 
We woke up early at 4 am, on Sunday. Walking from the parking lot to the race start I began to get nervous. I pumped up my tires, made sure everything in transition was set up, and tried to stay hydrated. We had to exit the transition at 6am, and lined up in age groups. My wave didn't start until 7am. Finally the announcer called for the female 30-34 age group to enter the water. The water temperature was 80 degrees. I loved swimming without a wetsuit! Swimming with a wetsuit, seems to restrict my shoulders. The first half we swam into the sun. The last half, was great except for swimming under a bridge, that I was a little nervous about hitting. My swim time was 33 minutes. After exiting the swim, we ran over blue mats covering the sand to transition. The blue mats made the transition look so official. We had to run our bike uphill about a quarter of a mile on the blue mats, to the start of the bike course. 
Thankfully, the temperature was below a hundred and there was not too much wind! The bike course went into Lake Mead National Park and then into the city of Henderson. The bike and run course included a total of 5,200 feet of climbing. I felt fairly strong on the bike, could have made through the aid stations a little more smoothly. Had a honey stinger waffle and 5 gus. The last 15 minutes were the hardest for me. The bike time was 2:49. I transitioned pretty quick but I forgot to take my jersey off and after loosing my jersey in Boulder I ran back to the start and tried to find where my bag was to put my jersey in. 
The run was hot with three loops of running-that went something like 1 mile down, 2 miles up, 2 miles down, 2 miles up, 2 miles down, 2 miles up and a mile down. Alternating between gu and coke helped me stay strong for the run. Reality set in on the last two miles uphill, and I struggled despite the positive mantras. I ended up running an extra 0.7 miles, somehow I missed the turn for the finish. There crowd offered great support on the run. I would have finished the run at a 1:39, my Boise half run time, but with the extra mileage finished at 1:44. None of my times were a PR, but considering the course, the heat, and a little longer run I was satisfied with a 5:14:14. Also, I think trying to hydrate two days before the race helped me stay out of the medical tent. I am thankful for my friend Tori who came down to support me! It was nice to know somebody was out on the course cheering for me! Also thanks to all the thoughtful texts, face book messages, and phone calls from friends and family members.Also a special coach to my dedicated coach Wes Johnson. Next race is the Cozumel Ironman in November.....
Sounds like a great race. Nice job on a difficult course!
ReplyDeleteRick