TriSports.com Halfmax Naitonal Championship - Triathlon

this was the real start of my race. I ran really quickly for me (glad I did!) grabbed the red devil and exited the t1 area. I had already made the decision to run up the hill at the bike mount and mount there. Good judgement on my part. I'm not good enough at getting the feet in the rubber banded shoes to do that on a hill. Maybe next season!

Not much. Run a bit faster?

This was a tough course because it was sooo crowded and so fast. USAT officials were out in force and it was difficult to stay the proper distance to be out of the 4 bike length draft zone. I did impliment the draft zone 15 second rule to my advantage and used the strategy whenever I could. The headwind was a bitch, but oh the tailwind, it was sweet! the second loop I was still feeling strong and noticed many people slowing into the headwind. I didn't have that problem today. My lady parts were quite angry (got no clue why?) and my lower groin and outer right knee were ouchy. The knee until I warmed up a bit, and the groin in the middle of the ride. Never had that problem before, and hope I never do again! Yuck! I was much closer to coaches perscribed watts, but had to back off now and again due to my hr exceeding his recommendations. I know some of the readings were off, cause they were way too high (184???Nahhhh) but since I knew I had a long run coming I played it safe. I'm really happy with this ride. I hit my time goal Coach set out for me and still had a good run, passed a ton of folks, and felt more focused during more of the ride than I have during any other race this year!

Not much. I wish I could have avoided more of the packs that slowed me down, and that my janky hr monitor would have been more accurate, but other than that, pretty darn happy with this ride!

This was a pretty smooth transition for me. No major brain farts! Woo Hoo!

Faster is always better...hustle hustle hustle!

A couple of my teammates ran LONGER than they should have. Not cool. Luckily, I'd prerun the entire course (basically) with Andi so I was pretty clear about what to do. I executed the run/walk plan, just not at the pace Coach wanted. I did improve a bit from REV3 though, so that was good. I had a couple miles around 9/10 that were just where they were supposed to be, and that felt awesome. Just need to figure out how to maintain that focus/breathing that worked during those miles to last longer!

My right calf twinged on and off the whole run, and I just kept telling it NO...we've got things to do. No cramping darn it!

I took a gu from a kid at the first aid station that ended up being open and stashed it in my back pocket...ended up being all over my belly, back and bum by the end of the race...and my suit was STUCK to me. GROSS! On a positive note, I saw Pammy 2 times, Steve 2 times, the Scotts, Cathleen, Jane, Jon, Kate and Therese on the run. I love racing with my team! So much energy cheering and being cheered by my friends!

The finish was a nice downhill and I ran that bad boy as fast as I could in hopes of beating my REV3 time, which I did. But I had another "athsma" attack and could.not.breath. Steve gave me a hug just after I finished and I had to push him away cause I still couldn't breath! Freaky, a little scary and not fun. It didn't last too long, so that was good, but I really don't like that feeling!!!

I still need to work on pacing. I was walking at mile markers which were not at aid stations, and ended up walking through aid stations too. :( I've got to find a way to keep moving and stick to the plan. Still, happy with the run since the bike was faster than REV3 and it wasn't a taper week this week!

tried to catch my breath...literally! Steve kept me moving, which was good since I was pretty toasted after that run to the shoot. Got water and some food and wandered over to the grassy area in front of the host hotel to watch my teammates get their awards in the olympic distance race.


Racing the Saturday before, living in an RV the week before and not tapering. Or maybe none of those things limited me...I did get to rest a bunch more than when at home, was very carb loaded, and had some great runs to beef up my confidence! :)


What a great experience it was to race again with so many terrific athletes, and as a TEAM for Club Nationals. I had a personal goal, but was so excited to be contributing to the team effort too! Racing with 40 of your friends just can NOT be beat!

I met my goal of qualifying for the ITU World Long Course Championships next November in Las Vegas, which was a truly amazing feeling! When Steve congratulated me and told me my rank, I squealled like a little girl! I really didn't know how I'd fair in the sea of women who'd already been on TEAM USA, and done multipule IM's who were my neighbors in transition. I'm glad I worked the plan and it was good enough to get me to qualify!

It was a great way to end a really fun week in the RV. Most excellent, actually!