Posted on May 10, 2008 in Race Reports, Rants
I arrived in New Zealand to rain and cool temperatures on the 1st of April. I was lucky enough to get an amazing homestay family right in New Plymouth, but that is were my luck ended. I woke up the first morning feeling sick as a dog. After calling Heidi to let her know that I caught the bug too, I decided to rest up and try to get better in time for Sunday’s race. Again my great homestay family helped get me everything I needed to recover. By Thursday, Heidi still wasn’t feeling any better either so we both ended up getting antibiotics from the doctor that she was staying with. As soon as I started the antibiotics I felt immediately better; the congestion in my sinuses was still bad but at least the body aches and sore throat weren’t as bad. By Saturday, I was starting to feel better but when I tried to do any hard workouts I wasn’t feeling quite myself just weak and tired. The next day, race day, I woke up feeling not so great and considered skipping the race since I was already high enough in points to race the Olympic Trials. After calling home and breaking down in tears when I couldn‘t get Siri on the phone, I was a mess, I decided to just start the race and stop if I started to really feel much worse.During my warm-up I felt okay and started to be a bit more optimistic. However, as soon as the swim started things went downhill. The effort required to swim was taking so much more out of me than normal. My arms and legs were sluggish but my heart rate was ticking right along at a high rate. When we exited the swim after the first lap, I was exhausted and wanted to stop right there but decided to focus and actually had a good second lap. Exiting the swim, I was down on the leaders but in a good position to get into the lead pack by the 2nd lap of the bike. During the first lap of the bike, I coalesced around a great group including Lisa Huthaler from Austria and Lisa Norden from Sweden both great riders so I knew we‘d get that front pack very quickly. During the first lap on a short but steep descent, I was following Lisa Huthaler’s line as she pulled abreast of her teammate Kate Allen. Then I remember being shocked as Lisa veered quickly into Kate and away; Lisa’s back wheel hit Kate’s front wheel. I saw Kate wobbling out of control but didn’t have any time to react as she crashed directly in front of me; we were both going well over 35 mph. I don’t remember much of what followed except that the left side of my head hit the pavement very hard....
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Posted on May 10, 2008 in Race Reports
The first race of the season is always tough especially when it’s the Mooloolaba World Cup in hot Austrailia at the end of the their summer. Not only did I pick one of the most stacked world cups of the year (it is the Olympic selection race for Australia and New Zealand as well as an important one for many other athletes trying to get their ranking high before June) but also the course and weather make it one of the toughest races of the season. However, I would rather race against the best and get an accurate benchmark of my fitness than have a sub par performance where I score lots of points merely because the field is weak or small.It is such a shock to the system to go from training where you think you are working as hard as you can to racing where you need to give it that extra 10%. The first one of the season is always a wake up call. Not to mention the nerves, I am always a bit more on edge when I haven’t raced in awhile so I was feeling those as well.I left on Tuesday March 25th out of LAX and arrived Thursday morning in Brisbane Australia. I was traveling with and staying with another US athlete Heidi Grimm. The flights were uneventful but I was stuck in a middle seat for our 14 hour flight it was a tight fit between two large men. After we arrived in Brisbane, Heidi started to feel sick, and I kept my fingers crossed that she didn’t pass it along to me since we were staying together and spending much of our time together. I did start to feel a bit sick on Friday and Saturday but it never turned into a full-blown illness. Unfortunately for Heidi she started to feel worse much worse and didn’t get to race on Sunday.The race started out well. I had a very good swim and came out of the water 12 seconds off the leader and made my way into the front pack by the start of the 2nd bike lap. It was a frustratingly slow bike as I was trying not to work too hard and wear myself out like in my drafting races last year, but everyone else seemed to be saving for the run too. I ended up pulling a bit but not the entire way like I would have last year. I started the run feeling very flat and cramping in my stomach. The stomach issues were my own fault: I broke the golden rule and tried something new on race day a combination of red bull and endura which I won’t recommend to anyone plus I didn’t have a bottle of plain water. The run started badly but definitely improved and by the last lap I felt good it...
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Posted on Dec 4, 2007 in Race Reports
My last race wasn’t all that I hoped for…in fact it was a big disappointment in my book. The biggest downer is that my running improvements that I have worked so hard to achieve in my training were not reflected in the run. I exited transition strong and got out to a great start but faded fast. I was passed by almost 30 people on the run falling from 5th place to 35th. Mentally watching that many girls blow by me was difficult since my wasted legs had no response. I am not sure if I biked too hard pulling for to much of the 40K course or if the fighting on the first portion of the swim had any effect. Regardless of the cause, my run was four minutes off where it needs to be next year. I have a lot to work on in the off-season and look forward to getting my running form back on track.Israel takes its security to a different level imagine having all your bags unpacked in front of you. I am not exaggerating my carry-on, checked bag, and bike were unpacked completely. Every item was removed as they x-rays and swabbed each and every item. My items were splayed and dumped everywhere….my bike and wheels riped from the case to be x-rayed separately….. But on top of this psychical examination, you are also grilled verbally about your trip details the whys wheres and asked the same question in 3 different ways to try to catch you in a slip. It is this intense interrogation and invasion that makes the US airport security a breeze in comparison. We went through security within Israel 3 times, and it was intense every time. It is normal to spend an hour or more being cleared through security before you can even get in line for your boarding pass.On Sunday after the race, Jillian and I miscalculated and were short on time; we only arrived to check in 1 hour and 45 minutes before our International departure. As our bags were unpacked and prodded and analyzed by 8 security agents, we were stressed about making our flight. The delta manager came over to say we were tight on time, and it wouldn’t be their fault if we missed the flight. After an hour and 5 minutes, we were repacked and cleared to finish checking in. As we arrived at the counter with 45 minutes to spare, we were treated to the Delta manager telling us that we could board the plane only if we both had $100 in cash to pay for our bikes. Most airlines don’t assess this fee on international flights especially since our bikes were well under the weight restrictions, at 36 lbs for mine. We scrambled for cash but could only come up with just over $30 each. Jillian and I offered her...
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Posted on Dec 4, 2007 in Race Reports, Rants
An oil spill in the SF bay made the Treasure Island race into a duathlon. It was my first ever and hopefully my last. The race showed me that I still have many more improvements to make on my running speed and fitness. I started out the first run well but faded after the first half mile. As a result, I ended up in no-mans land. I was forced to ride the entire 40 K on my own, which is not ideal for a drafting race but preferred to staying with a pack that expects me to do all the work. In the future, I’d like to go back and race Treasure Island on the real course when we are able to swim as well as run and bike. On the plus side, the trip was a very fun. Jeff was able to take some time off and come with me. We stayed with friends and had a nice time enjoying Marin county for a few days after the race. It is such an amazing place to ride and run; I look forward to visiting again...
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Posted on Dec 4, 2007 in Race Reports
The weekend after returning home from Greece I headed to Dallas for a non-drafting race. I was eager for redemption after the upsetting turn of events at that race. And it was a great bonus to have a high school friend living outside Dallas; it was great to have a place to stay and have the opportunity to catch up with her & her husband.The race didn’t go badly but wasn’t great either. The swim was not my best; I had chance to go for it and try to bridge the gap or be comfortable in my pack. I choose to be comfortable instead of really giving it that extra effort to chase the leader. It was a costly mistake in retrospect since I really needed to get every second that I could on the swim to get ahead for the run. The bike was a good effort not spectacular but not bad. I passed several people and came into transition in 3rd with the 4th place right at my heels. The run was typical of this season steady but not fast. I slide from 4th exiting transition to 7th. After this race, I felt very drained and part of me really wants to end my season right now. But after the bad luck in the last three world cups I’d like to end on a good note. In retrospect, I should have planned a week or several days completely off in September or this week after Dallas to recharge physically and mentally. But instead here I am surging on with the training and flying out to camp in Kona for the next 3...
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Posted on Dec 4, 2007 in Race Reports, Rants
I headed to Rhodes Greece for my next race and was very excited for the chance to race healthy after my bad luck at the world cups in July. Unfortunately, the bad luck continued and followed me to Greece. Rhodes city was an amazing location to race. The old city is very historic with the walled city and gates still standing from early BC. To race in such a scenic and historic location was awe-inspiring. And the Mediterranean sea was so clear and salty.On race day, I had a good swim and exited the water with the leaders. But once on the bike, in the first 800 meters I heard an audible pop from my bike tire. I looked down to see a flat. I rode on it to the neutral wheel stop and asked for a 10 speed shimano cassette for my new back wheel. I was given a nine speed and got on my bike as fast as possible but the lead pack was gone and I was now in no man’s land. I rode steady with the second pack for several laps until the cassette locked up between gears on the hill. I just barely avoided crashing and had to ride backwards down the hill to the wheel stop. This time I was given a 10 speed cassette but the 2nd pack didn’t wait for me. I was now riding in the third pack and frustrated with the bad luck and my chances of a top finish as I would be starting the run well out of contention after losing about 7 minutes with my wheel stops. I pulled out of the race on the run; it was the first time that I have voluntarily pulled out of a race and I hope to never do it again. I think in retrospect it would have been better to finish but at the time I was too defeated and mentally out of the game after my unlucky...
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