1st   4:11:51  (course record)

  Swim  28:05     (5th)
  Bike   2:20:08  (1st)
  Run  1:20:04    (1st)  (run course record)

When I dived into Lake Michigan for my warm up I lasted about 10 strokes before I had to roll over onto my back to defrost my face. It was like slamming into a concrete wall. So cold! Once the cannon fired though I was fine, adrenalin fixes everything!

As usual I was a bit slow off at the start and pretty quickly spat out the back of the women's field. By the first buoy I had got into my rhythm and started chasing down the two girls I could still see in front of me. I eventually caught them about half way through the swim and then practiced 'staying on feet' for the rest of the swim. I'm still not good at all. I came out of the water in 5th place, close behind the 2 I'd been trying to 'sit on'. After exiting the water there is a long beach run to get off the beach and then a long run on concrete to weave into transition. This meant that by the time I got to my bike and out of T1 I was into 3rd place already. Malaika Homo was 1:20 ahead at this point with Helle Frederiksen putting a good 2 1/2 min into me.

I immediately cranked up the pace and by 55km I had finally caught Helle. I took a couple minutes to get in some nutrition, water and then went past to take the lead. I kept pushing hard off the front but Helle was holding on. I tried putting on surges but no matter how hard I tried I could not shake her. With 7km to go we hit a super bumpy section on cracked up concrete road that would last right until transition. Like riding over continuous speed ripples for the next 10mins, I knew there was no dropping her through this rodeo section so I backed off and cruised the rest of the way safely into T2. I unstrapped the shoes and coasted down the last short hill to T2 with Helle close behind. We got off and racked our bikes together. It was exciting to be back under the blaring loudspeakers, in such a tight battle for the lead, with the crowd cheering all around.

I had made the decision earlier in the race, when getting out of the water that I would put socks on for the bike instead of putting them on just for the run leg. My feet were cold and numb from the water and the run to the bikes on the hard concrete wasn't that comfortable on them. Added to that I still had big blisters under my feet from last weekends race. This allowed me to have a faster second transition than normal. I slipped my shoes on, grabbed my Salty Yeti GU gel (which I lost about a mile later when he jumped out of my pocket to begin his own little adventure to where ever he was going. Salty always has fun adventures where ever he goes. GU gels were offered at the aid station anyway, so lucky me) and Zipp visor and was out of there quick, keen to get a little head start.

As soon as I started running I hit my Garmin to start the clock but instead of starting to tick over it was busy 'loading satellites'. Damn! I forgot to load them up in the last few kms on the bike. Every km or so I'd check if they'd loaded up but still nothing. I have no idea which satellites they were trying to load, but they never loaded them, so I was without a watch for the rest of the day. The run was two out and back laps so I got my first indication of the lead at the first turn-around about 5k 's in where Helle was about 1min30 back.  The first 10km I felt really strong and fast. The next 5 I still felt really good but I was starting to feel the big blister under my left foot filling with blood. The pressure wasn't bad enough to effect my pace or foot strike YET but I was well aware it was quietly taking a beating down there.

Thoughts started running through my head... "6km to go, I've got a good lead, should I slow down a little and reduce the pounding to the foot? OR should I pick it up (if I can) and try to get home quicker?". I was trying to work out which would make sure not to repeat the pain of last weekend. I think the blister decided for me as I kept up the same pace until it started affecting the way I was landing then I think my pace might've dropped from then on. Every now and then I'd grit my teeth and put in a surge then I'd back it off and try to land anywhere but on the blister. I was very happy to see the finish chute at the end. For the 2nd weekend in a row, I couldn't wait to kick off my shoes after the finish tape. At least this time, they were not as bad. A few minutes later Helle came through to take 2nd and Lauren Barnett (with energy to spare) for 3rd.

Jared and I were so lucky once again to be hosted by such a wonderful family for race weekend. Kristine, Daryl and the family showed us how good Midwest hospitality can be. They were 'homestay professionals' in managing to comfortably accommodate 3 of us athletes (yes 3!), help us with airport transfers, pre-race and post-race commitments, meals etc... and all in a welcoming homely environment. They made our trip seamless. Thanks again. Can't wait to return.

   
   2nd   -   4:14:13

   Swim   27:24 (11th)
   Bike    2:21:37 (3rd)
   Run    1:21:31  (1st)

Wearing my super fast ROKA Maverick wetsuit, I was confident I could come out closer to the front in the swim but as I sculled on the start line I looked across at the two super fish athletes Laura Bennett and Meredith Kessler only to see they were both wearing the same suit as me! Damn. I exited the water in 11th place but within contact of the main pack with Rachel McBride 40 seconds ahead and Meredith & Laura 2:38 up the road.

I moved into 7th place soon after mounting my bike as I took advantage of running my bike to the top of the steep hill instead of mounting at the bottom. My new bike was in tip top shape thanks to Alex at SRAM who came to see me as soon as I arrived in the States from Australia. He went over the bike with a fine-toothed comb and provided me with a selection of shiny new Zipp wheels with custom World Champ decals. With my bike firing I hoped my body would too after the travel half way round the globe from Australia.

Not long into the bike I passed Melanie McQuaid and Emma Kate Lidbury to move into 5th. Throughout the bike the three of us would shuffle around with Melanie dropping me on the last long downhill - this girl is a demon on descents. 
As I was approaching T2 I was warned there was a sharp turn before a quick dismount but I guess I underestimated how quick it would be after the turn. Before I knew it the dismount line was right in front of me and I was still in my bike shoes, I hadn't even loosened them so I had to jump off with my shoes still on. Not a big deal usually but the run to rack my bike was quite long and all on concrete. I looked like a waddling amateur trying to quickly run into T2. 

I started the run in 4th place, and with a rather slow transition I was told I was now 3:30 behind Meredith but Rachel and Melanie were in sight. A couple of km in I moved into 2nd place, slowly making up time on the leader but by 7km I was in pain. Not a usual racing pain, I could feel the balls of my feet pounding and ripping to pieces. They were starting to feel like I was running bare feet on the hot bitumen. By 10km it felt like I was running on knives so when I got into the nice gravel loop around the Vineyard I stopped and had a bit of a look to see if I could find out why and maybe fix the problem. Everything appeared normal, the tread was still on the bottom of the shoes and there were no big rocks stuck in my shoes. So I continued on and pleaded with my feet to wait another 11k or so and then I'll stop and pamper you as much as you like.

When I got to a small out and back section I saw I was still a long way behind and I tried to convince myself that if I ran faster, not only may I be able to make up time faster, but more importantly I'd be in pain for less time so I tried to pick up the pace. Every step was a jabbing knife and the faster the pace the harder it hit me.

I've seen several triathletes heel strike when landing - It can't be that hard I thought! So I tried it (along with all sorts of running gaits to try land anywhere other than my forefoot)...without success. There must be some trick to heel striking because I was running on the spot. And still in pain.

There were many times in the last 10k when I was so close to pulling the pin and tearing my shoes off under a shady tree somewhere. It was a constant battle inside my head trying to decide which would be more painful - running on knives or getting a DNF. While the battle continued in my head, the mile markers thankfully continued to tick over.

When I finally reached the line of spectators I knew I was close to being done. I no longer minded that I wasn't winning. All I could think about was crossing that line and kicking my shoes off. When I got into the finishing chute I think I totally forgot I was in a race and that I should be smiling, happy, I was just about to cross the line in second place. And second to the brilliant Meredith Kessler. But instead of taking it all in I passed through the banner, kicked off my shoes and tried to hobble off. All I wanted was a bucket of icy water to put my feet in and a shady piece of grass to sit on. 

A huge congratulations to Meredith for the win. If I had to chose who to come 2nd behind, I would chose her. She was out front doing her own thing all day and none of us could come close till she finally stopped and waited for us all at the finish. Congrats also to Rachael and Melanie, both super strong on the bike and running on to come in 4th and 5th.

The biggest thank you goes to Pat and Barbara for their hospitality during our stay in Santa Rosa. They've been my home stay there 3 times now and it feels like returning to family when we visit. Travelling to Santa Rosa in July has come to be just as much about catching up and spending time with Pat and Barb as it is to be racing Vineman 70.3 on Sunday morning. Can't wait to see you guys next time!