 photo by FinisherPix | 1st 4:20:07 (course record) Swim 29:19 23rd Bike 2:25:08 1st Run 1:21:37 1st I woke up on race morning to see rain outside. Quite a lot of it. Far from the hot, dry conditions seen in the past 2 years. "That's ok" I thought, "the bike course is not technical, I'll just be sure to take it easy on all the corners ...no risks...I should be fine". Sitting here writing this report now a couple days post-race, I have a swollen, pussing right hip, grazed elbow and some odd pain in my chest. And then there's poor old Shivvy who's banged up along his right side and his new disc wheel is scuffed and cracked from a media bike that happened to be by my side/on my bike at just the wrong moment. So this is how it happened... |
photo by John David Becker I'm standing on the bank of Lake Las Vegas ready to enter the water. It's the 3rd time I've been in this exact spot. My 3rd World 70.3 Championship. My 3rd year in the sport of triathlon. I have a good idea now of the pain I'm about to put my body through for the next 4 1/2 hrs. This makes me a little nervous as usual, but otherwise I'm excited to be here on start line fit and healthy and ready to go. The sun has just started to make some light for the day. The American national anthem plays as everyone stands in silence while the rains continues to fall. The announcer calls the pros into the water. Here we go.
As I scull on the start line, I psyche myself up for a fast, explosive start. With many of the ITU triathletes switching to Long Course this year I expect the swim to be even faster than usual. The cannon goes off and I go as fast I can. This year, I decided to position myself far left to stay out of the chaos and get a clean start. I'm in clear water for a 100m or so before somehow I'm in the washing machine. It soon thins out and I find myself in clear waters again. Which means the faster packs have already left me behind. Somehow I manage to find myself in clear water for the majority of my races. Maybe I subconsciously really prefer swimming on my own. It's not the fastest way to get through the swim leg and definitely not the most economical either.
As I scull on the start line, I psyche myself up for a fast, explosive start. With many of the ITU triathletes switching to Long Course this year I expect the swim to be even faster than usual. The cannon goes off and I go as fast I can. This year, I decided to position myself far left to stay out of the chaos and get a clean start. I'm in clear water for a 100m or so before somehow I'm in the washing machine. It soon thins out and I find myself in clear waters again. Which means the faster packs have already left me behind. Somehow I manage to find myself in clear water for the majority of my races. Maybe I subconsciously really prefer swimming on my own. It's not the fastest way to get through the swim leg and definitely not the most economical either.
photo by Tririg.com I get to the exit ramp, pull myself up onto my wobbly legs, take off my pretty pink Blue Seventy goggles that match my black and pink Blue Seventy speed suit...and try to get running. Along the 600m run to T1 I hear that I'm about 3.20 down on the leader. I stay calm. 2min was the dream but 3min was more what I expected. I get to my bike and throw on my new Specialized Evade helmet with magnetic buckle. Yep, magnetic. You know how ya always struggle to get the clip done up fast when you're in a hurry. Well, not anymore!
There's congestion on the mount line as Shivvy and I approach so I keep running past the girls and mount my bike a bit further down the road. I've got somewhere to be people! The first few k's are uphill, through some roundabouts, and then through some narrow turns under a pedestrian tunnel to the other side of the road so I play it real safe here. This is one of the very few technical parts of the course so I don't wanna stack it. Half way up this first climb out of transition I see Jared and he tells me I'm 3:10 down on the leaders and in 13th position. That's ok for now.
There's congestion on the mount line as Shivvy and I approach so I keep running past the girls and mount my bike a bit further down the road. I've got somewhere to be people! The first few k's are uphill, through some roundabouts, and then through some narrow turns under a pedestrian tunnel to the other side of the road so I play it real safe here. This is one of the very few technical parts of the course so I don't wanna stack it. Half way up this first climb out of transition I see Jared and he tells me I'm 3:10 down on the leaders and in 13th position. That's ok for now.
photo from Lavamagazine.com The rain continues to fall, keeping the temps cool. I count down from 13 each time I pass another competitor until I get to 4th position. From here I can occasionally see the lead three together far ahead in the distance. It looks like four of them with a bunch of media bikes around them. Either one of them is a male pro or I've miss-counted somewhere. The bike course rolls up and down long, gradual hills through the National park in the desert so at parts you can see a long way ahead. I really like these type of hills. I can get into a good rhythm, sometimes staying down on my aeros, other times I'll sit up on my hoods and push my weight back and get into a high cadence spin. As I'm approaching the turn around, just over 40km in, I get a chance to see the lead group clearer on their way back. They're not too far ahead. I should catch them soon.
photo by Trilounge.com It wasn't until I exited the National park though, at 68km that I finally caught them. Maybe they had picked up the pace after seeing me go past. There was a male on the front of the group, three girls in the middle and another male on the back. All evenly spaced. This means, according to the rules for me to make a pass I have to pass the lot...all in one go. I cannot slip anywhere into the pack as I'll breach the drafting rules. I don't like sitting in a group as I worry that just a small loss of concentration could mean getting a 4min penalty. I drop back quite a bit just in case and cruise for a little while taking stock of how I feel and deciding what to do. I soon see the male on the back drop back and move far right. He's allowing me to pass him and slip in behind the girls. I make the pass and notice the 3rd girl seems to be dropping off the back of the group much further than the 12m. There are motorcycles all around. Media and I'm guessing/hoping draft busters as well. As I pass the 3rd girl I am not 100% sure how close the 12m zone is to 2nd so to remove the risk I go ahead and make the rest of the passes up to the front to take the lead from the male pro on the front.
photo by Trilounge.com It's now just under 20km to go for the bike leg. Mostly slight uphill. I keep powering on, feeling good. Feeling strong. I take a left turn and get a quick glimpse over my shoulder. Annabel is still on but Lisa and Svenja have dropped. 4km to go and I see a sharp right hand turn ahead. Last real turn on the bike course. I can't make up too much more time from here...be safe...get around...get to T2. The media motorcycle is on my left. 3km to go I hit the turn...I mean really 'hit' the turn. In slow motion, my wheels slide away from under me, I hit the deck and slide into the path of the motorcycle. He manages to stop and swerve enough to miss me but roll up and over the side of my disc wheel. Panic floods my brain and I instinctively yell "Sh*t, sh*t, sh*t... get off". I quickly pick up my bike and jump back on back in pursuit of Annabel again, too afraid to even check if Shivvy's still in working order. A million thoughts start rushing through my head... "do I have a flat, are my brakes jammed on, is my wheel buckled...". And then a minute later "will I be able to run 21km?". I get back behind Annabel and stay there while continually getting in and out of my saddle making sure nothing cramps from the impact of the crash. As I'm approachingT2, Annabel quickly jumps off her bike into the penalty tent to take a stand down penalty (this means you have to get off your bike, put both feet on the ground then you can get back on) so I come into T2 back in the lead.
photo by Nils Nilson As I upend my bag and throw on my socks I'd planned to also put on my Compressport calf sleeves (new rules last year say we cannot swim in our calf sleeves anymore) but my legs are still wet from the rain plus I want to minimize the amount of time I stop to avoid my hip cramping up from the crash. I leave them behind and get out of there as quick as possible.
Three nice hilly laps would follow. Down 1mile, u-turn, up 1mile, weave past transition, up another 1mile, u-turn, down 1mile, sharp 180deg turns down a ramp, passed transition then repeat two more times. At least it's spectator friendly. I feel pretty good. I don't seem to be sore from my crash, or at least I'm not allowing my mind to believe that. I'm focused, on a mission to get to the finish line in first place. I don't take in much of the surrounds , I don't want to divert my attention from the job. Each lap I'm extending my lead but I still can't relax until the finish line is in sight. I've crashed before like this and had to DNF after my leg starting tingling, seized up and went numb. I get to the top of the last hill, u-turn and start heading down. Downhill all the way to the finish. Finally, I'm pretty confident at this point I have it in the bag. I begin to acknowledge the cheering spectators, the enthusiastic age group athletes and my lead bicycle who congratulates me before pulling off just before I take the last turn into the finishing straight. The smile on my face goes from ear to ear. The feeling is amazing. World champion! And the first time any female has won two world 70.3 Championships. I'm stoked! I'm so happy! Words cannot describe... I DID IT!
Three nice hilly laps would follow. Down 1mile, u-turn, up 1mile, weave past transition, up another 1mile, u-turn, down 1mile, sharp 180deg turns down a ramp, passed transition then repeat two more times. At least it's spectator friendly. I feel pretty good. I don't seem to be sore from my crash, or at least I'm not allowing my mind to believe that. I'm focused, on a mission to get to the finish line in first place. I don't take in much of the surrounds , I don't want to divert my attention from the job. Each lap I'm extending my lead but I still can't relax until the finish line is in sight. I've crashed before like this and had to DNF after my leg starting tingling, seized up and went numb. I get to the top of the last hill, u-turn and start heading down. Downhill all the way to the finish. Finally, I'm pretty confident at this point I have it in the bag. I begin to acknowledge the cheering spectators, the enthusiastic age group athletes and my lead bicycle who congratulates me before pulling off just before I take the last turn into the finishing straight. The smile on my face goes from ear to ear. The feeling is amazing. World champion! And the first time any female has won two world 70.3 Championships. I'm stoked! I'm so happy! Words cannot describe... I DID IT!
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