machinem3tri-blog

[machinem3tri-blog]

AG Nationals, and a new National Champ!

Claire from the Junior Elite team here! A little insight into my experience racing the Olympic distance at USAT AG National Champs in Omaha...

I'm currently sitting in a car, smashed between my stuff (which, as I have been CONSTANTLY reminded, I have too much of) and my sister on the way to College (eeek). But, I digress. I went into Age Group Nationals one week after racing at the Junior Elite National Championships both slightly sore, and nervous after a disappointing set of performances in my individual race and Mixed Team Relay. My bike leg had been slow, and I was worried about the Olympic because the bike was twice as long. After a day off following JE Nats, I went back to training Tuesday and Wednesday, and on Thursday I headed off to Omaha. At the airport I saw many of my fellow triathletes, as evidenced by the steady stream of bike bags and boxes I saw in the time I waited to check my own bike. I also played a fun game, Spot the Triathlete, which if you want any tips, lace locks, garmin watches, and water bottles are pretty good giveaways.

After landing in Omaha and retrieving my baby (bike), I headed to my hotel for a late dinner and to put my bike back together. In doing so, I discovered that the read derailleur was scratched (thanks TSA for the wonderful repacking job....). After a frantic FaceTime call to my dad and some freaking out, I decided that everything was for the worst and I would likely have to buy a new bike a la Coach Andrew last year, although as my mom informed me I am WAY too dramatic.

Friday morning came, and I was up bright and early, determined to be the first person in line at Greenstreet Cycles' bike tent at the expo. I got a light stretch-out run in, and sat down in the growing line at 9:30, 30 mins before the expo opened, and an hour before the bike mechanics got there. Eventually, I met up with my teammates and wandered the expo, specifically the Rudy Project tent, which by the time we all left, Laura, Johnathan, and I had all bought something from them, and came back to my bike in time to learn all I needed was a quick derailleur adjustment and went on my way. We finished our swim and bike warmups, Laura and I checked our bikes into transition, and went back to our hotels to test out our new 2XU recovery tights.

After a team dinner that involved all you can eat spaghetti (and it was gluten free!!!), I went back to pack my bag, and headed to bed.

I woke up early race day morning, and my mom and I headed towards the race site. However, as we got closer we found a long line of cars extending our miles from the race site. With some quick thinking (and waze) we skipped some of the line, and once in the race site I hopped out of the car after finding Laura walking towards the site, and left my mom to park the car. I checked into transition with just enough time, only to find out the extended 15 minutes and then 30 minutes later. After doing so many ITU-style races, it was funny to see how much stuff people had in their transition area, though I kept it simple.

I did a quick warmup, some therapeutic shopping in the USAT tent to calm my nerves, and eventually my wave headed down to the dock to swim.

The race started with a buzz of the air horn, and we were off. After a couple strokes fighting the girls next to me, I decided to take what I had learned from the JE Series, and moved away from the crowd in the opposite direction. Once I was in an open space, I sighted the yellow triangle way off in the distance, and ignoring the orange sight buoys, I headed towards the yellow. I broke away from most of the pack, but found one other girl out ahead with me, but after some steady strokes I passed her, cornered the first buoy, and headed towards the second. Once I passed the second yellow and started heading back however, I realized I had no idea which direction I was heading in, although I had caught up to a number of the men from the wave before me and I decided to follow where they were going. Every couple meters however, I would see a cap, and panic, as I wasn't sure whether it was the light pink of my wave, or the light orange of the wave ahead of me. Finally, I made it to the steps and sprinted into and out of transition, and it was off to the bike leg.

Knowing the bike had been bad the week before, I tried to focus on a high cadence and just staying above 20 mph. Every time someone passed me, I would check to see if they were male or female, and if they were female what age it said on their calf. One of the girls who passed me had her age slightly obscured, but I chased her down until I could read her age at 23, and then went back to my usual cadence and speed. At the turn around point, a U-turn because *apparently* they must exist everywhere, I almost went off the road, and my wheel touched the grass. I was going so slow around the tight curve that the three guys behind me had to pretty much stop. One of them laughed (not in a mean way) as I almost went off the road and said good luck as he passed me. The compliments and enthusiasm from other athletes is one of the reasons I love this sport so so much. Earlier, as well, a man from the wave ahead of me had complimented me on my swim as he breezed past me on the bike. After turning around, I searched form girls from my wave to gauge how much of a cushion I had, and tried to keep my speed up despite my growing fatigue and the wind. After getting caught by 2 girls from my wave (but not my age group) in the last .2K, I headed into transition. I kept my shoes on my bike, and even after running a couple feet, I caught multiple people who were running with their shoes on. Considering the length of the transition area, and that I had to run with my bike for practically the entire length of it, I appreciated my quick, ITU/draft-legal-inspired transition style.

I started towards the run course, focusing on keeping a steady pace and not going out too hard. Halfway through the first lap down (1/8 in), the two girls who had passed me at the end of the bike came up on me from behind, throwing me off because I had believed they were way ahead at this point, proving the effectiveness of my quick transitions. I kept up with them as the pushed a faster pace until the back stretch of the first lap, when one took off, and the second took off a bit later leaving me behind. At the turn around I kept looking for anyone who could run me down, and other girls in my wave, but there were too many people on the two-loop course and I couldn't make out specific people. As I started the second lap, I realized the error of my ways, in trying to keep up with the fast 20-year olds, I had pushed myself a bit too much, and my pace drastically dropped, which is uncharacteristic for me, as I usually have a faster back-half. But I just kept going, until I was caught by one other girl from my wave, and we ran together for a bit of the lap, until she started to fade, I told her to keep going, and tried to take off, although I could still see her behind me coming towards the finish line. In the last few meters, my vision started to tunnel, and I was breathing hard, but all I could see was the red arch of the finish. Sprinting in, I heard the announcer say that another national champion was about to cross the finish line, and a small smile broke out on my face as I crossed the line, unable to talk and slightly dizzy but ridiculously happy.

Overall, the race was a success. No leg was the fastest I have done it, although considering the hills the bike was pretty good, but it is the overall race that matters, not the individual leg times. I hadn't imagined that I would win, I was hoping for top 10, especially considering the previous weekends race. I am so proud to be the national champion for  my age group, and when people mention it, it still doesn't feel like it should be me, that really it was just a small field for the race, and that there must be other girls out there faster than me. Maybe there are, and maybe I will race them in the years to come, but this year, despite my often unbelief, I got to wear the national champion jersey (which I got in a large so I can wear it forever!!!).