U.S. 5150 National Championships: A Neverending Battle

Every race I do I have regrets.  There are things that don't go the way I want.  Afterwards I'll look back and wish I could have given a little more instead of saving it for the finish.  From my race experiences I've grown to know that I have more regret on not pushing hard on the run more than anything else.  I hold back because I fear what is going to happen as the race goes longer and I get more tired. Heading into the US 5150 National Championships I didn't want any of that to happen.

Training was great the week out from the race.  I put in a lot of hard efforts really focusing on the run and finished my training week pretty sore.  Taper week was challenging with the heat wave that struck us with heat indexes over 100 the whole week but as long as I played it smart when I wasn't working out I would be rested for a great race.

Race morning came as usual and I stepped outside the hotel to a surprise rainstorm and wind.  I was not prepared for this?!  Jessie and I headed to the race site and arrived around 4:45am but with all the storming there was no point going to transition so we just stayed inside and waited.  I finally went over to figure out what was going on and by 6:00am I was able to make my way back with my stuff to get set up for a delayed race start. My warm-up felt really good on the run and I wanted to tear into it.

Warming up and getting ready for a fast swim start.

A few weeks before the race I did some research to get an idea of what I was to expect.  Based on other qualifiers times, I was likely to finish about 9th in my age group at the national championships.  Prize money was given to the top 10 places so I was in a good spot to win some money.  If I executed I could move further up in the field but everybody else was likely thinking the same thing.  Basically, it was going to be a battle to move up.

I got over to the swim start and got ready for what I knew was to come.  The second half of my season took a bit of a change when I didn't qualify for World's due to my injury and this was my last 'A race' of the year.  I remembered all my times from last year on this course and wanted to PR every one of them.  I had put in so much hard work leading up to this race that I knew I could have a great race if I let myself.  More than anything else, I couldn't be taken out of the mental game.  My head needed to stay on and fight for every second. The run was going to be the toughest effort I've ever put in.

Preparing for a tough two hours requires a good game face.

The gun went off and I stormed the water.  I got right into the mix and prepared for a physical swim; something I hadn't had for a while.  We were in a tight group all fighting for position and within about 150 yards I got on some feet and settled in, perfect. 

When we made our way past the first turn buoy I got a look ahead and realized there was a group ahead of us by a few yards that was slowly pulling away.  Knowing my race mentality and all the work I put in on the swim this year I refused to let them get away without an effort.  I dug my face into the water and surged ahead.  It took a good 50 yard all out sprint but I moved up the field and onto the feet of the other pack, perfect.

 For the rest of the swim I sat right on those feet and felt really comfortable.  I remember last year the last 500 yards of the swim my head lost focus and I wanted out of the water bad.  This year my mind was right where it needed to be and I kept my mind on staying in the moment.  We rounded the last buoy and I got up and on my feet heading towards transition.  My legs got under me and I passed quite a few guys heading into transition, perfect.

Exiting the swim and beginning to move up the field.

In transition I made a quick note of how many bikes were gone.  There were some but not too many to worry about.  I was likely already in the top 12 guys as I grabbed my shades and helmet and blasted out of transition.  There was a long run to the mount line but I was efficient and executed one of my best flying mounts I've ever done.

It took me about 200 yards to find my cycling legs.  I have never felt this ready to tear into a bike course more in my life.  This was going to be GOOD!  I wasn't allowed to pass the cyclist infront of me as we moved through the park due to ruling of the race so I stayed right on his heels.  Another cyclist moved past us which was a little frustrating so once we exited the park I moved on up past both of them.

Starting the bike with my cheering section right there.

There was definitely some wind on the course this year.  I was fighting to hold a good pace as a rider came past me about mile 2.  As he pulled away I again reminded myself that I wasn't going down without a fight and picked up the pace.  As we made our way through the park in the next section of the course I moved on up and tried to get a gap.  We were moving on to the second of four portions of the bike: Hills.

The first portion of hills we had a good tailwind as I worked quickly up the hills trying to drop this rider behind me.  No matter what I seemed to do I couldn't shake him and he stayed with me until the turn around. As we approached the turn around I noticed the other riders were not happy coming back and I knew that the wind was going to break apart the pack.  At the turn a strong rider passed me down the hill and I focused on keeping him insight.  The wind was big and the legs took a lot of strength to fight.  During this portion of the bike, I spent a good amount of time talking to my bike, Allison, reminding the both of us of all the work we've put in (yeah......I talk to my bike).

As I turned back off the hills I took one last look back for my other rider; he got dropped hard on the hills.  My confidence shot up and I was killing the back portion flying down the road at 30 mph.  Heading into the park I was passing elite women and men who started 6 and 9 minutes up on me respectively.

I dismounted the bike and was at almost an all-out sprint right away heading to transition.  I had to get over to the right side as other racers were coming out on their bikes.  I made a quick count of the other bikes in my age group back and I estimated I was in about 7th place at the start of the run. Time to let the legs fly.

When I turned the corner out of transition there was a mob of people down the exit chute and my game face was on!  This was going to be my run and my mantra was clearer than ever, "Set the pace." I wasn't going to wait around for my legs; it was go time.  As I headed out I quickly saw Steph come across with two guys and realized that Tom and Cole were able to make it to the race.  I didn't even take a second to acknowledge them as I was pushing about a 5:20/mile pace as I started the run.

As we got out to the open road the sun was coming out.  Although it wasn't extremely hot, you could still feel it bearing down on you.  I set my eyes on the runners in front of me and refused to let up. All year I've wanted to break 37:00 on the run and run a sub 6:00/mile pace and haven't gotten it.  I was not going to let this race be the same.  Luckily, the aid stations had sponges and I took one as often as I could.  One runner came blazing by me but other than him I was easily progressing the field. When I hit the turn around of the run I decided to fight even more.  I picked up the pace and dug down to close in on more runners.

Late in the run.  The end of my game face before I began digging deep.

When I came by about the 4.5 mile mark I saw my support team yelling for me.  I passed a runner who told me to keep up the pace but I was working so hard that I turned to him and yelled, "We got a mile left, you come with me right now!" Sadly, he didn't want to run.  As I crossed the corner the only audible person I heard was Jessie who yelled, "What quarter are you in?! Let's go!"

And with that, I was gone.  I passed the last age group elite lady which meant I was 6 minutes ahead of the fastest female and my game face was gone.  For the last mile of the run my breathing got heavy and I dug even deeper.  My game face was quickly replaced with a face of pain.  I kept passing more and more people until I hit the final road.  Up ahead was one more runner who felt out of reach yet I told myself there was no promises of what was to come, just go for it. I picked it up even more, likely dropping to about a 5:15/mile pace coming down that final stretch.  I was so far gone that one of the arches had a picture of aperson on the side and I actually thought there was a spectator standing there.

I came through the finish chute and took all my strength to stay standing. There was no volunteers to catch me or take my chip so I had to keep moving.  I got two bottles of water and dumped one of them right on my head.  I fought for every second of the race and came away with the best effort I had ever given from start to finish. 

My support team who all came to cheer for me. Cole, Tom, Jessie, my mom, my dad, and Steph. They really helped me dig when I didn't want to fight anymore.

Afterwards I got my results and saw that I PR'd on all my times from last year.  My swim dropped by 40 seconds, my bike by two minutes, and my run by another 45 seconds!  I finally broke 37:00 on the run and my unofficial final time was a 2:05:15.  At the awards ceremony I was given 6th place which we found out was due to the fact that I received a penalty somewhere on the course. This was likely during the first mile of the bike in the park when I was unable to pass leaving my official time at 2:07:15.

Got to love getting prize money.  Going to be getting some swim gear now.

 Looking at the results of my last triathlon of the year, I've come a long way. My comfort on the swim is a lot better and I'm able to get out on a hard start and settle in. My bike is stronger than ever and continues to put pressure on being my best sport. My run has been a struggle, I started the year with a lot of promise but a midseason injury left a log of question as to whether I'd be able to come back.  With this performance it is safe to say my running is back on top.


Myself, overall female pro winner, Emma Moffatt, and my teammate, Brad.


For now, it is time to get off the bike for a few months and focus on some running races to finish off the year!