2012 ITU World Triathlon Championships- Auckland, New Zealand October 22
Well this could be a long race report but I will try to keep it as short as possible. But it was such an amazing trip!!
First of all just going to New Zealand is a dream in itself, so to be able to race on Team USA there in Auckland was so much better. Although I have been on Team USA for Duathlon, this was my first time for triathlon.
The trip was super long getting there, 5 hours to LA then 12 hours to Auckland. For me, the sitting kills my body. So after the flights I had to try to get my back and hips back into place. I certainly haven't had great luck with my body lately (if you have followed my other race reports), going into this I hadn't run except 15 minutes since France and that was 3 weeks before. Between my foot and SI joint/lower back, I knew this race wouldn't be that pretty, at least it was short enough I could push through this one last race.
I will spare you all the details of my body woes and get onto the race and experience. Which was AWESOME!!
We arrived on Wednesday morning and ventured to the race site to see what-was-what. Oh and the weather was shitty, cold, windy, and rain pretty much the whole time. Anyway, the race site was on the wharf and was huge. Expo was great, with everything you can image. We checked it all out, couldn't pickup packets until the specified USA time, so we went back to the hotel to settle in and put the bike together.
Trying to get workouts in when you are away is pretty tricky. So, I stuck with the team and did a group ride on Thursday to see the bike course. It was hilly, which for me is great, but also windy. That is always challenging.
Friday was an early morning ride with my friend Kristin Kandiel and then an afternoon swim on the race course. The water was a balmy 56 degrees, now I don't know about anyone else, but that is friggin cold!! I tend to get super cold in cool water, so this was of great concern to me. I had borrowed a neoprene cap from friend Jill Hartley (thank you Jill!!) so at least that and another cap would help. I got my little toesy in and wow it was cold. Sat there on the pontoon just getting acclimated with my feet then slid in and got swimming. Actually wasn't so bad, I did one loop of the course and got out. Very salty though after one mouth full when the water got rough.
At this point until the race, the days were filled with opening ceremonies, parade, and rest. The night before the race, I had to rack my bike and stand in line for body marking. It was pouring rain, thunder and lightning and windy as hell. Oh and cold. Awesome..
Race morning was actually not raining and the wind had seemed to die down a little bit. Kristin and I walked down to transition and started the process of getting ready. I surveyed the transition area, which was very rough with old trolley car tracks and areas with no carpet and huge puddles. Lots of bike so I had to carefully eye up my bike so as not to miss it when frantically running to find it. I found my corral where I was to line up and tried to keep warm. Temps were about 55 and water temp at 56. They lined us up 20 min before and we waited, then down to the pontoon where I had no choice in my spot, we sat down, jumped in (cold!!) then off we went. After the intial holy cold feeling and a few strokes the water wasn't so bad, but the pile up of women was. I maneuvered as best as possible got to the first buoy and then finally at the second buoy/turn around it thinned out. I always do best after the turnaround when I can just push to the end.
Out of the water, it was a long run into transition. But easily found my bike, I choose to slide some arm warmers on my wrist in case I got cold, so that cost me a few seconds. I hammered the 12 mile bike and ended up with the 6th fastest bike time in my age. Happy to report not one woman passed me on the bike. Off the bike, again a long run into transition. I was feeling good as I got started on the 5k run. It is so great coming out of transition with the huge crowd yelling USA, it gave me that extra boost I needed. I did feel good as I continued on the flat run course. Only my breath was holding me back (that's what happens when you haven't been running in a month!!), my legs felt great. As I approached the last half mile, there was a woman in front of me from Great Britain in my age group. I got up to her but she was not going to let me pass, we held steady together as I passed the USA team coach and he is yelling at me. I passed her slightly but as we approached the finish she has that extra push to beat me out. Happy again to say she was the only woman that passed me on the run. I did put out everything I had. I felt happy with my finish, 14th in my age group. And an amazing experience.
Thank you to Bikeway for the bike and support. And to Jason for helping me every step of the way.
Now onto a period of rest and healing for my aching body. Remember rest is as important as training.
Cheers,
Erica
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