Race Report Under-23 World Championships ~ September 10, 2005 ~ Gamagori , Japan
This was an awesome way to finish off my season. I was very satisfied with my performance and how I improved from my last race in Hungary . I was more prepared mentally because I focused hard on staying positive before the race. I still was very nervous going into it but I tried to concentrate on being excited about enjoying the race, not being scared and overwhelmed with the pressure.
The course:
Swim – 2 laps, 1500m total, pontoon dive start, an oval shaped course with the ends being long curved barriers. We get out by running up a ramp and diving back off the pontoon for the 2nd lap. The body of water was a motorboat-racing stadium full of salt water with boat oil and fuel in it. It was warm water so no wetsuits. I think they said 26 degrees C.
Bike – 7 laps, 40K total, with 15 corners plus two 180’s. Completely flat, but the constant cornering (and accelerating out of the corners) made it like a hilly course. We also entered and rode through the stadium through our transition area every lap but we exited the stadium through a carpeted tunnel. It was pretty sketchy.
Run – 4 laps totaling 10K, running through the stadium/transition area every lap. Very flat and lots of places to see your competition.
The race:
Race morning was pretty relaxed – we didn’t start until 10:45 when the junior women finished. We were praying for overcast, cool weather, but the sun ended up coming out during our swim and it was hot and sticky all day. We rode to the course from our hotel to warm up on the bike, then we had a lot of time to sit around before we could set up our bikes in the transition area. I think we got there too early, but I was going along with the rest of the team. I had my music with me so I could get in my zone. I ran a short warm up, then set up my bike at slot #22, with the cameramen filming us. It was kind of exciting I guess. I warmed up in the water for 10 minutes, practiced one last time running up the ramp, then I went to line up with the rest of the women. There were about 40 girls in my race. I was number 22 so I was able to get a pretty good spot on the pontoon. Since our field was small, it didn’t really matter where you were on the pontoon. I was next to a girl from the Netherlands (Birgit Berk) and from Spain (Rodriguez). I guess I didn’t really know how either of them swam, but I hoped they were my speed. My American teammate, Sara McLarty, lined up only 2 people away from me... I knew she would win the swim.
The start was fast, but I was ready this time… I wasn’t going to get left on the pontoon again. I fell into a smooth rhythm, trying to stay calm, repeating my mantra – smooth, calm, focused, relaxed. I made sure I was sighting enough to keep my line straight. The Spanish girl seemed to drop back and the NED girl was a bit too quick for me to hang with her. As we got closer to the turn, I saw that I was going way wide. I was the last person on the outside edge of the field, no one was to my left since McLarty and Berk were out ahead of me. I tried to move more to the inside but there wasn’t room. We got to the turn and I knew I didn’t want to be way on the outside so I pushed in and got hammered up against the wall. Ouch! That thing was NOT soft… the salt water stung the scrape but I didn’t let it slow me down. I was comfortable in a group now, trying not to burn myself out on the first lap. We approached the second turn and I got into a good position, not right up next to the wall but maybe 1 person away from it. The pace got faster as we approached the ramp, and I lined myself up with the edge so I could use the railing to help me climb out. I came out alongside a couple other girls and took 6 steps up the ramp and had a good dive off the pontoon, trying to conserve my momentum.
On the second lap, I focused on pushing out hard again, making up a few people and settling in on some new feet. I kept pushing all the way to the turn. I was in behind some people but when we finished the top of the oval and started back on the straight part, I saw a gap ahead to the next group. I was almost angry with the people I had been behind because they let that gap open. I swung out around them and accelerated by them. I realized how slowly I had been swimming when I was able to accelerate that much. I desperately wanted to catch the next group up since it was big. I was breaking clean water as I rounded the last turn and headed in for the ramp. I put 5-10 seconds on the people behind me and I ran into transition just as the some of the first people in the group ahead of me were leaving. I sprinted hard, knowing I had to hammer if I wanted to be with them. It took me a while to get my helmet buckled but I did that and got out of there. I had a good mount on my bike, and stood in my pedals to gain some speed through the tunnel.
I got through the first few turns riding barefoot on top of my shoes before I started putting them on. There were a couple of girls ahead of me and I took the corners really fast because I was alone and I finally caught one of the girls (turned out to be Jenna Shoemaker, on the USA team with me) after I got my shoes on. I went by her sort of fast and she got on my wheel but she didn’t seem as responsive as usual. And I thought it was odd that she let that group she was in just drop her like that. But we had to work to get on that group ahead, they weren’t that far up. It was a big group up there so they would have to take corners slow, plus this early in the race they wouldn’t be organized. Jenna wasn’t helping me at all, she was hardly sticking to my wheel.
Then we got caught by the group behind me about ¾ lap through. There were maybe 8 or 9 girls, including 2 Canadians that I knew. I sat in the back for a bit to catch my breath, but I was really wary of crashes. We tried to get organized into a working group since I knew the big group ahead wasn’t that far. After we completed one lap, we heard it was only like 30 seconds to the chase pack. Alicia Kaye from Canada and this Swedish girl were doing a lot of work. But the rest weren’t doing anything and it was frustrating because we weren’t going that fast. Coming into transition for the 3rd lap, I hammered through to the front of our group and swung into the tunnel with a slight gap on them. Alone, I was able to take the corners a lot faster so the next technical section I put some more seconds on them. I attacked for maybe 2-3 minutes but then I sat up. I’m not sure if the group tried to chase me or not but my goal was to make them ride faster.
On the 4th lap, the Swedish girl attacked hard right after I had taken a turn riding at the front of the group. I sucked it up and went with them. Turning around a minute later, I saw that the group was now down to 5 of us – me, the Swede, Alicia, an Italian and an Irish girl. So now I thought we’d all work well together but the Irish girl was slow and only took her turn once or twice. Very frustrating! We all were yelling at her. On the 6th lap on the first part of the technical section, I saw that Jasmine had crashed. That definitely gave me motivation to go faster since there was more pressure for me to do well. The Swedish girl kept launching mini attacks out of the corners and stuff and we finally got the Irish girl to do some work. The last lap, I was thinking about how I had to get to the front when we entered transition but I actually didn’t pull it off. I took my shoes off earlier than everyone else though so I pulled up even with them in the stadium. The Italian girl seemed to be going very fast right up to the dismount line but then she didn’t even dismount there, she just rode right to her spot – and didn’t get penalized!! I had a smooth dismount and ran barefoot with my bike to my spot. I had an ok transition, or so I thought, but I still was the last one in my group to go out into the tunnel. They seemed to go out very very fast.
I had some major stomach cramps on the first lap of the run. I concentrated on my breathing and my stride so I could make the cramps go away. I was worried that I was going to lose my group right then and there… they were up ahead and putting time on me. Even ones I know I’ve run faster than before. I was very concerned at this point that my race was going down the tubes. The heat was really oppressive. The aid stations had cold water so that was good. When I finished the first lap and ran down through transition again, the USA people yelled that I was in 18th. So top 15 was attainable, I just had to suck it up. The cramps finally went away and I started to get into my rhythm. I concentrated on my turnover, my head position, my arms. I caught up with the Netherlands girl, Berk, and passed her on the 2nd lap. The 3rd lap, I passed the Canadian Alicia Kaye. So then I was in 16 or 17th place. The Italian girl and this Japanese girl weren’t too far up. I caught the Italian girl pretty easily, and I chased the Japanese girl for awhile. I shouldn’t have waited so long because she had a good kick at the end. Plus she had a lot of Japanese people cheering for her. Coming into the transition area/finish line was quite a relief, but I was angry that I wasn’t able to catch the Japanese girl and get top 15. But 16th place is good, I was happy with that. I succeeded in achieving all my goals for the race – top 20 and fastest run split of all the American U23 women. I am glad it’s over though and I definitely got another good race experience to learn from.
I certainly would not have made it to Worlds without the generous support of all my family, friends, and sponsors. Thank you all! I now will finish off my 2005 season with a couple local races, including Collegiate Regionals at Smith Mountain Lake , the third year in a row!
