Lifetime Oceanside Sprint

I had planned to race the Lifetime Tempe Olympic at the end of September, but there were issues with the water quality and I didn't want to take the chance.  I was okay with it considering I had the Olympic on tap at Lifetime Oceanside at the end of October.  In between there life happened and I didn't get out on the bike very much.  I wanted to end the season on a high note and not be bummed about my fitness, so I decided to switch to the sprint. Little did I know at the time the swim was only a 400...ridiculous!

We headed out to SoCal Friday afternoon. The Trek's love to travel.

Road trip treats. Gluten free cookies & healthy balls!

I was pretty familiar with the race venue because I've done Oceanside 70.3 twice.  Upon arrival, I found that the condo I booked was right by T2 and the finish; very convenient.  Saturday arrived quickly and I got in my pre-race run and ride first thing in the morning.  We drove the course, both the bike and run, and I'm really glad we did.

Some of the nicest race swag I've gotten. Loving this backpack.

Checked in and T2 all setup!

Race morning came quickly and we had an early 4:30 alarm.  I choked down two gluten free waffles with peanut butter and banana and some coffee.  I really don't love eating so early.  We gathered up our bags and headed down to the start on our bikes.  Unfortunately, transition closed at 6:30 am and our waves didn't start until after 8 am.  We got everything setup and then just hung out for awhile. We got to see all the pros head out on the bike which is always awesome.  Eventually we drank our UCAN and headed out on our warm up runs.


I was happy to drop off my dry clothes bag and get my wetsuit on because it was pretty cold and windy at the start.  I lined up at the front of my wave so I could get in the water as soon as possible.  I did a little warmup, got some water in my wetsuit, made sure my cap was without air, and headed toward the start buoys.  I get out to the buoy and the kayak-er says good morning to me; I repeat the sentiment and a couple seconds later I'm hit upside the head.  I turn around to see what's going on and at the same time the kayak-er is yelling, 'woah, woah; hold up'.  A girl stops, looks up, and says, 'stop why; what's going on'.  The kayak-er lets her know that we haven't started yet.  I just laugh out loud and she turns to me and says, 'oh man, I thought we already started; I was chasing you'! I didn't really know what to say other than, 'nope, that was just the warmup'.  Have mercy.

The gun went off and I got off the line as quickly as possible.  That was possibly the shortest swim I had ever raced and my goal was push the pace the entire time.  I'm not an ocean lover so I was happy it was over quickly. I threw my wetsuit in the bag and was off on the bike.  To get out on the highway we had to maneuver through the harbor, which included a tight right turn over some speed bumps and a short steep turn.  I was happy to get passed those obstacles quickly and without incident.  My only complaint about the bike was that people didn't seem to understand to the ride on the right and pass on the left rule.  Riders were all over the place and I spent a majority of my ride saying 'on your left'.  There were a couple of dudes who didn't appreciate being chicked and decided not to move; so irritating. I had to ride over the rumble strips onto the shoulder to pass; those dudes deserved blocking penalties.  There were quite a few people who had no idea how many laps they had to do out on the highway and I could hear them asking the volunteers where to go.  Come on people; it's your job as an athlete to the know the course!  I headed back into town and was excited to get running. Another quick transition and I was out of T2.  I love running on that boardwalk; it's filled with people and it's flat and fast.  I had no idea where any of my competition was and I just kept pushing the pace the best I could.  The entire race I was looking for my parents, but they were waiting at the finish.  I saw my friends Jill & Bill just before I entered the finish chute and that was awesome.  The best part of my day was crossing line and seeing my run time was 20:53...6:44s! Phew, nationals wasn't a fluke.

Sooo happy to see my parents at the finish!

Successful season.

Since our condo was so close to the finish we headed up to shower before the awards.  I was just getting out of the shower and I heard everyone talking about how I was listed as disqualified in the results. WHAT?!  We run out of the hotel room and back down to the finish to find the timing official. They are looking at penalty lists, consulting each other, reviewing messages from race officials; it was the longest five minutes of my life.  They have no idea.  Fantastic.  They finally see that there was a disqualification for a bib number one different from mine; they keyed in the wrong number.  So dramatic! We got everything corrected and they let me know that I was 1st overall! WOW. So shocked.

It was a good Tri Scottsdale day in Oceanside! Fun to race with my teammates outside of AZ.

Happy to see that I do possess a couple of fast twitch fibers.

Erica had a fantastic race landing on the overall Olympic podium.  The flowers were a really nice touch, Lifetime!

I really think it's silly when races don't pull the overall winners out of the age group results.  Why not give more athletes the opportunity to podium?  Anyway, Lifetime didn't pull me out so I ended up with two awards.

A solid 2nd AG & 6th OA for Brian!

I love these two; haven't had them at a race in awhile!

Lifetime always puts on great races; this was no exception. This was also the pro championship race so it was awesome to see them crowned and earn their well deserved paychecks.  Next up: offseason!

Thank you to all of my great supporters; Generation UCAN, Tri Scottsdale, Zoot, Tribe Multisport, Muscle Milk and Fitletic for the support!

Age Group Nationals

My early season hopes included securing a 70.3 Worlds slot at Boise in June and following that up with Mt. Tremblant in September.  Long story short, the spot in Boise didn't happen and I changed my race focus mid season.  Following Boise, I rode out my fitness for about two weeks until Deuces Wild in Show Low.  I had a decent race there, but suffered on the run.  I decided Age Group Nationals in Milwaukee at the beginning of August would be my next race.  I had six weeks after Deuces to find some short course speed.

I did work; lots of it.

Fast forward to August, we were off to Milwaukee.

This sport requires a lot of crap!

This was the first time I'd ever raced at a national event; I was excited and nervous. I knew the best of the best would be here.  I was impressed with the swag to start.

Compression socks and a nice pullover.

Friday we headed out for a warm up ride/run followed by a nice swim in Lake Michigan. 

Is this silly helmet really necessary? 

Gorgeous swim venue!

Ready to roll.

Bags packed; time to sleep.

We got a simple dinner of chicken, rice, and some veggies and got to bed early.  I woke up race morning and was excited to race; this is always a desired mood.  I had an early breakfast sometime during the ridiculous 4 o'clock hour consisting of almond butter on gluten free bread, a hard boiled egg, a banana, and coffee.

Calming my pre-race nerves with pictures.

I got in a warm up jog, took down a bottle of UCAN, dropped off my bag, and it was GO TIME.  I got lucky being the second wave to start.  I was definitely nervous, I knew these girls were going to be fast from start to finish.  I lined up in the front and off we went.  There was a lot of craziness in the first 200 yards and then it mellowed out; I would say I swam with a pack of 2-3 girls, which was exciting for me.  I bridged a gap to someone around the last buoy and sat on her feet the whole way back.  There was another girl that dropped all of us; I think she had about 45 seconds on us out of the water.  I had a quick and easy transition and was off on the bike.  The bike was fun; there were a couple of short climbs and we got to ride up and over an awesome bridge in downtown Milwaukee.  You head out to a suburban area before turning around and I got to see Brian heading the other way.  I headed back in for another quick transition to the run.  Oh...the run. I had a decent first half and then I lost steam; I still struggle with the back half of that 10K.  I got passed a lot and it was hard to not check out.  I saw Brian when I was at about mile 4.5 which lifted my spirits and I told myself to finish strong.  I finished in 20th, qualifying me for Worlds!  It was a great race and a PR for me, but I was irked by my run.

This short stuff hurts!

Great to see Joan & Bryan at the finish.

We both had great races & PRs.

We headed out for some food and headed back to the hotel to clean up.  We had to get back downtown for the sprint bike check-in that afternoon.  It's weird to rack your bike again right after racing, but it was definitely worth it.  After checking our bikes back in, we headed over so I could sign up for Worlds!!

See you in Chicago!

Helping the legs recover between races!

The day flew by and it was time to sleep.  I woke up feeling pretty good with just a little stiffness.  I got in another early breakfast of almond butter, banana, a hard boiled egg, and coffee.  I was less nervous on Sunday, but I'm not really sure why.  I got in a warm up run, took my UCAN, and was luckily the second wave again.  The swim seemed so short and I pretty much swam with one other girl the whole time and we came out 1-2.  A very quick transition and we were on the bike.  My legs were definitely lacking some spark, but I pushed with what I had.  I came into T2 with three or four other girls and thought maybe two to three more were out in front somewhere.  I racked my bike quickly and ran out with a pack of girls.  One got out in front of me and I worked to bridge the gap and then made the pass.  There's a short out and back and I looked forward to seeing how many girls were ahead of me.  One, two...wait, that's it; I was in third?! I couldn't believe it.  I got really excited and then I made the turn around and saw how many were coming for me.  Around 2.5 miles I could feel yesterday's race and was starting to lose pace a bit.  I started to hear footsteps getting closer behind me, but refused to turn around and see how close she really was.  I put my head down and ran as hard as I could; I wasn't going to give up third that easily.  The finish chute was pretty long and as I ran in a guy yelled, you're third and it's in the bag.  I was too scared to let up, but it definitely put a smile on my face.  They announced me as third for 35-39; yay success!

Great days for both of us!  We both qualified for Worlds!

My first race with these fancy tattoos!

We headed out for some celebratory food before heading to the award ceremony. 

We do NOT mess around with food.  Yes, those are fried pickles and no it wasn't gluten free and I loved it!

The awards ceremony was really neat.  There are some ridiculously fast girls (and guys) in this sport. The overall sprint was won by a 16 year old and my Tri Scottsdale teammate Adrienne, who is 45 & will kick your butt, was 3rd overall.  I love this sport!

The icing on a really great race weekend.

Our loot from the weekend.

2015 USAT Nationals are being held in Milwaukee again and I highly recommend going if you have the opportunity.  The venue is great and the competition is steep.  I can't wait to race at the ITU World Triathlon Grand Final in Chicago next September!


Thank you to Muscle Milk, Tri Scottsdale, Zoot, Tribe Multisport, and Fitletic for the support!