My last race of the 2017 season was SavageMan 20. I was
grateful to be able to race it after having some troubles running for weeks
leading up to it. When I finished, I found out I was 9th overall
female. As I was talking to Dave, he mentioned that there was a possibility
that I had qualified for USAT Age Group Nationals in Cleveland. I was hopeful
but not confident because I didn’t think there was a chance I could qualify for
the National Championships. Turns out, I didn’t, but the seed had been planted
& I made a goal to qualify in 2018 so I could join my friends &
teammates in Cleveland. I knew that I would go as sherpa if that was how it
turned out, but I really wanted to qualify. Fast forward to the Salute to the
Military tri – I had always done well & decided to try to win my AG. Despite
racing well, I ended up third. While waiting for awards, I was talking with
Christy, who was 2nd in our AG. She told me that she qualified at a super-sprint
and gave me a few suggestions. Determined to go to Cleveland as a participant,
I signed up for the super-sprint in late June. Race day came & I was 7th
OA and 1st in my AG. Woohoo, I qualified! Then came the waiting for
the email from USAT with the registration link. You see, the race director has
2 weeks to send in the results and for those two weeks, I waited. Day 15, still
no email. Morning of day 16, I emailed them & finally received that great
email saying Congratulations, you qualified! Me – someone who is good, but not
great, qualified for the National Championships – I felt like I belonged. I was
so excited to qualify and I don’t even like the Olympic distance because of the
run 😉
Fast forward to race
week. I love the energy at races – big or small, no matter what my results are,
they are always fun. The trip out & back went by quickly with good company.
We got there on Thursday, two days before the Olympic (Sprint is Sunday). Packet
pickup went smoothly, followed by a little shopping, then driving the bike
course and a little run on the course rounded out the first afternoon. Dinner
that night and breakfast the next morning reminded me of one of many reasons I
love this sport – the wonderful people I consider to be family. After breakfast
on Friday, we did a little shake out ride on the bikes then headed to
transition to drop off the bikes and take part in the practice swim. Swimming
is not my strong suit and looking at Lake Erie, I had a feeling it was going to
be tough. I went out to see exactly what I had gotten myself into. I thought
swimming at Colonial Beach would be somewhat similar to Lake Erie. Not so much. Colonial Beach seems like Lake Anna compared
to Lake Erie! When I exited the water, I reminded myself it was the National
Championships & of course the swim would be challenging and said I would do
the best that I could. We had a low key evening & finally, it was race day!
I have never been at an Olympic distance race with so many participants - it
felt like an Ironman. I believe it took over 2-1/2 hours for all the waves to
start, so people were finishing while others were just beginning. My AG started
about an hour after the first group. As we stood on the beach watching others
in the water, I repeated something my friend Karen had written the night before
– swim calm, bike strong & run steady. I wasn’t nervous as I waited to
start – I knew I would be able to finish the swim (thank goodness for the
wetsuit!), I just needed to be relaxed. Soon it was our turn, so into the lake
we went to wait for the start. Then we were off. I soon realized this was going to be the
toughest swim I have ever done, but I was confident. After what seemed like an
eternity, I made it out to the first turn buoy and then thought I would catch a
break heading parallel to shore with the current. Hahaha! In my dreams! Then, surely, it would
be easier to swim back to shore, right? It felt like I was on a treadmill going
nowhere. I didn’t understand it, but I kept swimming hoping I was getting closer
to the shore. Finally, I was back at the
beach and headed to transition. Time to bike! Since we had driven the course on
Thursday, I knew what to expect and was happy to get through one section of one
lane road without any difficulties – giving me confidence for the rest of the
bike. I felt strong thanks to the training we had done leading up to Cleveland where we
rode a simulated course at Green Lizard. Before I knew it, I was back at
transition and headed out on the run. I would be lying if I said I was happy
with my run/walk, but given the rest of this year, I was just happy to be out
there racing. It was a different experience on the run course. Normally at races, I don’t see many familiar
faces on the run course because they are normally finishing when I am heading
out. This time because of the number of waves, there were so many people on the
run and I was able to see some of my teammates out there giving it their best. Running
down the finisher’s chute was great and I had a smile when I crossed the finish
line. By the numbers, this race was my slowest at this distance, but it was my
favorite Olympic race to date!
Sunday was a great day. Originally, I had thought I might
sign up for the Sprint, but decided it would be better to be in a support role. Due to strong currents in the lake, the race
was changed to a duathlon. Since we set up the tent next to transition and the
run course, we had a prime spot to see everyone multiple times and I loved
getting the chance to cheer for everyone. The entire weekend was a blast and
before I knew it, we were headed home.
While I was there to race and soak it all in, many of my
friends & teammates had goals to make Team USA and they did it! I am so
proud of their work to get to that level and they have what it takes to compete
with the best in the world. I had goals, but I also told myself that I would be
happy if I came in last place. What mattered to me was that I had qualified –
that was the hard part for me!
To close, this year has had more downs than ups for me, but
the National Championships and the two qualifier races were with the highlight
of my year (yes, I have already qualified for 2019). My advice to you is find
the race where you can qualify, sign up & race with all you’ve got. The National Championships are an event that
shouldn’t be missed. I hope you can join
me in Cleveland in 2019!
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