IM 70.3 St. George- US Pro Champs- 15th Place Report

My first US Pro Championship is behind me and while I had a higher finish in mind, I am still looking at this race as a success, a move towards that goal.

Overlooking St. George from Red Hills Parkway

Ignoring my cold two days prior to race

Since Friday the week before the race I had not been feeling well. Sore throat, cough keeping me up at night, general fatigue and a stuffy nose/ sinus pressure from hell starting the day we left. Brandon and I made the trip from Boulder by car to St. George for the 3rd year in a row because it is usually just such a pretty drive. With our crazy spring snow storms however; we were forced to leave a day early to avoid getting stuck in the mountains, due to a huge mess that had been forecasted for our departure day. Luckily for us, we had no issues and were glad to be out before the snow started coming down.

Photoshoot with my bike and gear @ Snow Canyon

Since the first day of feeling sick, I made sure to overload on vitamins and get enough rest. There really isn't a magic formula to getting a cold out of your system once it's in, so I tried not to stress too much and hoped to be OK come race day. Low and behold, the day before the race my stuffy nose, irritated chest, and most other symptoms started to disappear and I started coming around to feeling back to normal by the day's end. So glad my immune system decided to cooperate!

Pros on stage at the Welcome Mixer

I was invited to do a photo shoot in beautiful Snow Canyon with the AtoZion crew, who also invited me to speak at the welcome mixer later that night. It's always nice to connect with the age groupers, especially since my mom and Mark, and Brandon were all racing as well.

Onto the race. Being a Pro Championship, big names were to be expected. But over 40 women, including Olympians, World Champs, 70.3 and IM Champs were all in the mix, making the pro meeting just a tad intimidating! I felt pretty confident about the course, knowing that I had done a full Ironman on the course before, and in the harshest conditions at that. I may not be able to replicate my past results here, but at least I would know the course in and out. I was ready for whatever conditions would come my way, as I have come to learn the weather is unpredictable in St. George :)

Coming out the water finally. Photo: Santiago Photography

The Swim- It would be one of the fastest swims ever, especially at the start. With numerous ITU swimmers, as well as a ton of fast long course fish, I knew I would need to go completely anaerobic to try and stay with people. The water was cold but bearable and my Zoot Wetsuit did a nice job of keeping me warm and giving me enough room to expand my chest. As the gun sounded, I swam as hard as I possibly could to try and stay on feet, but after a hundred yards or so, those feet were way ahead and I was in no man's land. (yet again). Focus on the positive, Uli, focus on the positive. I kept reminding myself of this and that I had a bike leg and a run leg to go, and that the water was the calmest it had ever been for this race and that I just would have to do this swim solo and try to cover the damage later on.

And so I swam alone, seeing a few arms flailing up in front every time I sighted, but too far to catch. I came out of the water, checked around me and got to my bike with only one other racked. Yep, I had my work cut out for me. My swim wasn't pedestrian slow, but without a pack, it had become another solo effort expending energy I could have saved for the bike. But here really was no time for a pity party, the race had only yet begun.

Trying to make the most of the early flat sections. Photo: Larry Rosa

The Bike- I was looking forward to this leg the most, as the course has to be the most spectacular bike course ever. Snow Canyon is so breathtaking, pictures don't do it justice. Coming out of T1 I had the road to myself. I passed a couple of girls before exiting the park and then picked off more one by one, working my way up to a small pack, something I have never managed before. I can't say enough good things about my BMC TM01, it handled like a road bike and gave me the confidence to go fast on every downhill. I also debuted my HED disc, which worked out great, especially on the numerous downhills.

Climb up Snow Canyon

Ofcourse there were hills on this course, but to me, and maybe others who have raced here before, it didn't compare to the difficulty of the old Ironman course. Snow Canyon was a nice climb, but gradual, with just a little bit of a steeper section on top. The old "wall" was a whole different animal :)

Something I tried to pay extra attention to for this race was my nutrition. Having recently done some good training with Sonja Tajsich, I picked her brain about race fueling and we concluded I need more calories on the bike. I made a conscious effort to eat my Powergels every 20 min to half hour, and not just when I felt like I needed them. I needed to have energy for that run! It was hard to get it all down, I will need to train my stomach a little more, but I did eat more than at Oceanside and I felt 100x better heading out on the run course!

The Run- I had T2 all to myself, and got in and out as quick as I could, although I am sure this could be trimmed down some more. I felt decent, had more nutrition on me for the run and was ready to tackle the beast (aka Red Hills Parkway). I debuted my Zoot Kiawe's on this run and really couldn't feel them at all, super light shoes. I made sure they had pink laces in them to match my kit. (although I'm really not a pink person, but a girl's gotta match!) In these races I never really know what place I am in, and only know of the girls I previously passed. Those included fast runners, and I knew I could not afford to slow down or I'd lose my place.

On the run at Pioneer Park. Photo: Kevin Koresky

The aid stations were great as always, volunteers bending over backwards to get you what you needed. When I appeared too slow on an uphill, I was reminded "not to give up now, I am almost done." Thanks guys, for not letting me walk! The climb up to Red Hills Parkway hurt, but I kept reminding myself I only rode 56mi, not 112. It felt better that way. Soon after, the pro men started coming back into town the other way, seemed like a really fast race for them! I made up some more ground, hydrated and fueled as best as I could, but noticing my mid back starting to seize up. My lungs didn't feel too great either, but both were ignored as I. just. wanted. to. get. to. that. finish. I saw my mom zip by on the bike (she got 4th in her AG!), as well as Mark, screaming at me as I could not return the favor (sorry, I was going 2mph up Red Hills :)),  Brandon was not too far behind me now (with having a ten minute later start), he was clearly having an amazing race.

Coming down Diagonal Street, I was trying to open up my stride as it was a slight downhill, but I couldn't close the gap to 14th place, fellow Boulder pro Whitney, and she finished just over 30 sec ahead. I crossed the line in 15th place. (just a few minutes before Brandon did to take second in his AG and 4th Amateur overall. )

Initially, I felt a little disappointed, but after looking over the results, seeing the company I was in, I am happy with my race. I was also sick for a week, which affected my training and taper, so really, I am pretty satisfied with how my day turned out. My bike and run fitness are there, I could have been top 10 with that. My swim held me back, but rest assured, I am working on that! I am more determined than ever to hold onto those feet in front of me. I will be back to race again next year, love this event! And now that the secret is out, I bet a lot more athletes feel the same way. Big Congrats to Meredith on her impressive win over such a deep field! Showing us how it's done!

A big thank you to my support crew who allow me to race fast and help me reach my maximum potential. I feel so lucky to be racing on BMC's TM01, my confidence has gone up tremendously on this bike, HED wheels for helping me be even more aero and faster, ZOOT for the great looking, technical race apparel and footwear, RUDY PROJECT for the best eyewear and aero head protection, and POWERBAR for my training and race nutrition. I am realizing that  nutrition is the 4th, and perhaps most important discipline and I am grateful I got it covered with the wide range of Powerbar products. Also, thanks to ROCKTAPE for the best athletic tape out there. Thank you everyone for your continued belief in me and your support on and off the race course!

Next up will be Boise 70.3, a race I have done every year since turning pro in 2009. I will follow it up with my first Ironman of the year at Coeur D'Alene. June will be busy, time to get this recovery over with and get back to work. Hopefully spring is here to stay!

Thanks for reading. Train hard and race smart :)

Snow Canyon again, because it's so awesome.