Du Worlds Photos

A bit more stiff, swollen and sore today, mostly from my dive into the pavement. I'm hoping this will subside within a few days, so for now it's lots of ibuprofen and mostly r&r. Here some images of the race:

Pre Ride the day before

My own personal transition space!

Start of the race at the official Nascar Start




Had to run this hill up 5 times during the runs, ouch.

Bike-Out

My Japanese buddy and I pacing...

Second run

home stretch, pure pain. Notice my no longer existing race number on that arm, the pavement took care of it

4 members of Team USA post-race

My stellar photographer and I. Thank you B!

Duathlon Worlds/ First Crash/ Gutting it Out

Well, it had to happen at some point, and I guess today was the day. I might have jinxed myself by talking about the possibility of it but hoped it wouldn't happen. Sucks to have taken place at a world championship, but at least I got it out of the way? (I hope anyway) I am now the proud owner of some road rash warrior wounds. Most importantly though, I didn't mess up my brandnew USAT Speedo uniform, I surely thought my left cheek was hanging out after I collected inventory. But lets back up.

I came to Concord, NC, seemingly "capital fast food chains/ mall strips USA", to see what I could do competing against the best in the world at this sport. My experience dates back 2 years in this sport with a total of hm, maybe 6 races? With a second place at Nationals and most all girls I raced there, racing here today on Team USA, I was psyched for a good showing. Duathlon, after all, is not what it is in Europe. Most people have no idea what it even consists of. We were up against some of the best athletes in the sport, who also just happen to excel at ITU triathlon racing. In other words, tough as nails athletes! We were warned the race would go out fast, like sub 35 min fast. I planned to just run hard and treat each segment of the race as an individual race in itself.

Over the course of the week, the forecast for today became increasingly rainy. Not that I mind running in it, but riding a bike on a draft legal crit course is a different story. I remained optimistic that the forecasters were wrong. Then it started raining last night, which was a great relief to the 90 degree/ 90% humidity temps we'd been experiencing. However, it would make the race that much more interesting. I awoke to wet roads and mist this morning. It was just getting light out around 7 a.m., time that the Junior races started. Poor things, I felt bad for them. Luckily they only raced half the distances we did.

When we arrived at the race site, the men's junior race was in full effect and it was raining lightly and the roads around the Nascar race track we wet. Yes, we raced on the Lowe's Speedway race track, which was cool- until I hit the ground. We were to do one loop outside the track and then come in to the race track to do a figure 8 loop inside the track. There were many, many turns and slick road surfaces. More on that in a bit.

The race started with the athletes being called by name to the start line. That was kind of cool. Then, without much warning, the gun went off and immediately a pack formed of about 10 of the fastest runners. I was leading the chase pack for a good 2/3s of the race. We did 4 loops including an out and back section each time, as well as a steep ascent through a tunnel, which pretty much slowed me to a pedestrian pace each time. I was hurting bad after 1 lap. The pace was torrid (for me at least). But I was the first American athlete throughout the entire run, running with a German (how ironic :-) for most of it. In the process I set a new 10k PR which I was pretty excited about and which gave me confidence for the ride (which had been daunting to me ever since I was selected for the team. I have never raced draft legal)

Coming out of T1 I was by myself , which meant WORK to catch up to the leaders. I was quickly joined by a Japanese athlete and together we switched off leading. (is that called drafting? lol) Things were going pretty good. I got updates from the US coaches on the course letting me know I was 80 seconds back, then 65 from the lead pack. I could possibly catch the lead girls, how exciting! The bike course consisted of 6 double loops and plenty of dangerous turns and slick descents due to wet road paint etc. The coaches had sent out a warning regarding one specific turn so I made sure to take it extra easy on it since it was extremely slick. What I did not count on is what happened next.

I was about to make a slight left turn to begin my fourth loop and was just back of my new Japanese friend who seemed to take the turns with speed and skill (maybe it helped that she was half my size as well?) while I was being over cautious, losing precious seconds at each turn I slowed for. At this specific turn I had slowed down, was off my brakes and was cruising through, or so I thought. Then, in an instant, I flew onto the ground, sliding across the pavement. In shock, I wasn't quite sure what had happened or what to do next. I landed on my left side, managed to scrape my elbow in two places, my knee and my ankle, and put a good bruise on my left upper thigh as well. (thought for sure I burnt through the shorts, which probably would have ended my race, but I only scraped off the USAT logo.) Although it all happened so fast, I think I also hit my head on the ground and that was scary.(Later proved correctly by the crack in my helmet.) Guess it's time for a new one now!) I started to whimper in pain at this point, as well as in disappointment and disbelief, so naturally the volunteers started to call the medics over. Then I had a quick chat with myself: either drop out right now and regret not finishing, or keep going and try to catch back up. So after fiddling for about another 2 minutes trying to get my chain back on, I was on my merry way, bleeding and all, on a mission to finish this race.

I never did catch back up to the other women on the bike, although I could see packs, as well as witness another crash on the track, but I made it my goal to try again on the run. Keeping with my plan to treat each discipline as its own race, I shut out all that had happened and turned on my tunnel vision. I was dizzy, I was dripping wet and I was mad. I also got to play the catch up game, one of my favorites! I slowly started reeling in some girls, passed an American and saw at the halfway mark that I was getting near the leading American, who had passed me along with the rest of the race, in the crash. I gave it everything I had, but ran out of real estate and ended up 3 seconds behind her. Then as soon as I crossed the line, the emotions came tumbling out (and are sure to be forever remembered thanks to the cameraman who was taking pictures of me upside down.) All I wanted to do was bury my head for a moment and digest what the last 2 hours of super intense effort had taught me. I saw B and started sobbing. I so badly wanted to give the US a top 10, if not top 15 finish and I believe I was capable of doing so.

Later race results revealed that I was riding the exact same pace as the leaders, including my 4 min pit stop, which shows how much harder those of us worked who were not riding in a pack. I spent my legs trying to make up ground, when I was actually riding faster than the leaders. ITU racing is kind of funny that way. Everyone sits if no one wants to make a move. My second run, although I am not sure of its exact accuracy, equaled a PR as well. It's 4p.m. now and it looks like the sun is about to set. The skies are grey and it is pouring. Age groupers are just starting their day. It is going to be a challenging day for them to say the least. Ofcourse tomorrow's forecast calls for 82 and sunshine. Go figure.

The men's race had a super exciting finish with Jarrod Shoemaker winning by a hair, making him the first duathlete since Kenny Souza in the early 90s to win the World Champs. What makes it more impressive is that he crashed as well! Now it's recovery time, to literally let my body heal. I could tell I messed up my lower back in the fall, so I am hoping that won't be an issue in a few days. The part of my thigh that got alot of impact is swelling pretty impressively, but hopefully all is good. Although I was told I should get x-rays to rule out possible hairline fractures, I think I am OK, just a bit shaken up and a bit bruised and battered. It was a battle field out there for sure. Blood, sweat, and tears all the way :-) But memorable nonetheless. It was pretty neat to have the opportunity to participate in this event. Thank you to all those who got me there!


Final stats: 10k- 36:19
40k- 01:16*
5k- 17:47

2:12.34- second American, 17th overall

... thinking about my revenge next year in Edinburgh already...


Pics to come.

It must be Fall...

Because the wind has returned. And what a b$%# it can be! I ran the Boulder Half Marathon (formerly Boulder Backroads Marathon) as part of my long run for the week today, and it was quite the experience. My good friend Craig, who also served as the race announcer, had gotten me a comp entry to the race so I couldn't say 'no', even though racing it would not have been the world's smartest thing to do, a week after running a good half, and a week before a world championship. I made a deal with myself that I could see how I felt and push it if I was in the win.
Jax and I before the start

I noticed right away this morning how warm it was outside. Ran into Jax right before the race and wished her good luck, and then we were off. It felt a bit like Deja Vu from last weekend, although this course was a bit different, in that it was simply an out and back. I think I ran the first mile pretty hard, so much so that I felt the need to back off, however when I looked at my watch it said 6:29. Um, ok. Must be an off day, I thought. Turns out the first mile was just a tad long. The eventual women's winner passed me right after the mile marker and with that I toned it down to a tempo run. I have never not "raced" a race, so it was kind of odd to all of a sudden just run to finish. I actually turned around a few times to see if anyone I knew was behind me so I could run with them. No such luck. I pondered cutting my day short and not doing the whole 13.3 miles (yes, it was long), but then I remembered Rutger Beke and his Ironman walk a few years ago in Kona and how he could have dropped out and didn't to respect the age groupers. So just because I wasn't racing perse, and letting people pass me, I still had to finish. I chose to start, so I owed it to me and to the race to finish.
Trying not to get blown away

Even though I was getting passed by 3 more girls, I kept a happy disposition and just kept telling myself that next weekend is more important than a double half mary. And so I ran through the aid stations, thanking the volunteers, something I usually don't have enough breath for, kept a smile on my face and cheered on fellow racers as they told me I was running great and to keep on pushing. :) But the winds were unrelenting and getting worse. A headwind on the way out turned into a headwind on the way back as well, reminding me of a little race I did last October.


B was out on his bike and helped me bring in the last 3 miles, which were the windiest to me. I think I was close to some 8min wind miles at some spots. If not a push to the body, this race was good mental training for the long haul for sure. I was 5th overall today, close to 10 mins off last week's effort, however, in extremely different conditions and mindset. As always, I learned some things (such as drinking ONLY 2 cups of coffee before a warm race will leave you dehydrated before you even start) and had alot of fun watching everyone enjoy themselves out there, more or less.
A little sick of the gusts, yes

I did really feel bad for the full marathoners, who on average were out there over 4 hours today, as the winds did not make it easy, not to mention the heat. I saw ambulances and fire trucks come and go, hopefully everyone is alright.

I met up recently with SlowTwitch photog/ writer extraordinaire, Mr. TC, and had some photos taken at the Rez. It's amazing what a good lens/camera will do! Here are a few shots which really show the amazing background! :)