Wednesday, April 24, 2013

Race Recap San Diego!

Arriving in San Diego my bike was waiting for me upon my arrival (which never happens) and my ride was also waiting to take me to the Bahia Hotel. The trip was off to a good start! In the days leading up to the race I was one spoiled triathlete. USAT had brought a masseuse, chiropractor and bike mechanic. All wonderful people who made what may have been a stressful situation so much more relaxing. Sherpa, our bike mechanic took great care of my bike and even gave me a tutorial on brakes so that when I travel alone I'll be more confident handling my bike. Our masseuse Kim and chiropractor Camille took great care of us; always making themselves available for both our physical and mental health. Honestly without the support of the USAT crew this trip would have been pretty darn overwhelming for me, but having everyone there to take care of us made the experience that much more fun!

Race day:

 
We started off with very intense music leading up to the swim as we were all introduced and ran out to take a spot. And then the gun went off!

 
It was a two loop swim so we had to get out of the water run around a cone and head back in for lap 2!
 
 
I came out of the water in 7th and then we had to run up the beach and to the transition area.
 
 
Each athlete has their own spot at transition to rack their bikes and keep their things. The nice thing about being ranked second to last is that my spot was easy to find because I was on the end!

 
 
I got onto the bike and was part of a 25 plus athlete chase pack, trying to chase the front pack of four throughout the 8 loop course. Unfortunately our group never got organized and we never caught the pack ahead. Throughout the race I was up front a lot, which while it got me some air time it is actually pretty stupid because I could be saving a lot of evergy drafting off those 25+ people (oh well live and learn!)
 
 
Coming into T2, I took a bit of a tumble. I'm not really sure what happened during my dismount on the bike but I know I was coming in too fast. So my bike and I experienced some blunt force trauma with the blue transition mat. My wheel came off so I had to retrieve that and unfortunately I came out of transition 10 seconds behind the group I entered with.

 
So then it was off to the run! In my previous blog I talk about how cool it was going to be to represent USA, even though my run was a strugglefest, it was awesome hearing little kids and other spectators cheer for me as "USA".
 
I finished my race in 30th, and though that probably doesn't sound very impressive I was really excited. It was awesome going against the best triathletes and I can't wait to be more competitive in these races. I ended up the 4th American, with all three Americans ahead of me being Olympians. Next race is going to be St. Anthony's which is another really big triathlon. Pretty much I will be doing a non-drafting WTS race. Oh well, go big or go home :)
 
 
And if you would like to see more of what the race actually looks like watch this:
 
 
Photo and cheering credits to Martha Shoemaker and Chelsea Burns :)





7 comments:

  1. Congrats Katie!!!

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  2. Congratulation Katie! I also love running. It's really an enjoyable physical activity. Great article and keep posting like this!!!
    Back Pain Bergen County , Chiropractic Clinic Bergen County , Chiropractic Center Bergen County , Back and Neck pain Bergen County

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    1. Thanks so much! I'm glad you're enjoying my blog! I hope your training is going well.

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  3. Just by looking at these pictures, I knew how tiring and exhausting your day was. Good thing you have a masseuse and a chiropractor on your team that took good care of you. At least you can be easily checked in case you incur an injury. Anyhow, congratulations on finishing the race!
    xx Shan Salas @ BrandonChiropractor.net

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    1. Thanks so much! It was a pretty exhausting day, but a lot of fun too. And I am so lucky to be spoiled with the chiropractic and massage care. Something I am very thankful for here at the OTC and at the races.
      Best,
      Katie

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  4. USAT crew definitely knows how to take care of all their athletes. A masseuse, a chiropractor and a bike mechanic are just the people athletes like you need during a race. Congrats for being the 30th placer. It doesn't matter if you didn't get to finish ahead of all the other racers, what matters most is that you enjoyed the race. Good luck on the next race! Corine Traina @ US Health Works (San Jose)

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