We arrived in Whistler Thursday before the race and immediately I was super anxious because of the weather. It was about 55 and rainy.. Not ideal for gal who hates the cold. Automatically the wheels started turning about how that would change my race plan. Vest? Arm warmers? Both?but then longer T1 times and race you heat up where will you put all of that extra baggage? So I came up with a plan and was prorated to be chilly, but ultimately it would come down to a snap decision,
during the race, after exiting the water. So as the days went on the temperature began to creep up and the beauty of Whistler came out . It is absolutely beautiful... Snow capped mountains, green lakes and
The most welcoming and friendly people. Jake and I fell in love with the place.
So logistics, bike check in, last minute workouts all went to plan in the days leading up to the race. Weather was turning up so my anxiety decreased and I was ready to rock.
Race morning Jake dropped me off at the shuttle and I met up with my friend Bob a friend from Salt Lake who was also doing it. We chatted on the way to the venue and went our separate ways once we reached transition to get our bikes set up. That is the last time I saw Bob until the run... Crazy how that happens. Everything in transition went pretty smooth it consisted of pumping tires, setting up fuel and waiting on a Porto potty line that was like a half hr long. Before I knew it it was time to go. We jumped in the water and there as steam coming off which made it a bit erie but so beautiful at the same time. I positioned myself up front and got ready for the boxing match. The cannon goes off and I take off. For the first 500 yards I was basically having a panic attack and felt
like I couldn't breath. It's never quite happened this bad for me but I told myself to relax and keep moving eventually it went away. As soon as the anxiety went down then the nausea monster came for a visit. There was plenty of room to throw up off to the outside so I figured if need be I'll just do that and maybe I would feel better. No need to .. My stomach settled and the rest of the swim was went fairly smooth. I was worried about being cold but had no trouble whatsoever with my T1 wetsuit ( thanks De Soto!) and my neoprene Cap to keep me warm. Even if it was a hundred degrees I would have used that cap, considering I had my friend Jess overnight it to me because I forgot it at home and didn't want to chance buying a new one. I know, crazy. I excited the swim and decided no vest so I cruised through the change tent and with the help of a couple volunteers was able to throw some arm warmers on and be out.
This bike course was both beautiful and challenging. It was a climb at the beginning, rolling hills to a long descent, a 30 mile out and back and then a climb starting at mile 90 back into T2 for the run. I took the bike out way fast and was feeling great. I love climbing so I felt super pumped on the first climb and was proud of my descent down that. I then started the rolling hills back through town
towards whistler village where everyone was cheering. There I saw Jake and he yelled 1 st is four minutes up.. I wasn't sure if meant in my age or all amateurs so I took the info and kept charging... However my legs we're really starting to feel it. This is when I decided to back off a bit and settle in.. I had a lot more racing to do. I began heading down the huge descent which was at about mile 55 or
so but even though it was a decent it was still work. A girl came up and went to pass me but we ended up yo yo ing for about 15 miles, we headed down a huge descent and she created a gap. I never saw her again on the bike. Eventually we made it into Pemberton which was a little town with a bunch of spectators cheering and headed out for the 30 mile flat as a pancake out and back. My coach had warned me about this so I was super prepared to keep a steady pace. I don't have a power meter so I just tried to maintain the same speed and made sure it would not burn me out for the climb back into town. By mile 80 my legs began to feel pretty good and my stomach felt the most settled that it had all day. A girl passed me but I wasn't about to chase... I reminded myself to race my own race. The climb back into town was a steady grind about 22 miles long. I made sure to keep on top of my fueling and relax. I was kind of tripping out because my time was way off from where I had wanted when at about mile 95 some spectators said " you're doing great top 10 women". I had no idea if that meant out of the amateurs or pros but either way it reminded me to focus on placement and not get down about time! I headed into town and through whistler village and into T2 pretty foggy headed. It was a hell of a bike course.
Bike time: 5:46.56
My transition was pretty dope, once I arrived in the tent I noticed no one was there and figured that was a good sign. In and out quick and clean and then onto the run.
As I exited transition there was a ton of cheering which is always a good lift and immediately I desperately started looking for Jake, being I hadn't seen him in about 70 miles. Right away I spotted him jumping behind the crowd trying to give me information while running along the craziness. Because I was unsure about where I was placement wise, I really needed some info but all I could make out was "there is a girl 12 minutes ahead!" This made me question overall amateur or in age? I guess I would just have to wait. The first miles were pretty awesome. Lots of cheering some trail running and a lot of beauty. It wasn't until about mile 4 when I saw Jake again and he explained that first place amateur was now 9 minutes ahead and I was in 4th. I had run her down about 3 minutes in 4 miles. Score. I think i can do this and maybe catch up!! So I trucked along trying to keep pacing steady and used the aid stations. I had pushed it pretty hard on the bike so by mile 9 my legs were feeling it big time. I had never had this happen so quickly, ugh! Usually I have this feeling at about mile 16 so I began to trip out a bit ...when I passed the 3rd place amateur. This gave me the boost I needed and I kept truckin. Shortly after this, I passed the 2nd place girl. Sweet! Just one to go!! Lets freakin do this!! At this point my legs were aching so bad and the stomach had gone awry, I couldn't even look at my watch because the thought of knowing how many miles I had left made me want to throw up and pacing was out the window, so I JUST KEPT MOVING. This worked for a bit and seemed to pass the time a bit better until I saw Jake and he told me 1st place was 2 minutes ahead. Sweet... a little boost. For the next few miles I kept looking for a girl with her description when I hit up an aid station and there she was.. I was almost positive. She was stopped and drinking so I cruised through and JUST KEPT MOVING. I was sure not to let the pass for 1st get in my head because I was not certain that it was her so once again I JUST KEPT MOVING. I kept this mantra until about mile 22, not really aware what was about to happen when whoosh a gal came flying by me running like the wind and I knew.. Yep I just got passed for first place. Basically what happened was I indeed did pass the girl for first at that aid station, but then a girl from behind came up and passed all of us. Buzkill big time. I had nothing left and could not follow her or chase her at all. The kicker was she was also in my age so I lost the overall (amateur) win and the age group win. Like a 2 for 1.
Run Time: 3:30.10
Although it wasn't an ideal situation I came down that chute proud and happy to have finished! I got a spot to Kona Ironman World Championships and 2nd place female amateur and a big hug from Jake at the finish line!
Thank you to all of my friends and family for the support.. I could not do any of this without you! A special shout out to Coach Aaron, for coaching me to be the best athlete I can be and to tackle all of my goals. Jake you are my rock.. thank you for keeping me sane and giving me the confidence to always push through.
Thank you to all of my sponsors for making this accomplishment possible.. Porcupine Pub and Grille, De Soto Sport Triathlon Company, Canyon Bicycles, Elete Electrolytes, The Healing Willow and Wasatch Running Center.
Stay tuned for a report about Timberman 70.3!
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