Always wanting more: ITU World Triathlon

So I've been waiting to write this until my long ride to Boulder, CO. Not just because I was putting it off, but I wanted to really take the time that had with my first weekend off of the summer and reflect on the race and triathlon in general.

I have perplexed many people with my disappointment in my performance. (Spoiler Alert) A 9th place overall finish and a 2nd place AG finish to the Overall winner. I also got a personal best time for the Olympic distance by cutting off about 8 minutes from my 2:06 performance in Trinona earlier this summer.

The reason I am torn about my performance boils down to a few key points. I want more and always want more. Being that this was my first race after earning my Pro card, I wanted to prove why I earned it. I wanted to Win it all. I will tell you the other reasons throughout the post.

So the journey starts the day before the race as my Dad and I set out on the drive to Chicago. This goes pretty smooth and without any real events besides a quick stop for food. We arrive at the race site just in time to pick up my packet and check out the race site as well as some vendors. After dropping off my bike I swing by the Nuun tent to pick up some tubes for the weekend and it was quite a deal, 2 for $10 and I got a bottle thrown in as well!

Picture along the race site before the race

After the expo we head to check out the wacker rd. tunnel I would be racing on and then we headed to hotel before my before my run and swim(I had bike that morning). Upon arrival we learn that the pool was being cleaned that night and closed just minutes before our arrival.

Oh well I have swam before and won't forget how to by taking a day off. I would just get a good warm up swim in the morning before my wave went off. I still can run anywhere, doer find a place  lose by to do a run. As we arrive I get a quick phone interview about the World Record Attempt I am organizing, and I shoke out the legs. 

I ran around a small beautiful pond on the grass and just take in the fact that in the fact that I race the next day on an amazing and fast course. I do a few quick strides envisioning the finish around  Buckingham Fountain. We grab a bite to eat, grab a few things for my morning smoothie, and head to bed after my dad goes over the course quickly with me.

The next morning comes bright and early as transition opens at 4 am and closes at 5:30, we arrive at the parking garage and it is closed. Not sure why when it was supposed to be open as we had already purchased the ticket, but no worries as I have my dad drop me off at transition.

After I get all set up, I head to the hotel downtown where the rest of the Z3 athletes and fans are. I do this because my race isn't until 9:55am. As I arrive I figure out everyone else is still sleeping haha. So I find the lobby and knock out for an hour or so.

Chicago Skyline, the hotel is in there somewhere

Once I wake I head over to swim start to get a quick run in before I swam. I feel pretty good during the warm up and get a good sweat in before I am called down to the start. We get put into a holding area for a few minutes. Being anxious as I was I was jumping around and doing a few arm swings before they let us in the water to warm up. They give us 10 minutes to warm up, but I only wanted to be in the chilled water for 5 minutes. So I wait it out, and finally I hit the water and I feel great in the water despite the fact that I am the only one without a wetsuit.

The call us to line for our in water start. I float around a bit as we wait around for them to tell us to take our marks. Finally, they tell us we have 10 seconds and zone in on the race. The gun goes off and we take off, I get off into a rhythm on the far right by myself out of trouble. At first a bunch of racers get out ahead of me, but I knew that there was much more swimming to done so I stick to my plan.

I find my rhythm right away and begin passing people even before the first buoy. As I round the buoy I find my self on the feet of first place(actually 2nd because one guy went off and I couldn't see him at all). I begin passing him, but he battles back. I focus on my DPS(distance per stroke) to pick up speed, but once again he battles back. This continues for the rest of the swim until someone comes up on my right shoulder and I begin to battle with him instead. A three way fight begins(I guess we were a pack of 4 I later learned). I keep pushing and telling myself that I can win the swim. I wanted to be strong in every discipline this race. We approach the swim exit and things pick up as we battle for the fastest swim.

We hit the climb of the water all together, but after only a few steps on land I am pulling away in my normal T1 fashion. "I have to keep things rolling, I am going onto the bike in first, I can do this" crossed my mind as I ran up the long transition. I head transition area run between row 8 and 9 as I planned the night before. I shoot for the middle where my bike is and look for the large tree off in the distance that I use to sight my rack. I look where it should be and can't find it. I try not to panic, but look at the same rack 6 times before I finally realize I was looking at my bike. Seconds tick away as I sprint out of transition with my bike. Even with the trouble finding the bike, I hit the bike still in front of the pack and have the fastest T1 split of the day.

Now on the flat and fast course I know I have to hammer this out to really have a chance of winning the whole race against the other age group waves. I am passing people left and right because our wave was the last wave of Olympic distance racers so plenty of out on the course already. As I am doing this Chris Douglas paces me. I quickly battle back and the fight begins for what we thought to be first. The bike goes much to this same pattern other than my aero bars raising up throughout the ride because I didn't get them quite right enough. Douglas and I are pretty fried by the 4th lap, but we still want to come off the bike in front so we gut it out. We come down the final stretch and I give one last push before dismounting in front of Douglas.

I sprint off a little bit slower than usual to get my legs ready to run. I rack my bike and throw my shoes on. I head out on to the run behind Douglas, but unlike the weekend before I went out smart and under control this race. I reel him in slowly but surely. I catch him during the second lap and pull away from him. Still passing racers from other waves I push on. Shorty after passing him my right foot begins to hurt on the top a bit, but the race adrenaline pushes that to the side. I push at a pace that I wish was a bit faster, and before I know it I am sprinting on the blue carpet to my finish.

I cross thinking I won my AG for sure, and maybe even the whole thing. However, I'm off on both of these I later learned. So this is where my disappointment stems. I want more everytime I race. I'm happy with the race, but I know I have so much room to impove in all disciplines.

Me with my 2nd place AG award post race

I begin reflecting on this while I get to watch my first WTS in person. Alex Libin a fellow teammate is in his first WTS race. The race is amazing to watch and the whole time I just kept thinking about much I would love to be a part of it. A great way to finish the day before a drive home. Alex finishes 34th (in the money!) and I get even more excited that some day my hard work would land me in races like these, and some day among the the greats at the Olympics. 

I leave you with this quote because it really reflects what triathlon means to me. I may not be the best swimmer, biker, or runner, but with so much room to improve in all three that I have chance and opportunity with the wonderful people around me to become a great triathlete. Thanks for reading this and wish me luck at the Boulder Peak 5150 this weekend!