Hello all-
After being home for almost three weeks from Australia, I am just now feeling like I am sleeping regularly, and back to my normal daily routine of class, schoolwork and training. Although it has been a tough couple of weeks getting back, after missing a week of classes etc, and just trying to feel like my usual self, the trip to Australia was COMPLETELY worth it.
I left for OZ on Sept. 7th, arrived on the 9th and raced on Sunday the 13th. The travel over was not as bad as I thought it would be. I have never traveled that for to race, or even for leisure, so I was anticipating obstacles in adjusting to the change. Besides getting hungry at weird hours of the evening, and forcing myself to stay awake until 9 Pm( I only made it until 8:40 the day we arrived !), normality resumed quickly in the land down under.
I spent a lot of time with Andy Schmits, the junior coach, and the rest of the junior athletes- Kevin McDowell, Ben Kanute, Jack St. Marie, Jen Howland and Marissa Ferrante. We did our training sessions together for the most part, spent time analyzing the race course to prepare for the big day, and had some fun along the way.
FUN. That is what this trip was about for me. I accomplished all of my season goals, and due to a lagging foot inconvenience (I hate the word injury), was approaching the race without running for the three weeks prior, but very confident in my swimming and cycling. It was Junior Elite Worlds, a race unlike anything I had ever experienced before, and I was ready to trust my training, race hard and leave everything I had out there.
Race morning, I woke up anxious to hear the gun go off. All the nerves and worries always leave as soon as you get on the starting line, and then, you just race.
The swim: I knew going into the race that I had to swim like a monster, because it would determine the tone of the rest of the race. Making front pack would be ideal, because of my confidence on the bike, and the fact it would put me in the best situation possible for the run. I wore goggles that friend Chrissie Wellington gave to me at the pool one day. Coming from amazing World Champion, I figured they would bring me some speed, so I wore them for the big race! I had a pretty good beach start- nothing compared to Stephen Wright's abilities, but I was pretty happy with the position I had going into the water. Around the first buoy I was comfortably in the top 6-8, and had a solid rhythm. I stayed with a pack of four and could see two that were a few seconds ahead. Coming out of the water I was pretty tired, but very excited to break out in 6th and be in a great place for the bike. Running up to T1, my foot was really bothering me, but I just blocked it out and focused on getting on my bike as fast as possible.
The Bike: Lead pack was a bit organized, but that is typical. A lot of girls were not doing any work, and it seemed like a few girls really wanted to be in the front of the pack pulling, so I did a bit of work but let the people pull who wanted to. Also, I think a lot of the athletes wanted to be at the front to avoid getting dropped since the course was very technical. Speaking of getting dropped, I did. Haha. On the fourth lap, I got boxed out going into the spectator area with lots of turns, and going out of the transition area, the front girls hammered out of a corner and before I knew it, i was OTB!I tried to be in the front 25% of our pack going into the technical portions to avoid that, but on this lap, I simply couldn't. However, Jenn Howland, the other American who got dropped with me, hopped on my wheel and I pulled us back up. Painful! Going into T2, my legs were pretty smashed from bridging the gap, but i was taking each part of the race as it came, and optimistically approached the run.
The run: Surprisingly, the foot didn't hurt all that much on the run. Sure, I felt the pain, but it wasn't nearly as bad as Tuscaloosa. Because I hadn't been run training, I just felt like I lost my sharpness and speed. So, I am pretty happy with being able to get through the race, and stay in pretty much the same position I was in off the bike. Our pack was about 22 on the bike and I finished 17th. Still, I finished my first and last Junior Elite Worlds. Next year- U23 racing!
The trip to Australia flew by! I guess that means I will have to go back to enjoy it more... ;)
All for now
Jess
