Kemah Tri

This weekend was a whirlwind of a trip. I made the decision to travel to Houston to race the Onurmark Kemah Triathlon, my first non draft race in over two years. After going to Florida to start my season early March, and being extremely disappointed with a bad result and a DNF (due to illness), I was eager to get back out racing. Since March, I have done a few crits and a TT in Boulder, and have thoroughly enjoyed racing bikes. I have seen fitness improvements across all three disciplines, and gained confidence from some great training sessions the past few weeks.

Kyle Leto and Kevin Collington both traveled from Boulder to Kemah to race, so it was nice to have friends and training partners to hang with. On Saturday the weather was okay, with just some light rain as we previewed the course late morning. There was a chance of thunderstorm and rain in the forecast, but the weather really seemed fine most of the day, and the thought of rain becoming an issue was not on my mind. Then, after an early dinner with Kevin, Kyle and Lauren and Barrett Brandon, we stepped outside and it was a torrential downpour with nasty thunder and lightning bolts. Our 50m dash to the car left us looking like we had just taken a shower. The rain continued to fall and we received emails that night explaining possible “Cancellation policies” from the race director. 

Race morning, 4 a.m. wake up (ouch!), breakfast routine, coffee, pack bag, receive email that bike is cancelled, boo.

Instead of sulking, I tried to remain optimistic, something that Grant always reminds me. “Focus on the positive, focus on the positive.” 

Everything was delayed a bit because of the change from a triathlon to an aquathlon. We put our racing shoes at the swim exit because there was a 3/4 mile run to t1 after the swim, and we basically would just be running through transition anyways. Our race belts were in transition, and I clipped mine around the bar on top of where my number was positioned (892). We got on the boat around 7 a.m. and started around 8.

It was a non wetsuit swim for the pros, which I was happy about. The water was pretty rough, and it was a small women's field so I ended up alone. I chose a line to shore that may not have been the best, as I was pretty far away from the buoys, but it seemed more realistic to me at the time because of the currents. 

Swim start.

I exited the swim and was in 2nd behind Lauren Brandon by a substantial amount, but felt good as I put my shoes on and started running towards transition. And then I reached the pro transition rack and my number was no where to be seen. I searched and searched, and after about a minute of waisting my time, I somehow assumed that since there was a race belt exactly where my number had been, that someone may have taken mine by accident. I thought "Oh well, not a big deal, I will just take theirs." That may sound silly, but we all know how we get when we race. Some things seem rational when maybe they aren't. Well, that turned out to be the reason I got DQed. But if I had run without a race number I would have been DQed as well. I am not completely familiar with non draft rules, so that is my own fault and I should make sure I learn them. However, my race belt was missing, and that was completely out of my control. 

I got onto the run and felt great. I ran to the front around mile 3, but knew that D'Ann was probably charging from behind. After catching Lauren I started feeling progressively worse, but that is how it should be, right? ;) I focused on keeping my cadence up, and my arms relaxed, and as I rounded the last corner and saw D'Ann behind, I knew that I had the win in the bag. She was closing hard and ended up finishing 10 seconds behind me, so congrats to her on a great run.

Grabbing the tape felt GREAT. It has been 4 years since that happened last- Collegiate Nationals in 2009. Even though it was an aquathlon, and even though I ended up getting DQed a few seconds later, I was reminded how much fun it is to cross the finish line and feel happy. It isn't necessarily about winning, it's about putting out your absolute best effort on the day and being happy with the result. A win is a win, DQ or not, it was a great day for me.

I was upset for about 5 minutes until I realized a few things:

1) I just had fun racing.

2) I ran a 36:55, my fastest split ever.

3) It is April, and there is plenty more racing to come.

4) I love triathlon again.

A big thanks to my coach Grant Holicky for encouraging me to do some local racing the past few weeks. It brought me back to a place of enjoying racing, which I was able to transfer into my experience at Kemah. Also thanks to Off the Front Multisport, Rudy Project and Breeze Bars for your support! 

Now I have my DNF and DQ out of the way for 2013, and I am ready to kick the rest of the season's butt.

Jess