Vermont Part 2: Nationals Race Report

Saturday August 20th was race day.  I was in Burlington, VT for the USATriathlon Age Group Nationals race (1.5k swim/40k bike/10k run).  This was the third year in a row I've competed in this race (the first two were held in Alabama) and I always look forward to coming back to it.  It's fun to race against some of the best age group athletes and the competition is always fierce.

Transition stayed open until 7:30 and our hotel wasn't too far away, so we were able to sleep in until 6:00.  I had checked my bike in the day before, so I didn't even have to worry about getting it packed up.  Once we got to the race site, there wasn't any parking close, so Matt dropped me off and went to hunt down a parking spot.  By the time I got all of my stuff set up in transition, Matt was back and we headed over to the swim start.

Swim- 28:57 (47/77 in age group)

I was in the second to last wave, so I had to wait around for quite a while.  The one good thing about that was I got to see the first few waves go through the entire course which helped because it was a little confusing at first glance.  I grabbed a last minute GU and when it was finally time for my wave to go, we jumped in, treaded water for about five minutes, then took off.  About halfway through, we made a turn straight into the sun and I couldn't see a thing.  I started just following the group around me because I had no idea where the next bouy was.  I ended up going a little wide and wasted some time looking for the bouy which hurt a little, though I'm sure pretty much everyone had the same problem.  The swim was in Lake Chaplain and it was beautiful, though that wasn't something I  really got to appreciate until I saw the pictures afterwards :-). 

Bike- 1:10:23 (24/77)

I had driven the bike course the day before the race and was a little nervous after seeing how hilly it was.  It was a lollipop-shaped course and the first half was tough!  We had a little bit of a headwind and a lot of climbing, but once we hit the turnaround, it was pretty nice.  We still had a few climbs, but the majority was flat or downhill.  I was passing a lot of women, but most of them were from the 30-34 age group that had gone in the wave before us.  I only noticed about 8-10 girls in my age group that I passed and with the way that the course was, it was hard for me to get an idea of whether I was in the front, middle, or back of my wave.

Run- 40:59 (13/77)

Right out of T2 there was a killer hill.  For those of you who have done grandman, it was similar to that hill, but a little longer.  Once I got over that, got my legs under me, and took in a GU I felt surprisingly good.  I wasn't sure what to expect after the tough ride.  The run course wasn't too bad, after the first hill, there was just a gradual uphill until about halfway through after which it was pretty flat.  A lot of the run was on a bike path with some parts shaded which was nice.  The lack of humidity was great too!! 

Finish 2:22:49 (25/77 in my age group 112/664 overall females)

Once I finished, I really had no idea how I had done, I felt like I had a pretty decent bike and run, but didn't feel great about the swim.  The good thing about this race is that you can get a print out of your results as soon as you are finished.  When I got mine, I was a little disappointed that I didn't finish in the top 20 in my age group (my goal going into the race), but I was glad to see that there was still a chance that I could get a spot to go to the World Championship race next October which I should hopefully find out within a week or two.

We really had a great time in Vermont.  It was a cool little town and some of the mountains and lakes were breathtaking.  As always, the race was well organized and top notch. 

Vermont Part 1: Road Trip

Last week me and Matt set out for Burlington, VT where the USATriathlon Age Group Nationals race was being held.  After 3,317 miles, 7 days, 12 states, and a few visits with good friends and relatives we are thankfully home.  We had so much fun, but by the last day were tired of driving and ready to sleep in our own beds again.

Day 1 (Wednesday)
We got kind of a late start leaving Pensacola because we had to stop at the tax collector's office on the way out of town.  We bought a new car the day before we left and had to get the registration and everything taken care of.  My old car's A/C was broken and it was on its last leg so we were happy to find something before we left for our trip.  We drove about 9 hrs to northeastern Tennessee where our friends the Osteens live.  Allison was my volleyball and basketball coach when I was in middle school.  We always have so much fun catching up with her an her husband and enjoy getting to see the kids so we were glad they were on the way.  It was nice to have a comfy bed and some delicious cookies right out of the oven.  We were spoiled.

Day 2 (Thursday)
Before we headed out, Jon and Allison made an awesome breakfast of whole wheat waffles and a ton of fresh fruit that we used to make fresh juice.  Unfortunately we couldn't hang around too long as this was our long day of driving.  It was a thirteen hour drive from their place to our hotel in Burlington.  The drive went pretty smoothly, it was just long.  We got to our hotel around 10:30 that night.

Day 3 (Friday)
I woke up Friday morning and did a quick spin on the trainer followed by a short run outside.  The weather was so much nicer than Pensacola, cooler and no humidity.  After breakfast, me and Matt drove to a lake that was about 45 minutes away from our hotel so I could get a short swim in.  The lake was beautiful, surrounded by trees and mountains. 

That afternoon, we drove over to the expo/packet pick-up to pick up my numbers, swim cap, chip, etc.  Then we went to check my bike in.  Once that was taken care of, we drove the bike course so I could get an idea of what to expect.  There were some beautiful views along the way that I made sure to enjoy because I knew I probably wouldn't even notice them during the race.  I also realized it was a pretty hilly course which made me a little nervous.

Checking my bike in

One of the views from the bike course

Day 4 (Saturday)
This was race day.  (I'll have more details about the race in my race report).  After the race was over, we went back to the hotel, got something to eat, and got cleaned up.  Then, we found a place where we could rent kayaks on Lake Champlain. That lake is huge and some of the views are breathtaking.  We paddled around for about an hour and a half before we headed over to the race award ceremony.

Day 5 (Sunday)
We checked out of our hotel on Sunday morning and headed out for Gales Ferry, CT where I lived until I was eight years old.  I hadn't been back there since 1998 so I had a blast driving around to all of the old, familiar places.  We stopped by our old house, my elementary school, the base my dad used to work at, and some of the places we used to go for fun.  Everything seemed so much smaller than I remembered.  That evening we stayed with my Aunt Janet and her husband Brian.  They made us an incredible dinner, which was a nice change from fast food.  We also got to see my cousin Robert and his wife who also happened to be passing through. 

Day 6 (Monday)
There is a reservoir right down the road from Janet and Brian's house, so me and Matt woke up around 5:30 and went for a run around it.  It was beautiful, we ran over the dam and mostly on trails as the sun was coming up.  After a quick breakfast, we headed out on what we figured would be about a five hour trip to Pennsylvania.  It ended up taking closer to eight hours due to some bad traffic. We were so happy to finally make it to my aunt and uncle's house.  We went to dinner with them and enjoyed a nice evening catching up.
They are always great hosts and made us feel like we were at home.

Day 7 (Tuesday)
The plan for today was to drive back to the Osteen's house in Tennessee, spend the night with them, and then finish the trip up on Wednesday.  However, we were making good time and when we got about an hour and a half away, we started contemplating just driving straight home.  As much as we hated not getting to visit with them again, we really liked the idea of not spending another full day in the car.  We decided to go for it and after a full day of driving, finally made it home at about one o'clock in the morning. It was late and we were exhausted, but glad to be back.