Alicia Kaye

Minneapolis Triathlon

2011-07-27T13:32:00.000-07:00

Racing in Minneapolis was probably one of the most professional race experiences I have had as a professional triathlete. There were a lot of people that helped make that happen, but I have to commend Lifetime Fitness for putting together a team of people that could pull off an event like this. I expected race day to be hot; however, Mother Nature had other plans. The storm clouds rolled in and we were hoping the thunder and lightning were going to hold off long enough for us to get our swim in. In fact, it was even a little chilly on the start line!

Luckily the race started without a hitch and the men started 10:43 back of us for the equalizer. The first man or women to cross the line would receive an additional $5000. I wasn’t able to hold the feet of McLarty and ended up leading the main chase group through most of the swim. I exited the water in a pack of three other women. The water was warm (84 degrees) so I was looking forward to getting out! We exited almost 90 seconds back of McLarty and Haskins. I had a good T1 and started pushing the pace on the bike immediately.

Sarah Haskins showed me a lot of the bike course the day before and I’m so happy I got a preview because the course wasn’t super technical but the road surface was on the bumpier side. With a light rain it made for slick conditions and I played it very safe around the corners. About 40 minutes into the bike I saw my good friend Sara McLarty up the road. I worked hard to chase but had to be sure to do a decisive pass because the road was so narrow that it was impossible to catch up without moving into the draft zone. I was able to make the pass cleanly and worked hard trying to catch Haskins up the road. I was getting a lot of conflicting information- I was told everything from 1min to a 3 min gap. I really didn’t know what to expect until I got to T2 and counted on the announcer for the time gap.

Turns out I had kept the gap the same for the majority of the course but lost a lot of time in the more technical section with blind corners that I didn’t preview the day before. The funny part was that Haskins was the one saying to me, “Are you sure you don’t want to see it?”- I should have listened! Either way I had the second fastest bike split of the day! I went onto the run 2:30 back and was ready to push the run. I heard from some reliable sources on the course that I had put over 2 minutes on the rest of the girls on the bike. The men were about 90 seconds behind me starting the run.

Matt Reid passed me right at the half way point on the run. I was eventually passed by a couple more men on the second lap of the run, but crossed the line very satisfied with my 2nd place in the women’s race and I think it was, 6th place in the equalizer. I am still leading the Lifetime Series which is exciting. I also received my official invite to Hy Vee! I’m writing this race report on my way to London where I will be racing the London Triathlon. I’m looking forward to trying to improve upon my 4th place finish from last year. Thanks for reading!!

Philly Tri

2011-07-23T06:35:00.000-07:00

One of the aspects I like about racing in Philly is that the boys and girls start together. Some athletes don’t like this, but it gives me more feet to chase, so I enjoy it! I felt ok in the swim but not my best. The course is a straight shot down the river, and I exited with a group of 3 other women and some men of course.

The bike course in Philly is super hilly. It’s a nice change of pace to be honest- so many tt courses are out and back, flat and fast so it was good to have some hills along with good technical corners. I rode hard and by the end of the bike course I had caught race leader, Sara McLarty. I came off the bike with the fastest bike split of the day and the lead going onto the run. I ran in the lead through a mile and then was passed. I matched their pace and ran with them through 4 miles and then after multiple attacks a gap formed that I just couldn’t close. I ran very solidly and crossed the line in 2nd place.

This performance kept me in the lead of the Lifetime Series.

DC Tri 51.50

2011-07-15T14:31:00.000-07:00

My preparation leading into DC wasn’t exactly ideal. I had a cyst on my back that became infected suddenly and it needed to be removed. Five days prior to race day I had the surgery to remove the cyst and it’s contents. YUM! I’ve never had surgery and I was amazed by how sore you were when the local anesthetic wore off. I ended up doing very little leading into the race. I was very excited to race in DC since I am a new American citizen. The DC tri is famous for it’s amazing views of the capitol as you race towards the finish. I also had the opportunity to race in front of some very close friends who live in DC.

Jarrod came to DC with me to help out with a charity event as well as help me out with the travel. I felt pretty good on race day and felt I would be able to race without too much pain. I knew the swim was going to be the biggest struggle for me and not too long into the swim my body just shut down. I think I made it to about 500m feeling ok, but I just hit a brick wall. I felt terrible but did my best to not get too upset about it because the beauty of a non draft race is that you’re never truly out of the race. I came into T1, and knowing that I was behind and hit the bike very motivated to make up time. At about 10k I had moved into 2nd place and worked hard with Becky Lavelle to push the pace and make time on race leader and swim stud, Sara McLarty.

I went out onto the run feeling great! I moved into 1st place at about mile 1 and ran the entire course holding onto about a 40 second gap on 2nd place. Jarrod gave me splits along the way, which was incredibly helpful- I wish he could be at every race. I was so happy as I ran towards the capital- it was more emotional than I expected. This was my first win of the year and hope I can squeeze out a few more as the season progresses!

Cap Tex Triathlon

2011-07-15T14:24:00.000-07:00

My first trip to Texas! I was really looking forward to this trip because I have family in Austin that I knew would make the trip that much more special. The swim was pretty uneventful for the women, but most of the mens race was sent off course! I didn’t feel awesome in the water and though I was moving fairly well, our group lost over a minute to super swimmers McLarty, Haskins, Duffy, Oeink and Brandon.

I mounted my bike very motivated to catch up. I picked off a few people and came off the bike in 4th place. I went onto the run with 2nd and 3rd place not too far up the road. I moved into 2nd place by the half way point of the run. Haskins was way up the road, so I knew my goal was to continue to run hard and hold on to my place.

Finishing in second place, put me 2nd in the Lifetime Series!

Monterry World Cup

2011-07-15T14:19:00.000-07:00

The race started at 8am due to the warm temperatures, so I was up early and on the course warming up before the sun had risen. I was warming up with my teammate Gwen Gorgensen on the bike course, when we encountered a barrier that was going across the course. To make a long story short, I crashed, slowly but I went down. It was a stupid mistake, but I didn’t want to make a big deal of it. The rest of warm up went smoothly and avoided any further crashes.

The swim was a big confusing mess, but I knew this was going to be the case after racing on the course last year. I exited at the back of the first pack. I had a good T1 and settled into the main group. The bike was uneventful, it became clear that it was going to come down a fast run.

The run was not nearly as hot as it was expected to be. The pace out of T2 was super fast as usual and I settled into my pace. As each lap went by I was feeling stronger and stronger. I worked hard with another athlete from Spain. She was about a foot shorter than me, but we traded off pushing the pace and we were able to drop the girls that were running near us. I had an excellent finish, placing 17th in my first world cup of the season.

St. Anthony's Triathlon

2011-05-13T15:39:00.000-07:00

The winds were strong on race day and it resulted in a change of swim venue. The swim course was 1000m and there was an approximately 800m run to T1. I was just off the back of the lead pack out the water, and worked hard during the run to T1 and immediately pushed the pace on the bike.

I was able to catch "the pack" within a few kilometers on the bike and move into second place. There were 6 girls riding together, or pacing off each other. Regardless of drafting rules and all the officials out there, not a single penalty was called on our group, so I have to assume that everyone behind me wasn't drafting. Packs are going to happen when you have this many talented people racing together; we're competitive, this is our living, no one is going to let anyone get up the road if they can help it. However, this is exactly why draft legal racing was created.

I came off the bike with Blatchford, McLarty, Luxford, Cleaver, and Groff. Running out of T1 Blatchford was setting the pace; I got on her shoulder and planned on holding on for as long as I could. She dropped me just before the 1 mile marker, but I put in another surge to get back on her shoulder. I stayed with her through 3 miles, but after a surge from Liz I was no longer able to match her pace. I stayed in 3rd place until 4 miles and then Sarah Groff came by me. I did my best to stay with her, but I moved into 4th. I had a solid gap on 5th and worked hard to keep 3rd place as close as possible. I crossed the line in 4th place, extremely satisfied with my race. I've race St. A's three times, my first time I was 10th, last year I was 6th and this year 4th.

Thanks for reading!

MIT & Nautica South Beach

2011-04-11T17:19:00.000-07:00

MIT

On March 20, I raced the Miami International Triathlon. It was my first Olympic distance race of the season. I was really nervous going into the race for some reason. I usually get nervous for my first one of the season. I had a great warm up and everything and donned some clear goggles for our early morning start.

The gun went off and I got on the fast feet of Christine Jeffrey. I was hoping we'd be able to hold onto McLarty but she was gone right away. I came out of the water in 3rd place and took off on the bike. I had a rough start after getting sent off course briefly. I began riding and I honestly thought I was going ok, but I was getting caught by girls about half way through the bike and that I had out swam by over a minute. I upped the pace with the girls around me and rode most of the second loop pacing off of two other girls.

I came off the bike with a bunch of girls and I fell slowly off the pace. I felt flat and finished up 6th place, and pretty disappointed with the race. More importantly I was motivated to get back to training. I spent three weeks doing tt sessions with Sara Haskins, literally getting schooled on how to ride steady watts. It was a fantastic opportunity and I'm so grateful to have her as a training partner. I had a great three weeks of training and I was really looking forward to a little redemption in South Beach.

Nautica South Beach Triathlon

I had never been South Beach before, and it is nothing like I could have imagined. I completely missed the pro meeting because I couldn't find parking. I have never seen so many people! It was insanity. I couldn't wrap my mind around how we were going to have a triathlon at this place the next day.

Race morning started early with a 4am wake up call. I ate breakfast and got a ride down to the race site with my awesome homestay. I set up transition and went for a run warm up with Haskins. We couldn't even find the swim start at first because it was so dark! I got in a short swim up and before I knew it, we were toeing the line.

I had a good start and knew I wanted to get behind some fast boys in the water. It was kind of cool starting with the boys. I lost Haskins and McLarty in the water and focused on catching people throughout the swim. I caught and swam through three different groups of boys and exited the water a minute back of McLarty and Haskins. I went onto the bike in fourth place and moved into third about 5 miles into the bike. I knew I was riding better than in MIT and did my best to stay focused on keeping the pace fast. I got slowed down a few times on the course, once by a bus that stopped across the bike course and another time by a group ride of about 50 cyclists that decided to cross the course. I couldn't believe it!!!

I went onto the run in 3rd place, 2:40 down from second place. The run course was out and back on a boardwalk in South Beach. It was not closed to pedestrian traffic. It wasn't too busy at that hour in the morning, but there were plenty of walkers and runners on the course. Near the turn around I could see that Haskins had a big lead, but that McLarty wasn't too far ahead of me. Shortly afterwards I got to see where the people behind me were. Nicole Kelleher and Becca Wassner were not too far behind. I felt like I was moving well and that there was a good chance I'd be able to hold them off.

At mile four I passed McLarty, and hoped that my pace would be good enough for 2nd place because I was starting to feel the heat of South Beach. Not too long after I passed McLarty, Nicole passed me, and I matched her pace for about 400m. It wasn't even 9am yet, but I was beginning to overheat, and I had to slow my pace. With a mile to go, I knew it was do or die and time to dig in for 3rd place. With about half a mile to go to the finish Becca came by me and I just couldn't respond. I always wonder whether you should look back and I almost did a few times, but I didn't so I would stay focused on being in third and part of me sort of wished I had just looked back! Maybe if I had seen how close she was I could have dug that little bit deeper. Who knows, either way I was very happy with 4th place. My bike split was over 2 minutes faster on essentially the same course, my run split was solid and so was my swim.

Next I will race at the St. Anthony's Triathlon. It should be extremely competitive so I'm looking forward to the opportunity to really push the pace against some the best girls in the sport!

Clermont ITU Triathlon

2011-03-10T08:51:00.000-08:00

This past weekend, I competed in my first triathlon of the season. It was so nice to race at home, and sleep in my own bed the night before the race. It wasn't as hot as we expected, so race conditions were ideal.

We arrived at the race site in time to see our coach, Tim Crowley, race in the first ever age group draft legal race! It was incredibly exciting to watch, I really hope that we can continue to see more draft legal races across the US.

The water was right at 68 degrees, the race before us was wetsuit legal and our was not. So it was a little chilly in the warm up. I had a great start position, and a great line to the first buoy. I actually smiled when I was out with the lead right next to McLarty. We had practiced our swim entries the week before to the point of laughter and it was so much fun to get to do in the race, exactly what we practiced. Sara had about a 10 second lead on me exiting the water. Hot my heals, were Helen Jenkins, Sara Haskins and Flora Duffy.

We entered transition with a VERY small gap on the group. I could clearly hear Nate Korteum screaming at us to go now. So we hit it immediately and we had a gap of 25 seconds by the end of first loop. Our group of 5 was working hard, but so was the chase group with a lot more people in it, and we were only able to get about 5 seconds a lap.

We came off the bike with a 30 second lead. The second I stood up I felt my abdomen strain. With one side of my abdomen unable to work, I just didn't have the pop in my stride that I expected to have. I did the best I could, but I was flat. I held on for 10th place- it was fantastic to see so many women pushing the pace on the run.

I am now ranked 55th on the ITU points list. I'm looking forward to racing MIT next weekend!

Thanks for reading!

2010 Season OVER!

2010-11-08T13:11:00.001-08:00

I've been a bad girl and haven't wrote a post in a long time. The truth is, things unraveled pretty quickly after my last post. In my final week of training leading into Budapest (World Championship Series Grand Finale), I managed to pull my left hamstring. The USAT staff did an incredible job (thank you Robby, Camille, Dr. Keith and Diana) getting me ready to go for race day. About half way onto the bike it was clear that the hamstring wasn't happy...I probably should have stopped...but I didn't. It was my first worlds as a pro, and my first worlds as an American, I just couldn't stop. I remember being thankful I had sunglasses on because I had tears in my eyes for pretty much the entire run. My hamstring hurt, but the agony of not being able to perform in Budapest was far more painful. I had to pull out of the final French Grand Prix race and get back to the US immediately to seek treatment.

I spent two weeks and the hamstring just wasn't improving. Even more alarming was the fact that my energy was rock bottom. There was no way I was going to be able to race US Nationals; another massive disappointment. Finally my body turned the corner a few days after US Nationals and I began to feel my energy improving and the hamstring stopped hurting. My spirits improved and I began to look forward to racing at Pan American Championships in Puerto Valarta.

My body held together for Pan Ams, but the energy just wasn't completely there. I felt like I was operating at about 60%. I also really struggle in the heat, so it was just a bad combination for me. I raced ok until the run, and I didn't excel in the heat. We did however, get some great core body temp data:)

After Pan Ams, Jarrod and I went back to MA for a week. We were supposed to be returning for my Oath Ceremony to become an American Citizen but they moved the date at the last minute to Nov. 23rd. While Jarrod got acquainted with his new cyclocross bike, I continued to prepare for my final race of the season; the Super Sprint Triathlon Grand Prix. Training was going ok, but I could feel my energy dwindling. My hamstring began to act up again, and I knew I just had to hold tight for another 10 days and my body would finally get to rest for the season.

We went out to San Diego and spent some time with our biomechanist. My body was not as bad as I thought, but my energy was definitely still on the lower side. The Super Sprint was completely awesome. Marc Lees did such an amazing job putting on the event. It was the most painful hour of my life, but I had so much fun!! It was the PERFECT final race of the season. I am so excited for the series next year!

So 2010 is done for me:) Finally:) It's been a very long season. I achieved things this year I did not believe I could achieve at the beginning of the year. I'm enjoying some rest right now, and then look forward to some fun training before 2011.

Thanks for reading!!

Tours Grand Prix

2010-09-03T03:48:00.000-07:00

This was my second Grand Prix race with my team Chateauroux. It was my teammates (Magalie Di Marco) final race in her long and successful career. She won the bronze medal in Sydney, retired, had a child and returned to the sport very successfully. I really wanted us, as a team, to race our best and help make Magalie's final race memorable.

We were called out to the start line very early and it was cold. The carpet on the pontoon was warm so Magalie and I laid down to keep warm. It turned out to be a funny photo opportunity. I had a good start was able to get a clean line on the outside because we were so far left on the start line. I came out of the water in the first group and pushed the pace immediately on the bike. However, this only lasted for a lap or two as everyone just started sitting up. Absolutely no work was being done. I was riding at the front, and going easy. I was wondering if anyone behind me was even pedaling?! There were a few attacks on the bike that I got involved in, but nothing stuck. On the last lap, the group behind us caught up that had a couple good runners from Bauvais.

The run didn't go out as fast as Paris GP, but there were some very good girls pushing the pace. The run was two loops and was half on uneven grass. I wanted to really push the pace on the grass and pick of a few girls. I was able to move past 5 girls on the first loop. On the second lap I was running in a small group with Katherine Mueller and Magalie. Magalie is a very strong runner, I was already hurting like "h-e-double hockey sticks" after pushing the grass section, but I saw it as an opportunity to go somewhere new that I haven't been before with my run. So I said a big HELLO to pain, and continued to push the pace.

Just before the grass section I had faded a bit; Magalie and Katherine were up the road about 10m. The final grass section was brutal, I thought I'd be able to close the gap, but it was staying the same. Finally, I saw one of the coaches from Chateauroux and he was absolutely screaming at me, "ALLER ALLER ALLER ALICIA!! ALLER!!!", so "allered";) I absolutely poured everything I had left to pass Katherine (who races for Poissy) and cross the line in 11th place. The pain was worth it because Chateauroux placed 3rd! If I had not passed Katherine we would have tied for 3rd with Poissy. With all these points and team standings on the line, it reminds me a lot of running cross country in University. You have to be hungry to pass every person you can! In French Grand Prix racing, your top three athletes count towards points. My teammates Ricarda Lisk was 6th and Magalie Di Marco was 10th. It was a great day!

I'm very excited with the result, and very happy for our team. I was also happy to be a part of Magalie's final race in her very successful career. I have this weekend off of racing after four weekends in a row. Phew! My next race is World Championships in Hungary.

Sprint World Champs

2010-08-31T03:49:00.001-07:00

After feeling less than great in Kitzbuhel, I had a chat with Coach TC and determined that it was time to get a training block in. While in Europe I had to rest a lot thanks to travel and racing, it had been over a month since I’d really had an opportunity to train. I got a few key sessions prior to leaving for Lausanne and felt MUCH better. Jarrod and I also had the opportunity to do a bit of training with Greg and Laura Bennett. They have so much experience in our sport that it’s great to spend time with them chatting about the “old days”, different race experiences, training ideas and just the busy life of triathletes.
Race day was beautiful, pretty much idea race conditions. I chatted with Cam Dye and Dustin McLarty about their start position and made my decision. I got incredibly lucky and found a spot in pretty much an ideal spot. I had a good start and got off on the feet of Emma Moffat and Lisa Norden. As we started to head back towards the exit ramp, I could see that I was still in a good position. I exited the water and saw I was a little further back than I had realized, I put my head down on the bike and got on the group. We weren’t too far back from the next group and we caught them on the second lap of the four lap bike. Unfortunately, Lisa Norden, Daniella Ryf and Emma Moffat had gotten away early on the bike and created a gap immediately. We were not able to close the gap and came off about a minute down.
I went onto the run after having a good T2. I was amazed how good I felt starting the run. When I came around on the first loop, I was outrunning some really good girls. I was feeling really excited and I could see that if I could hold on to the pace, that I could come top 15. I was able to hold my position and cross the finish line in 14th place. I was very excited about this result. This is my highest placing at a world championship ever. I have another French Grand Prix race this weekend in Tours. Thanks for reading!

Kitzbuhel WCS

2010-08-31T03:42:00.000-07:00

Kitzbuhel was the most beautiful place I had ever been. I have to admit, despite all nature’s beauty around me, I was feeling sluggish and wasn’t feeling especially inspired to race. The toughest aspect of draft legal racing, especially at the WCS level, is that you psychologically have to be so engaged while racing. It’s not like a non draft where you can race in your own world, put your head down and disengage every now in then. That time doesn’t exist, if it does, you just got dropped.
I sensed this leading into the race and made a special race strategy to help me stay engaged and excited to race. Race day weather started out super rainy and then it dried up, and it was almost hot for the race start. I wasn’t super excited about my start spot- it was obvious from watching the men’s race that the right was faster and the closest I could get was spot 31. At the gun, I hit the water and started hammering immediately. My goal was to get clean of the congestion, but I just couldn’t get away, and I could feel my energy fading quickly. I got pulled back once and before I knew it I was at the back. I was suddenly completely exhausted and I became complacent. Instead of reacting to things and responding to my surroundings, I just swam.
I got onto the bike and expected to feel better, but I didn’t. I wasn’t even able to help out with the pace of our group. I simply felt flat. Jarrod had raced the day before and felt the exact same way. We hadn’t discussed this until post race, but Kitzbuhel is at 800m elevation. It’s the only reason we can think of as to why we both felt so off since we do none of our training at altitude. We raced well before and after Kitzbuhel so something was going on. Anyways, people were dropping like flies in the race so I decided to stick with it.
I got onto the run and felt ok, but definitely not great. I just didn’t have that push that I needed to run fast. I ran solidly, and came 44th. Definitely not the result I was looking for. It was really frustrating to look at the results and see what place I would have come had I just had an average swim day, instead of a horrendous one like I had. Not every day can be great, and regardless of the result, there are incredible learning opportunities in every race.

The London Triathlon

2010-08-10T03:55:00.000-07:00

My preparation for the London Triathlon was not exactly the most ideal situation. On Wednesday morning I left Paris for Boston to take my US citizenship exam. I arrived late Wednesday night in Boston, wrote the exam on Thursday morning, did a few workouts and went back to the airport. My flight out of Boston was delayed by almost 4 hours due to weather in Boston and Washington. I ended up on the later flight out of Washington, which wasn’t all bad because business class seats (thanks to miles for an upgrade!) were lay flat. I got to London and did my best to recover in time for race day.
It was an in water start and got pushed to the inside and ended up in the lead group. I decided to let everyone else set the pace and rest. The swim was uneventful but the exit was not! We had to take off our wetsuits immediately and put them in plastic bags because transition was indoors and they didn’t want the floors to get wet. I took off my wetsuit quickly, went up two flights of stairs, and ran well to my bike, but in the process of throwing my wetsuit bag down I knocked over my helmet and sunglasses. After collecting those, I almost missed the group!
The bike was BEYOND frustrating. I tried multiple attacks because we were not working well together. It kept getting pulled back in unfortunately but finally after the turn around, I heard a crash behind me. I didn’t even look back and immediately yelled to Helen Jenkins and Jodie Stimpson to go! We went and ended up as a group of 8 I think. I didn’t realize it at the time, but it turned out the crash involved Vicki Holland. We stayed together on the bike, but we still weren’t working well together. The effort was inconsistent, but I was happy we were no longer a larger pack.
I took my feet out of my shoes too early, so I sort of screwed up my approach to T2. I was sure that I was going to be completely exhausted after attacking so much on the bike, but my legs weren’t too bad at all. I caught onto Liz Blatchford and ran with her for the first 3.5k. She continued to build the run, and I wasn’t able to hold on. On lap 3 I really began to feel the effects of all the travel in the days prior to the race. I did my best to hold on to the pace, but I was slowing down about 20 seconds per lap. I ran in for 4th place, extremely happy with the result considering the week I had prior to the race. Jarrod came in 3rd in the mens race, so it was a great day for both of us!!

London WCS

2010-08-10T03:53:00.000-07:00

One week after my race in Paris, Jarrod and I took the train from France to London to race London WCS. It was really really really nice to be in an English speaking area to give myself a break mentally from having to think about everything I need to say. Plus it was great to see the rest of team USA.
Hyde Park was beautiful, and the course was flat and very fast. Race day weather was pretty much ideal, but the water was on the chillier side of a non wetsuit swim, so I warmed up in my wetsuit. I had a horrible start. I was pulled back immediately and decided to go inside left. This didn’t work out so well for me as all the top ranked girls were far right; the water was moving a whole lot faster over there. Our race split into two main groups with many of the race favorites in the second group.
I got onto the bike and looked around and saw a ton of fast runners and got the information immediately that four Americans were up the road in the front group. I knew that I could not contribute to the effort to close the gap between us in the front group with so many of my teammates up the road. I stayed near the front to avoid any crashes but rested a lot so I could do my best to run fast. As we dismounted our bikes the gap grew to 90 seconds. I focused on having a fast 10k and catching as many girls as I could.

I was moving quite well, and slowly picking off people. I could see I wasn’t moving that much slower than the girls up the road, so I stayed motivated to try and get a PB for myself. I picked off a few more people in the last lap that went out much harder than I did and came 37th. I was happy with the result because our pack didn’t close the gap on the bike meaning that a couple of American women were able to have great results and not get caught by the faster runners in our pack AND I almost ran a PB! This result moved me up to 54th on the WCS points list.

Paris Grand Prix

2010-08-10T03:38:00.000-07:00

The first weekend I arrived in France, I raced my very first French Grand Prix triathlon. This series is truly unique. The French Grand Prix is a series of sprint distance draft legal triathlons that take place all over France. Each team represents a town within France. I am on Chateauroux. I met my team the day before the race, they were all French speaking, so I did my best to speak my horrible French. However, it turned out that quite a few girls on the team had excellent English.

Our race time was at 6am right under the Eifel Tower. There were an assortment of drunk people still staggering home from the bars who thought it would be a good idea to strip and get in the water with us- they were quickly pulled out by marshals. Our team has first choice of the pontoon and our team captain, Magalie DeMarco- Messmer, chose the straightest line. We were swimming in the Seine, which was cool and I didn’t get sick post race so that was awesome. I had a great swim and exited the water in about 10^th place. It was a long run to transition, and I got on my bike with all the major players and the pace was pushed immediately but then all of sudden everyone sat up. I looked back and there had to be about 40 girls in our pack- everyone had made it! So it was going to be a running race. I sat in as much as I could while staying near the front and out of trouble.

As T2 approached there was naturally a whole lot of jockeying for position. I came in about 10^thplace and entered the run course and was passed immediately by a lot of people. I guess that’s what people do in these races since it’s literally an all out sprint! I built into my run over the two loop course and moved myself into the top 20. I picked off a few more people on the last loop and place 18^th. I was really happy with the result and had a great time. I will do two more of these before heading back to America in the September.

Hy Vee Elite Cup

2010-06-26T11:05:00.000-07:00

Jarrod and I traveled straight from Madrid to Des Moines, IA to prepare for Hy Vee. We were very fortunate to have an incredible homestay. We stayed outside the city with Joe and Chris Fleskoski who made us so comfortable we literally didn’t want to leave! The days leading into the race were very stormy. There were multiple thunder and lightning storms daily. Race day was no different, we woke up to a crazy thunderstorm with two more scheduled to hit later in the day during our races. To be honest, I wasn’t even sure we were going to be able to race. Hy Vee had to cancel the kids races the day before and the radar was not looking pretty. Sure enough the rain held off and we were able to start our race. I went right in the middle of the pontoon. I don’t know how anyone gets out cleanly, I immediately was pushed back and to the inside. I was sure it was going to be bad around the inside of the buoy but it wasn’t bad- I was really far back though. I put my head down and went as hard as I could. I started passing people and came out of the water with Shoemaker and Ellis after lap 1. I could see the front pack was literally 10 seconds ahead of us. I dove in after the first loop and made up some serious ground, and got onto the lead group. We were heading into the swim exit with about 200 meters to go I ended up in an ultra inefficient swimming sandwich (I was in the middle) that resulted in us missing the lead pack. A small group of us formed including myself, Shoemaker and Ellis. We were able to bridge up to the lead group after three laps. I tried to rest as much as I could as it was getting hot out. The rest of the ride was uneventful- nothing much can happen when 25 girls are riding together and there is limited space. I came off the bike about mid pack and went for it. I felt good and was running really well through 2.5k and then the temperature hit me. I was overheating pretty badly and had to pull back the pace more than I wanted to. I ended up running very solidly and placing in 21st place. This result pushed me up to 48th in the world on the ITU points list, 37th on the Olympic rankings list and 54th on the WCS points list. I’m going to do a fun local race this weekend and then it’ll be off the Europe for the summer for lots of racing!

Madrid WCS

2010-06-26T10:59:00.000-07:00

After a solid result in Seoul, I had a great start number for Madrid. Again, I was very happy with my start position. I got out very smoothly and jumped onto a good swimmers feet. I was out beautifully until the banana buoy. I really think these cause major problems in draft legal races. Trying to swim on an arch for that length of time just stinks. I went way to wide and ended up losing the first pack. With our top Americans up the road in the main group, I was not going to contribute to the efforts of our chase group. Instead I pushed the downhill and sat in for everything else. It was HOT out there; I went through both of my bottles on the bike. The run course was shaded but they screwed up one of the water stations by putting it to one side of the road, and it was supposed to be in the middle of the road so we would pass it in both directions. Unfortunately we had to go almost two kilometers of each lap without water. This really got to me on laps three and four. I finished up as the 3^rd American again, and placed 43^rd. Lesson learned: Sometimes you just gotta throw yourself in the middle of the swim pack, getting bumped around is a part of the game now.

Seoul WCS

2010-06-26T10:53:00.000-07:00

Travels to Korea went smoothly. Race day weather was pretty much ideal other than a short delay in the start of the women’s race. I was really happy with my start position; I had a great swim and exited the water in about 20^th place. I had the 2nd fastest T1 of the day and was able to get onto the lead chase pack. The bike course labeled “technical” was beyond technical, it was just silly. The course had almost 20 turns a lap, with 4 of them being u-turns. We rode on pavement, carpet on top of grass, pavers, carpet, bridges over fountains, etc- it was an adventure!! About 1 minute back was a chase back full of strong riders and fast runners. With about two laps to go, our pack grew since we were caught by the pack behind us chasing. Despite multiple attacks on the bike it just wasn’t breaking up. On paper the bike course looked like the perfect course to get away on or for major crashes, but alas, nothing stuck and everyone stayed up. It was going to come down to a running race. I hit me pretty early on that I worked too hard on the bike. I ran solidly, but deteriorated as the run went on. I still had an excellent race in my WCS racing debut, finishing as 3^rd American and 25^th overall.

St. Anthony's Triathlon

2010-04-27T17:20:00.000-07:00

Race day began in the dark as race start time was 6:55am. I had a clean start and was on Laura Bennett's feet for about 5 seconds; Laura and Haskin's absolutely took off! I've made it my new goal to be able to have that kind of start speed. It was INSANE! The swim was going smoothly, until we got out of the protection of the pier and then the waves began. On the final left hand turn leading into to shore, our swim pack missed it and kept swimming. We probably only lost about 15 seconds, but it definitely broke our pack apart. We corrected ourselves and headed in towards the swim exit; the final stretch seemed to take forever. The waves were pushing us hard off course so you had to work hard to hold your line.

Finally we hit the exit and the group of us consisted of some great swimmers including Oneick, Swallow, and Stimpson. I struggled a bit with my swim skin, so I was a little slow in T1. We went onto the bike and I moved into the lead of our "group" and immediately my training partner Jill Petersen hammered by me. She was absolutely flying. The wind was pretty intense at different points on the course, but none of the people I passed re-passed me. With about 7 miles to go Carfrae came by me and gave my the little extra motivation to push; in the last few miles we were able to close the gap to Laura Bennett.

I came into T2 right on the heels of Carfrae and Bennett. They immediately set the pace on the run. I really wanted to go with them, but I just felt flat. I was moving ok...but I could tell that I just didn't have that extra gear that I had in Monterrey the previous weekend. Jodie Stimpson came by me and I did my best to stick to her, but again, I just didn't have it. I ran my own race and the gap to Laura stayed at about 20 seconds. I held my position in the field and came across the finish line in 6th place. I was really pleased with the result considering how much I've raced in the last few weeks. My run was still very solid considering how I felt (37:06). I also had the 4th fastest bike split. So all in all, it was a good day!

Next on tap is my very first World Championship Series race in Seoul, Korea. Thank you for reading!

Monterrey World Cup

2010-04-21T15:49:00.000-07:00

Travel to Monterrey was painless; I met up with Jarrod in Houston along the way after being apart for three weeks, so it was great to see him again. We arrived late Thursday night prior to our Sunday race. Weather leading into the race had been wet every morning but dried up by the afternoon. The race course was completely unique. The swim was inside a canal that resembled an over sized lazy river, but was incredibly narrow for a world cup field. The bike course was on an F1 race track and the run course was flat and fast. The mountains made the back drop for the race amazing. On paper this race site is perfect, unless you factored in 40-60 comparable triathletes swimming in 3 feet of water and 15 meters of width to fit in AND the potential for rain on the very technical bike course.

Race morning arrived and I peered out my window to see the pavement drying up after raining all night; the bike course was going to be safe at least. Warm up went smoothly but it was unseasonably cool out, so after exiting the swim warm up it was difficult to stay warm. Soon we were on the pontoon and waiting for start. I decided to go as far right as I could to avoid the bottle neck in the swim course that was only about 50m in. However, I was about the 15th person from the right, so I decided that if I had a clean start I'd commit to the start speed I needed maintain, if not, I was going to beeline it for the far right. This is exactly what happened. Right after we came up from the dive someones forearm pushed on my shoulder, and that's the only incentive I needed to go as far right as I could. It was a longer line, but it was clean. It let me avoid the congestion. Unfortunately, it meant that I was JUST off the back of the first break in the swim packs. I went for it and tried to close the gap, but just couldn't maintain the pace and fell back to the 2nd group.

At one point in the swim I looked around and saw Mary Beth Ellis on my left, Margie Shapiro was also in the group and Jenna Shoemaker (my sister-in-law) was right on my hip/ feet. I could see that we were not too far off the group and with these girls I felt confident that we could close the gap on the bike. We were about 30 seconds down coming out of the water. We brought the gap down to 25 seconds at one point on the bike, but with a lap to go our group was less than motivated because we weren't going to catch the front group. The pace slowed and we lost an additional 15 seconds. Going onto the run Ueda took off as expected, she's one of the best runners in the sport. Jenna and Carol Peon were hot on her heals and I was keeping them as close as I could.

I let myself fall into my pace and noticed that I wasn't losing time to Carol and Jenna on the first lap, and I was already catching girls in the first group. As we neared 5k on the run course, I had moved into about 10th place after passing Carol and Jenna. Psychologically I was on an absolutely high! I was bouncing off the walls with excitement. Catching people on the run is a very new thing for me and it is SO much more fun than running scared. Every time I saw Jarrod I couldn't help but grin, his encouragement was amazing. On the third lap he said, if you want it, you can catch three more girls. At this point I was running in 6th with Bravo and Piersol on my tail. On the 3rd lap, I caught Rivas and I could see Rabie and Jensen ahead. On the final lap, Piersol picked up the pace after sitting on me and I couldn't match it initially. Bravo and I were running the final straight away and the crowd was going bananas because all of a sudden she went after Piersol...I tried so hard to match it, but I just couldn't. I ended up in 7th place.

This result completely blew anything away I've ever done at the world cup level. My run split was a personal best of 36:43. I learned a lot about running strategy and it feels great to even be thinking about this. I am now getting ready for St. Anthony's in just two days! I'm really looking forward to my first non drafting race of the year. It will be a nice change of pace for sure. I have done no specific training for non draft, and this was an add on the race schedule, so the goal is to go have fun and race hard against some fantastic competition. As usual the start list is stacked, but it'll be fun!

Thanks for reading!

It's all about being resourceful...

2010-04-11T14:15:00.001-07:00

I had to do a post on this because it will probably be one of the more memorable moments in my triathlon career. While in Lima, Amanda Felder and I found out that there was no where to swim on the Friday and Saturday pre race due to the Easter holidays. So, we decided to check out the hotel pool....not even long enough for a streamline.

So Amanda had some tubing with her and we got creative! Check this contraption out! Ok, it's not that crazy but bottom line it worked! And it didn't feel completely awful. We laughed, had plenty of fun and got our hands on the water. Goal ACHIEVED!

Lima Pan American Cup

2010-04-05T18:02:00.000-07:00

This past weekend, I traveled to Lima for a Continental Cup/ Pan American Cup/ South American Championships...the race had so many names I don't know what to call it. Basically there were ITU points up for grabs. Travel to Lima was initially stressful because an oversized baggage embargo that the Peruvian Government has with Continental Airlines. We were super worried because it flat out said on the website they would not allow bikes into the country; however, upon arrival to the airport my bicycle was checked without question straight to Lima. I was incredibly relieved and this seemed to begin a streak of awesomeness that continued throughout the entire weekend until I arrived back at the Lima Airport for departure post race...I'll explain that story at the end of this post.

A group of Americans were staying that the race hotel so we ended up eating and hanging out together quite a bit prior to the race. Peru offers exceptional cuisine. I was absolutely blown away by the flavors they incorporate in their foods- every meal was delicious.

Race day began with loading all of the competitors onto a bus and our bikes onto another. I thought this was going to be a mess, but the competitors were all pretty organized about it. We watched the bus with our bikes on it nervously for the 45min drive to the race course, hoping they all wouldn't collide into one another on a sharp turn or over a speed bump. All the bikes and competitors arrived to the race course unscathed at 8:40am. After a solid warm up and doing our best to understand the flow of transition we were being marshaled for the start.

After being announced to the start line in order by ranking all of a sudden everybody moved to the far right (which was the straightest line). Amanda Felder had the highest ranking to should have had no one to her right but instead there were at least 5 people. Everyone start moving and josseling around so I moved to the right as well to avoid the chaos that was happening. It seemed to work because I swam wide right and avoiding the congestion of the start. I was around the first buoy smoothly and noticed someone swimming up on my left. I saw that it was Lyndsay Woodward from the USA and I hopped on her feet. She really pushed the pace for the entire swim and on the last stretch heading into the beach she picked up the pace again. I wasn't able to match her surge and she had about 10 seconds on me out of the water. There was a bit of a gap to the next group but I hammered through transition so that Lyndsay and I could hopefully get away.

After coming out of T1 I immediately began talking to Lyndsay to make sure we stayed together. After Mazatlan, I did not want to go on my own again. I wanted a moderate ride where we could push the pace together, create a gap and hopefully have the USA go 1-2. We rode well together and after the 8 lap bike we had about a 2 minute lead. I had a great T2 other than a little confusion on which way to run out.

As I exited the first section of the run, I saw the chase pack riding in. We had an awesome lead! I was feeling excited, but knew I had a hot 10k run ahead of me and a very fast Carla Moreno in the chase pack who is notorious for her running ability. I felt good immediately and settled in to a pace that I've been rehearsing in my training. There was a bit of a head wind on the bike and run. Running away from transition meant a tail wind which really allowed me to find my tempo, but it was hot! Running back towards transition meant a little more effort but the wind cooled my body down. After two laps of the run I noticed that I hadn't lost much time to Carla and had gained time on the rest of the field. I knew that if I continued to run as I was, I would achieve my goal of coming top 5; winning would be a bonus.

As I took off for the last lap it set in that the win was mine to lose. I was so happy and stayed focused on my performance. It felt incredible to run back into transition, see the finish and I know I came to Peru and achieved everything I intended to achieve and more. I crossed the line immensely satisfied with how the day turned out. The USA had an awesome day as Amanda Felder placed 3rd and Lyndsay Woodward was 4th.

After awards we loaded the buses back up and headed back to the hotel. Amanda Felder, Darin Shearer, Dan MacKenzie and myself had a nice dinner together, and enjoyed the local cuisine before heading to the airport for a red eye flight home. The trip home kind of stunk since I was charged not only for my bike box, but also an addition bike box tax. Then I was taxed to leave the country. I had a window seat for the way home, hoping to sleep but had a guy with the widest shoulders ever and I didn't sleep a wink. I finally arrived to Orlando exhausted, but satisfied with the weekend:)

I'm racing Monterray World Cup on April 18th and St. Anthony's the following weekend. Until then, thanks for reading!

Triathlon Canada Magazine

2010-03-30T14:20:00.000-07:00

I'm very excited to have had the opportunity to do an interview with Kevin Mackinnon for Triathlon Canada Magazine. A bonus was getting to be on the cover of the March/ April issue.

Mazatlan Continental Cup

2010-03-22T17:02:00.000-07:00

Argh, I sort of don't know where to start with this one. I'll cut to the chase, this weekend I DNFed for the third time in my 14 year career as a triathlete. Regardless of how you DNF a race, it always feels disappointing. I felt fine on race morning, had a good warm up and felt prepared for the heat after training in Florida all winter. I had a great start and was quickly leading the swim. At the 750m exit I was leading and had a group of 5 girls with me, one of them took over the lead in the second loop, but we stayed together. We had a gap of about 25 seconds to the next group.

T1 went smoothly and we established ourselves as a group. It quickly became clear that this group was not going to work together. People were riding all over the road, nobody wanted to pull, or even rotate. So out the first U turn I attacked to see who would go with me. I was pumped to look back and see Kelsey Withrow on my wheel and that we had a gap. I put my head down and continued to push to make sure the gap stuck. I looked back again and Kelsey was gone; she had rejoined the pack. I rode the next 3.5 laps by myself until a chase pack including Americans caught the main pack and pulled them back up to me. I wasn't willing to turn myself inside out to make the break stick because my main goal was the keep the bike in control so I could run fast.

While I was still riding solo I began burping a lot and vomiting. I thought it was just salt water from the swim, so I didn't think much of it. I was not feeling 100%; however, I was not content to sit in at a pace that was getting us caught by a chase pack. I spoke with the other Americans about getting organized and I attacked at the exact same spot again and looked back to see Amanda Felder and Kelsey Withrow on my wheel. Unfortunately it was short lived, as it was reeled back. I sat at the back and waited for the run.

I went into the run and felt fine- until the first turn around when I began vomiting again. I kept telling myself that I was fine and it was like my body could hear me and wanted to show me otherwise. The vomiting got worse and then I became dizzy. I tried to keep running but I was going backwards. I made the choice to pull out at 5k.

I'm back to training and working hard on my race day nutrition. My next race will be in Lima, Peru for a Pan American Cup on April 4th. This is a new addition to the race schedule, but I'm definitely looking forward to it. I will then have two more weeks until my first World Cup of the season in Mazatlan, Mexico.

Thanks for reading!

2010-03-11T17:01:00.001-08:00

Elite Development Race- Clermont, FL

March 7, 2009

We headed over to the race course early since we needed to be inside Lake Louisa State Park prior to the start of the age group race at 10am. The boys didn't race until noon and the ladies didn't start until 1pm so we had a bit of time to kill. So we went a hung out with our massage team, West Orange Massage Therapy while watching the age group race begin. It was turned into a bike-run for the age groupers due to unseasonably cool weather that resulted in the water temperature being in the low 50's; however, the pros still raced a tri.

I did another bike warm up after sitting around for a few hours and went down to the beach to watch the men's start. I was excited and nervous watching the boys race. Obviously I was excited to watch Jarrod race, but it was a big day for the rest of our training partners. For Chris Lutz and Nic Tutiva this was their opportunity to obtain their pro card. For Omar Nour, it was his very first race as a PRO! And for Sean Jefferson, it was his first draft legal race as a pro. I watched them get on the bike and continued on with my warm up.

I went down to the swim start and debated on whether or not to get in the water. I didn't want to get cold but it was 80 degrees outside and the shallower water has warmed up significantly. I made the decision to get in and warm up. Race start came fast, and I had a great start and swam with four other girls including the Sara(h)'s. The 5 of us exited the water together and by the time we got to transition me, Haskins and McLarty had dropped the other two girls.

On the bike the three of us worked well together over the 4 loop, 20k course. It was an uneventful ride; we rode hard and stayed together. I had an awesome T2, and took off onto the run course. I felt really good and found my form quickly. Over the course of the 2 lap, 5k run course Haskins moved into the lead and did my best to stay as close to her as possible. I felt great and came in 2nd. I am super happy with the race; it feels great to have the first one under my belt. A bonus for the day was winning the primes for T1 and T2. I love the concept of this race and hope that we do more EDR's in the future!

I am now looking forward to racing a Continental Cup in Mazatlan, Mexico on March 20th.

Race Season is Coming!

2010-02-27T16:57:00.001-08:00

Sara McLarty just sent me this fantastic photo of our TCS group from a few weeks ago. Left to right: Me, Mike Orton, Sean Jefferson, Omar Nour, Jillian Petersen, Jarrod Shoemaker and Arturo Garza.

We are one week out from an Elite Development Race at Lake Louisa State Park on March 7. Three pro cards are up for grabs so we will have age groupers racing with the pros. Jarrod has been working hard on this race with Tom Ziebart, race director of Florida's Great Escape. This race provides pros with a chance to get in draft legal practice and up and coming pros a chance to try a draft legal race. The start list is continuing to grow with 33 men and 13 women.

Training has been going well; Tim has been hammering us with intensity lately, but the race season is right around the corner! Next weekends EDR will begin my season and then I will head off to Mazatlan, Mexico for a continental cup two weeks later. I'm super excited because it will be a season opener for most of our training group. For now, I leave you with the TCS quote of the week: "To race fast, you have live fast"- Omar Nour.

Mission Recovery

2010-02-25T09:04:00.000-08:00

A little sample of what we do between workouts.

Wekiwa State Park

2010-02-20T14:44:00.000-08:00

Wekiwa State Park is hands down my most favorite place to run in Central Florida.

This morning a group of us all met up to run 10-12 miles. TCS has grown with the permanent addition of Mike Orton and short term addition of Chris Lutz. Omar Nor has also added a few of his training partners from DC and all in all, it made for a very fun long run.

The weather was perfect and the wild life sighting for the day included about 5 dear, including one buck! It was really cool...it was just one of those days where the legs were rolling underneath me and 10 miles flew by. Plus Jen was great company! Afterward, we jump into the fresh spring water. It's crystal clear and completely refreshing. In summary, today was one of those days where you can't help but smile and think, life is good, REALLY good!

The FIRST Post- Training Camp South

2010-02-11T09:44:00.000-08:00

In late 2009, I began the process of switching the country that I represent for racing in triathlon. It was a difficult decision but was a natural progression since I am now a permanent resident of the US and working on my citizenship:) This new and exciting change also initiated a recommitting of myself to the sport; for the first time EVER in my long career as a professional triathlete, I am training FULL TIME.

Since October 2009, I have been training at new fall/winter/spring training location: Clermont, FL. I trained here for March break training camps almost 10 years ago as a Junior. My husband, Jarrod, also fell in love with the training here. Clermont offers everything we need to achieve success in our training and racing. Being able to train outdoors all year round is amazing- I do not miss my indoor trainer or winter running ONE BIT!

This training location change has resulted in a gathering of fantastic people/ athletes that was named by our coach Tim Crowley as, Training Camp South. We've gathered an incredible group of people who demand the best out of one another every day. Not only has this resulted in great training but also more fun that I ever imagined I could have training. We are not only elevating ourselves as athletes, but also as individuals.

Expect posts in the near future about TCS adventures. For now, thanks for visiting my blog!