I did it! I completed my first World Championships and it was an awesome experience. I am continuing to learn so much at every race.

Race Day:

It was a gorgeous day for a race here on Waikiki beach. Just before my group got in the ocean to start the race a beautiful full rainbow appeared and stretched itself right over the ocean. Then there was the swim--wow! This was my first mass start. These women are animals. Talk about kicking, pulling pushing. I made it through without getting kicked in the face, so I feel great. The swim was very challenging for me. The girls all blew past me and I just kept talking to myself about the fact that I was the fastests swimmer leading the pack. Then the white caps overtook me (these are the women in the next age group that started after my group). I still kept focused w/ my positive self-talk, yet it was not easy to do. I learned that I have got to spend more time swimming, more time mastering technique, and practice more ocean swims prior to ocean competition.

Then there was the bike. I had the most fun on the bike. I was playing some great movies in my mind about winning the gold medal in the Olympics. I even made myself laugh a couple of times. I felt like I had a pretty strong ride, although my race results do not show it. What I learned is that for what ever reason I do really well on hilly courses and I deserve to spend more time on my bike hammering it out on flatter courses in preparation for flatter race courses. Fortunately next year at Nationals and Worlds we'll have plenty of hills on the courses.

The run was interesting. I am so proud of myself for pushing through as hard as I did. I was in some serious pain. I apparently had drinken too much fluids on the bike and it was sitting in my stomach like a tank. So for the entire run (6.2 milles) I felt as though I had someone punching me in the stomach and then I got this sharp pain through my back. Despite my misery I kept up about a 7:50/mile pace. I was still able to kick it in at the end and sprint the finish line.

I finished the race with a 2:40:00. So I didn't hit my 2:22:30 goal--that just means that this was not the race for me to achieve that goal. I am resetting the goal and you better believe that my next triathlon goal is a 2:22:30! When it was all said and done, I gave it my very best!

Where do I go from here: Today I am jumping on my bike and riding up to the Northshore of Oahu to visit some friends and play in the sun now that competition is over. I'll train easy this week and then come Monday of next week--I'm back into focused training. I've got a National Championship to win in July.