Nationals Part 3- Race Recap

Hey there! Typing this up while I am sitting at my last day of work. Where the heck did this summer go? I can't believe I go back to school in 3 days!

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So on to Nationals! I woke up at 5:30am bright eyed and bushy tailed. I went to sleep with a positive attitude and it carried through the next morning. I got up brushed my teeth, grabbed my Gatorade(s) and headed on down to breakfast. I couldn't help but laugh when I was walking down the hall and it seemed like the entire hotel was  up with me heading down to breakfast. Luckily the hotel had stocked up on instant oatmeal and bananas, there was plenty left for me when I got downstairs.

We left around 6 to get to transition at 6:30 so I could set my stuff up and get a little warm up in. Apparently I missed the memo that we couldn't take our bikes out of transition that morning so we could have slept in another half hour....  After setting up transition, I met up with mom and Sue to drop off my transition bag. They were able to walk down to the dock with me and take some last minute pictures.

So excited to race!! In my AWESOME wetsuit!
Thanks Grannie and Papa... promise I'm gonna get the
"powered by G&P" tattoo... eventually...

SWIM

While looking out on the water and talking with some other athletes, I had determined that this swim was going to be rather difficult. The waves were huge-like 3-4 feet!!- (mind you we are in a LAKE) and the sun would be directly in our eyes after the turn around. What I did not expect though was how mean 24&under women could be! Holy cow, that swim start was the roughest I have ever been in. I'm lucky that I came out of the water with all my teeth and without a bloody nose! Oy vey. 

Other than that, the swim went pretty well. I just stayed focus on what I had to do and not worry about the other girls. I kept my strokes long and swam my heart out. The water was about 74 degrees, so borderline for a wetsuit in my book. By the time I had gotten about 1000m into the race, my legs were so hot and I was ready to be out of that water.

Not any good pictures from the swim...
so here we are leaving transition...off we go! 

Bike

The bike was so much fun!! Aside from the first part of the race being a steady climb, the bike was pretty easy and included some nice rollers. I actually did like having the men behind me because I would get passed by one and push it a little bit to catch up. The course was very well marked and the pavement was pretty close to perfect. The wind was the most obnoxious part of the whole race.  Once we made the turn around the wind definitely picked up. Since my suit was still wet, the wind was extra cold. However, I saw the wind as an opportunity to crank it out while everyone else was fighting to stay in the game. I knew I had strength there and it wouldn't burn me out for the run.

Hopefully better pictures to come. My mom didn't realize it was
 me biking toward her because she wasn't paying attention I was going so fast! 

Run

I am not sure how I feel about the run. It started with the HUGE hill right out of transition. A hill so treacherous that I probably would have been faster walking up the hill than running. I knew though that once I got to the top it would be all down hill... literally! It took me a little bit to get my pace down once I got to flat land! I saw my mom around this time which definitely made things a little easier. She was screaming out the window to stay strong. She also played my favorite workout song really loud and rolled down all the windows in the minivan, Dance (Ass, Ass, Ass). Side note: this song is awesome for training because it has such a fast beat that it matches my bike and run cadence! 

I just love this picture... obviously I am looking at my van blasting  music.
LOL WTF MOTHER?! 

I don't know how it happened, but I paced the run perfectly. Every time my watch vibrated to signify a mile, I looked down and noticed that it was between 7:10 and 7:17. Holy hell, I was staying consistent and keeping a quick pace! By the time I hit the turn around by the water, I knew it was time to kick. Kick I did. Everything hurt. My stomach, my chest, my hamstrings, my shoulders. I had between 18-22 minutes left. I can hurt for 20 minutes. Hint: to  make the time go by faster, find out how many water stations will be along the course beforehand. Then when you are running It was also helpful that there were some cyclists speaking a different language on the bike course that were cheering me on and rode down the road with us a bit. Also, people were playing music on the course, super motivating! 

Best part of the day. I LOVE RACING! 

POST RACE
I definitely pushed myself throughout that race. I stumbled across crossed the finish line with nothing left in the tank. My eyes went blurry and sort of blacked out. I was extremely nauseous and the smell of the Moe's post race food was awful (though I was eventually able to eat it). I got my bike as soon as transition opened and we went back to the hotel for a shower. However, we were not leaving the race site without ice cream! I ended up getting the chocolate milkshake I had been craving, though I wish it had been a little thicker. My favorite post workout drink is chocolate milk, therefore, a chocolate milkshake is like chocolate milk on steroids, right?! Chocolate milkshakes >> chocolate milk. 'Nuff said. 

We got back to the hotel, showered and packed up. We were trying to decide where we wanted to go get food before we hit the road. Obviously I suggested Penny Cluse, but figured it would probably be packed after the race. I called and they said the wait was only 15 minute! So you bet your bottom dollar we sped up the packing/showering process and made it down to there within 30 minutes. And how bout it that we walked in and there were 3 seats at the bar... AGAIN! We'll take it! This time I had a scrambled eggs with Vermont cheddar (delish), turkey sausage, and the granola. This time I got it with cold milk instead of hot. Luckily they served it with milk on the side... I couldn't eat it all so I took the rest home... and added it to the pound package I bought the day before! After we ate it was time to say goodbye to Vermont and an awesome race!

Overall, I had an AMAZING experience. I had so much fun with my mom and Sue. It was a nice little getaway before heading back to school. I wish I had been able to spend more time in Burlington after the race...especially if I were 21. I  hope I get another opportunity to compete at AGNC in the future. So many rumors going around that it will be somewhere in Colorado and San Diego next time! Going to have to start saving soon if I want to go!

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