ITU World Championships
Vancouver, Canada: June 8th, 2008
This past Sunday I competed in my third ITU World Championship race and I was one spot away from reaching the top of the podium, but I am very pleased with earning a silver medal. Last year in Hamburg, Germany, I finished in tenth position, and my first World Championships in Lausanne, Switzerland I finished 21st�so my finish was a nice progression from my previous World Championships.
The race consisted of a two- lap swim, eight lap technical bike that included one steep hill each lap, and a three lap flat to rolling run course. The weather was very cool this weekend, which differed greatly from most triathlon races when you are dealing with high heat, this race however, you had to worry about not getting too cold!
The coldest aspect of the race was the water! The coldest water I had swam in prior to the race was 15 degrees Celsius (60 degrees F)�the water temp in the ocean this time was 11.2 degrees C (51 degrees F!!). It was quite a shock to the body, but fortunately, for the women�s race, it was not raining during the bike and run section and air temperatures were in the mid-50s. I was surprised not to feel too cold on the bike and was able to have good use of my hands and fingers. One the first lap of the bike, we had a solid group of eight women. I worked the first hill strong and the group split slightly, but we still stuck together after the downhill section. After the climb, there is a left hand turn into a short false flat section before the downhill. On the first lap, I made a mental note that this was where I was going to attack on the next lap. On the second lap, I worked the hill strong again, but once I reached the false flat section, I really put my head down and went for it and continued to work hard the rest of the lap. After the surge, I looked back and saw a British athlete, Helen Tucker, with me and we continued to work together the remainder of the bike section and exited the bike with just over a two minute lead over the chase pack of around 40 athletes.
I had a solid second transition, and headed off onto the run. Despite working very hard on the bike, I felt good on the run and wanted to make sure I could keep a podium position although the second pack included the top runners in the sport.
Helen and I ran neck and neck throughout the 10k run course, I made a surge towards the finishing chute and Helen responded with a stronger surge that earned her the 2008 ITU World Championship title!
Overall, I could not be more pleased with my performance. Earning a podium at the World Championships was a great accomplishment for me. I am looking forward to performing my best the remainder of the season and most importantly, qualifying for the Olympics in less than two weeks in Des Moines, Iowa!
