Tuscaloosa Trials
This past Saturday, I competed in my second Olympic Trials race and finished in second place behind Julie Ertel. Although it was my goal to clinch the automatic Olympic spot, I am in a great position for the final Olympic spot heading into the last race in June. The final Olympic spot is determined on a point based system, taking the top two scores of three Olympic Trials races. I have two second place finishes going into the final race (second last year in Beijing and second last weekend).
The race location was beautiful with many lush green trees and rolling hills. We swam in a river, cycled eight laps on rolling bike course and ran four laps on a flat run. I had so much support leading into the race, not only from my 43 family members who made the trip to cheer me on, but also fantastic support from the Tuscaloosa community. A few days prior to the race, the community had a parade (with the athletes riding in cars!), singing from Miss Tuscaloosa, and dancing performances from children. It was great to see so much excitement and enthusiasm from the community. I also had the opportunity to speak with Huntington Elementary school and talk to the large elementary school (780 students!) about the sport of triathlon and the importance of living a healthy and active lifestyle.
I was surprised when I arrived to the race course on Saturday morning to find that all my family members had made T-shirts reading, �Go Sarah� and on the back explained who they were�..�Sarah Haskins� aunt, or Sarah Haskins� cousin�s girlfriend�. I was so honored to have my family cheering me on. I have such a close family and it has been great to be able to share my experiences with them. I had family travel from Missouri, Minnesota and Louisiana.
The race entailed very different dynamics than most races, because the field was only eleven women deep. Although the race field was small, it was intense because all the women were competing for the same spot�.first place for the Olympic birth. We began with a dive start and since all the Americans are strong swimmers; many of us were fighting for position right from the gun. The swim was a wetsuit swim and was a one loop swim, mimicking the Beijing swim course. I exited the swim in second, just about 12 seconds behind Sara McLarty. Once out on the bike course, Sara, Julie, Sarah Groff and I worked well together to build a minute lead over the chase pack. The race came down to a fast run. I made a few mistakes in my second transition and lost a crucial eight second gap to Julie (who had a fantastic) transition. I was unable to close that initial gap and ended up finishing 29 seconds behind Julie. Although I had a solid run, I am remembering that it is April and I really want to be geared for faster results in June and in August.
For now, I am focusing on my race this upcoming Sunday in St. Petersburg, Florida. This will be my third time racing the St. Anthony�s Triathlon and I have looking to having a solid performance.
Thank you everyone for your support. I am looking forward to my next trials race in Des Moines, June 22nd.
