Grand Rapids Tri

I hope you are all just dying to know what happened at my last race... and I will get to that.  First, I must explain my journey.

This has been the most difficult and frustrating start to a season that I have ever experienced.  My winter went fantastic, I had great workouts and I my run praces were getting faster.  I was looking forward to starting my first full pro season with some great races!  Then I got respiratory influenza in January.  No biggie, I can bounce back from that!  Then, just two weeks before my first race, I got pneumonia.  And not just a nice, run-of-the-mill walking pneumonia that young adults usually get.  It was a full-blown, hospital acquired, resistant to typical antibiotics pneumonia.  I tried to recover from it, but no luck.  I tried to race my first race, the Jenison Triathlon which was turned into a duathlon due to frigid water temps, and passed out after the first 5k.  

I had hoped to be recovered for my first pro race in Austin one week later, but clearly I was delusional.  First of all, my lungs hadn't come close to being recovered yet.  I kept telling my family "oh yeah, I'm at 80% so I'm good!"  Nope.  Amazing how we can convince our brains that we are better than we truly are.  I have to say, athletes are incredibly skilled at lying to themselves.  Add to my not actually at 80% lungs was the reaction I had to the second antibiotic I was placed on, which is called Levaquin.  This antibiotic carries a black box warning for a rare reaction called fluroquinolone-induced tendonopathy.  No one really knows why it happens, but it is much more common in athletes.  And it means I was at a very high risk of rupturing my Achilles' tendon and I was trying desperately to ignore the shap pain in my Achilles' tendon.  Along with the tendon issues, I also suffered from terrible muscles aches, constant muscle cramps, fatigue, and had a hard time recovering from even easy workouts.  After trying to race Jenison far too early, I had handed the "power" over to my husband, my coach and my dad.  They would each have a vote in deciding whether or not I would race, thus circumventing my amazing ability to convince myself I am okay to race.  It was a unanimous "no."  It was extremely difficult to watch the race and hear my name announced at the start of the race only to be standing on the sidelines.  But it was a good experience to watch the race and to cheer on my teammates, Abby, Natasha and Nick.  During the race I became more and more hungry to race, hoping I would be ready by Grand Rapids, only two weeks away.

Okay, fast forward to Grand Rapids Triathlon!  My lungs were now at an honest 80% recovered from my pneumonia and I was desperate to race!  My Achilles was just a dull ache that really only flared after multiple laps going the right way around the track and the pain was easily avoided by running the wrong way around the track (yes, lots of confused looks for doing that).  I was still having more trouble than usual recovering from workouts, so I knew I would be tired on race day, but all I really cared about was finishing.  After a DNF and a DNS, all I wanted was to prove to myself that I could still finish an olympic triathlon.  

Race morning went pretty well, despite the rain.  I woke up very early and did my pre-race warm up run with my super speedy husband, Todd Kennedy.  Both of us now have the same coach, which means I have the rare opportunity to do a lot of workouts with my husband, including race morning warm ups.  I shared with him my fears of not racing well and how badly I just wanted to finish.  After years of being together (I'm sure it feels much longer to him), he has gotten very good at dealing with my race morning crazies.  After my typical breakfast, a Clif bar and a bottle of Generation UCan, Todd and I drove to the race site.  We grabbed our typical parking spot and decided to stay in the car for a while to avoid getting super drenched.  Then out into the rain we went to set up transition.  We opted to skip our typical pre-race bike warm up due to the rain and because I wanted to get another chance to do a breathing treatment before the race.  

Somehow, race morning always seems to go by so fast.  The ritual is familiar and comforting to me: warm up, chat with tri-buddies, warm up again, chat, double check transition, find my dad, chat, grab wetsuit, struggle into wetsuit, then stand near the swim start going through my race plan over and over in my head.  A final good luck to my husband and a fist bump for my dad, then head to the water.  It was a slow rush to get to the water as the large group of women was narrowed to a single file line.  I barely had time for a few strokes, double check my goggles and then the horn went off for the start.  I hurriedly pushed the start button on my watch and dove into the water.  

A group of women to my right took off FAST.  I always expect a group of swimmers to be at a race, especially on the west side of the state with so many beautiful pools and strong swim programs, and they lived up to expectations.  I tried my best to stay with them and was soon regretting my last minute wetsuit decision.  I had planned to race in my speed suit to practice for pro racing where it is only wetsuit legal if the water temp is below 68.  I also don't really like wetsuits because I always feel like I'm fighting them and my arms fatigue quickly.  Yes, I am one of those very rare triathletes who actually doesn't like wetsuits, but we have already established that I'm a little crazy.  My arms were aching by the turn around, but I had found a group of two other women to stick with and followed them to the swim exit.  As we neared the swim exit, I felt the now all too familar sensation of cramps.  After weeks of dealing with cramps, I knew how to adjust my legs and hands in an attempt to avoid cramping and tried those techniques, which worked for the moment.  Then I was being yanked out of the water, gracefully tripping on carpet at the swim exit, and making my best struggle face as I yanked my wetsuit down.  

I ran through transition to my spot, then helmet on, sunglasses on, grab bike and go.  I mounted and heard what every triathlete dreads hearing: the scraping of my chain as it fell of my chain ring.  I looked down, saw my chain was completley off with no hope of getting back on, and groaned.  I slammed on my brakes and threw my bike down, then began to yank and push on my chain in a very non-productive manner.  After about 30 seconds of this, I realized how stupid it was, took a deep breath, took off my sunglassed and, finally, pulled my chain back on the chain ring.  I looked at my watch, I had lost 2 minutes.  Yikes!  I jumped on my bike and took off, faster than my typical pace in hopes of catching all those women who had passed me while I fumbled with my chain and all the speedy fishies out of the water ahead of me.  My plan was to hold between 23 and 25 mph with the hope of biking a 1:05, even with my chain debacle.  The plan worked quite well thanks to a relatively flat course.  I was also encouraged to keep moving fast by the woman who ended up placing 3rd overall because after I passed her we went back and forth for the remainer of the bike.  Unfortunately, we also picked up some men who don't like being "chicked."  This seems to be a problem that I run into at some races.  These men then drafted off of each other for the remainder of the bike, making it impossible for myself or the other women to get past them and stay away.  Every time I put in the effort to pass all 6 of them, they would quickly reel me back in and I would be forced to drop off the back of their group in order to avoid a drafting penalty.  The other woman and I chatted briefly about our frustrations with these men, but then we were heading into transition and I was jumping off my bike, hoping I still had some energy left in my legs for the run, but worried about the cramps that had started to sneak into my hands and feet.

As soon as I turned out of transition I knew my legs were done.  The long week of workouts and my difficulty with recovery compounded on top of a very fast bike split left me with heavy legs that just would not turn over.  I also had to start fighting with my hands to keep as they start to cramp into fists.  The cramps then spread into my quads and hips.  A woman that I had passed on the bike quickly passed me on the run and I knew I couldn't stick with her, so instead I focused on running my race, relaxing my cramps and my ultimate goal: finishing.  It was a long, trudging run.  At the turnaround, I was happily surprised to find that the woman who had stuck with me on the bike appeared just as worn out from our fast pace as I was and had fallen further behind my pace.  I was excited that I might actually be able to pull off a 2nd place podium finish despite the challenges of my season so far and pushed my pace as hard as I could... to a blistering 7 minute mile, but hey, good enough!  

I was very happy to see that finish line, it was all I had wanted over the past month was to see that finish line and to cross it.  Finally, I had finished an Olympic tri this season!  There was some confusion about me being the first woman and my arguments that I was the second place woman were ignored and I was trotted through the finish chute with the banner and all before they finally figured it out.  Hopefully there will be more banners in the future that are actually for me!  Later I met the woman who had finished first and found out that she was a female pro from the Dominican Republic with hopes of qualifying for the 2016 Olympics.  2nd place to a pro is not too shabby at all!  But the best part of the podium at this race were the ages.  I was the youngest on the podum, with the first place woman being 33 and the 3rd place woman being 40.  This encourages me that I am just a "tri-baby," as my dad likes to say.  I have so much more room for growth and so many more years to go!  And, hopefully, this off season had the craziest work schedule I will ever experience.  My internal medicine rotation was 70-80 hours each week with only 4 days off in 28 days, plus constant exposure to all sorts of nasty hospital bugs that apparently have an affinity for my lungs is not my ideal lifestyle!  Now, as I finish my first year of residency, I am looking forward to psychiatry rotations from here on out!  The work schedule is not as demanding as internal medicine and I am not exposed to hospital bugs, so things are definitely looking up!

And finally, congratulations to everyone who raced!  I have to say, it was a HUGE pick-me-up to be greated and wished good luck by so many Oak Park YMCA athletes in their signature blue uniforms.  I know there were other Oakies there, so please let me know how you all did!  Congrats to Lynne Hart for 3rd in her Age Group.  My husband had a fantastic race and finished 3rd overall in a very tough field and I think this means many more great results to come this season for him!  My dad, who I dragged into triathlon a few years ago, also had a great race and absolutely SHATTERED his goal of getting under 3 hours with a 2:46!  And I can't forget the current "Other Todd" Todd Buckingham for his 4th place overall finish and I look forward to the Todds battling for the honor of not being "Other Todd."  Jimi Minnema continued his west side domination with 1st overall.  Also congrats to my MSU Triathlon alumni, Bill Vann, who did awesome in the half and Katherine Pickard who had a blistering swim in the Olympic.  Also finishing the half was Eric Abbott from Central Michigan Triathlon, who kept me going on the run.  My Tri4Him teammate, Abby Geurink, destroyed it in the sprint triathlon and finished 1st overall.  Note I didn't say 1st overall woman.  Yeah, she finished 1st overall for men AND women, that girl is incredibly fast and I am blessed to call her friend and teammate!  

Now I have a good amount of time to recover before my next race, which is a pro race in Minnesota in mid July.  That gives me 5 whole weeks to recover and get some great workouts in before race day!  Now that I have a race under my belt, I'm looking forward to getting a pro race under my belt!  Happy training and thanks for reading!

Life Time Chicago Triathlon

The goal of Chicago was to earn my pro card.  Things hadn’t worked out the way I had hoped at the USAT Age Group National Championship, and Chicago was likely my last chance to earn a pro card this season.  There are multiple ways athletes can earn a pro card, according to USAT rules.  I was going after one of the easiest methods: finish in the top 3.  Sounds simple enough.  Over 8,000 people race the Chicago Triathlon and all I had to do was finish in the top 3 women.  Sure, real simple.  

My husband had decided not to race in Chicago and instead to focus on being my support crew.  He knows all too well how nervous I can get before a race, especially one this important!  We arrived in Chicago Friday night and felt a little bit overwhelmed!  We were staying at the Hilton Chicago along with thousands of other athletes and pulling into the hotel was pure chaos.  Athletes were unloading bikes and gear, valets were running around and kids were screaming.  Lucky for us, a very kind valet seemed to sense my country origins and came over to help.  Before long we were settled in our room and getting ready to head to the packet pick up and expo.  The expo was by far the largest I have ever seen!  There were literally rooms full of vendors, it was incredible!  After grabbing my packet, I found the Xterra booth.  I met the crew there and picked up a nice gear bag and some extra stickers that Jacob at Xterra had arranged for me to pick up.  Afterwards, Todd and I headed to Kitty O’Shea’s in the hotel to grab some dessert before bed.  I love treating myself with ice cream two days before a race, but never the day before!  We had ice cream flavored with Baileys and it was amazing!  Then we were off to bed. 

In the morning I woke up ridiculously early with the terrible twist of nerves in my stomach.  I took some deep breaths, trying to quiet the nerves.  Todd and I ate a quick breakfast once the snack shop in the hotel opened and then I set up my trainer.  I usually prefer to do my pre-race bike on the course, but that was impossible in Chicago.  Lucky for me, my friend and pro triathlete Abby Geurink had told me to bring a trainer for my bike workout.  After finishing my bike, I texted Abby and her husband Ross to see when they wanted to run and swim.  We met for a quick run and Abby gave me a few quick tips about the course.  Instead of becoming more nervous about the race, I was actually feeling pretty calm.  Abby and I talked about how we can only do the best we can do.  I just needed to race my race.  My race would either be good enough for top three or it wouldn’t.  There is no luck in getting a pro card, it is all about earning it.

After the run we biked to a nearby beach for a quick swim.  I decided to swim without a wetsuit because the water was a balmy 70 degrees.  It felt pretty good!  Abby and I practiced a quick in water start, and then headed back to the hotel to grab some lunch.  We went back to the expo so I could buy some sealant, just in case I blew another tire!  After Age Group Nats I wanted to make sure I could finish strong!  Abby introduced me to the team working the Generation UCan booth.  It is a pretty awesome nutrition product, which I am excited about trying for next season!  Then we ordered our dinner, had it delivered and shared a quick meal.  Then it was time to go to bed.  I knew the alarm would go off bright and early!

My alarm went off at 3:30am, yikes!  Transition opened at 4:15, so I wanted to make sure I had my quick 20 min warm up run done with plenty of time to head to transition.  When I got up, I was a little thrown off by how dry my throat felt.  I drank some water, but it still hurt.  I went out for my run and had a little trouble breathing and found that my throat was not feeling any better.  I finished up my run and headed back up to the room to eat some breakfast and told Todd I thought I was coming down with a cold.  He smiled and said “If you’re coming down with one, then you don’t have it yet, you’ll be fine!”  I brought a bottle of Gatorade and water with me to drink so I could forget about my throat.  

I arrived to transition with plenty of time to set up my area.  The racks were pure madness, bikes were everywhere and there was no pattern whatsoever!  I put down my towel and clicked my shoes into my pedals.  Then I placed my rubber bands on my shoes and put some Body Glide on my cycling shoes and my racing flats.  Then I laid out my racing belt along with my inhaler and my Playmakers hat.  I double checked my tire pressure, didn’t want to be too careful!  Transition closed at 5:45, so I grabbed my wetsuit and started the mile long walk to the swim start.  Todd and I found a place on the pier to watch the sprint starts.

About 40 minutes before my wave start, I went for a quick 10 min warm up run with a few strides thrown in to get my heart rate up and to focus on my race.  After that it was time to pull on my wetsuit, I had chosen sleeveless because of the warm water, and to get in line for my wave start.  I took my GU while waiting in line and worked to pull my wetsuit into place.  Before I knew it, we were told to get into the water and that our wave would be starting in 30 seconds!  Shortly after I got into the water, the horn blew and it was time to race!

I was racing in the Elite Amateur wave, which meant the men and women started together.  This resulted in a chaotic swim start and, because of all the men, I couldn’t sprint to the front of the wave and find clear water.  It wasn’t until the swim was half way over that I finally found some clean water.  I was worried that my swim split would be slow because of the chaos at the start, so I focused on really pushing my pace through the remainder of the swim.  Then I was at the stairs and hauling myself out of the water and onto the carpeting to begin the 450 yard run to transition.  After some serious debate, I had decided to run in my wetsuit.  I pulled the top down to my waist, but left my cap and goggles on so I could focus on running as fast as possible.  When I arrived at transition I did have a little trouble pulling my wetsuit off because it had dried out a little during the run.  I fumbled with my helmet, it just didn’t want to fit over my braids!  Eventually I got it on, and grabbed my bike.  Todd yelled at me that there were only 2 girls ahead of me, meaning I was in 3^rd!  

As soon as I mounted my bike, I headed up the ramp and on to Lake Shore Drive.  I like to get up to speed before pulling on my bike shoes and there was a little downhill not long after the ramp that I was planning to use to keep my speed up while pulling on my shoes.  I hit the downhill and got my shoes on without a problem, but not long after that I was passed by a very fast biker who I had met at Age Group Nats: Jenny Garrison, a former professional triathlete.  I decided to try to follow her pace and see if I could catch the other two girls ahead of me.  My plan worked perfectly!  I passed both of the girls before the turnaround, but just could not keep pace with the blistering speed of Jenny.  I managed to keep her in my sight until the last few miles of the bike, but decided to hold to my pace so I wouldn’t be dead for the run. 

The end of the bike came up a little quick and I barely got my feet out of my shoes in time for the dismount line.  My transition went quickly and I was out on the run course.  The temperature had risen during the bike, so I knew it was going to be a hot run!  At every aid station I grabbed two cups: one for my mouth and one to dump on my head.  Well, as least the first one was always intended for my mouth.  I would throw that one in the general direction of my mouth and get some water to drink, but most of it splashed all over my face and sunglasses.  I had a strong run, averaging 6:40 pace for the majority of the run.  At the turnaround, I was able to see Jenny was about 1:30 ahead of me and the 3^rd place woman was about 1:30 behind me.  I focused on keeping my pace up so that I could hold on to my 2^nd place position.  I was starting to falter during the last mile, fatigue and heat were starting to take a toll on my energy.  But I knew I was getting close to the finish, so I pushed hard and then I was on the street with the finishing chute ahead.  I sprinted across the line, grinning at Todd when he shouted I had finished 2^nd!  

A little later, Todd and I found out there had been a drafting penalty given.  I was scared it was for me and replayed the bike over and over in my head, trying to remember if I had been drafting or in an illegal position.  The bike was crowded and it was backwards (bike on the left, pass on the right), so I was concerned.  We arrived at the awards ceremony, still uncertain.  When my name was called out as the 1^st place female, I was shocked.  The drafting penalty had been for Jenny.  I spoke to Jenny after the ceremony because I knew it was a hard blow to get a penalty.  It wasn’t the way I wanted to win, but the USAT officials had spoken, and I will leave it at that.  I am very proud to have won the Chicago Triathlon, but even more proud that I earned my pro card!  My final time was 2:14:52.

It was a wonderful weekend and it was awesome to see some familiar faces in the Elite Amateur wave!  Eric Abbott had a tough run to finish in 2:16:45 and 19^th overall for the men.  Zach Church also had a great race and finished in 2:19:37 and finished 22^nd overall for the men.  Abby’s husband Ross raced the sprint and had a great race, and finished in 1:12:06 which netted him 3^rd in his age group.  And finally, Abby had a fantastic performance in the pro race and finished in a time of 2:10:25, which was good for 6^th female pro. 

And it turns out that sore throat on race morning did develop into a full blown cold!  I spent the next two days sleeping 10+ hours at night and lying on the couch for the entire day.  Luckily my schedule with my current rotation in residency worked out to allow me to take the time to recover from being sick.  But I’ve spent part of my time on the couch planning and discussing options with my coach.  The final decision: I will be taking my pro card now and racing Life Time Dallas on October 2^nd in the pro division!  It is a very exciting move and I am so excited and honored to race as a professional triathlete!  I have to say a huge thank you to my dad and my husband for always supporting me and to my coach, Barb Lindquist, for having confidence in me and pushing me to reach for the stars and earn that pro card