So. I learned back in ... October, maybe? ... that I apparently qualified for USAT Sprint Nationals (and Olympic Nationals, which there was no way in hell I was signing up for that) thanks to my performance at Brineman. Which given that was not my fastest Brineman, I'm guessing it's solely because Brineman was a state championship race.
Therefore, in 19 years of racing triathlon, I finally qualified for something. And with deferring Roth ... why not?
Drove out to Milwaukee and got there Thursday. The reason for getting there so early was in theory to do some open water swim thing on Friday ... but I realized that was paid and that there were times to get in the water for course familiarization that were free, so I did that instead on Saturday. Alas.
Did get registration out of the way Thursday afternoon though.
Thought the hotel was a lot closer than the mile away it ended up being.
But there were a lot of us triathletes there.
Went back down Friday to get my bike double-checked by Quintana Roo (first race on the new ride!) and then Saturday to do the course swim and then later to check the bike in for the next day.
Enjoy transition, Andarna.
Went to the Brewers game after check-in which might not have been the best idea, but meh. It also meant that I wasn't doing pre-race breakfast for dinner for the first time in a very long time. Which was purposeful given that I highly, highly doubt I'll be able to do it for Roth next summer.
Race Day
Up early, like always. B found a 24 hour diner right near the hotel so he found us some breakfast which I ate once we found a parking spot near the race site. I realized too late that maybe it would have been smart to prepay for on-site parking, but thankfully street parking in Milwaukee is free on Sundays (... I miss when that was still the case in Denver ...) so we ended up maybe a block, block and a half from transition. Which wasn't bad.
I went and set up my transition zone, taking my bag with me when I left since bags weren't allowed in transition. Having B there (and the car close) was nice since I could just give it to him instead of waiting for the (very long) line at bag check post-race.
All set up.
And then it was just waiting ... since I had to be out of transition by 6:30 and I didn't go off until the second to last wave ... at freaking 9am.
I watched and cheered on the other racers, did my pre-race business, ate a protein bar, tried to stay calm, the usual. Two of B's cousins also came to cheer (one from around Madison and the other from Chicago - we also did the baseball game with them), so we met up with them.
EVENTUALLY, it was finally time for me to race.
The Swim:
Those are my blue and magenta tri suit sleeves. Photo courtesy B's cousin Peter.
I'm just above the 4 adjusting my goggles. Photo courtesy B's cousin Peter.
There I go with my awkward swim stroke.
The swim ... was. Felt better than the practice swim I did the day before, but ... I can tell my swim just wasn't what it was in 2019 or even what it had held on to be in 2022. Definitely something that needs to change over the winter. Which just means swimming. A lot.
Time: 20:30 (65th division, 651st gender, 1393rd overall)
T1:
It was a decently long run to transition, but I found my stuff relatively easily. And yes, it was partially because my bike was fairly alone on the racks. It is.
Time: 3:53
The Bike:
Starting the bike. Photo courtesy husband.
I'm on the far right. Husband is far left. Photo courtesy B's cousin Peter.
The bike started off okay. I was able to pick off a few people which felt nice.
About four-ish? maybe? miles in, there was a decent hill and I realized very quickly that I have zero climbing legs anymore. Zero. A few of those people I passed? Yeah, they passed me back.
Same thing happened on the other decent hill (we got to ride part of a highway which, ngl, was pretty dang cool).
I felt like I was riding pretty well, all things considered (shit training), and I think part of the reason why is the new ride. She really is just faster. Ate a few maple candies and hydrated with my Skratch as I do.
Time: 42:32 (43rd, 391st, 1059th)
T2:
... I am not sharing it with you, but Peter did get a fairly funny photo of me running through transition dealing with all my crap. Still, tried to make it as efficient as possible. Which included me putting the aquaphor on the back of my neck for my wetsuit chafing that I DIDN'T do in T1.
Time: 3:51
The Run:
... I wasn't sure how the run would go. How well I'd be able to run at all. My running has been ... okay, not great. Fairly mediocre if I'm honest with myself, but hey.
I managed. I ate a maple candy or two. And I did my best. Even though it was pretty humid (thankfully the clouds hung around all race to keep it from getting that hot).
B found me by the time I entered the park where the eventual finish line was, though the cousins disappeared by that point, having to have needed to get home for work the next day.
Oh hey. Photo courtesy husband.
There was an out-and-back section that seriously was the longest EVER, but one of the other women out there was high-fiving everyone who ran past and her energy was so outstanding. And necessary.
And although the clouds looked ominous and the rain was threatening ... I finished before the storm came.
Time: 33:44 (72nd, 620th, 1383rd)
Overall Stats:
Time: 1:44:28
67/76 division (F40-44)
578/758 gender
1314/1600 overall
70/76 Team USA rank*
If we talk about my goal for this race - finish above 75% (have 25% of the field below me) at sprint nats - I failed at it. Except within my own gender, which ... kinda. And I know it's my own damn fault, regarding my shit training ... but it still kinda hurts. As it honestly should.
I did get word I automatically qualified for next year (apparently attending nationals qualifies you automatically for the next year), but I am still very undecided if I want to go. It's a month post-Roth and logistically I probably could, but ... eh. We'll see. As of right this second though ... I'm not sure. And I don't really like that this in theory means that I have now officially qualified in perpetuity because really, have I?
But regardless, glad I went, if only for the experience.
And the very Wisconsin cheese medal.
*to be perfectly honest, I have no idea what the Team USA rank is or what it means. And I'm okay with that.
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