Best of the US Triathlon

Well I am finally going to start tracking my races using this Blog. I have thought about it for a while but figure it will be a good way for others to read about what is going on with me, particularly with my races.

This past weekend I was in California for the Best of the US Triathlon; an amateur triathlon competition consisting of one male and one female from every state in the US. Friday after classes I headed up to Columbus to fly out of the Columbus Airport. I was flying Southwest with stops in Nashville, Denver, and finally Santa Anna California. At the Columbus Airport, I lucked out not having to pay the $50 dollar fee for my bike (it came in at 49.5 pounds and the lady was nice enough not to charge me as it was still an oversize item!). It was a good start to a great trip. The flight's were not too bad and after the first flight I was able to move up to the Emergency exit row which gave me some extra leg room for the remaining flights. I arrived in California, got my bags and headed to the hotel. I was staying with some other athletes that I had not previously met.

I woke up Saturday morning at 7:45 (10:45 eastern time) on my own. It was nice having the extra time and a full day to take care of everything. I put my bike together, ran to the grocery store with the 2 girls I was staying with, and came back and went for my pre-race ride. We were in Mission Viejo, California which is about 45 minutes or so south of LA. It was gorgeous out. Sunny skies and 90 degrees (much better than the rainy 65 degrees it was when I left Ohio). There were mountains and palm trees which made for some great views as we went on our ride and checked out the bike course. After the ride we went and checked out the swim venue and got in the water for a little bit. I was able to get a free speedsuit from Xterra wetsuits and was excited to give it a test run before the race; Thank you Xterra for your genorous contribution! The rest of the day Saturday we had a pre-race meeting with all of the Best of the US triathletes and went to get some dinner at a local Italian restarant. After that we all made sure we were ready for the race and got to bed pretty early (around 10:30, which for me is pretty early for the night before a race).

Race morning came and I was really excited for the race. Me and the people I stayed with biked down to the race start from the hotel and got all set up. It was setting up to be a perfect day for a race. The Best of the US athletes were in the first wave. We all towed the line of the beach (Lake Mission Viejo, not the Pacific) and the race had begun. I hung with the lead group for the first 500m or so and then dropped back and ended up leading the 2nd group for a while. I came out of the water in 19:21 which was my fastes 1500m swim (and was a non-wetsuit swim too!). I came out of the water somewhere around 19th place made my transition to the bike. The bike was pretty hilly! It was up and down the whole time. I stayed in my big chain ring and plugged away the whole time. I passed a few people early on and a few more throughout the bike course, getting passed by only 2 or 3 others. The bike was very scenic and overall a very solid bike course. Onto the run and I hit the pace fast right from the start. I wasn't going to leave anything out on the course. About 1-1.5 miles into the bike, my inner quads started tightening up BIG time! I may have put a little much into the bike but this wasnt the first time this has happened. I kept going and eventually it wasn't too bad. The run course was very tough. A lot of different surfaces and a couple of tough hills. There were 2 guys in front of my for the final 4 miles and I just tried to keep them in sight and not let them get away from me. The last half mile finished downhill and back into the beach area where we started the day. I finished in 1:58:02 and 8th place overall! I was very excited about my race and where I finished.

This was one of the most competitive races of the year and one of the most challenging courses I have ever raced! I loved it! It was a true test of everyone out there. The post race party was awesome including free food from Trader Joes, Cliff Bar, a local smoothie place (delicious!), as well as FREE MASSAGES!!! It's always great getting a nice relaxing massage after a good solid race.

This was the best race of my life so far. It was a great event to be a part of and it was great meeting so many nice people!

After the awards ceromony we headed back to the hotel and got our bikes packed back up and everything ready to go. My flight was not until 6:45 that night so I was able to go to the beach for a little while and got a burger from In 'N Out Burger which I had heard great things about from other people (triathletes) before. Burger, fries, and milkshake were a nice treat after a great race. One of the girls I was staying, Meghan, dropped me off at the airport and I began my 12+ hour trip back to Dayton. I didn't get as lucky on my way home and had to pay the $100 fee for my bike (US airways) as well as a $20 fee for my bag....oh well. I got a Jave Chip Frapachino (sp?) in the airport as another nice post race treat; two conclusions; they jack up prices big time at the airport ($5.25 for a grande!) and I should have paid the extra 50 cents for 8 extra ounces...next time. I left Santa Anna at 6:45 and arrived in Phoenix at about 8:15. I was there for 3 hours and took off to Charlotte at about 11:15. I arrived in Charlotte at about 6 am eastern time. During my walk to my next terminal, I saw Greg and Laura Bennett! I was very excited and wish I would have said hi...Eventually I made it to Columbus around 9 am and then drove back to Dayton arriving there around 11:30 easter time, over nearly 14 hours after my flight left Columbus. It was quite the trip back to say the least....

Overall, my trip to California was great and I feel very fortunate to be able to go and race with some of the best in US. Now I am taking 2-3 weeks off of training. Recovering physically, mentally, and getting caught up with school work. It will be a nice break but I know that I will be ready to get back at in preparation of the 2010 Collegiate Nationals in Lubbock, Texas in April and the rest of my races for 2010. Congrats to everyone that competed and thanks to Trudy and Jerry and the Orange County Triathlon for a great race and a great weekend! I love this sport!!!