This may be a record for the longest delay of a recap of a race (6 months!), but I like to look back on these and draw takeaways from every experience. (And what’s living if we’re not learning?!) I knew it’d be a learning experience to extend my season well into December. What I didn’t know is it would be the last race with Colin as my partner.
Goals for this race:
- Show up only if I was training well. I’ve never raced this late into the year, as I usually focus on Cross Country in the fall, so I wasn’t going to race if I felt weary. Plus, it wasn’t cheap!! The hotel reservation ($200/night), car rental ($600 for an SUV big enough to carry two bikes), and cross country flight for two ($700)
- Earn enough points to break into the Professional Triathletes Organization (PTO) top 100 and earn a $2000 year-end bonus
- Bike hard and run harder. I heard the run course on the golf course was a fun one!
Reflections:
- The water was a “warm” (for this race anyway) 60 degrees. I practiced taking cold showers which I think really helped!
- Palm Springs is the easiest place to be a weatherman. As expected, it warmed up from 50 to 80 degrees during the bike. I don’t regret wearing toe covers at all.
- I rented a disc wheel and now I definitely need to buy one. I used to resist and was told I don’t ride fast enough to make it worth the weight. And part of my working class background prided itself on not buying speed. But looking at any pro bike rack, 98% of them have disc wheel, and I need to equip myself like a pro if I’m going to race like a pro.
- You practically need a degree in logistics to prepare you for the two-transition race. I feel like I spent 2 hours the day before scattering my gear across the desert. I ran out of T2 without my run watch (and split a 1:25 with no record of it!) because its silicone strap stuck to the inside of my bag and didn’t pour out as expected!
- Running the descents hard banked me a shitton of time.
- In the desert, your mouth gets drier than a mouthful of feta cheese (which is the worst cheese known to man).
- Someone asked me if my bike was a harp. Now telling everyone I’m a professional harp player when they ask what’s in the case.
- For reasons unexplained, my result came up as DSQ. I nearly had a panic attack and thank Gabe & John for texting me this. I resolved it with the folks at the finish and still don’t know to this day why it happened!
- This race bumped me to #102 in the rankings. I don’t know where I could’ve gone any faster, and I’m glad I gave it a try. I’m hungry to get in the top 100 in 2022!
I ended up placing 10th after a very exciting final mile fighting off Tara Grosvenor. I would never have fought so hard had Colin not been telling me how hard she was closing in. Hell, I would not have had the best year of triathlon ever if I hadn’t had Colin’s support. All of the bottles prepped, the bike routes accompanied, the coffees and waffles in bed to get me up and going in the morning, the times he carried my bike, the driving to races in the van, the weekends invested in my races when he could have been racing or training, the route-building so I could get in uninterrupted workouts. And I know it’s moot to express appreciation now, but if I do nothing else from racing and living, it’s to learn the lessons. To express gratitude and not take anyone or anything for granted. To appreciate the best teammate I’ve ever had. Our time with everyone in this world is finite, and it takes thoughtfulness to remember this and appreciate the present with them.