Treasure Island Triathlon

This past Saturday, July 9th I competed in San Francisco at the Treasure Island Triathlon. This year it happened to be an ITU Pan American Cup, ie. draft-legal race. Mom, Erin, & Gabey and I drove up Friday morning; Gabey was a champ on the drive up! Erin was racing the age group race on saturday morning and I would be racing in the afternoon.

My last ITU draft-legal race was this particular race in 2009. I was hoping I'd have people to swim and ride with; during the first lap of the swim I was on the tail end of a pack but after making the turn around I lost the toes I was keying off of. I felt strong in the water and exited with two other women. I was the first out of T1 and was hoping to catch some girls on the bike. As I began my first loop, Mom and Erin yelled that I was in 17th place. Ok, I had some work to do! One of the women that exited the water with me caught me and for the next 2 laps we worked together. The wind was so strong in sections that I was glad I had her to draft from, however it didn't last long. This woman from Canada had more snap in her legs than I did and when she jumped to catch a small pack in front of us I couldn't respond. I was now all by myself! I continued to forge ahead and kept telling myself that if I could just push as hard as I could into the wind I would be able to keep moving up. By the time I finished the 6-looped flat with one small hill bike course, I was in 11th place. After a quick transition I was determined to at least be in the top 10. The Canadian girl I was cycling with was just ahead of me. The run course was 3 loops on very flat terrain. I knew I could catch her. By the start of lap 2 I had indeed caught and passed her and within a few more seconds I caught two more girls. I was now in 8th place and even though 7th place was just out of reach I ran the last loop like I was going to catch her.
I'm so glad that the finish didn't come down to a sprint as I had nothing left in my legs.