Oh, Des Moines... *sigh*

Last year at the Hy-Vee World Cup in Des Moines, I had an unpleasant collision with a pedestrian who wandered onto the bike course. I ended up with a fracture in my radial head (aka elbow), an event that proved to be a mixed blessing. While injury is always best prevented, I managed to make the experience one of growth, as I raced the following weekend at the Edmonton World Cup (finishing a career-best 5th, despite searing pain) and proving to myself that I am tougher than I had previously thought. It seems as though Des Moines is once again putting me through the ringer, inconveniently experiencing devastating flooding recently and putting our final Olympic Trials race in jeopardy. Most likely, the race will be run as a duathlon and the Olympic eligibility will be determined by the results of the first two Trials races. As a result, it looks as though I will be first alternate for the Olympic Team.
In the wake of these recent developments, I'm going though a rather trying time. While I realize that I was a long-shot to make the team (I would have to be 1st US at Des Moines), I still had an opportunity to try, now taken away my Mother Nature. Part of my disappointment lies in the fact that I still have something to prove to myself. While I contracted bacterial gastroenteritis in Beijing and just barely managed to finish the race, let alone race well, I recognize the fact that I was neither physically nor mentally ready to make the Olympic Team at that time. In Alabama, I was physically ready but not mentally so, racing too cautiously and scared, not having had the confidence that great results can bring. With a week until the final Olympic Trials race, I am finally at the point where I feel as though I am worthy to be an Olympian. The amount of personal growth that I have experienced in the past few months is invaluable and I look forward to using my burgeoning new confidence in the season to come, as well as in seasons to come and, most importantly, in my post-triathlon life. While I may still have a chance to race next weekend (waters must first recede and have acceptable bacteria levels), I accept this newest challenge that Des Moines is throwing my way.