Kitzbuhel: Wafers, slugs and expectations

After my race (and subsequent visit to the med tent) in Tizsaujvaros, I was faced with two options: change my ticket to go home early and scrap the World Cup in Austria or stick with my plan and race. Once I found out that it would be vastly more expensive to go home than to spend a week in Kitzbuhel, Austria, I decided to stay and hope that I would feel dramatically better in a week’s time. Even if I had to pull out mid-race, I would be able to spend a week in a beautiful village in the Alps and gain some more World Cup experience. After surprising myself and finishing 11th in the race, I’m pretty happy that I stuck with the plan.

About an hour’s drive from Salzburg, Kitzbuhel is a scenic village of 8,000 residents nestled in the Tyrolean Alps. I was able to do a bit of sight-seeing in the lead-up to the race, taking a tram to the top of the Horn with Brian and Jun, the US coaches for the race. The view was incredible; a 360 degree view of 3000 meter peaks and green pastures complete with bell-wearing cows and wildflowers. Snipppets of songs from “The Sound of Music” had the annoying tendency to pop up spontaneously in my mind. The town of Kitzbuhel, with cobblestoned streets and well-tended, brightly colored buildings, was equally beautiful. Well-heeled tourists from Russia and Western Europe visit the town year-round, skiing, hiking and shopping. For athletes from countries with weak currency (oh, the poor dollar…), this made eating out difficult. Luckily housing was affordable, as the tremendous race organizers sent me to the Pension Erlenhaub, where the sweet proprietor took care of me. Unfortunately, her collection of taxidermied animals was not as charming, baring their teeth at me as I climbed the stairs.

Leading up the race, I was nervous about my ability to race well, as I felt exhausted and sluggish in training. The last time that I had raced soon after heat stroke, I had a terrible race, managing little more than a jog on the run portion of the race. With a start list packed with athletes using the race as a last tune-up before Beijing and taking into account how I was feeling, I took a more conservative approach to the race. Knowing that the field would most likely come into T2 together, my race strategy was simple: sit in on the swim and bike and use whatever I had on the bike.

For the race, the swim took place in the Schwartzsee (Black Lake), one of the most scenic venues that I’ve ever seen for a race. I tucked behind the Swiss Magali Di Marco Messmer and let her do the work of leading the swim (much to her dismay, as she told me after, as she counted on doing the same to me!). On the bike, it was cold and rainy (a far cry from the previous week’s race) and the front pack of 19 negotiated the course conservatively. Luckily, we entered the with a 2:30 advantage over the chase group, letting me feel a bit more comfortable about my ability to finish in the top-20. I started off strong, moving my way through the pack up after a poor transition, and held a comfortable pace. About halfway through the run, Andrea Whitcomb and Debbie Tanner passed me and I sat on their shoulders for the next 4+k. While they outran me in the end, I finished 11th, exceeding my low expectations going into the race. Throughout the run, I kept on waiting to feel bad and was surprised to find that I managed to pull off a good sub-36 minute 10k and feel comfortable doing so. It always feels good to exceed one’s expectations.

After too much bread and chocolate wafers and too little training recently, I am very excited to resume training. As my next race is in September, I should be able to get in a great block of training. The last big block that I had was in April, so I’m definitely keen to put my head down and train. I’ll keep you posted!

Unrelated tidbit: The slugs are massive is Austria, as thick as a big man’s thumb and as long as his thumb. Like slugs here, they also eat their own dead. Gross.