A long overdue race report

In my last post, I promised that I would write a post-WCS finale race report ASAP. I lied, so please accept my most sincere apology. Truthfully, I suppose that I have been a bit reluctant to write about my race, as the experience was somewhat mixed.

My goal was to finish top-15 in the race and I accomplished that with a 13th place, a result that landed me in 17th place in the series. The windy conditions worked in my favor, as the choppy water helped break up the field on the swim. 7 of us headed out onto the bike together, working well enough to gain a 45 second lead on the chasing athletes going into transition 2. After the bike, however, I was pretty flat, however, and my race became more of a struggle to hang onto a top-15 placement on the run.

While I am by no means unhappy with my results, I do find myself a bit unsatisfied with my ITU season. I went into the season with high expectations, but realized after the first WCS race that my preparation, especially on the bike (leading to lackluster runs), was insufficient. While I had hoped that I would be able to fix the shortcomings in my training as the season progressed, I was only able to address a couple of the oversights in my program and not all. Thankfully, this is 2009 and I still have time before 2012 to turn myself into a finely tuned triathlon machine!

Overall, I had a great experience in Australia. One of the best parts of the race was that I was able to spend some time with my Uncle Richard, who volunteered at the various races in the lead-up to the women's event. I was also fortunate to have additional family member fans at the race, as my cousin Mike made the trip up from Adelaide with Cass and their insanely cute kids, Cosmo and Argyle (I still get a kick out of the fact that there are red-headed Groffs with Aussie accents!). My family is incredibly supportive of my career- I am really lucky. It was also a pleasure to get to know some of our talented Junior and U23 racers better throughout the course of the week, as well as meet some of Team USA, our athletes who competed in the ITU Age Group World Championships. I look forward to seeing all of these folks compete again in the World Champs next year in Budapest.

Currently, I am in New Hampshire at Adam and Tricia's house (remember what I said about my supportive family?) getting ready for the last two races for the year: the US Open in Dallas and th 70.3 World Championships in Clearwater. I've been putting in some good saddle time with Mugatu, my TT bike, and have been enjoying New England in the fall. More to follow...

Report from Goldie

Back when I booked my flight to the Gold Coast for the World Championships Finale, I decided to come a week out from the race in order to adjust to the time change and weather. After I did so, I half dreaded my decision, envisioning a week where I have too much time on my hands and end up watching bad Australian TV, eating out at overpriced restaurants in Surfers Paradise and getting stir crazy while waiting for Sunday’s race. Fortunately (but unfortunately, if you were hoping for regular blog updates), I have found myself surprisingly busy.

In addition to the normal activities that shape my day (training, massage, chiro, meetings, grocery chopping and cooking- we have a kitchenette!), I have been occupied with the ITU Athlete’s Committee. Jarrod Shoemaker and I are the PATCO regional representatives and were thrown into a contentious debate soon after joining the Committee. In a nutshell, a resolution was proposed that could permit a National Federation to exert control over their athletes’ uniform logos. Needless to say, this was a divisive resolution pitting athletes and athlete-supportive NFs against pro-resolution NFs. In response, our committee fought hard, involving the athletes to encourage the members of Congress, which met on Thursday, to table the vote and to form an ad hoc committee to further discuss this matter. Fortunately, we won! Let’s hope that the ad hoc committee will recognize that athletes need to be able to keep control over their uniforms to maximize our income-earning potential through sponsors.

I am looking forward to tomorrow’s race, the last stop on the WCS circuit for the year. In lieu of a World Championships, the ITU decided to have a World Championships Series, so while this is the World Champs for the Age Groupers, U23s and Juniors, this is just the “Finale” for the elites. That being said, with every athlete present, minus an injured Emma Snowsill, this is the most competitive field that has convened all year. I find myself wishing that I were a bit fitter, faster, stronger etc., but I have to remind myself that this is just another race and yet another step in a long, multi-year process. The race will be tough, but FUN! And the best part is that I get to share the experience with some Groffs (Uncle Richard and Mike, Cass, Argyle and Cosmo- aka the Aussie Groffs).

Race update will follow ASAP (or within a week or two, in Sarah time :-) along with some great pics, I hope!

Ultimate Dodgeball. Never heard of it? That's because the game, a
product of Mr. Marcus' (the Tutt club director) evil genius mind, has
yet to sweep the nation. The rules are simple: it is every man/ woman/
child out for him/herself. You try to peg as many people as can you
with balls. Once you are hit, you sit down. If the person who hit you,
however, is tagged, you may stand up and resume play. The game is
pretty brilliant: it is fair (ie equal opportunity for play) and the
kids can run around for hours because it is almost impossible to have
just one player standing. The photo doesn't do the game justice, as it
makes the gym seem massive (it isn't) and devoid of kids (an
inaccurate representation of the afterschool madhouse that is the Boys
and Girls Club). If I hadn't strained my shoulder the last time that
we played regular dodgeball (sad but true), I might have joined in!
Instead, I just sit at the sidelines and am completely entertained.