Finally the last race of the season… ITU Long Course World Championships. Jim encouraged me to try to make the team and I really didn’t know much about it since my focus has always been on Ironman and Kona. Given what happened to my Kona plans this year I am happy I have this race to finish off the season.
The theme for tomorrow is PATIENCE and anyone who knows me knows I have zero!! I will admit that I am a very impatient person and I still don’t know why people say patience is a virtue. Really? I am not a believer. So tomorrow is going to be a mental test as well as a physical test. This race course is no joke. Over 5,000 ft on the bike and 2,000 on run means it’s going to be a long day. I know that I have to be patient on the bike, stay within my set wattage and let people pass me knowing that I will get them on the run. It’s a great plan but easier said that done.
I went into this race thinking it was the same course as the 70.3 World Championships but boy was I wrong. Sure it starts off the same but the “fun” really begins at mile 56 with the 3 sisters (3 climbs in a row at an 18% grade) followed by a 2.5 mile sustained climb and then more rollers til we hit T2. I am assuming people are going to take these hills hard and then be toast on the run. If I can be conservative on the bike I know I can have a great run. Although I haven’t been running as much as I would like due to my foot issue, this run course is right up my alley. It’s 4 loops totaling 18 miles of hills-which means we are either going up or down at all times. Ever since I started training with Joanna she has emphasized the importance of being a good downhill runner. We have worked hard on it for the last 2 years so I feel like I am ready for a course like this.
Jim is out here as my Sherpa again (thanks babe) and there are some other LA Tri peeps who are racing (Cherryl, Lou, Holger, Liz, Lynne and Jen) who will be great motivation during the race. I guess the second theme for the day is Liz’s motto “ I love hills, I love hills, I love hills!”
Lastly, I have to give a shout out to my dad who is racing the Rock n Roll Marathon in Savannah and Jim’s mom who is racing her first 5k! Wahoo! Our families rock!
