Last race report of 2011: Long Course World Champs Las Vegas

My season’s over. It finished two weeks ago at the ITU Long Course World Championships, on the Silverman course in Henderson Nevada (just outside of Las Vegas).

Las Vegas!!! The bright lights of this oddity of a city start in the arrivals hall, where you can lose money to the casinos before your luggage has even hit the baggage carousel. I personally preferred to keep my USD in my pocket and just feel lucky as my bike box and wheels appeared in the oversized area, that the roulette of airline baggage handling got my gear to the same destination as me.

Luckily I was there to prepare and race, not to be either distracted by, or more likely for me be totally repelled by the bright lights and various entertainments and/or vices offered along the aptly named downtown area, "The Strip".

So, to the race. Unfortunately I did not threaten the British athletes in their stellar year in the sport, as Rachel Joyce and Leanda Cave, took out yet another title and the quinella for the Poms. However for me, my 19th place finish in the elite women’s field was a solid outcome. I am a freshman in the elite ranks, with 2011 my first as a pro and I have been racing triathlon for just two and a half years. So hopefully with plenty of improvement yet to be found, despite my age which makes me look like I should be a seasoned pro, I was in the top 20 and just 4 mins (0.8%) off the top 15, and 13m (3.4%) off a top 10 place.

On course

What I am more proud of than my relative placing is that I travelled to a big race with a super strong pro field, at the end of a long season, and feel that I did all I could to put down the fastest race I had in me on the day. I feel that I got the things I controlled pretty right; lead up/taper period, travel, pre-race preparation, clothing and wheel selection, course knowledge, managing last minute race changes, pacing, nutrition/  hydration etc. In doing so I gave myself the best chance of a great finish on the day. I even managed the cold weather well after two really bad races in cold conditions earlier in my season. Mind you I was helped by the cancellation of the swim by ITU officials on race morning due to the cold and water quality concerns. So the race overall was a good season finish and actually a great summary of my 2011 season overall; solid, not spectacular but consistent and providing few regrets.

The Mohave Desert: stunning, open, arid

and while we were there, windy and cold

The weather when I arrived 5 days before the race and checked out the course was stunning, maxing at 26C during the day, dry and sunny. The forecast however was for a cold change to blow through on the Thursday with temperatures expected to plunge to low single digits early morning and maxing around 13-15C with lots of wind and possibly rain on race day. My achilles heel of the 2011 season come back to haunt me! After racing badly in cold wet conditions in both Alpe D’Huez and Challenge Henley earlier this year, I had worked out that my soft Aussie skin and heart really don’t like getting too cold. I had spent lots of time for both racing trying to get my clothing and nutrition right to offset the weather, but both times had still frozen and not been able to find my normal race pace. Another chance to get it right! 3rd time lucky? I decided that cold weather races was my mental and physical challenge for this season, just as my swim had been in 2010, a weakness to be faced, understood and overcome.

By race day my strategy included a whole plan to manage cold from when I arrived at transition, through the race to post race recovery. I was ready!

Alex from TA brought a very big flag!
Back at the Aussie tables after carrying it in.

I had travelled to the race without my husband and kids for the first time all season. It was a really different dynamic. Although I missed them hugely, it really allowed me to focus on the race and spend time just mentally and physically preparing for it with few distractions. One lovely distraction was catching up with some of the Aussie team, especially the guys that had raced in Immenstad last year. We had been a small team there and had stayed in contact ever since. I was also given the honour of carrying the flag at the Parade of Nations a few days before the race. With a big team of 50 from Oz and 3 other elites, all far more experienced and credentialed than me, I was really grateful to be given such a privilege. Alex, the TA team manager asked me to give a brief talk to the team at the Aussie team function. It was a pleasure to do, as this race, the ITU Long Course World Champs has really defined my discovery and progress as a triathlete, from accidental qualification as a secondary unplanned outcome when as a rank amateur I was raising money for Muscular Dystrophy Research in 2009 to this race where I was part of the elite team for Australia.

Thanks to those that offered to make a donation to support Muscular Dystrophy research there. Just a reminder that if anyone was still wanting to make a donation to the cause that initially opened the door to triathlon to me and is as much or more important to me now, there is a link to the various MD charities that I endorse by region here http://jamiesjourneydmd.blogspot.com/

So distractions over, catch ups had and good wishes given to everyone for their race. Now, to the course itself.

Lake Las Vegas

The 4k swim was a long out and back in the relatively small man-made lake, Lake Las Vegas, surrounded by golf courses, hotels, fancy holiday mansions, new housing estates, palm trees and shopping villages. A compact "oasis" of green space and modern pastel buildings that seemed to have landed in an otherwise pretty barren and uninhabited area about 20k from Vegas and 10k from Henderson. It was nice in a, "is this real or is this a film set" sort of a way. You were not allowed to train in the lake, so given that the swim was cancelled pre-dawn on race morning, as it happened, I never got to swim there.

In the pitch black at 5am as we arrived at transition, the ITU official announced the swim was cancelled. Instead we were to prepare for a TT bike start in race no. order, 5s apart starting 45m later then official swim start. It was a great test of mental and physical adaptability. Some folk fretted, some delighted, some got annoyed while others just got prepared for a change that was out of their control. I was relatively ambivalent. After swimming 5 times per week last winter to finally improve what had previously been my weakest leg, I would have liked the opportunity to use my swim, however I also know that I really suffer in the cold and it is very hard to minimize that in the water. Double caps and a great Zoot wetsuit only go so far to protecting you.

So race start arrived and as my full experience of time trial racing was watching the Tour de France TT at Grenoble this year, I put myself in a Cadel mentality (without the cheesy towel around the neck but hopefully with some of the mental and physical fortitude he displayed there) and took off into Lake Mead National Park. There we rode two undulating out and backs on the western and northern limits of the lake created by the Hoover Dam / Colorado River. I loved the dry empty spaces in the park. On race day, the mountains in the distance had fresh snow on them although I have to admit I didn’t notice much at the time. Rachel Joyce and Leanda Cave from the UK passed me early on the bike and looked super strong, as did Nicola Butterfield, my Australian counterpart who was busy ripping through the field. Heading back into town the course left the road to follow a bike path up on the River Mountain trail until it emerged in Henderson where the roads were straight and smooth but the general inclination upwards to T2, next to a large recreation centre.

I rode hard and my new Valdora Black PHX2 and I loved the course with just over 1,800m climbing in the 120kms. I had debated wheel selection all week as winds rose and fell, but in the end was pleased to be on my Reynolds Strike 66s. The wind was very manageable. The night before wind gusts hit 50mph so it was good to know I had a good option irrespective of the day that dawned. I rode solid and came into the run transition feeling really good and out-transitioned Margaret Bailey to run out onto the 4 lap course in 15th place.

The run was 4 laps on roads and footpaths around the centre with about 500m flat and the rest either climbing or dropping back down again. It wasn’t interesting in views but had lots of options to see your competition, was well supplied with aid stations and plenty of challenges in keeping the pace up on the hills without blowing up and maxing the cadence/pace on the descents. I was really pleased that my run felt good and I kept in rhythm and on or just above my target time. Unfortunately in this super strong field it wasn't quite enough to hold my place so I slipped into 19th by the finish. Still a top 20 finish at the World Champs was by my standards a great race.

Enjoy your training, wherever it is. I'm now in relax mode back in France and enjoying the off season with my rides usually involving my husband, and / or kids and at least one coffee stop en route until the snows fall and riding is relegated to the home trainer for a few months. Next week and I’ll start working on some technical assessments and improvement. For now, time for a coffee!

A bientôt / See you later
Christine