Triathlon has been pretty good to me. This time, it took me to the beautiful island of Cozumel, Mexico for the International Triathlon Union (ITU) Age Group World Championships.
Now you all remember what happened the week before the USAT Age Group National Championship, right? If not, let me refresh your memory with a nice little picture.
The finish: Across the line, into the med tent, and providing a "sample"
Immediately upon finishing, I grabbed the nearest volunteer and told them I needed help. Like I said, I gave everything I had and couldn't even hold myself upright. I knew I had crossed the finish line in first place, but it didn't really sink in that I won my age group for a little bit. Let me explain.
After being held in Milwaukee, WI the last two years, the location of this year’s USAT Age-Group National Championship (AGNC) will be in the Gateway to the West: Omaha! This will be my second year competing in the USAT AGNC and after the great time I had last year, I’m looking forward to another fantastic race.
I'm back, Boston! No not to tackle the marathon course again, but for the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) Annual Meeting. The meeting rotates locations around the US and this year it just happened to be in Boston where I was just a month ago. This is a meeting I attend every year to present my research and rub elbows with influential people in the exercise science world. It also gives me a chance to catch up with friends from other schools and try out lots of local (and delicious!) food :) There is also a 5k "fun" run on the last full day of the conference so I was looking forward to that too!
I had some lofty goals which included finishing in a time of 2:25:00 (avg. pace 5:32/mile)
I was coming off an injury that forced me to take almost 5 weeks off from running outside with just 6 weeks to go before the marathon
It was hot (71) and windy (10+ mph headwind)
I was CRUISING through the first 10k (avg. pace 5:32) and felt fan-freaking-tastic!
Everything fell apart right around the halfway point and I was just in survival mode after that, but I did NOT walk
Going slow did have it's perks. I got to enjoy the atmosphere and experience of THE BOSTON MARATHON!
Bostonian's have funny accents (you know you can pronounce the 'r' in words, right?!)
I had so many people who texted, called, posted, and everything else that it was beyond humbling and I am so thankful for all of you!
I finished in a time of 2:50:02 and missed my goal time by 25 minutes. This was my slowest marathon by 10 minutes since I started running marathons 3 years ago
I am nowhere near satisfied with this effort and I will be back to Boston for redemption
I know I'm going to have a lot to say about the race, so I want to write down the chronicles of what I go through before, during, and after the race. So here is the BEFORE.