|
Race Report for Pan Am
Games
It has been
exactly one week since I returned home from the Pan Am Games in Santo
Domingo. The week has flown by. Last Tuesday, I was welcomed at the
Penticton Airport by a small group of close friends and of course, my
husband Aaron. As we touched down I looked out the window to see a couple
of crazy people (husband and friend) running along side the runway with a
Canadian flag. They also had made a little poster with some of the newspaper
articles and pictures. My friends and training partners from Penticton
signed the poster with words of congratulations. I was almost on the verge
of tears after a long trip back and the emotional race I had just completed.
I really enjoyed my
short stay in Dominican Republic. I had a chance to see what it was like to
be at a Games event, meeting other athletes from completely different
sports. I had badminton players and a modern pentathlete staying with me in
our room. The food!....I gorged myself on tropical fruit (I already miss
it).
The triathlon was well
organized and took place at a nice venue - the local Naval Base. Considering
some of the other horror stories I had heard from other athletes about their
venues, we were for the most part satisfied with the way the race was put
together. We had to get up at 4:15 AM so we could catch a bus at 5 AM and
be ready to race by 7:30 AM. I didn’t have a problem because it felt like
we were getting up for an Ironman race - lucky for us we didn’t have to do
an Ironman.
I was really calm race
morning as it was my 5th race in 5 weeks. Race preparation
becomes second nature after doing race after race. We were at the venue
with plenty of time to spare and were able to watch the sun rise over Santo
Domingo.
Fast forward to race start. There was quite a big wave
break that we needed to get past before we could start swimming. I figured
this technical aspect of the swim was an added bonus to split up the group
early. The horn sounded and off we went. I sprinted down the beach and
into the water as fast as I could. I tried to run out as far as I could
without getting knocked over by the waves. I noticed a big wave about to
knock me back so I dove straight through the centre and then started doing a
few dolphin dives to get out past the breaking waves. As I began taking my
first few real swim strokes, I glanced to the left and to right and noticed
only one other swimmer near me. I was so pleased, I nailed the start. I
was now swimming beside the best swimmer in the race, Sheila Taoromina from
USA. This fast start really set the tone for the rest of the race. Sheila
quickly set the pace and I followed. I could feel someone else touching my
toes occasionally so I knew there was more than just the 2 of us. But I
wasn’t sure how many other girls we were towing behind us, or I should say
Sheila was towing. After completing 2 loops in the nice rolling swells, we
excited the water up the beach and into transition. With a quick look
around I noticed it was just 3 of us. Becky Gibbs-Lavelle was the one on my
feet but after that there was a gap. We jumped on our bikes and as we were
exciting transition, you could hear the announcer calling out the names of
the Brazilian women who were trailing 15 to 20 seconds back.
The 3 of us got organized really quickly and started
taking turns pulling through in an organized pace line. The course was
generally flat with a small hill in and out of transition. In the initial 2
or 3 laps I was very cautious not to overextend myself when I was leading
our little group. I had to be careful that these two Americans didn’t try
to drop me on a corner or something crazy like that. As the bike portion
progressed we were putting time into the second pack and it also became
evident that we were going to work together to put the 3 of us in contention
for the 3 podium positions. By the end of the six lap bike we had almost a
3 minute lead and we had even purposely slowed down a little to conserve
energy for the run.
Through transition 2, Sheila was in and out in a flash
determined to win. I was out second probably 10 meters back. Even though
it was early in the morning it was hot out and my legs were tired from the
bike portion. I tried my best to catch up to Sheila but she took it out so
quickly. In this heat I needed to pace myself because I knew it would be as
much a race of attrition as it would be speed and tactics. The run was 4
loops on the same road as the bike ride. Sheila held the lead for the first
loop and I just kept her in striking distance. As we started our second lap
I felt my legs coming back to me and my leg turnover picking up. By the end
of the second lap I decided to make my move. Once I passed Sheila, I wasn’t
celebrating yet as we still had 5 km left and it was stinking hot and
humid. So I just focused on staying cool and hydrated. Sometimes when you
take the lead it becomes easy because you get this boost of adrenaline just
because you are leading (which is always exciting) but in this race I knew
anything could still happen. I took advantage of all the aid stations to
cool myself and hydrate. Slowly but surely the km’s clicked by and with one
km to go I knew I was going to win. Isabelle, our team leader let me know
that a boy had a Canadian Flag and would be standing at the top of the small
hill before the finish line. I could grab the flag and run with it across
the finish line. Sure enough, the boy who I later found out was from
Calgary was standing there ready to pass me the flag. I grabbed it with a
smile and practically bounced the rest of the way home. I was so excited to
cross the finish line. It was such an emotional moment; I was honoured to
not only represent my country but also my family and community. It was very
exciting!!!
After the win, during interviews I was feeling good
and under emotional control; that was until the CBC interviewer asked me,
“What does this race mean to you?”. This is when the tears started to roll
down my face. I have so many memories of watching the Olympics, the Pan Am
Games, the Commonwealth Games and other great sporting events on TV
throughout my whole life. I was always so inspired by these great
athletes. Now here it was me giving my winning interview, it was something
that seemed so unbelievable at one time in my life but after a lot of hard
work and focusing on smaller short term goals it really was me. Wow!
 |
