Emma Long Xterra, Austin, Texas 08/22/2010
Emma Long Park is not for the timid. I raced here last year recovering from Bronchitis and it was not easy then. I heard a week before the race that they decided to reverse the direction of the trail which made it even harder! WHAT??? Oh boy… here we go! We arrived in Austin on Friday evening with little time to get in a full pre-ride. So Steph and I headed out to see what this trail was like backwards. The first section was the same as last year, then once we crossed the road, the direction of the trail was different than last year. Harder in my opinion. They added in a rocky creek section, and a few other sections that were really tough. We were able to pre-ride about 6 miles of the course before we decided to bail out because it was getting dark. I knew that I was in for an interesting race on Sunday. It was a 16 mile course that was going to be a killer. Luckily I had all day Saturday off from training so that I could rest a little before the race on Sunday. Early to bed, and early to rise! Race morning went very smoothly. My nerves were staying in check for most of the morning too. Which is a very good thing for everyone! The water temp was a lot colder than it was last year, so I made a last minute decision to wear the wetsuit. I was very glad I made that decision when I hopped in the water!!! It was freezing! (ok ok, so this is Texas in the summer.. so not technically freezing, but it was pretty damn cold!) The race was a deep water start and we were 6 minutes behind the lead group, and 3 minutes behind the 30+ boys. Coach Zoe had told me before the race to push this one hard. I think her exact words were “race till you puke.” Oh goodie. Here we go!!!! I start off the swim fast, pushing my shoulders, arms, and lungs to the max. I quickly came upon some boys in blue caps and passed them. That was a big confidence booster! I kept my speed up and rounded the first buoy. There was a short beach run in between laps. I was quickly back in the chilly water and going for round two on the swim. I was still passing the boys in blue caps so I was still happy with my swim. I was finally done and was told that I was the second girl out of the water. SWEET! I’m on this!!!! I ran into transition and had trouble getting my wetsuit over my ankle timing chip. Mental note: take off chip before taking off wet suit. I finally got out of my wetsuit and quickly put on my shoes, helmet, camelbak and headed out on the trail. There was a big road climb before the trail started. I pushed up the hill, and headed into the trail. I was pretty fatigued from the hard swim, but still felt like I had some go. After about a few miles into the trail I started to drag a bit. I kept hearing my coach in my head, so I kept pushing as hard as I could. I looked back at one point and saw my friend and fellow competitor Amy behind me. Ugh… I had a feeling that she might catch me on this terrain! But no way am I going to let her pass me!!! I kept pushing harder and harder. Every flat I came to I belted down on the pedals and pushed through the pain. I knew that she was right on my tail though… so that gave me enough to push through until the end of the trail. I came into transition and got on my running shoes. It was time to push through my least favorite part of this sport. Running. Blech!!! I was almost done though. Less than an hour to go. Let’s do this. I took off and the run led us next to the river then straight up the side of the giant hill. This was so steep that they placed ropes so that we could pull ourselves up! I felt that I was running a pretty good pace, and so I kicked it up a bit. (coaches orders). I went back and forth between kicking it hard, and backing it off. Before I knew it… I had come to the end of the upper section of the run. What? Are you serious? I’m almost DONE!!!!! Whoooooo!!!! I finished this race in 3:06. Almost 20 minutes faster than last year. (and the bike was harder!!!) I ended up in second place, which I felt great! That second place finish should put me in the lead for the regional championship!!! It’s been such a great season! Thank you Steph and Brooks for being such great cheerleaders!!! Thanks to everyone else that helped me out along the way. It’s time to put my head down and focus on Nationals in a month, and Worlds in two months. Till next time!!!!!!!!!!
