After Nationals in Omaha, I had low expectations for Cleveland as a race venue. After just 2 weeks of focused triathlon training to prepare, I had low expectations for my race results as well. My goals:
- 30’ for the 1500 swim
- at least 19mph average on the bike (I only biked 4 times prior to this)
- sub 8-minute pace for the run.
I had put in a lot of good run training over the winter months, but once I started competing in June, my weekly mileage dropped in half and I only got a few hard workouts in.
The venue was at Edgewater Park in Cleveland. It looked beautiful, overlooking Lake Erie with a nice view of the city skyline as well. The swim as IN Lake Erie, and while water temperature was not a concern, the huge waves sure were! On race morning, it was announced that because of the rough water conditions, the swim would be cut in half. I am glad they didn’t cancel the swim portion altogether. That was the wildest swim of my life though! I was slammed and tossed by waves, which made me feel almost a little seasick even. I came out around 14:30, in the middle of the pack, and I was perfectly happy with that.
After a long run to transition, I was off on the bike! Cleveland shut down a big main road and we rode over the bridge and came down by the Brown’s stadium. We rode through part of a park and in front of the apartment we stayed at the night prior! Based on my training rides, I had low expectations for my watts, but the competitive side of me was pushing 20 watts harder than I did in training, though I was nervous that the more aggressive ride would burn me out for the run. My main goal was to have fun, and I was enjoying pushing the bike, so I continued to do so and averaged 21mph! I was definitely nervous transitioning to the run. My legs were feeling the hard ride and my toes were cramping on one foot, making putting shoes on a slower process. I was hoping things would loosen upon the run. 
I felt terribly slow running but I pushed the effort. I was hoping for sub-8 and I felt like I was 9’ pace or slower. I didn’t have immediate feedback to know how I was actually doing, and I thought that was probably for the best! I estimated an early mile to be around 7:15, so I thought I must have gotten that wrong. Then my watch beeped giving me times for the next 3 miles of around 6:56 (that can’t be right!), 7:02, and 7:20. At that point, I figured that even if my pace fell off, I would still do just fine. The run included several hills, a couple even that were a steep decline with a U-turn at the bottom to immediately turn around and run back up. I knew that had to have hurt my pace, but I went on effort, and after coming up one hill in the park, we were treated with a gorgeous view of overlooking the lake and the cityscape in the background. It was such a beautiful course, it was impossible not to enjoy!
A big downhill led us past the beach we swam at, a quick punch up and down over an overpass, and we could see the finish line. I didn’t know the age of the woman ahead, so I set out in a sprint to the finish line. I averaged 7:05 pace for the 10K run! It blew all expectations out the window. My biggest goal was to have fun, and I truly enjoyed the entire race.
To add to a gorgeous venue and fast results, was also that I placed high enough in my age group to potentially get a roll down slot for the 2020 World Championships in Edmonton, Canada (if I want to take it). Besides the great race, it was also my birthday and I got to spend the weekend with Andy, and our friend Rob flew up from Florida (he’s from the Cleveland area), and we got to meet and stay with his awesome family.
I had already registered for Milwaukee Nationals for next year, but this race offered so much for me. Now I’ll officially end my season and give my body a much needed break for a bit before starting up with off-season training. What a spectacular year it has been!
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