h* tris!: La La La Las Vegas!!!!

I made it to World Championships. So so excited. Okay, I am still excited. One of the hardest races I've ever done, but truly a dang good time!

Thursday afternoon we packed up, and drove all the way out to Vegas....not such a bad road trip actually, hit a bit of traffic...but I think we scared everyone off the road with the crazy set up we had going on!

We drove Kevin's boss' car, with 3 ElliptiGos and my teeny B2 on the racks...with Interbike the week after the race, apparently it made sense to haul everything out at once? Totally wish I had a picture of this SUV packed to the max, with a hitch rack, and a couple trays on the roof rack on top. Seriously, I am quite sure we looked homeless. :) 5 hours later we hit Henderson, NV...unpacked and passed out!

Woke up Friday morning, with big agenda for the day! Put the feetsies up, absorb the heat and acclimatize, and go to check-in at the expo!

Check-in was so fun! Like always its incredibly organized so they shuffle you through each station fairly quickly while you sign your life away on any and every kind of waiver possible, then give you the tshirt to prove it. :)

The expo was steamy hot, and full of fun peeps to visit with! Love that Kev knows all the super awesome reps from like every brand, and its like one big reunion-so friendly!

Zoomed back to our home-stay (kev has a super awesome buddy who let us invade his home!), and rested up! Grabbed some dinner later, and enjoyed the heat and sun!

mmmm..... food...

Saturday morning we woke at the crack of dawn to take advantage of the lake being FINALLY open to swimming! Brought the bike, and run gear as well to spin out the legs, and see how they were doing.

Picked up our sweet friend Trish Diem (a adorable fast lady) and headed down to the resort. When we jumped in the water, I guess I was expecting it to be somewhat refreshing? Apparently, it is recycled water, that smells like eggs--kinda oddly warm...if that makes sense...

So we swam the loop they had all set up, trying to keep that water out of my mouth as much as possible. blech! I was feeling cheeky in my torque though, so had to keep that energy under wraps! Zoomed out of the resort on our bikes, and spun up the hills with a cool group of peeps we were lucky enough to hook up with! It was a nice overcast morning, and set us up for a great 40 minute spin with a quick

15 minute run. I couldn't believe how fast the morning went! (Isn't that always the way?)

saturday afternoon bike check-in

Race morning....dum dum dum da da da da da da dum....its here.

Up at the 4am to eat, put on my usual race day game face, grab my waffle, and we peace out. Had to put all my nutrition on my bike (omg Honey Stinger gels and Powerbar Endurance is the best!), hit the potties, and hurry up to wait wave start line. Our gun went off at 7am so waiting in line with Bridget Jones kept me completely entertained! Love finding sweet friends to keep the nerves at bay!

Overall the swim was challenging, it seemed as though we were swimming upstream the whole way, and no matter what fast feet I was on and how hard I pushed my efforts felt average, even though I was trying to pace myself to save energy for the day ahead. So when I saw my time, it was actually pretty unsurprising....35:00

Took about 1:30 to run around the lake from swim exit to transition, and like other athletes, it does run off the 'swim fog' and clears your head to get ready for the next leg. Ran my bike up the switchbacks out of the other end of transition, and thought 'dang, its going to be a hilly day, pace yourself lady!' And so it was....very hilly...up...down...through some of the most gorgeous scenery I've seen yet. I was constantly amazed at how gorgeous it was out there! (yes, I talk to myself alot...you know you do too!) The last 9 of the bike course was this long false flat with a bit of a headwind, that I was having trouble pushing myself through. yeesh. 'Is it over yet? I just wanna run. Wait. What? Me, wanna run?' Zoomed into transition right at the 3 hour mark, way faster than Kev and I both thought considering the course. I am happy, next year is redemption year. :)

Jumped off my bike, and shoot I love those bike catchers. Soooooo handy! Need those everywhere! I could hand off my keys and purse to a catcher at home and zoom back out the door for a fast transition to a run! Yeah!

Anyway, got shoes on, lubed with obsene amounts of sunscreen, and was on my way to hook up three of the worst laps ever! I was so surprised to see so many people from TNM out there!!!

Holy cow, they cheered so loud--makes the run so much easier! Thank you so much to the bestest cheerleaders ever! Gotta say, Teresa has created a team so close knit with cameraderie, that is impossible to recreate down here.

Run starts out on a downgrade for a mile, then jumps to climbing uphill for 2 miles...then back down for 2 miles...and repeat 2 more times. Kills the quads, hams, and tips of my toes! Each lap of the day felt better, since I knew I was challenged, hurting, but no quad issues (Ha! pacing the power!) and I was getting that much closer to the end. Best part of the day? Run ends on downhill portion....i.e. fast finish! Woo Hoo!