Perth ITU LD Triathlon World Championship Wrap-Up
Tim O'Donnell who won the elite division (doing everything twice as fast as me) said during the awards that today was the hardest swim he had ever done and he had never been more happy to exit the water. On the longest section of the swim we swam into the current and in addition the water was extremely choppy from the wind. Most said it was harder than an ocean swim because it was harder to find a rhythm. My most memorable moment came while swimming through a bunch of jelly fish because one of them got on my face and just wouldn't move. That's the section I swam the fastest because the jelly fish thing was kind of creepy. They were everywhere!
When transitioning from the swim to bike you have to have your helmet fastened before you even touch your bike. The bike ride was flat but into the wind. It was the same loop done four times so even someone slow like me could pull along side an elite champion, briefly of course. The run was also a loop done four times. That last lap was a bit lonely but the volunteers were so encouraging. If you have to get passed a lot in a race it's still pretty great to see the various countries go by.
The very last person to cross the finish line was also his age group's world champion. He was 78. The youngest world champion in the age groups was 18. My age group was won by an American followed by two Aussies. As for me, despite what was a great effort for me I was towards the end of my age group and the race in general. But it was just so great to be there. The bike ride along the Swan River was gorgeous and the run was likewise picturesque. The best part was the other competitors. I sat with the Danish team, the Finnish team, and the Czech elite fifth place winner at the award ceremony along with a handful of people from Team USA. I was also there with my friend, Patty, who came from Sydney to watch the race.
The best moment of the race was being handed an American flag to carry over the finish line. It's just indescribable. First, of course, the relief of having it over and having them hang a finisher's medal around your neck but those moments are true of any race. There was just something special about carrying that flag.
The 2011 ITU World Championships will be held in the states. It's a great honor to host the event. Next year it's in Germany and in 2012 it will be in Spain. I'm so glad it was in Perth this year. They were great hosts.
On the last two laps of the run I was glad to have a song tooling around my head that I first heard my first year as a home school parent. It was the final night of a week long training for new homeschoolers and hundreds of teenage students were on stage singing. The lyric that helped me through those final miles was: "It will be worth it all, when we see Jesus..one look at his sweet face all sorrow will erase so bravely run your race till we see Christ." I repeated the verse "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. I also found it helpful to think USA,USA and I thought Finish Strong which is what I routinely say to the cycle classes I teach and is also the name of my in-home personal training company. You know it's a tough,hot finish when I resort to mental tricks like that to pass the time. Tim O'Donnell said he relied on the cheering crowd. Maybe someday....
The men's 45-49 age group winners were all from New Zealand. So all the men on Team NZ stripped off their shirts and began to do a ferocious tribal dance at the award ceremony. I'm not kidding. Perhaps this is custom we want to adopt locally?
I'll always be grateful to: Tim Yount our team leader who was there to cheer us all on and help us navigate the week, Peter our team doctor that helped me recover after the race and escape my allergies just before race time, and most of all to Hal, the team chiropractor, and his amazing kineseology tape. After barely being able to run a hundred yards a few days prior, thanks to Hal, I was able to run and the injury was not a factor in the race.
I'm also grateful to Heritage College for sponcering me. Hopefully, I'll be able to take this experience back to the personal training classroom. They all definitely need to learn about kineseology tape and the benefits of working with a top medical team.
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