The World Championship Triathlon in Madeira, Portugal on May 9 (results), was an amazing experience for me. Even though I did not have quite the race that I was hoping for, I still really enjoyed competing against the best triathletes in the World as well as representing the United States for the first time.

The swim portion of the race consisted of two loops in the ocean. It turned out to be a wetsuit swim which initially I was not too excited about. Unlike my Olympic Trials race in Hawaii, I managed to have a great swim start. I got out well and found myself in a very good position as I headed towards the first buoy. I was pleasantly surprised to realize that I was actually feeling really good in my wetsuit. As I approached the turn, the group merged together and I found myself in a mass of thrashing bodies. It was kind of weird because from that point on it was extremely difficult to change position in the group. There were so many bodies that there was really no place to go. On one hand it was nice because the group just pulled me along (except for the times that I got punched or dunked under the water). On the other hand, however, I was frustrated because I knew I could be swimming much faster than I was, but there was nothing I could do about it. We were just one big mob of swimmers! I tried to reassure myself by telling myself that most of the other competitors where in the same situation that I was in. I just kept moving along with the group until the finish of the swim. I exited the water with about 30-40 other girls and it was a mad dash to the bike.

At the beginning of the bike, I found myself in a huge group with many of the girls that I had finished the swim with. From what I could tell, we were trailing a front group of about 10 girls. I was pleased to be in the group that I was in because I could see that I was with some really great triathletes. I had no problem staying with the group as we completed the two hills at the beginning part of the first loop. However, we then had to go down an extremely steep downhill of about 400-500 meters that ended with a sharp turn at the bottom. If you did not complete the turn, you would run into a metal pole! In the past, I have always had a hard time just letting myself go on a downhill and that is just when I am by myself. In the race, I needed to go down one of the scariest downhills that I had ever been on, along with 30 other girls. Needless to say, I was not able to just relax and let myself scream down the hill. Unfortunately as a result, I ended up getting dropped from my pack. I was, however, able to catch them when we got back to the flat section of the loop. I did not stay in the group long though, because we still had 7 more of the same loops and once again I got dropped on the descent. I was able to catch the group one more time on lap two, but after that I was basically on my own. I eventually ended up riding in by myself with 2-3 groups ahead of me and then some groups behind me. Riding the last 5 loops by myself was frustrating because I kept thinking about how I had had no problem staying with the pack on the flats or uphills. It was just the one downhill that did me in. I was mad at myself for letting my fear get the better of me. I did, however, vow to really start working on my downhill skills as soon as possible. Biking by myself for much of the race was just the incentive I needed to force myself to work on descending!

I eventually finished the bike and headed out for the run. I actually felt pretty strong on the 4 loop run course. Even though I knew I was not in a great position place wise, I just tried to run well and work on catching as many people as I could. I was able to catch a few, but for the most part I was just too far behind. I ended up finishing in 47th of about 80 girls.

Even though I felt like my poor descending in the race cost me a good 20 or so places, I was still fairly pleased with my race overall. I gained confidence from having one of my first really strong wetsuit swims. I also gained confidence from riding strongly by myself. Most importantly, however, the race forced me to realize that I really need to work on my descending ability if I ever want to be more competitive. I had always been able to get away with that weakness in the past. I am now determined to work on it and in just the past two weeks since the race, I have made a huge improvement. I am now thankful that I had the experience I had in Madeira because I know it will help make me a better triathlete long term.

I thoroughly enjoyed racing in the World Championships in Madeira, Portugal and I look forward to trying to improve upon this finish at World Championships in the future.

Next up - The third Olympic Trials race in Bellingham, Washington (June 13) where I hope to have a great race with both shoes on this year!