Colossal Cave Omnium & IM Los Cabos Race Reports

The 2013 season is off and running and from the looks of it, it is shaping up to be a great season so far!  I got to race my first Omnium with my new Sabino Cycling teammates, Alisha Welsh & Chloe Black.  Both are highly experienced and fun teammates (not to mention FAST!).  We tore into the criterium race of the Colossal Cave Omnium and swept the podium with a 1-2-3 finish!  Believe it or not, the triathlete of the bunch took 1st that day.  Go figure. :)

Day two of the Omnium brought us to the road race, a 6-lap, 9 mile circuit that includes Pistol Hill and of course, windy conditions.  We managed to whittle the group down to us and 1 other girl and cleared 2nd-4th on the day.  Still good enough to give our team the overall win, 2nd and 3rd place for the Omnium GC! Not bad for our first go as teammates.

Next up for me was Ironman Los Cabos, my first tri of the 2013 season and my way of testing my fitness for the season to come.  I ended the 2012 season with a DNS at Rev 3 Florida, due to what I eventually learned was a bulging disc problem. I had to get over my extreme disappointment and depression of not being able to run or ride for many weeks in order to rehab my back. So, I decided to take advantage of this time and work on my swim. So, I swam all winter long under the guidance of Streamlined Performance's Jeff Utsch, switched my tri coach to longtime friend Jimmy Riccitello and I discovered at IM Los Cabos that the hard work and change paid off! 
The first race of the season is always a nervous one. I had just finished a solid training block and was feeling pretty good overall. We arrived in San Jose del Cabo the Thursday before the race with lots of time to sort out gear and get settled. We also found a great little taco stand and restaurant that we visited a few times during the trip and I got to break in my new Keen sandals #bravenewtoes. 

Both Friday and Saturday I took advantage of the practice swims at the race course to check in on my swimming and was pleasantly surprised that I felt much stronger in the water than normal. Good sign. A few short runs and one bike ride (lots of traffic so riding was a little scary for my liking) and I found myself the day before race day. I always bring my design work with me and take advantage of the "feet up" time to get some work done, so I got caught up on some emails, grabbed some dinner and off to bed early.
Race morning was going smoothly and I had plenty of time to warm up before the gun went off.  We lined up on the beach waiting for the gun, and then we were off!  It's always a foaming frenzy to start off the swim and my position wasn't great to start with, so I never made the lead group of swimmers.  So, I hung with the second pack - which for me is a great achievement since I have never stayed with them before!  I was feeling very good at this point and hung with the girls till the end of the swim. 
It was a long run up the sand, up steep stairs and to the bike.  I didn't grab a water on the way up to rinse off the salt water and that came back to haunt me later with some major chafing.  Good transition and off onto the bike.  I was 8 minutes back from the lead, which again was a first for me since I'm usually 20 minutes behind the lead!!  Yay for swimming!  At 8 minutes back, I not only had several girls in sight on the bike, but I was able to ride my own race.  So, I stayed well within my limits on this very hilly, very windy and very hot bike course.  No sense in pulling yourself inside out on this bike course; it will come back to bite you later.  I came off the bike with the 2nd fastest bike split of the day.  I also lost count of how many water bottles I went through, as the temperatures rose throughout the afternoon.  I went through all my Gu and all my Zipfizz for sure!
Ahhhh, on to the run.  My favorite.  After a somewhat sloppy transition, I wiped myself down with my Energy Towel for a good pick-me-up and refresher at the start of the run (believe me, it WORKS!) and off I went to run down as many girls as possible.  I believe I was 9th off the bike.  I found my rhythm quickly and proceeded to click off the k's and simply execute my run as I knew I could.  I knew the fitness was there and each time I looked at my watch, I was still on pace.  And one by one, I started to pass the girls who were ahead of me until I was in 4th place with 3 miles to go and 3rd place was only 40 seconds up the road.  So, I put in a little more oomph into my step to get that next place and got it, with 1.5 miles to go! 
My first IM podium finish - how awesome!!!  I posted the fastest run split on the day and absolutely soaked up the race festivities and award ceremony.  This was a long time coming for me and I am grateful for my friends and family who continue to support me, even when I am down.  Big congratulations to Erika Csomor and Michelle Vesterby for their 1-2 finish as well; I'm looking forward to seeing you all again!

Next up, a few more bike races and then off to 70.3 St. Croix.  I will be sporting my new custom Champion System race kit there. It's gonna be awesome.