Xterra SouthEast Regionals: Racing with a positive attitude

After almost two years of just swimming and biking, I started running again at the end of February, 2015. I had then finished my physical therapy program that took up nearly 8 months and I could run pain free the majority of the times. I went on to win the SouthEast Duathlon Regional Championships in April and I even started putting in the mix a couple of local off-road triathlon races - just to see where I was at - and everything seemed to be rolling as planned. I even threw in some interval sessions and, towards the end of the first half of the season, I was hoping to race pain free at the Xterra off-road SE regionals.

Although I had not been training to perform at that race, I knew that if I would just run without any pain in my abdominal muscles (see New 2015 season - racing pain free), I had a chance to podium. The first two women qualify for the Xterra Worlds, the rest - rolling down to 18 - get a ticket to the ITU off-road Worlds. There was no real pressure, but if podium happened, it would have been nice.

With some of the fastest pro athletes showing up at that race (including Paterson, the 2012 world champ), the electric atmosphere and the tough bike course that was leading up the swim, I was a little more stressed and tensed than usual. My swim was not the best but it was ok - I got out of the water swimming at the tail of the first pack of my heat, made the run to the transition area and got on the bike. The moment I hit the trails, my body tightened up and my abdominal muscles started cramping. I knew that if the cramps start then it's almost impossible to get out of them and that my run will be a crawl. Despite that I kept thinking positive. The bike course was technical but not hard. What a lot of athletes did not count was the constant drizzle and slippery rocks and roots that made - even the pros - crash pretty badly. I kept my pace a little slower than I wanted but stayed upright the entire time.

On to the run course: it was the second run with my new trail running shoes - Altra Lone Peak 2.0. My cramps were there, at every inch of my frontal plane, from the top of my ribs and my zyphoid down to the belly button! I couldn't breath properly but my legs were moving. Plenty of room for my toes to splay, the Lone Peak 2s had great traction and stability on the trails! When crossing creeks and water patches, the Altras seemed to hold in water a little more than I wanted but other than that, these shoes could handle almost everything on the unforgiving trail course! Not too heavy and cushy, not too light and paper-thin, with enough support to get you through the rough miles.

My fifth place finish gave me the ticket to the 2016 World ITU cross triathlon championships, and although it was not what I would have liked to get, taking into account my cramps and health issues of the past 2 years, the minimal preparation and the tough competition, I was pleased. I had a lot of fun and I can only aim for the better! I have made a tremendous progress in swimming, I have a much more advanced bike fitness and my mountain bike skills are getting better. The running is left behind but this is because of my health setbacks. I am just buying more time :)

Keep rolling, Keep pushing, Keep smiling! The best are here to come!