PATCO

I guess there's always good races and bad races. Sometimes even entire good race seasons and bad ones. Every athletes struggles with injuries at some point, so I guess it was my turn to not have a very good race. It's too bad; I had been looking forward to this race all year. It had been a huge goal of mine to not only qualify for my second PATCO, but to improve on last year. I had a disappointing race, but I guess the whole experience was still good.

I was feeling more confident after the first Junior Series race in Pike Lake two weeks ago, and I was being really careful about my shoulders and the swimming I was doing leading up to the race. I showed up at the venue feeling ready for a good race. My warm up and checking in went smoother than last year and I wasn't going to let anything shake me. Lining up and getting your name and country announced as you head to the start line is always cool. I was feeling really excited to race. I had been randomly seeded dead last but I had practiced starting from everywhere so I could be ready for whatever position I ended up with.  There was one spot left in the middle which I found, and then we were off. It was actually a really sudden start, no one was really expecting it. I felt I still had a pretty decent start though. It was rough but that's to be expected. By the first buoy I had a bit more space, which wasn't really a relief because I wanted to get onto the bike in a pack. I kept seeing less people around me and by the last buoy I snuck a peak behind me and saw calm water. I really started to worry that I was the last place swimmer. I pushed myself even more to try to catch onto some other people and my shoulders hurt but I really just didn't have to speed to get anywhere. With the run into transition I refocused on  getting through as fast as possible and onto the bike. I could see a couple girls in front of me. I was hoping I was wrong on how slow my swim was but it was an awful moment getting into an almost empty transition. Apparently there were only three people still behind me.

I did a lot of work on the bike. By the first time we went up Emily Murphy hill I had made my own pack of 4 from behind. I was with fellow Canadian Nicole, as well as two South American girls. We worked alright together considering the language barrier. Before the first lap was over, I noticed Nicole was no longer with us. The second time we went up the hill the others attacked. Usually I am pretty strong on hills but somehow I couldn't stay with them. Actually the stronger of the two dropped the other girl as well. I'm pretty sure the three of us each rode the last eight or so kilometers solo. It sucked. It was so hard to stay motivated and continue pushing the pace on my own.  I just wanted the bike to be over, and was hoping I could at least pick off a few more girls in the run. Finally I got into transition, passing another random girl that had been alone on the bike. Actually, looking at the results later I tied for the fastest transition time. Small victories. I felt pretty good on the run. I chased down one of the girls that had dropped me and kept focused on catching the next runner. Considering how alone I was and how much work I'd already had to do, I guess the run was pretty good for me. Nothing went really wrong at least. My time was slow, but comparatively everyone's was; it was a long and hilly course. I finished in 44th place.

I really wish I had been able to swim faster and get out with a pack. I did better at last year's PATCO. But again, I guess it happens. I really have not done enough swimming and it showed. It was pretty discouraging, but at least the whole experience of going to this race was great. Everything was so exciting, and the people I hung out with before and after were awesome. Thanks to everyone cheering for me out on the course, even though you knew I was doing badly. The encouragement was still appreciated. I am really grateful at least that I wasn't involved in any crashes this time. Hoping for quick recoveries to those that were. Also, congrats to everyone that raced!

Photo Credit: Mackenzie Kary

Also, complete results can be found here:

http://www.triathlon.org/results/results/2012_edmonton_patco_junior_pan_american_championships/7590/