Last Race Recap

The season has come to a close and I would have never imagined I could have done all I was able to do this season. It is thanks to great coaches, family, friends, and the rest of my support staff. My last race was the PATCO Pan American Championship in PVR. I had a decent swim, good bike, and struggled a little on the run. When we got off the bike, I asked what place I was in and was shocked to hear I was in the top bike pack - wow! That was a first, and extremely surprising. I ended up running the 3-loop course with two other girls. On the 3rd lap, the Canadian accidentally went off course and ended up gapping me and the other girl. The Canadian crossed the finish line first, but was disqualified for cutting the course. It was quite sad. I mentally struggled when the Canadian gapped us, and got gapped by the Brazilian as well. However, it ended up being a great race for me - I ended up 2nd, and teammate Jillian Petterson ended up 3rd. It was a good day for US athletes with 2 women and 2 men on the podium!

Thank you for all of your support. I really appreciate everything everyone has done for me. I am blessed. I wake up in the morning and am shocked at everything I have. It is amazing.

Although I'm done traveling for triathlon, I still have some trips ahead of me. I am heading to Orlando today for work. Should be a good week.

Race

http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/lifestyle/104704709.html

The Condo

View from our balcony.

Mexico!

I made it to Huatulco, as did my bike - which was amazing. The plane from Mexico City to Huatulco was a tiny plane with about 20 people (19 triathletes) flying to the race. Only 14 bikes could fit on the plane and they had to take a backlog of bikes from the day before (I was VERY lucky my bike made it. I think only 5 triathletes on my plane got their bikes).

I am staying with Jillian and her coach and husband in a beautiful condo. We have a kitchen I've always dreamed of having, with a view that is unbelieveable. There is a huge living room with leather couches, washing machines, two huge rooms with big beds and showers so big all four of us could fit in them!

We previewed the race course today - the roads are rough, but overall an okay bike course. We also swam in the Ocean (the course) and I got (no joke) 20+ jelly fish stings. There were so many jelly fish and there is no way to avoid them.

The race is Sunday in the morning - which will be good because it is very hot here.

We have our race meeting tonight and then we are going out to dinner.

Nationals

More to come...had a decent swim, was 13th out of the water. Had a great bike - got in a good pack and moved up to 12th. I struggled on the run. The heat took a lot out of all of us, and I fell apart after two laps. Ended up 8th overall, 5th American. Overall, a good day.

Cindi, my coach was 2nd place in her age group and 2nd overall Female Amateur! :) So proud!!

Nationals

Nationals will be shown on Versus: http://www.usatriathlon.org/news/2010/09/21/usa-triathlon-2010-elite-national-championship-to-air-on-versus/38649?ngb_id=12

Live Blog: http://www.usatriathlon.org/events/953/page/7198

Team USA 2nd

I lead team USA to a 2nd place finish in the World Duathlon Championship in Edinburgh, Scotland. It was a blast getting to know the team, especially Heidi. We were friends from the first time we met (which was when she shouted up to my window Romeo/Juliet style). This trip has been a blast and it was an honor to represent USA. Although I am not satisfied with the race outcome, I gave it my all, and can't ask for anything more. It was a great course-challenging, and showed who was fit and ready to race! So inspiring!

Here is an article:http://www.usatriathlon.org/news/2010/09/05/u-s-women-earn-team-silver-to-close-duathlon-worlds/38387?ngb_id=12
Another Article: http://www.edinburghduathlon2010.com/news/article/id/46
Results: http://results.racetectiming.com/Results.aspx?CId=8&RId=65&EId=1
Where it will be Televised/archived: www.dreamteamtelevision.co.uk

Next Up: Tuscaloosa, Alabama for Nationals (with Dad and Coach Cindi)

Edinburgh

The first day I got in, we spent walking around town. We went to Mile or High Street, which is filled with beautiful architecture and great shopping areas. So beautiful! Went on a tour of the slums/ghost tour the second day. Apparently Edinburgh is built on/between volcanos, making the city hilly. At one point, they wanted to flatten out the city and decided to make it flat, causing an underground city to be formed. At first, this underground city was rented to high-end stores, which sold gold, jewelry, clothes, etc. However, the structure was not good, and it leaked every time it rained (and it rains a lot in Edinburgh). The shops were eventually abandoned on this 'bridge' and homeless people moved in. It was a very glum/dreary place with anywhere from 10-50 people staying in one room. They would do anything (and I mean anything) to survive. Because of some of the things that were done, it is thought that the underground city is now haunted.

Today we went to the castle. Wow! It is huge! And beautiful! We saw an original building that was built in the 11th century, and some more modern buildings that were built using recycled bricks from the original buildings. My favorite building was the one built for POW (and Scotland's own soldiers for when they misbehaved). Scotland's soldiers lived in the Castle, in a building that has seven floors! The infantry stayed in the Castle because it was on the top of a volcano, making it a safe place when they went to war with their English 'friends.' The oldest building is a church dedicated to Queen Margaret. Apparently the Scots thought they were going to lose a war to England, so they decided to destroy all of their buildings instead of getting them destroyed. They demolished every building except for the Church because it was dedicated to Queen/Saint Margaret. The irony: Scotland won the war!

Besides sight seeing, we have ridden the course. It is a very scary course with a huge incline and a very scary, turny, downhill. It is on what I would call a 'grainy' road, which make me uncomfortable with tight turns. Descending at 30+mph would not be a problem, except for the fact that I can't get my hands off the brakes! It will be an interesting and fun race come Sunday.

The USA team is awesome and I'm glad to be able to get to know them.

Update

I recently got 5th place in Kelowna. The race morning started out beautifully. The water was a little chilly (no wetsuit though) and rough with white caps. I had one of my best swims yet, which I was very excited about! The bike was fun as it had a major hill each lap, making it interesting and during the run a storm came in with big winds and downpouring rain. It was a great race, and my host family was there cheering me on!

I am now on my way to Edinbourgh, Scotland for the World Duathlon Championship.

Kelowna is beautiful

I knew it was going to be a good trip when I was given some free Ben and Jerry's ice cream on my flight here! I arrived in Kelowna yesterday, and waiting for me were two beautiful faces - Noreen and David, my hosts. David (6) was wearing a bright green shirt and carrying his favorite spiderman toy when I arrived. The two quickly helped me with my luggage and got me to my race meeting.

We went out to eat at an amazing restaurant where I had the fresh catch of the day and cheesecake with gelato for dessert. Once we got home, Noreen and I sat on their porch overlooking the mountains and had some coffee and maple fudge while David munched on his root beer licorice.

This morning I woke up to farm fresh eggs, bacon, yogurt, and fresh fruit from their garden. After breakfast, I played catch with David and went to the race site.

I feel so blessed to be able to stay with this family in such a beautiful city!

It's been awhile

Since Canada, I have done a lot. I went to San Fran where I took 3rd place, and was the top American. Most recently I went to COS, Colorado for a training camp at the Olympic Training Center (OTC). The OTC was an amazing experience. The facilities were incredible, and the people I met were so incredibly nice and welcoming. They were very willing to teach and help.

Next up: I will be heading to Kelowna, Canada for an ITU Continental Cup. Then over Labor Day weekend I will be heading to Scotland for the World Duathlon Championship.

All is well at Ernst and Young. It has been almost a year - very exciting. The people I work with are extremely nice and everyone is understanding of my travels which has been a huge blessing.

http://www.triathlon-soulanges.com/

Went to the course this morning with another athlete I met at FISU. Looks kind of dangerous, but fun.

Canada

Made it to Canada with my bike, which is surprising considering my flights. My flight from Milwaukee was delayed about an hour. I had 13 minutes in Cincinnati to make my connecting flight. I thought there was no way I'd make the plane. Luckily the connecting flight was about 4 gates away from the gate we landed in. I ran to the gate, made it just in time. We took off 10 minutes later on a tiny plane. With the short time between flights and with the plane being small I figured my bike wouldn't make it. After getting through customs I was excited to see my bike box awkwardly spinning around then conveyor belt.

At the airport I met some of the other athletes that were staying at the home stay. We all got a ride to where they are staying. The home stay for the athletes is amazing - they are staying on a ranch and they are even making home cooked meals for the athletes. I, fortunately, have my parents here so I am at the hotel. It's Quebec's national holiday (kind of like our Forth of July) and no stores were open. In order for my parents to get to the hotel they had to drive through the parade. I really hope they waved a Quebec flag!

For dinner we ate at a delicious Vietnamese restaurant where our waiter was extremely patient with us, translating almost everything on the menu.

Overall it was a blessed day - I made it to Montreal, my parents made it, the other athletes are well taken care of at the home stay....couldn't ask for anything more.

Articles

http://www.usatriathlon.org/news/2010/06/17/jorgensens-headfirst-jump-into-multisport/36600?ngb_id=12
http://www.sheboyganpress.com/article/20100613/SHE02/6130464/Elkhart-Lake-Triathlon-Ex-Badger-shines
http://www.usatriathlon.org/news/2010/05/30/jorgensen-billington-record-top-five-finishes-at-world-university-championships/36250

http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/lifestyle/98719994.html

http://host.madison.com/sports/running/article_ef9f4e52-565e-5d7b-8208-fb72cff8b4c8.html
http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/lifestyle/94540929.html

http://dev.www.jsonline.com/blogs/sports/95266099.html

http://dev.www.jsonline.com/blogs/lifestyle/96299779.html

Bio: http://www.usatriathlon.org/athletes/gwen-jorgensen

Had a great morning ride earlier this week. Group ride at 515am - there was a rainbow before the sun came up, which was beautiful. As we started our ride, it started to rain; this was the first time I've been riding in the rain and not minded. On our way back we almost hit a deer. The deer was moving faster than I'd ever seen a deer move before! Oh the excitement. What a great morning.

Yesterday I did a mile on the track - went 4:53. Felt good to be on the track. Fun, and short.

Back to work!

FISU

FISU:
I had the opportunity to represent USA in the FISU WUC. It was an honor and I felt very blessed. Going in to the race, I did not know what to expect. My coaches prepared me well, and when I arrived everything ran well. We got to our condos and I met the rest of the team: Lauren, Lindsay, Jessica, and Alex. The girls were amazing to room with and it was a great opportunity to meet them, learn from them, and make friends. The guys were a riot. They stayed one floor above us and always made sure we were having a great time!

Valencia:
Our condos were on the beach. We had a balcony with the most beautify view; I could not have asked for a better venue than walking to our meals along the beach! There was not much time to sight see; however, one night Lauren, Alex and I made our way downtown to check out Valencia’s aquarium. We went to buy tickets; however, we only had one hour before it closed and the aquarium was so large that it would have taken at least three hours to view, so we decided to go to Europe’s largest IMAX theatre instead, which was in the science museum. Although the show wasn’t as educational as we would have liked, we still had a great time. After the movie, we went out to dinner and had some paella. We walked into a restaurant and asked if they had paella; it wasn’t on the menu, however, they made some for us anyway. We also ordered some tapas – it was bread with various toppings (similar to a bruchetta, but ours was with cheese, nuts, salmon, tuna, etc.). It was delicious.

RACE DAY:
On race morning, the team biked to the course. I did not do a morning shakeout because the race was early (8am). When we got to the venue, we did a short run and tried to learn the course ins and outs. We were not able to get in the water to warm up because we went to the water 15 minutes before the start and the race officials wouldn't let us in.

We lined up with our country and were able to relax as a team before the gun went off. It was a great feeling to be lined up next to two of the top swimming collegiate racers in the USA! What a great opportunity! Our girls were very strong swimmers (Lindsay was an Olympic Trials Finalist in swimming).

SWIM:
The swim was two laps, where after the first lap we exited the water and ran a little loop before heading back into the water. The gun went off. The swim was intense, as it always is: girls were pulling my legs, and swimming on top of me. To add to the excitement, the water was not calm. It was a ton of fun! The first lap felt pretty good. On the second lap, I coasted and people ended up passing me.

BIKE:
I got on my bike and saw one girl in front of me who I thought I could catch, so she was my main goal. I caught up to her quickly and sat on her until a huge group behind us formed. Once the big pack formed, it was the perfect race for me because no one pushed the pace. I sat back and ended up coasting a lot of the race. I made sure to stay in the top five or seven at all times so if there was a breakaway, I could easily catch up.

RUN:
I got off the bike and just tried to focus on catching one girl at a time. My legs felt great. It was the perfect race for me - so lucky! I also had great teammates, coaches, and fans cheering for me and helping me focus on the goal of catching up to the girls in the front.

T1:
I had a really hard time getting the wet suit off. I hadn't practiced in this suit because I borrowed it from a friend: Janel Lanza (Thank you, Janel!). It was hard to get the arms off and I was so happy for the long run to T1 because it took me almost the entire time to get the top off. I ran to the mount line with both hands on the bike (a big no-no) and had a very slow mount on my bike (something to practice for the future).

T2:
I came in and racked my bike well, and took off my helmet without a problem. I then went to put on my shoes but I couldn't fit my foot in it, so I took my foot out, reached my hand in and SURPRISE: there was a huge bag of rubber bands! I had put them in my shoes to save space when I was packing up my gear. So I struggled to get the rubber bands out, and put the shoes back on. Rookie mistake – and now I know to always check my shoes before races!

OVERALL:
This race was a great experience and such a perfect race to learn from! I am so happy to have met so many great people – my teammates, coaches, and support team were amazing. Some athletes’ family, friends, and coaches came and it was amazing to see the support! Our coaches, Steve Kelly and Shelly Campbell, were amazing! They helped me so much and made sure our team always had exactly what we needed! Steve spent hours upon HOURS trying to get our credentials and was unable to enjoy the city, but he was such a great sport about the whole thing, making sure none of us athletes had to deal with any of that stress.

Our bike mechanic was also a life saver – he helped athletes who lost parts or couldn’t put her bike back together. It was great to have him along to check over my bike before the race. He also saved me because race morning I broke my sunglasses and he offered to give me his for the race – thanks, Todd!

Our medical guru – Brent – was, once again, remarkable, putting us first at every moment of the day. He made sure we had everything we needed and explained the drug testing and other policies so we knew what to expect.

I could not have wished for a better experience. Please let me know if you’d like to know anymore! I’d love to share!

Sponsorship

I am currently looking for sponsorship. Please contact me if you are interested - I would love to send you my bio, race schedule, etc. and talk more.

Currently I need to thank the following:

• The WSAC and Dave Anderson who have helped me out more than I could have ever have hoped for!
• GearGrinders
• Cindi Bannink
• Rainbow Jersey Bicycle Shop

Without help from the above people and places, I would not be able to pursue my dream - Thank you!

Spain

I will be going to Spain for the FISU championship. The website is:
http://www.eventosuv.com/modules.php?name=Content&pa=showpage&pid=138&type=triatl

If able, I will try to post while on my trip. Thanks to everyone for the well wishes! I could not do this without the help I am given!

The Start

About a year ago USAT recruited me to start Triathlons. At the time I was only focusing on school and running, but the idea of swimming again was too much to pass up. At age 8 I already had a huge passion for swimming, which continued on throughout my HS career. After HS I walked on to the Badger (University of Wisconsin-Madison) Swimming and Diving team where I was a multiple time Big Ten Participant. I then switched to Track and Field at UW Madison where I was blessed with a gift from God. In a few weeks I almost quailafied for NCAAs. The following year I was an All American. More to come on this story later :)