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!