After my early season success and jump in rankings, my coaches and I made the decision to go to Europe for a few weeks this summer and do two ITU World Championship Series races in Hamburg, Germany and London, England. These races are known as the most competitive triathlons in the world, where the best athletes are essentially racing on home turf. A strong majority of the racers either live in Europe, or are based there for the summer, so they are at their fittest and fastest. Going into Europe, I knew the racing would be hard and good results would be even harder, so I was essentially looking to get some good experience for the next few years.
The first stop on my European trip (the first time I've ever raced in Europe as well) was Hamburg, Germany to compete in the largest triathlon in the world (just under 9,000 participants!!) with the largest amount of spectators in the world (officials estimated 300,000 were in attendance for the men's race!). The field was easily as competitive, if not more, than the Olympics--since countries could send more athletes to Hamburg than to the Olympic Games. All active Olympic medalists were present at the starting line, so the race was going to be crazy!
The Hamburg course had us swimming in one of the cities many rivers and even passing underneath a tunnel three times! The water was incredibly dirty from recent rain and runoff, so it was like swimming in a green swamp. The bike and run took us through the skinny streets of Hamburg through tight twists and turns lined with 300,000 screaming German fans.
Once the gun went off, the swim immediately took off faster than anything I have even been in, I moved over behind a pack and tucked in for a "ride" to the first buoy only 300m away. At the first turn, everyone pretty much stopped because of the 60+ guys hitting the buoy and once and fighting for position. The first two turns were some of the most violent swimming I have ever been a part of. Despite that, I was able to get through and stick in the middle of the group through the first two thirds of the swim. Unfortunately, in the last 200m, a small gap opened up when we went underneath the tunnel for the last time and a few athletes and I lost contact with the main pack.
As I made my way onto the bike with a few other athletes, we watched as the pack in front of us sprinted off as hard as they could. We tried to respond and make up ground, but the tight turns and technical course made it hard to catch up. After the first few laps of riding as hard as possible, all I had done was drop the other riders around me except for one. Being stuck by myself (as the other rider refused to do any work and help out), I put my head down and tried to lessen the gap between me and the main pack, but it was no use as there were numerous attacks and hard riding on the front that made the pace incredibly fast. Heading onto the run, I was still stuck in the middle of nowhere and was faced with an unusually large deficit to make up.
After riding so ridiculously hard to try to catch the storming pack ahead, my legs had been completely used up, and made the run a very painful event. I did my best to keep moving, but with a big gap and fried legs, I was only able to finish in 49th place. On the positive side, I had a very good swim given the speed, and I was able to tough it out and catch a few guys on the bike and run, even with an uphill battle. Many other athletes lost contact with the hard-charging front group and dropped out of the race, but I was glad to finish and build toughness and experience for future races.
In sharp contrast to the festival atmosphere of Hamburg, London was a much more tense and serious affair. The athletes seemed to be placing much more importance on the event in England since London would be hosting the Olympics in 2012. Everyone seemed intensely prepared to go as hard as possible from the gun and really make a mark in the future Olympic city. The British--most of whom did not race in Hamburg--seemed particularly intent on showing off in their country's capital and went into the race fresh. After a brutal weekend in Hamburg, I was looking forward to giving it everything I had from the start and gain more valuable experience racing in Europe.
The mood on the starting line was far more intense than in Hamburg, and from the beginning I knew the pace would be crazy. When the gun went off, the swim pace seemed way faster than even the weekend before and I really had to work to stay with the group into the first buoy. Again, with a short distance to the first buoy and 70 or so super fast swimmers, the violence at the turn was unparalleled. After being dunked, kicked, punched and grabbed all the way around, I came out of the first 500m bruised and exhausted. I worked as hard as I could to stay with the group through the first half of the swim, but really hit a wall at about 900m and lost the group. I struggled to try and lessen the time gap heading into transition, but the pack had even picked up steam.
I got out of the water with a swollen lip and a torn off swim cap--looking pretty bad--and headed out to the bike by myself. Once onto the bike, I made up my mind to give everything I had and leave it all in Europe, despite being completely alone on the bike course with a bunch of fast groups at the front. I put my head down and rode as hard as I could for as long as I could before I eventually caught up to a group ahead of me that had actually been dropped from the front pack! Just to give an idea of how fast the front pack was going, people *never* get dropped from the front pack once they make it--it's pretty much unheard of. Once I joined with the small chase group, I made the quick decision to go to the front of my pack and ride hard until someone decided they could do better. Only a few times did someone actually move up to do some work, but I was more interested in doing everything I could to make up any time at all. Because of my crazy efforts at the front, I actually got a lot of cheers from the fans along the course as they seemed to appreciate the fact that I was killing myself all alone to try to get back into the race!
After 40km of riding myself into the ground, I made it into transition, threw on my shoes, and took off on the run. I instantly dropped the rest of the guys I had been riding with (or who had been riding behind me) and ran as hard as I could. I wanted to still have a good run, despite being so tired, and know that I gave 100% effort for this last race. I pushed the final run until I almost passed out and refused to give up, even as half of the other US athletes in London dropped out of the race. For my efforts I finished in 53rd place overall, but 3rd American of the day.
However, after the finish, I was surprised by the number of fans that came up to me and congratulated me on sticking with it in the face of such odds. One guy even said that he and his family (who were all British) were cheering for me the whole way since I never let up and did all the work by myself! He went on to say that he was now thinking of doing his first triathlon after watching us. It was a nice consolation to know that the spectators appreciated our efforts and saw the value of hanging in there and finishing even when things don't go to plan.
With two weeks of crazy traveling and racing behind me, I know that I have gained invaluable experience that will help me in the next few years. While the races themselves didn't go perfectly, I learned a lot about traveling, training, and racing at the highest level of sports--I've learned how to hang tough in the face of bad situations and not give up, I've learned about bouncing back and also what I need to do to succeed at this new level. I've always said I wanted to race the best in the world of triathlon, and now I'm getting my chance. The best thing I can do now is take what I can from my experience in Europe and use it to become a better athlete. I always knew this wouldn't be easy, so now it's time to respond to the challenge!
Thanks, as always, for your support--which means so much to me now more than ever. I now find myself on the biggest stage in triathlon and sports, and without everyone's help, I would never have made it so far. I'm proud of the huge gains I've made in the past few years, and I'm excited by the potential of the future! The best is surely yet to come.