Memphis in May RACE REPORT

My aforementioned boy-BFF and previous BADASS SPOTLIGHT, gMoney Mike, is the best bud a tri girl could ask for.   Not even three days before I was to leave for Memphis in May, I decided to rope him into the travel plans.  I put on my sales girls hat and made the hard sell.  He took the bait and I wasted no time in making plans before he could change his mind and wonder what he signed up for.

The 7ish hour drive from the ATL was too much fun. Even when we took a wrong turn in Birmingham and questioned if we were the only people not packing heat.

Memphis didn’t WOW me.  We crossed over several railroad tracks, but kept wondering if we stayed on the wrong side.  Luckily, we scored a SWEET  homestay with Wolfman and Barbara (THANK YOU GUYS!!!), and their home and neighborhood was gorgeous, but for the most part, the best part of the Memphis experience was at the race site itself.   I’m not much for pulled pork, but everyone seemed to love the bbq, and I loved the band that set up shop right by the water. Memphis in May is an old triathlon, very well run, and a LOT of fun.

This year they started the pros at 10:30am, well after the age group race.  In a way, this was very cool, because we had a lot of people watching and cheering us on.  It was fun to watch the age groupers race first and to support Mike out there on the course, but the extra time to contemplate what is still to come was a bit nerve-wracking.

This was now my 3rd pro triathlon start, and I still get that giddy feeling, like “what am I doing here?!”  It doesn’t freak me out anymore; it makes me smile to think about how amazing the twists and turns in life can be, and where we can end up.  I can’t believe I’m here, but I just want to make the most of it.

The swim start was not wetsuit legal for the pros, so we all wore our catsuits (skin suits) and got fired up for a time trial start, each athlete going off 10 seconds apart.  While this spared us the kicking and punching of a mass start, it also meant I wouldn’t have a few swimmers to draft off of– my #1 swimming strategy!  Bummer.  The other benefit of the time trial start is that we all got our “10 seconds of fame.”  I maximized this opportunity by ever-so-gracefully performing quite possibly one of the biggest full-on BELLY FLOPS that the sport of triathlon has ever seen.   It was awesome.  Even with the adrenaline pumping and my race-face on, I couldn’t help but laugh to myself as soon as I hit the water.  Totally embarrassing.  Totally awesome.

I got out of the water in a little over 22min, and trust me, I was THRILLED!!  I’ve been getting my swim on lately, and seeing improvements in the pool.  It’s getting better, and I’m excited.  There’s only one way to go, and I’m getting there.

I continued my display of “what not to do” in T1, where my transition time was almost a full minute slower than the rest of the women.  Coach Matt ripped into me for that one, and rightfully so.  I can’t keep making these mistakes when I am fighting for seconds and racing at this level.   Back to the debacle, though…  Socks were a challenge, but I didn’t want feet like I had in South Africa. Can’t lose a week of training. Helmet straps were stuck.  That was funny.  Quick Release Garmin strap was anything but quick, and I finally gave up on it.  DISASTER.

Luckily, once on my sweet Louie, I was in my element and ready to claw (pedal) my way up the field.  Sunday was WINDY windy windy, and not as fast as I would’ve liked, but my bike split was top 3 of the field, so no complaints.

T2 was much less eventful, and thank god!  I took off on the hilly course and just tried to stay steady.

I avg’d 6:44 pace on the run, and ended up finishing sixth pro.  ONE spot away from the payout!  I am very happy with where I finished, but VERY motivated to keep working hard and seeing better results. I know it’s possible.

Mike busted out some of his high school state champ wrestling lingo, and I found it perfectly fitting:  Be proud, but never satisfied.

DIV   SEX                          SWIM  SWIM   TRAN  BIKE  BIKE    BIKE  TRAN RUN   RUN    RUN   FINISH
PLACE PLC        NAME          AGE RANK  TIME    #1   RANK  TIME     MPH   #2  RANK  TIME   PACE   TIME   CITY     STATE
===== === ===================  === ==== ======= ===== ==== =======  ====  ==== ==== ======= ===== ======= ==============
FEMALE PRO : 15 - 99
    1   1 Pip Taylor           29     1   17:42  0:55    1 1:00:07  23.5  1:14    3   39:40  6:24 1:59:36 Lennox Head NJ
    2   2 Michellie Jones      39     3   19:22  0:54    2 1:00:23  23.4  1:20    2   39:31  6:22 2:01:28 Carlsbad CA
    3   3 Jessica Meyers       31     6   20:34  0:51    5 1:01:15  23.0  1:15    1   38:56  6:17 2:02:50 Tulsa OK
    4   6 Malaika Homo         31     2   19:11  0:51    6 1:02:09  22.7  1:19    8   43:33  7:01 2:07:00 Salt Lake City UT
    5   7 Jennifer Garrison    31     7   20:45  1:07    8 1:03:38  22.2  1:32    5   40:14  6:29 2:07:14 Naperville IL
    6   8 Amy Kloner           32    13   22:29  1:49    4 1:01:10  23.1  1:21    7   41:47  6:44 2:08:33 Atlanta GA
    7  10 Lauren Jensen        42     9   20:58  1:07    3 1:01:10  23.1  1:24   14   44:40  7:12 2:09:15 Muskego WI
    8  12 Caroline Smith       38     8   20:52  1:05    7 1:03:25  22.2  1:24    9   43:35  7:01 2:10:19 Mandeville LA
    9  15 Jenny McDonagh       27    10   21:27  1:00   11 1:06:35  21.2  1:33    6   40:16  6:29 2:11:49 Pensacola FL
   10  16 Jennifer Hall        25    11   21:32  0:49   13 1:07:09  21.0  1:18    4   40:09  6:28 2:11:54 Toronto ON
   11  17 Laura Tingle         25     4   19:30  1:29   10 1:05:15  21.6  1:38   11   44:14  7:08 2:12:03 Louisville CO
   12  20 Heather Leiggi       34    12   22:05  1:08    9 1:04:09  22.0  1:38   10   43:58  7:05 2:12:56 Bryn Mawr PA
   13  23 Florence Chretien    35     5   20:31  1:06   14 1:07:38  20.8  1:25   13   44:28  7:10 2:15:05 Wayland MA
   14  30 Elizabeth Waterstraa 34    14   22:43  1:09   12 1:07:00  21.0  1:24   12   44:26  7:10 2:16:40 Lisle IL

We made a game-day decision after the race and headed to Nashville instead of straight home. Mike’s good friends live there, so we hit the town with them and even roped Paulo into joining the festivities.  Paulo suspected that I didn’t work hard enough on race day, since I had way too much energy to jump around on the dance floor till 2am.    LOVED Nashville!

If you look closely, you’ll see that Mike even nailed the lip hook thing.  Fabulous.

Overall, an AWESOME weekend and another great training day in the bank.  I’m fired up for Eagleman 70.3 in June, and am lucky to have such a dedicated coach in my corner to help me achieve my goals.  THANK YOU, Matt.

I am so excited to have this incredible opportunity, a healthy body, and the challenge in front of me.  This crazy train is not stopping anytime soon!!!