Last weekend I raced in the Charlottesville International Triathlon, a race put on by the Charlottesville Triathlon Club.  Even though I’ve lived in Charlottesville for a two years, this was my first shot at this race and I was excited to be racing in C’ville.

The day started fine until about 30 minutes before the start when we were informed that wetsuits would be allowed.  This was a bit of a shock but upon hearing this I lubed up, pulled on the Helix, and headed to the lake.  After the start one of my training partners, Chris Morrow, and I broke away pretty quickly and were out on our own in no time.  However, I wasn’t feeling great and Chris was able to open up a gap on me.  Thinking back on it, I realized that I had pulled my wetsuit on too quickly and that it wasn’t fitting properly.  This is a great lesson for wetsuit wearing: make sure you don’t rush it!  This is especially imperative with a suit as precisely designed as the Helix.  So back to the race, Chris gapped me on the first buoy and never looked back, which left me second out of the water.

As I started the bike my focus was on trying to go really hard since the run for this particular race is on a single track MTB trail.  Because of this I had to make sure that no one passed me on the bike so that I could have a comfortable lead on the run.  After 15 minutes or so I had caught Chris and for the rest of the ride I was just concentrating on pushing hard up the hills and really opening it up on the few flat sections in order to maintain or increase my lead.   

Coming off the bike and into T2 I was still in first so I was able to cruise the run and not worry about going too hard.  As I mentioned before, the run is on a single track mountain bike trail which is very technical and therefore not very fast.  Aside from the up and down of the hills, the roots and rocks can cause numerous impediments to fast running.  Because of this my strategy was to go hard up the hills and take it easy on the way down so as not to seriously hurt myself. 

Luckily I made it through unscathed and ended up having a great time.  Its amazing how quickly the time goes by when you are focusing on the trails rather than how much you are hurting.  However, while it was fun, I was still glad to take the last turn and head into the finish to take the win in a time of 1:59. 

Overall, the race was very well run and I have to give a big kudos to race director Steve Policastro who volunteered for the position and did a great job of organizing the race while also getting ready for his PhD proposal.  The bike course was fully staffed with police and volunteers at every corner, the run was clearly marked with large arrows, and there was a nice selection of bagels from Bodo’s, fruit, cookies, Gatorade, and water at the finish. 

So if you decide to travel down to beautiful Charlottesville, VA for this race next year don’t expect a fast time.  As I mentioned before the bike is hilly and the run is hazardous.  However, if you don’t like running on the roads because they beat up your legs too much, this race will be a lot of fun. 

There was also a very nice article by Sean McLernon in the Charlottesville Daily Progress and the awesome pictures were courtesy of Jason O. Watson Photography.  Jason is a fellow grad student here at UVa but does some awesome work with his camera as well.

Ok, somebody pinch me!!  It’s been 4 days and still does not seem real, I have to keep checking the results to make sure it wasn’t a dream!!

 I drove over from Burlington, VT to Lake Placid on Thursday evening.  It felt very odd packing my car to drive to an Ironman.  No need to box up my bike or make sure my bags weren’t over weight!  It was also really exciting knowing that because this was a “local race” there would be tons of family, friends and Green Mountain Multisport team members there.

I had high expectations for this race, knowing full well that I needed to execute the perfect race to meet my goals.  I always try to focus on race execution rather than time or placement and I find that the time seems to almost take care of itself.  Being the women’s professional championship many of my friends had told me that I was going to be first across the line, but anyone or anything can happen on race day and I wasn’t going to expect anything, I just wanted to execute. 

The weeks of cloudy and rainy weather leading up to race weekend were beginning to get to me and I was starting to get down, along with the usually woes of taper.  However, race weekend came and the excitement of Lake Placid quickly lifted my spirits as well as the break from the gloomy weather! On race day there were sunny skies and temperatures in the high 70’s - 80’s…not ideal, but I’ll take it!  The days leading up to the race were filled with meeting other athletes, sponsors and participating in the Timex panel on IMTV, which was really a lot of fun.  Especially since I was able to share my pre-race meal and admit to my pre-race psych up music (80’s hair bands!!).  My fiancé and I ended up staying in Wilmington, a good 12 miles from town, so it was a little tough driving back and forth, but it was also nice to be out of the chaos of downtown LP on race weekend.

I’m the kind of athlete who would prefer way too much time on race morning rather than not enough.  As a result Ash (my awesome fiancé) and I arrived downtown at about 4:50am race morning.  I usually can’t sleep anyway, so getting going early is actually easier than lying in bed.  I was able to get body marked, check my bike, walk through transition several times, hit the porto potties and be at Mirror lake at 5:30.  I put on my tunes, laid down, closed my eyes, relaxed and visualized my day for about 30min, which is a pre-race routine I highly recommend!

Swim: 54:11  I got in the water and warmed up for about 10mins right after the pro women started at 6:25.  Then I found a spot to hang onto the end of the dock for the next 20 minutes.  By 6:50 the water and dock were ridiculously crowded with people hanging onto people hanging onto the dock!  With about 5 minutes until race start I moved away from the dock and positioned myself as best I could right at the front and on “the line” to swim the shortest distance.  The gun went off and the pummeling began.  I received quite a few blows in the first few hundred yards and continued to have quite a bit of contact for the first lap.  I was able to cruise with ease and spot really well as my Blue Seventy goggles and Helix worked perfectly and were amazingly comfortable.  I swam hard and made sure I was always in someone’s draft, trying not to work too hard, but just cruising.  The second lap I caught onto the feet of the swimmer leading the second major pack and went along for the ride as he bridged up to the next group, we only caught them toward the end of the second lap, but none the less I was pretty happy with my swim.  I got out of the water in 24^th place.

T1:  3:18 As many of you know you have to run about a 1/4mi from mirror lake to the oval and then through the transition area.  I had practiced my transitions in person and in my mind multiple times and it paid off with the fastest T1 of the day and I began the bike in 10^th place!

Bike:  5:17:54  The bike was tough for me, I was never able to get into a rythum and go.  Honestly, I thought given good conditions I should be able to bike 5hrs.  I had done quite a bit of training on this course and knew it would be a tough, but realistic goal.  The first lap felt ok, but never the way I wanted it to and as I passed back through town completing the first loop in 2:33 I was hopeful I could make the second lap just about as fast.  However, the wind began to make an appearance as there was a head/cross wind from LP to Essex and then a head wind from Essex to Jay along the flat and “fast” section of the course.  As I began climbing the hills out of Jay I came to the realization I was not going to bike 5hrs.  But I kept telling myself  “that’s ok, it’s a long day and I still have to run a marathon.”  I kept my cadence high and relaxed and made sure not to push too hard on the return back to town.  I got off the bike in 5 place about 12:30 down from the leader.

T2:  1:04  Again rehearsal and mental practice paid dividends as I swiftly moved through transition to make up a minute of my deficit and claim the fastest T2 of the day.

Run:  2:59:36  My fiancé was waiting for me at the beginning of the run and yelled “you’re in 5^th place 11:30 down, RUN!!”  As I ran out of town I thought to myself, “it’s a long day anything can happen.”  I ran at a comfortable pace and at about mile 2 moved into 4^th place.  I began to see a lot of friends and spectators out on the course, who were giving me splits and telling me that I looked great and the guys ahead were fading.  As I made my left turn onto river road at about mile 3 I saw Belinda Granger with the lead biker and gave her a big cheer, (she’s awesome!).  But I had work to do and I remained focused.  At about mile 11 I moved into third position, right in the middle of town.  Being the under dog everyone was cheering for me and they were amazing, I felt like a rock star!  I used the energy of the crowds to push me and I moved into second at about mile 16.5, I was running steady and giving encouragement to everyone out there to help keep my mind-set positive.  At the turn around on river road around mile 19 I saw the Timex team manager, Ben Harper and he informed me with a big smile on his face that I was 28 second behind the leader.  At mile 20 I moved into first place and turned in on a little bit and was too afraid to look back!  My goal for the entire day was to run a solid last 10k and that time had arrived.  Up until this point I had been running “moderate-steady” knowing the last 6.2 miles were critical.  I had been sipping my concentrated calories from my awesome new Helium Fuel Belt since the start of the run and now was the time to use that energy.  I began to pick a pace that was slightly out of my comfort zone and just went.  I began the “short” out and back on Mirror lake drive, which seemed very long this time around, and the crowds were amazing!  With one particular spectator shouting “I knew you were going to catch them, I knew it!  You look awesome!!”  As I entered the oval I could hear Mike Reily calling my name and I was overjoyed!  I finished in 9:16:02 as the Ironman Champion!!!

As I crossed the line and 4 days later I am still filled with so much energy and gratitude for everyone who helped me get to that finish line.  My coach Kurt Perham, my fiancé Ashley, the Timex Multisport Team, all my sponsors and most importantly all the people out on the course, friends, family and random stangers!!  It sounds really cheesey, but I said it at the finsh line and I’ll say it again, it does not take a person to win an Ironman, it takes a community and I have the best community I could imagine!

Thanks!

Alex M-M

www.alexmmtri.com 

Overall Win for Mroszczyk-McDonald at the 2007 Ford Ironman USA Lake Placid

Lake Placid, NY. July 22, 2007

Alex Mroszczyk-McDonald of the Timex Multisport Team scored his biggest win to date with an overall victory at the 2007 Ford Ironman USA Lake Placid.  The Burlington, VT resident used a sub-3 hour (2:59:36) marathon to capture the overall title with a winning time of 9:16:02.

Canadian Marie Danais battled through foot issues and achieved a 9th place in the women’s only pro race with a total time of 10:17:01.

Under-19 age grouper Avery Visser surprised us with a victory at Danskin in Austin.  What a great moment for the future of our sport. 

The day began a bit stressful.  Uncharacteristically of me, I didn’t get to the race early enough for me to go through my ‘pre-race warm-up routine’.  Danskin caters to the masses, and the parking-to-race venue busing takes a significant chunk of time.  So, I wasn’t warmed up.  And, for my 37-year-old body, that is not recommended.  For a sprint triathlon, I need to sweat before the race.  This is not an excuse - just a reminder to get the HR up prior to a fast race, particularly for those of us who seek long events.

Pre-race I felt tremendous energy from all the athletes and spectators.  Many women are competing for the first or second time with lots of support from friends and family.  I flew solo that day, as Autumn (my 7-year old) bagged going to the race in favor of playtime with Grandma (Michael was playing in a golf tournament).  She did the expo with me the day before and thoroughly enjoyed the Crocs booth, where she scored a sweet pair of pink shoes with a bicycle, ‘ruby’, dog, and turtle Jibbitz (why didn’t any of us think of that idea).  She absorbed the extra attention the Trek and Bontrager wheels received as we checked in the speed machine.  Trek sponsored the race, so we had the opportunity to meet Julie and her compadres. 

Race day comes quickly and the race went fast — 71 minutes as hard as I can go.  In Austin, you never know if that will land you at or near the top or not.

I have been swimming better, so I was pleased to see that my BlueSeventy goggles helped me gain on the field in that area (relative to last year).  The stunning part of the swim: when Avery came blowing by me in the swim.  I raced with the first wave in this race, so when I felt her come by, I knew she had already put a minute on me (and several others).  She had the fastest swim of the day, and put over 3 minutes on me in 800 meters.  Now, this isn’t totally surprising, as I learned to swim 4 years ago, almost to the day.  So, I’m grateful for the progress my body continues to make.

The Trek and Bontragers ride sweetly, and even without a warm-up, we put down the fastest bike split of the day, just a smidge under 25mph, in the attempt to chase down the race leaders.  I ran smoothly — it was a ‘trail run’ — so that shook things up a bit. It was a bit strange, though, as the gaps ahead and behind me were fairly substantial, I didn’t see racers out on the course.  The support was fantasic, and the energy high.

Overall Results:

1 - Avery Visser 1:08:44

2 - Jeannie Sampson 1:09:09

3 - Katherine Bertine 1:09:44

4 - Juli Fiocca 1:11:31

5 - Joni Moore 1:14:14

http://results.timberlinetiming.com/results/index.cfm

Huge congrats are in order for Jordan and Kim on their incredible performances at the Clear Lake 101.. just surfing through results of what had to be one of triathlon’s busiest weekends and found that Timex took both the 2nd male & female overall - Go Team!!

Wait, I’m not doing Ben’s job, am I? Now where did I put those pom-poms..