USA National Age Group Championships

A quick update for those interested in my triathlon journey. I've not been on YLF much except for NAS, with my focus on triathlon training for my surprise qualification invite to USA National Age Group Championships in Cleveland. Looking forward to the fall style collections.

This is my first year doing triathlons and both my first Olympic distance (1500m swim, 40km bike, 10km run) and my first Nationals. I knew I wouldn't be competitive for placement, but wanted to go and experience it and learn from it. A nice bookend to my 1.5 year journey to lose 80 lbs.

I had a phenomenal support team join my in Cleveland that included my husband, a great friend, and my dad and stepmother (the later two drove 2 days to get there!).

I raced my race and felt awesome about my pace, nutrition, race strategy, and attitude throughout. It mostly went to plan. The swim took a bit longer than expected (consensus was that the swim course was long and there were strong currents), I struggled with wetsuit removal, I underestimated the distances that had to be covered in transition, and I had to collect a flying water bottle that got launched on bumpy construction roads two times on the bike (!). The run leg turned out to be my strongest on that day, which suggests that I paced the rest of the race right and managed nutrition right to finish strong. Overall, I was utterly thrilled with my first Olympic distance triathlon. I had fun the entire time. Everyone was so *serious*, but because I had no expectations I just raced hard but fun. My favorite part was high-fiving my support crew on the three times I saw them on the run leg. I look forward to more triathlons in my future.

Keeping with the spirit of YLF and style, here's a couple WIW pictures of me in my two piece Sugoi Tri Suit on the course.

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7 years ago

anne

Veteran

Well done! So impressed!

Suz

(website)

Amazing! Congratulations! This is a big achievement.

Joyce B

Fantastic job, Toban! You look proud of yourself like you must be. We at YLF are proud of you, too

Belladogga

Active Member

Good for you! You're truly inspiring.

rachylou

Go Toban!!!

Jane

Fantastic! I’m so impressed that the Olympic distance suited you. Impressive.

Anonymous

Congratulations! This is quite an accomplishment, Bravo!

Toban

Thanks so much, Anne, Suz, Joyce B, Belladogga, Rachylou, Jane, and Danusia!

Jane -- I have always been better at endurance than speed (which is why I was shocked that my short distances triathlons went well). I used to do 100 to 720 mile bike events. My intent with triathlon was always aiming towards the longer distances. Fortunately, I had already been training at Olympic distances throughout the spring so it was pretty easy to add this 'surprise' event to my calendar. The part that was the most new to me was the open water 1500m swim, so it was my big skill focus the last two months. I hope to do a half ironman next year :).

Congratulations:) ive been thinking of trying a sprint triathlon, probably in spring. Let me know if you do the Cambridge Ironman!

Try it Suntiger! I really liked the training plans in Ironfit Everyman’s Triathlon book. There’s a ‘just finish’, intermediate and advanced plan for both sprints and olympic distances. I would love to do Eagleman in Cambridge but the timing isn’t great for me (work conflict). I think I’ll do the 70.3 in Wilmington, North Carolina next October.

cjh

Congratulations on a great race and achievement! It takes grit, dedication and mental stamina. And sounds like your training worked out to be the perfect formula!