ITU Triathlon World Championships in Beijing, China

I'll keep this post solely about the World Championship race in Beijing.  Soon I'll be posting some pictures and stories about the other adventures I experienced while in China, other than the race.

By the fountain the Fengshan Hot Springs Resort where we stayed right on the race course

When Analise and I arrived in China it was a smoggy, hazy mess and I didn't know how I would cope with the horrible air-quality and my asthma.  But the next night it poured rain and allowed us to have one beautiful day for swim training in the Shisanling Reservoir.

At the Shisanling Reservoir, our one clear day in China

The morning of the race was pouring rain and freezing cold, about 40 degrees.  The tent for athletes to pick up their chips was flooded and leaking and packed with people trying to stay dry before setting up their transition area.  I was so lucky to have Analise there to take my warmups as we headed to line up, it let me stay 'warm' just a little bit longer.

Freezing along side some other Team USA athletes before the start, luckily I was still in my warmups!

No wetsuits were allowed for this race, and being in the water was the only time the entire race that I felt warm.  I guess the water temp was around 78 degrees.  Finally, I had to give up my layers and head to staging area.

Pulling on my goggles - getting ready for the start.

It was a real bonding experience as the girls with me in my age group all huddled together to stay warm, from many countries all around the world, and many different languages, not knowing each other, but standing arm-to-arm to stay warm and dry as long as possible before taking the plunge into the reservoir.

Women in the 25-29 age group in the staging area

My wave started at 6:45 am.  I had a great swim, out of the water in about 14 minutes and 8th in my wave.  I felt strong on the bike but struggled to climb the large hill that began the loop.  Even climbing wasn't enough to really warm me up, my hands went numb within a few minutes.   I came into T2 with an Australian girl and was off on the run!  I started running with another Australian girl, not realizing that she was a different girl than I came into transition with, and she was a lap ahead of me.  We ran stride for stride at a sub-6 minute pace, and somewhere in the next 4000 meters I got confused as to where I was on the course and made the left turn to the finish a lap early, cutting 1000 meters from the run.

By the time I realized what happened, it was too late, and I was disqualified.   I wish I could blame the cold, how numb my entire body was, or blame poor course planning, just one sign saying where I was on the course, or how long each lap was, one glance at my watch and I would have known my time was off, but I should have known the course better.  50 other athletes made the same wrong turn that Saturday morning and we were all DQ'd.

Crossing the finish line at the 2011 ITU World Championships

So, all I can say is that my experience in China was bittersweet.  It was an honor to compete there along with the Worlds best short course triathletes, but coming home with a DQ is the much less than ideal turnout I hoped for.  Had I completed the proper distance on the run, considering I held my pace, I would have finished 6th or 7th in my age group and likely caught and passed the one USA girl in front of me, the 25-29 AG 2010 Sprint National Champ.

But I can't look at the could haves, and should haves, or might have beens.  All I can do is look at next year - where I'll be competing in the 2012 Aquathlon World Championships (run-swim-run) in Auckland, New Zealand, and have a strong showing at next's years national championships in Burlington, VT to earn my spot at the 2013 World Championships in London.