USAT National Championships 2013 - Milwaukee, WI

This was my 4th National Championship race since starting in triathlon 4 years ago.  It was in the beautiful city of Milwaukee, my first time ever visiting Wisconsin, and dubbed an 'urban' triathlon.  And that it was, right in downtown Milwaukee with the bike course even going onto the interstate!  

My season has been a little tough this year, adjusting to the altitude in Boulder CO.,and struggling with nutrition issues and my run speed (there will be another blog about this sometime), so I decided only to race the sprint. 

Exiting the water

My morning began with the typical routine, eating some oatmeal, a bit of coffee, exactly two hours before my start time as I have discovered this is the best time for me to eat.   Transition was set up by 7:30 and the first wave off!  My wave was not scheduled to start until 9:16am so the waiting game began - trying to stay calm and focused knowing that many other athletes will be finished before I even start!  Everything is going to plan!

On the bike course, of course going up the hill and the one 

moment I was out of aero that the pic was snapped

But of course leave it to fate to keep things interesting!  Just as we headed over to swim start, minutes before our waves, there is an announcement that the swim is being postponed.  An athlete has gone missing in the water.  We all wear timing chips that are activated as you walk down the ramp to the water to account for who has gone in, and who has come out.  There was a swimmer missing and unaccounted for from an earlier wave.   The officials are scanning the water from the boats, divers are sent in, and there is nothing we can do but watch and wonder what happened to this man, and is he at the bottom of the lake??  Very nerve racking, as several people die every year in triathlons.  

taking off on the run

Nearly an extra hour goes by until we are given word that the race will resume.  The missing swimmer was found spectating on the bike course, clueless to the commotion he caused.  The story - from an unnamed race official - he said he was having a bad day and decided not to race, so swam to the shore and climbed out, without notifying anyone.  Sigh.  ONWARD to the race!  Now starting nearly an hour later than scheduled, it was time to focus and before I know it, Charles is taking off and I'm in the water!

My favorite way to finish, surrounded by American flags!

I feel great in the water, strong, and come out in 15th position in my AG.  A quick transition and I was out on the bike.  A great ride for me too as I am picking off girls in my AG.  The advantage of the later start was I knew every girl in front of me was in my AG and with an out-and-back bike course, I knew I was heading into the run in 11th place - top 10 was in sight!   The run.  I have struggled so much this year in the run, not running under 21 minutes all season.  It's been discouraging and disheartening, and going in, it was an unknown how this part of the race would go.  

But as I take off, my legs feel good.  My legs feel REALLY GOOD!  Within a mile I had already picked off two girls in my AG and looked at my watch in astonishment as my first mile was in 6:15, and felt great, strong, ready.  It's a flat run and I cruise through the next mile picking off a few more.  One mile to go and I see 2 girls just in front of me, I'm thinking, I feel good, and today is my day.  Charles is screaming at me to dig deep and pass them, and I go for it!  Everything I've got!  And I run into my highest placing finish ever at nationals, 6th, and a new sprint distance PR time, with a run of 19:50, :40 seconds PER MILE faster than anything I've run this year.

It all came together at the right place and the right time, and I punched my ticket to my 4th World Championships next year to be held in Edmonton, Canada.  I couldn't be more thrilled.  Thank you everyone who has supported me this season, specially my family, Charles, and Coach Dan Arnett.   Coach's predicted run time for me was only off by 2 seconds per mile, and I didn't believe it!  Impressive!!

Charles also had a fantastic weekend.  He clobbered his best placing and time in the Olympic Distance breaking the 2 hour mark with a 1:59:59 and taking 7th place, his highest in this distance.

Charles and his game face!

he popped his head out of the water to yell to me and waved!!

check out the sweat dripping off his nose!!  Working hard!

On to a 30 second 10k PR!!

On Sunday he slaughtered the field with a 3rd place finish.  So we will both be representing Team USA next year in Canada.

Here's some other pics from the city and race :)

Charles in the pack!

View of the swim course, amazing for spectators!

Coffee and restaurant area along the course 

random house along the Oly bike course

transition area, pre-bikes

transition, with bikes!

Dino Tri in Vernal, Utah

Ok, Okay, OKAY!  I know I haven't written in a long time.  I have a few stories to share that I wrote a while ago and never published so I'll try to get those posted soon too.   For now, I'll share the story of my most recent race, and get some new stories up in the next few weeks.

Along the bike course in Vernal, Utah

The Dino tri is a sprint triathlon held in Vernal, Utah.  It's one of the only races I've done where there is prize money for the top 3 overall finishers and the top time in each individual event - swim, bike, run, as well as a king of the mountain prize for the fastest time up the huge hill we had to climb.  Another unique aspect of this race is having 2 transition zones.  The bike was a point-to-point course instead of a loop.  I liked it!  only had to worry about setting up for one transition at a time.   Not to mention, it was an incredibly beautiful place to race.

The swim location

I headed out to Utah with a stellar group of athletes representing Boulder, CO.  Charles, Dan R., Patrick B., Lindsay M., and I all made the 6 hour drive!  The course was a standard 750m swim, with a 13.4 mile bike, and 5k run.  The swim was in a canyon with high, red-stained, rock walls (gorgeous!).  The bike included a steep 1.25 mile climb right out of the water, continuing to climb for another mile before descending a long gradual downhill and flat to the finish.  The run was completely flat and in the blazing sun, despite the early morning start time, it was a HOT one, temps reaching into the 90's and no shade on the course.

The cowboy dinosaur!

Despite a few hiccups in the start, it was an incredibly well run race.  The sprint was started about a half hour later than we expected.  And after staying the night in a questionable hotel, we all headed to the start ready to go!  I had a strong swim, my best this season at 13:40 (still not as fast I want to be though!) and came out of the water 8th.   I passed all but 2 girls who were in front of me in the transition zone.  Seriously highlights how important it is to have good transitions.  Some girls swam 2 minutes faster than me, but still lingered as I headed out on the bike.  Thanks Coach Dan for giving me that advantage!!

I had a great bike, the climbing was tough but short - I posted the 3rd fastest time on the bike.  A serious rookie mistake when I transitioned to the run, and it cost me a few seconds, my inhaler was in my shoe!!  So I went to pull it on and had to stop and yank the inhaler out.  In the mean time the second overall girl took off on the run.  We were only seconds apart on the bike coming in.  Despite seeing her right in front of me the entire run I never could quite close the gap and had to settle for third overall.  My run this season has not been nearly as strong as previous years, I only ran a 21 min 5k.  Not sure why, altitude maybe?

 

Me representing in the Dino Tri shirt and Lindsay with my Ruby, rocking her first triathlon!

But the Boulder team cleaned house!  Charles took first overall, Dan second overall, I was third overall female,  Patrick won his AG and was First Clydesdale, and Lindsay finished her first triathlon ever in 4th AG.  She also posted the fastest swim in the AG.  Charles also won for the fastest bike split.

Charles, Laura, Dan, Patrick, and Lindsay

Go Team Boulder! The awards were awesome engraved local sandstone.  

 Third OA and First AG (by 10 minutes)

 Following the race we explored the Dinosaur National Monument were you can see dinosaur fossils still in the sediment where they were deposited ~149 million years ago.

Charles and I also went on the 'fossil discovery hike' where you can see dinosaur fossils on the cliff side as you hike.  Incredible, please go here if you can.  Dinosaur, Colorado!!

Lastly, a trip through Rocky Mountain National Park on the way home.  Because a race is a great excuse to also travel and see exciting and beautiful things. Like moose!  and hiking into the clouds on top of the gorgeous Rocky Mountains!

hiking into the clouds in Rocky Mountain national Park

New Orleans Rock 'n Roll Half Marathon

This past weekend was the first race of the season! I traveled down to the Big Easy from Boulder, Colorado to get in a solid race on the flat and beautiful streets of New Orleans. With my recent move and endless travel after completing my PhD, I was not in the shape I had hoped for. That being so, I just wanted to have some fun, see the family, and run, run, run!

Saint Louis Cathedral, New Orleans

 I had several friends also completing along side me, Charles, my brother Nick Zaunbrecher and his girlfriend Monique Koll in the half marathon, and Jeanne, Gabby, and Chuck in the full marathon. Charles used his entry from the Gatorade endurance team to pace me to a PR time and gave his second entry to team Nick and Monique.  I am still proudly representing my team Endurance Concepts from Atlanta, GA. 

Charles pacing me in the 2013 NOLA Rock 'n Roll Half Marathon
This photo belongs to MarathonFoto.com

My results.

We had perfect running weather, 60 degrees and beautiful.  I didn't really have a race plan for this one, except to hang on to Charles' lead and see what we could do.  At about mile 9 I was hurting but hung on.  With Charles pacing me, we ran side-by-side the whole way, and negative split the course, so I ran a new PR by about 45 seconds in the distance, couldn't have done it without him!

Charles and Laura after the race. 

Jeanne ran her first marathon in 3:29!  Go girl! and both Gabby and Chuck ran personal best times for the full marathon distance.

Laura and Jeanne

 Of course after the race we were able to sample the local amazing Cajun cuisine, and famous hurricane drinks on Bourbon street! 

Laura, Gabby, Chuck, and Charles

The biggest story to come out of this race however, was the heroic effort of my brother Nick and my friend Monique.  I wrote a blog about her a few months ago:  http://laurazaunbrechertris.blogspot.com/2012/09/moniques-caught-triathlon-bug.html
But on October 8th, 2012 just before I left for New Zealand, she was hit by a car while out on a training ride by an unlicensed driver.  She broke her neck and her back and for a while, we feared she would not live.  However, faith and determination shines in this woman, and she is on her way to making a full recovery. 

Nick pushed her the entire 13 miles then helped her across the finish line, where she burst into tears and the photo below was captured.  Since then it has gone viral on the internet and the two of them are appearing in several Day time television shows to share their wonderful story of support and recovery together. 

Credit:  Kathleen Flynn / The Times-Picayune

Photo of Nick helping Monique across the finish line.

Some of the links about the two of them are shared below: 

http://todaynews.today.com/_news/2013/02/25/17090122-man-helps-girlfriend-with-spinal-cord-injury-cross-finish-line?lite

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2284578/Monique-Koll-Incredible-moment-woman-spinal-injury-finishes-half-marathon-New-Orleans.html

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/25/monique-koll-half-marathon_n_2759666.html

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/woman-spinal-injury-marathon-boost-article-1.1274137

http://www.carbonated.tv/news/monique-koll-woman-with-broken-spine-ditches-wheelchair-and-finishes-half-marathon-photo

http://now.msn.com/monique-koll-who-injured-her-spinal-cord-finishes-half-marathon-with-help-from-boyfriend-nick-zaunbrecher