To repeat a win feels amazing, to be THE fastest overall still hasn’t hit yet. I won the entire race by just about :30
seconds and the next female by 14 minutes. Last year I was the first female in
the Sprint and with my new schedule it put me racing the Olympic/International
this year. Now to come back and be the first female in the longer race is so
cool!
Before the start the race director recognized some
“celebrities”; the person who started the race, a few others and the previous years winners. It was pretty neat to
be announced!
I experienced few first time hiccups; two crashes right in
front of me, leaving air fresheners in my run shoes and having my skin rubbed raw from the timing chip.
It began to rain while on the bike so the roads were really
slick. I raced in the rain in London and have trained in it too. The one thing
I’ve learned is to be cautious but smart. You can haul on the straights but
it’s not worth it to take corners at speed. There was a sharp left followed by
a sharp right under a bridge with a blind corner. I tried passing a guy on the
straights before that corner and he responded, probably didn’t want a girl to
pass him! So he was going pretty fast from that. We made the first corner and a
car had stopped just out of sight around the second, he locked up the brakes
and swerved around it but couldn’t hold it together with the wet roads. He fish
tailed I grabbed my brakes fish tailed too and he went down right in front of
me. He slid about 15 feet, I swerved to the left and didn’t hit him. I came to
a complete stop as he laid in front of me and asked if he was ok. He was and was probably so mad at that
driver. They had traffic control there so I’m not sure why they let the car go
through. On the next lap I was leap frogging with another guy who seemed to be
killing it but not really knowing how to pace himself. I was behind him on that
same corner and he was going faster then the other guy. I gave him a little
more space just in case. Glad I did because he went down too. As I rode by I
asked him if he was ok. He was.
The next hiccup came when I switched to the run. I have been
keeping air fresheners in both my bike and run shoes because they smell sooo
bad. Constant swimming in lakes and running through mud and grass mixed with
sweat, really lingers. This morning I didn’t use my race shoes to do my run warm up, I
just set them up in transition and used my new race shoes to break them in.
When I came in off the bike, I threw off my helmet and shoes and stuck my foot
in my run shoe. I felt something and thought the insole was crinkled, it
wasn’t. It was the air freshener! I hoped Steve or Gina didn’t see. I looked in
the other one and had to dump it out too. That cost me about 4 to 5 seconds. I had
the second fastest run time by two seconds. It's incredible how close things can
be. That’s why I’ve learned to brush things like that off and try my best to
make up for it.
And then less than a mile into the run I felt the plastic piece of my timing chip start to rub. I was in such a great rhythm I wasn't going to stop. I tried shaking my leg in between strides to get it to turn, no luck. I tried turning it by kicking w/ my other foot still no luck. So I just ignored it. When I finished Steve asked what I caught my leg on. I didn't notice it was bleeding a little. I went to the race director thanked her for a great race, showed her my leg and suggested a different type of timing chip.
The day before started early with a practice Sprint triathlon to prep me for competing in both the Olympic and Sprint on back to back days at Nationals next weekend. I worked from 8am-4pm and then Steve, Gina and I drove down and stayed in
Brattleboro arriving at 9pm. As
always Gina brought the good food! She pre-made dinner at home – pene pasta, w/
Italian dressing and sautéed veggies and a salad. Glad there was a microwave in the room because I'm not a big fan of cold pasta. We chatted for awhile and got
ready for bed. I foam rolled my legs and Gina worked a knot out of my back. The
clock read 10:45pm.
The alarm went off at 4:30, I showered while Gina prepped
breakfast on her camping stove! Egg sandwiches for the three of us and Steve
shared a fresh fruit salad and Gwen's cranberry lemon cakes. I was able to eat
most of it and tried to remain calm, this is the last race before Nationals.
We packed up the room and
Departure time was 5:45.
I picked up my packet and set up. The bike course was 21
miles with three loops. Steve brought his bike and we rode the loop together. I
did my standard warm up; 10 mins two three minute power intervals and 10 mins
back. We discussed the strategy for racing the laps.
I switched to my run as the race director was having the pre
race meeting-10 mins then 2x2 min sprints and back to TA. I felt a little funny running behind her but I had to get my legs ready to race! My stomach
was a little heavy so my run warm up wasn’t the best. I resorted to foot speeds, butt kicks, knee highs, weedwackers, and knee drives. I came back and my step dad Mike and his girlfriend Vicky were
there. I knew they were coming but it was so good to see them!
They were all smiles and started asked tons of questions! I
loved it. Steve helped me into my wetsuit and I headed down to the river to get
a few stokes in mixed w/ hard efforts. It was very cold, which explained why
there were only a couple of people swimming.
There were only about 20 women in my wave compared to the usual 40-50 but I was still nervous. My strategy was to start in the front and when I got behind a little I
would find someone to draft off. That didn’t work so well. I saw two girls
pull ahead and I moved over but they were going too fast. I caught some men in the wave ahead of
me but one was walking, the river was about 5-8 feet deep the whole way. I made
the first turn, sighted and the girls were too far to catch. I tried to draft a
few men but they were going too slow. I made the second turn and felt so good
and relaxed which helped me focus on my technique. It was the best swim as far
as being completely in control, I’ve had. I moved over to exit on the river
bank and got stuck between another guy and the weeds. I surged and passed him
just before the exit. I swam .6 miles in 19:29 – 19th out of 71 racers.
Steve yelled "Two ahead at 45 seconds!" Referring to the two women ahead of me. Ok I thought, that’s
doable. I raced through T1 in 44 seconds, 2nd/71 and out on the
course. I lost a few seconds trying to get into my pedals.
The course was flat for about ¼ mile then up steep. Steve
said don’t kill it on that hill, spin high and relax, make up the time at the
top. That worked really well. I had no idea who the two girls were. There was
another women’s wave ahead of ours. I passed two but wasn’t sure they were they
women in my wave.
The rain started after the first loop and I played it smart,
the last thing I need is a crash a week from Nationals. I was very cautious on
corners and passing. My legs were a little tired but I tired to ignore that. I
avoided two crashes and stayed upright. I returned to TA in 1:01:33 – 4
th/71.
I went to put on my run shoes and found the air fresheners! I couldn’t believe
it. I felt so silly but didn’t let it deter me.
Out on the run in 39 seconds 5th/71. I was
feeling the best I have all season. I cut back on my drinking and only took ½
gel. This helped my stomach not feel so crummy, but if it was hotter then I
would have been in trouble. I passed two guys before mile 1 and until the turn
around at 3.5 miles, it was a gradual uphill. I focused on the guy ahead of me
and tired to close the gap. My timing chip was cutting into my skin and I tried
to shake my leg to get it into a different spot but I couldn’t. I
paced myself according to the race not to how I felt. Once I felt comfortable
knowing the next girl was pretty far back I tried not to push myself too hard.
Nationals are next weekend. I wanted to get the guy I had been chasing. It
didn’t happen until mile 4.5. I got a big rush, my heart rate went up and I
tried to keep calm. He commented “great racing” as I went by I returned the
complement. I heard him try to keep up with me which scared me a little, but
then I cracked him. I hit mile 6 and only had a little left to go and it was
all downhill. I pushed it through the finish. 2:06:33.
On the way to the race I thought about how cool it would be
to win the International after winning the Sprint last year. I knew I was first
women before I hit mile 4 on the run but I didn’t think about that until
crossed the finish line.
I was met with hugs from Gina, Steve, Mike and Vicky. That always feels good. I told a few stories and had to run I
could feel my legs wanted to cramp up plus I needed to start the recovery process asap. I ran out on the opposite side of the run course and the announcer said "oh there goes Meghan Skidmore still running, why don't you sit down or something?" I cheered a few racers on and returned about 10 mins later. Then I elevated my legs then soaked them into the chilly river to help with recovery.
We took a few fun photos and I gathered my things from TA. Steve and Gina loaded things into the car while I waited for awards. They began with the Sprint so we had lots of time. We went to look at paper results and Gina eyes were huge when she turned around. I was on the top of the results in 1st place overall. She said that must be a mistake. I agreed. I never trust results until they are announced.
OMG though! Gina did some quick math and it was true!
I kinda hoped they would make a big deal out of a women winning overall. I've race for 7 years and I've never seen it. They called up the top three women and while the crowd was clapping. They said oh and it looks like she was faster then all the guys, hardly anyone heard it. Oh well I knew it!
A few photos and I had the choice of a wooden plaque or have it made into a cribbage board with my name engraved on it. I chose the cribbage board this time.
A quick interview with a newspaper reporter and we headed back to the car. Check out the article
here!
We said our say goodbyes. I was so happy Mike came and he brought me homemade pasta sauce!
On the drive home I couldn't stop smiling, I still couldn't believe it!! Steve and I looked at the data from my computer and were both happy with the results.
We stopped at a rest area for a picnic lunch. Gina made us sandwiches, we had veggies, triscuits and hummus, fresh fruit salad from Steve. There was plenty to eat! We chatted some more while I foam rolled (self massage) my legs. I was so comfortable when I stopped I dozed off for 20 minutes.
We packed up and got back on the road, one more stop for ice cream and gas.
Huge thank you to Gina for driving the 6.5 hour round trip, making dinner, breakfast and lunch, explaining triathlon to Mike and Vicky, taking photos, getting my splits and encouraging my throughout the race. I really don't know what I'd do without you!!
As I write this I'm still shocked to be first. As Steve said "Now we know it's possible"
Results: 1/71
Female: 1/20
Age Group: 1/3
Online results
here
Gina waited while I
ran for 30. It was about 6:30 and I ran along Michigan Lake there were
sail boats and many were out walking biking, skateboarding flying kites
again 10 out of 10 on relaxed scale. On the way home we went food shopping got home and relaxed for the night. 
