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Auburn World’s Toughest: Auburn,
CA May 31 |
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Jami’s race: “They say triathlon is supposed to be a non-contact sport
and on this race day, I finally was able to experience it. I was able to swim
with little abuse from others! The most challenging aspect proved to be
navigating into the sun: it was like staring into a set of high beam lights.
I decided to just follow swim caps until I could spot the big turn buoys.
That kept me straight on course to exit the water 4th in my age
group.”
“On the bike, I made the steep climb out of Lake Folsom
feeling like it was the easiest ascent in the five years I’ve done this race;
motivating for the rest of the bike and encouraging for my upcoming Ironman
(Austria). The variety of gradients along with the technical nature of this
course is why we come back each year. Every turn presents you with something
new- sometimes another hill, other times a wicked descent, but always
something engaging! There’s an advantage in knowing the course especially
when you find yourself alone on this 56-mile adventure. My three-minute
faster bike split was good enough for 5th fastest in my age
group.”
“Even
though 5th gets you an award, I wanted to be on the podium so I
needed to do some chasing on the run. Lately, I tend to look forward to the
run because it’s become my strength. It’s where I can put pressure on my
competitors and push the pace when they are fading. One by one I reeled them before
I prepared for my next “catch”. There was only one who gave me some
resistance- she became my target early in the 2nd loop in a short
‘out-n-back’ section. Her orange outfit roughly 200 meters ahead first caught
my eye. I aimed to make up ground on her but she matched my acceleration. I
kept turning it up while inching closer to her, but time and again she would respond
by increasing the space between us. We maintained this accordion-effect to
the finish line where I later learned she had seen me looking strong behind
her on the out-n-back section and also picked up the pace. I also learned
that she was twenty years younger and while I’ll be the last to admit that
age was a factor, it is comforting to know I was about twice hers! While I
didn’t pass the girl in orange, I was able to move up to 3rd place
in women’s 40-44!”
Sherwick’s race: “I came out of the water in 31:28
and 7th in my age-group. The swim was rather uneventful but I did
enjoy pushing the pace knowing that the 3.8k ironman swim next month would be
at a lower intensity. My transition saw no problems at all this year and I
exited looking forward to the difficult bike.”
“Since I was
very familiar with the Auburn course throughout its evolving nature over the
last five years, I was well aware of the last 10-15 miles where it was
possible to lose large chunks of time. I also knew that knowing one’s average
speed on this course was virtually useless and instead concentrated on pacing
and rhythm. As we made our way around the gnarly Bear River campground, I
noticed one athlete pulling the rest up the short but steep inclines. I
pushed to keep up and soon we had dropped everyone before the final bend of
the loop. It was at this point that I realized “he” was a “she” and that
“she” was indeed Diana Hassel. Diana is an ex-pro and fellow Mark Allen
triathlete known for performing well at this race- her status has even
provided her with her own transition rack! I was reveling riding amidst such
company when my friend and local Auburner Troy Soares caught up with us. We
all rode together for about 10 miles before Diana pulled away from Troy (on a
downhill nonetheless!) and Troy
away from me. I started transitioning into conservation mode fully expecting
the final hills to take their toll. To my surprise, even the hill “that Greg
Lemond had to walk” was relatively easy! I averaged 16.6mph on a course with
6600 feet of climbing and was still in 7th in my age-group.”
“I started the
run which also boasted 1800 feet of total ascent feeling good until I took a
wrong turn and lost about 30 seconds. Then on lap two, my luck ran out and I
succumbed to not one but two twisted
ankles in a span of less than a mile of the Cardiac bypass trail. However, I
turned in the 5th fastest run averaging 8:06/mile.”
“I came in 4th
for my age-group and 29th overall just behind ex-pro and renown
announcer Whit Raymond so it was great race for me!”
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Jami: 6:18:26, 3rd W40-44,
11th overall women Sherwick: 5:41:14, 4th
M40-44, 26h overall men |
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Enjoy the ride! --Team JaS
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