From Joanne's Perspective.....

Gaby asked us all to share our experiences, so here I go......

My feet were throbbing and I felt exhausted going from the swim to the bike and finally the run....and that was just when I was a spectator cheering on the girls during the Olympic distance tri. Actually, watching my teammates on Saturday was probably the highlight of the event for me, knowing how hard they have trained and the sacrifices they have made to get here is very inspiring! Being a Canadian, British and US citizen, I was proud to be yelling out "GO USA!!" every time they went by. By the end of the day I was wishing that the sprint tri had been first since I was already totally exhausted, but after a big sushi dinner and a good nights sleep, I was raring to go on Sunday morning.

The swim was a beach start, so I did a couple of not so graceful dolphin dives and was right smack in the middle of full on kicking, pushing and grabbing (I was very happy that Jeanne O'Regan wasn't in my age group!!). I took in lots of salt water but I managed to draft behind another pink cap and I kept hoping she was going the right way, however it seemed like there was a strong current pulling me out and I felt like I zigzagged in the whole way.

Into T1, a bit of fumbling with my wetsuit to get it off and then I was running with my bike. Unfortunately as soon as I got on my bike, the chain fell off so that cost me a few seconds, but I powered through and caught a pack in front of me. From there on, it was leap frogging all the Aussies and Kiwi's. I felt like the course officials' motorcycle was constantly behind me yelling at everyone to stay in single file which was totally impossible. I'm not sure how I made it without a penalty.

With my brand new shiny white tri shoes I was able to easily get my feet out of my shoes before the dismount line and I ran to T2. I was not looking forward to the run...my nemesis. I have hardly trained due to my chronic plantar fasciitis and running a 5K is not my expertise. I really didn't know how to pace myself and actually had to ask a fellow Aussie competitor how many laps the run was. When she told me it was only 1 lap and she didn't seem to be very out of breath, I decided to let her set the pace and I ran right behind her until I could see the final turn, when I took off, grabbed a US flag that was handed to me and sprinted across the finish line. My first thought when I was done was "I can't believe it's over already!" and I felt like I could have done it 2 more times, an obvious indication that I didn't push myself as hard as I could (sorry Preben!!) Oh well,there's always next time and I WILL be back!!

A couple of hours after my race I got to play coach and spectator again while my husband, Shawn competed in the Enticer SprintMan Triathlon, his first ever tri. I think he has a new appreciation of the sport of triathlon as he ran past us yelling out "You guys make this look easy!" He did great and I was very proud that he took this on, especially with the pressure of all the tri girls looking on.

All in all I have had an AMAZING experience in Australia. It's been an honor to compete with all my fellow Women's Triathlon Club teammates.

Preben, now I just have to work on shaving off another 8 minutes....I need your help!!
Joanne