Racing in Minneapolis was probably one of the most professional race experiences I have had as a professional triathlete. There were a lot of people that helped make that happen, but I have to commend Lifetime Fitness for putting together a team of people that could pull off an event like this. I expected race day to be hot; however, Mother Nature had other plans. The storm clouds rolled in and we were hoping the thunder and lightning were going to hold off long enough for us to get our swim in. In fact, it was even a little chilly on the start line!
Luckily the race started without a hitch and the men started 10:43 back of us for the equalizer. The first man or women to cross the line would receive an additional $5000. I wasn’t able to hold the feet of McLarty and ended up leading the main chase group through most of the swim. I exited the water in a pack of three other women. The water was warm (84 degrees) so I was looking forward to getting out! We exited almost 90 seconds back of McLarty and Haskins. I had a good T1 and started pushing the pace on the bike immediately.
Sarah Haskins showed me a lot of the bike course the day before and I’m so happy I got a preview because the course wasn’t super technical but the road surface was on the bumpier side. With a light rain it made for slick conditions and I played it very safe around the corners. About 40 minutes into the bike I saw my good friend Sara McLarty up the road. I worked hard to chase but had to be sure to do a decisive pass because the road was so narrow that it was impossible to catch up without moving into the draft zone. I was able to make the pass cleanly and worked hard trying to catch Haskins up the road. I was getting a lot of conflicting information- I was told everything from 1min to a 3 min gap. I really didn’t know what to expect until I got to T2 and counted on the announcer for the time gap.
Turns out I had kept the gap the same for the majority of the course but lost a lot of time in the more technical section with blind corners that I didn’t preview the day before. The funny part was that Haskins was the one saying to me, “Are you sure you don’t want to see it?”- I should have listened! Either way I had the second fastest bike split of the day! I went onto the run 2:30 back and was ready to push the run. I heard from some reliable sources on the course that I had put over 2 minutes on the rest of the girls on the bike. The men were about 90 seconds behind me starting the run.
Matt Reid passed me right at the half way point on the run. I was eventually passed by a couple more men on the second lap of the run, but crossed the line very satisfied with my 2nd place in the women’s race and I think it was, 6th place in the equalizer. I am still leading the Lifetime Series which is exciting. I also received my official invite to Hy Vee! I’m writing this race report on my way to London where I will be racing the London Triathlon. I’m looking forward to trying to improve upon my 4th place finish from last year. Thanks for reading!!

