2010 Season OVER!

I've been a bad girl and haven't wrote a post in a long time. The truth is, things unraveled pretty quickly after my last post. In my final week of training leading into Budapest (World Championship Series Grand Finale), I managed to pull my left hamstring. The USAT staff did an incredible job (thank you Robby, Camille, Dr. Keith and Diana) getting me ready to go for race day. About half way onto the bike it was clear that the hamstring wasn't happy...I probably should have stopped...but I didn't. It was my first worlds as a pro, and my first worlds as an American, I just couldn't stop. I remember being thankful I had sunglasses on because I had tears in my eyes for pretty much the entire run. My hamstring hurt, but the agony of not being able to perform in Budapest was far more painful. I had to pull out of the final French Grand Prix race and get back to the US immediately to seek treatment.

I spent two weeks and the hamstring just wasn't improving. Even more alarming was the fact that my energy was rock bottom. There was no way I was going to be able to race US Nationals; another massive disappointment. Finally my body turned the corner a few days after US Nationals and I began to feel my energy improving and the hamstring stopped hurting. My spirits improved and I began to look forward to racing at Pan American Championships in Puerto Valarta.

My body held together for Pan Ams, but the energy just wasn't completely there. I felt like I was operating at about 60%. I also really struggle in the heat, so it was just a bad combination for me. I raced ok until the run, and I didn't excel in the heat. We did however, get some great core body temp data:)

After Pan Ams, Jarrod and I went back to MA for a week. We were supposed to be returning for my Oath Ceremony to become an American Citizen but they moved the date at the last minute to Nov. 23rd. While Jarrod got acquainted with his new cyclocross bike, I continued to prepare for my final race of the season; the Super Sprint Triathlon Grand Prix. Training was going ok, but I could feel my energy dwindling. My hamstring began to act up again, and I knew I just had to hold tight for another 10 days and my body would finally get to rest for the season.

We went out to San Diego and spent some time with our biomechanist. My body was not as bad as I thought, but my energy was definitely still on the lower side. The Super Sprint was completely awesome. Marc Lees did such an amazing job putting on the event. It was the most painful hour of my life, but I had so much fun!! It was the PERFECT final race of the season. I am so excited for the series next year!

So 2010 is done for me:) Finally:) It's been a very long season. I achieved things this year I did not believe I could achieve at the beginning of the year. I'm enjoying some rest right now, and then look forward to some fun training before 2011.

Thanks for reading!!