Sunday, August 21, 2011

Age Group Nationals: Team USA at ITU Worlds...me?!

Picture from my Bike-Cam
This is the final AGNC post as I am now home from what felt like Planet Triathlon in Burlington Vermont.

In the "it can't get any better than this" department, and thanks to the age-up rule, I qualified in the #17 spot to represent Team USA at ITU Worlds in Auckland New Zealand in October, 2012.  I finished #39 in the 40-44 age group but since I will be in the 45-49 age group for Worlds, I get compared to the now 44-48 year olds. The top 18 get a spot. I WAS FLOORED! The texts flew from my phone as fast as I could type: Coach Jim, Kurt, Krista. Then I called Robert and of course my mom and dad. No matter how old you are, you still want to share this kind of thing with your mom and dad.

Kate Buss, a high school senior from my town, earned a spot for the Olympic distance. In the sprint distance, Team USA offers went to my treasured friend and traveling companion Kimberley, as well as area triathletes Mike Morris, Betsy Henderson, Donna Williams, and Marshall Wakat.  My fellow Endurance Films Racing Team members Liz Baugher, Scott Endsley, Brannon Potts, and Diane Camet earned spots as well. Betsy, Donna, and Marshall shared about their past ITU World experiences and I got really excited. Good I have a year to figure out logistics and finances.

I'm glad to be home and looking forward to a normal week after the whirlwind of the last 10 days. We left after the awards ceremony last night and got 3 hours of driving in yesterday and the remaining 10 today. It was great fun to travel with six other area triathletes in two vehicles, it reminded me of some kind of co-ed high school getaway (minus the alcohol and with a way earlier bedtime). It's been an experience I will never forget with friends who made the experience rich and memorable.

I leave you with the highlights from AGNC, produced by my sponsors and makers of top training and instructional DVDs, Endurance Films: (there's a quick bit from my bike-mounted camera on there!)