Bright and Early Saturday morning, I won gold in the 1000m singles race! It was an experience like no other, this is my first international win, and I'm stoked to have been able to accomplish such a big result at such a big regatta.
How it went: This was my first race of the day which usually means I still have the extra nerves. It's always nice to have a heat or smaller race earlier in the day to slop off your jitters. Not my luck. My best choice was to go out for a hard warm up prior to the race. I had a decent start. Everyone at this level is a great sprinter. I got off the line in about the same position as Canada and Mexico (these are great women on and off the water). As always, I knew my strength would be my middle speed. Coming from my marathon background, I tend to rely on my endurance and steady middle pace to get me ahead. After we each transitioned out of our hard starts and into our middle speeds, I could feel my competitors dropping back. I had my coach riding next to the course on a bike shouting the whole way: my support system and my set of eyes. In the race, there's no time or energy available for looking right or left. I relied on his shouts to indicate how my position looked on the field and where I should do my pick ups. I gave it all I had left for the finish, crossed the line, and then felt all of the energy of the win. It was such a rewarding experience.
My favorite part? The anthem. There is nothing like standing on the highest block of the podium, watching your coach award the medals, listening to your nation's anthem. It's an honor. I was so thankful for the opportunity to compete in this race for the USA.
The next step: This was not the biggest race in the world, but it was a big step for me. It's back to training in the hopes of getting faster at even shorter sprints: the 500m and the 200m distances. I'll do a good bit of distance training this fall, and in three weeks I'll compete at the Marathon World Championships conveniently hosted in Oklahoma, USA. Then it's back to a sprint mindset.
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