CHASING CUPCAKE

Last weekend (September 7-8) I raced TWICE! I did the White Lake Fall International on Saturday and the Double Sprint on Sunday. Both races went really well and for the first time EVER — or in a long time — it was less White BAKE and more White Lake. The temps were reasonable on Saturday and almost chilly on Sunday.

I had quite a few great moments over the weekend and most of them involved the community of triathletes that I know. I was able to catch up with Jill A., who I met at our IMNC 70.3 training camp last year and who is a Coeur 24 teammate. On Sunday, I spent some time after the race with Alison, Emma and Matt Rogers. I have known Alison for a few years and in 2019 - coached her to her first IRONMAN finish line at Chatty in 2019. I am honored to call her a friend. On the way up to White Lake on Saturday, I felt a little sad that my normal crew was not with me. But, I realized that I know and share this sport with dozens of my favorite people.

Jill (MamaIsARunner) and me at the finish on Saturday.

Alison and Me on Sunday after the Double Sprint

The best moment of the weekend came on Sunday during the sprint. The Double is like a pyramid: swim + run + bike + run + swim. I had a great swim and came out of the water in the top ten of all the females. I did my first run and hopped on the bike. Out on Hwy 701 , I passed a guy with the word CUPCAKE written on the back of his kit. About a mile later, on a slight uphill, he cruised past me. The bright pink letters against the white background made him easy to spot ahead on the course. At some point, I passed him again and then he passed me. I shouted: leap frog - you’re it!

He laughed and said something like, I’m sure I’ll see you again in a minute.

Sure enough near the next turn, we leap frogged again. Finally, I said: Okay! Last time. You catch this tailwind and go! I don’t want to see you again. And then he was gone.

I must not have been too far back because I saw him on the run. We were close the the turn-around and I saw him coming towards me. CUPCAKE was written on the front of his jersey, too. Alison’s daughter Emma came flying past me and made the turn-around. GO. GET. CUPCAKE. I told her in crossing. Got it! She said. I was excited that she was going to catch him.

I made it to the last swim and my arms would not move as fast as I wanted them. I could feel the water dragging in my tri suit. But, I pushed through the last of that triangle swim course and closed in on the finish at the shoreline. I swam until my hands touched the sand and sighted one last time for the finishing arch. Low and behold, there is CUPCAKE. He was already standing in shin deep water and walking towards the timing mats. I took 10 hard and fast strokes, stood up and started sprinting in knee deep/shin deep/ankle deep water. He either heard me splashing behind him, or someone was yelling at him to go so he picked up the pace. I willed my legs to go and crossed the line about two steps ahead of him!

Once I caught my breath, I turned and shook his hand or gave him a high-five to congratulate him. I asked his name and thanked him for letting me chase him all day.

Overall, I was pretty pleased with both days. I took about five minutes off my time from the spring version of the international. I was pretty excited because my overall time for the race would have landed me in first place in my age-group for the spring race. In this case, it landed me sixth!!! All the women in my age-group are fire - and they all showed up.

My overall time for the double sprint landed me in second place. I was pretty pleased that I did so well despite racing the day before. I was really proud of both my run times. Maybe if Ironman was broken into pieces like this I would finish faster!

I am off to Atlantic City, NJ for my next two races at USAT Nationals.