Michelle Lindsay: U-23 Winner and 5th Overall at NY
ITU New York City Pan American Continental Cup
July 10, 2005 ~ New York City, NY USA
What a great race! I surprised not only myself, but my parents, friends, teammates, and my coaches with my performance. I think
this is the only race where I've crossed the finish line smiling. I finished 5th in the women's elite race and 1st Under-23 athlete. I think the training time I've been putting in is paying off, as well as gaining
experience in every race.
The age groupers started before the pro race. The pro women started around
8:30, starting with a 1500 meter swim in the Hudson River. We dove off a floating pontoon, which was long enough and deep enough to block the debris floating in the river. The officials actually said they
might delay the start if there is any big debris (i.e. logs! ) floating where we needed to dive. They lined us up according to ranking, then we walk onto the pontoon one at a time and pick our spots. Everyone wanted to be
closer to the center of the river where the current was strongest. I was pretty nervous standing on that pontoon while everyone took their places…
With the blow of the horn, we were off. My strategy (as always) was to swim like it's all I have to do that day. I kind of was aiming out towards the center of the river, but I
also wanted to stay right on the feet ahead of me. It seemed a lot more wavy than a river should be, and I kept fighting mouthfuls of water. My stroke felt really strong though and I never got tired like I do in a swim
without a current. I felt really lost as to where I was in relation to the field… I saw girls up ahead and that kept me going, and I kept hitting this girl next to me (oops) but I didn't know who it was. It was really
short (only 14:57) but it felt long - the pontoon seemed to take forever to get there, and then BAM it was right
there. I climbed out, ran up the ramp as fast I could, hearing the crowd cheering. Especially my mom – she was really loud.
As I booked it up the hill into transition, my coach told me that I needed to be with that 2nd group. It was only at that point did I realize I swam fast enough to be with the second group, which was
very invigorating for me. I have to thank my swim coach, Kerstin Severin, for upping my yardage in practice – it's finally paying off I was out of transition in 51 seconds and I climbed the hill to the highway on top of
my shoes – I'd get into them once I got some speed.
As we got onto the Henry Hudson Parkway for the out-and-back course, we got somewhat organized into a loose paceline. It wasn't very tight and everyone was yelling at each other. It went like that
for awhile, and some girls were launching attacks every so often. We caught the lead pack within 15 minutes, then everything slowed down a bit. We had a group of about 15 so were moving along quickly. Some AEGIS women
were launching attacks and confusing people but none of the attacks were successful. The turnaround seemed to come up really quickly… it was halfway over already! I was kind of worried that it would pick up pace towards
the end and I was simply SO ELATED to be in that group. I was thinking about how I was going to have to run fast and I was scoping out my competition. I should have tried to get away and just see what would happen… But I
guess I was really questioning if I actually AM a stronger cyclist than the rest…
As we approached the 2nd turnaround to head back into the city, some girls attacked, pulling everyone else along with them. I honestly think that that wore those girls out a lot since none of them
had really awesome runs. I was thinking that I should move up to the front to come into the park. It was kind of hard to move up though after we had upped the tempo. Also it was a little scary flying down 72nd street
through some major NYC intersections on our way to Central Park. It was narrow and twisty coming into the park and with all the adrenaline pumping, some girls were getting a little sketchy… one girl almost took me out
when she stumbled on the dismount. I finished my bike in 1:05.30 and was out of T2 in 27 seconds.
The run took off faster than I've ever experienced in a triathlon. I felt like I was back running the mile in high school track. A few girls at the beginning passed me, but then Patrice, an AEGIS
teammate, came up behind me and I fell into stride on her heels. It hurt to run that fast right away but I sucked it up as she led us past several girls. As we came back down on the first lap, I saw one of the girls had
collapsed at the first aid station. I focused ahead, thinking about my form and my cadence, keeping the positive thoughts flowing. I took over the lead on the downhill back to transition for our second loop. Every time I
passed through there, I had several people screaming for me, it was great. And Siri was giving splits and offering motivation. I felt like I was running really fast. I was hoping I wouldn't blow up. We passed one more
girl, and I dropped both her and Patrice on the second lap. I was in 5th place. On the 3rd lap, I was only slightly concerned about the possibility that other girls were gaining on me, and I was thinking about how awesome
it was to be top 5 in a pretty big pro race. And how awesome it was that I was the first Under 23. I got a side stitch during the last mile and a half, but I didn't let it slow me down. I knew the rest was downhill and
it'd be over soon.
As I came into the finishing shoot, I was SO happy. I even smiled! As they said my name, and that I was the first U23, I shook my fist in pride. My run time was 39:41 and my finish time was 2:01.23.
It was pretty cool, and I was glad to be done. And best of all – no blisters!!
Thanks to everyone for their support,
especially everyone who came out to NYC to watch the race and cheer us on. It's really great to have fans and people keeping tabs on me.
Now I work hard for the next 4 weeks to prepare for Nationals in Bellingham. It's gonna be a tough one!
