Monday, October 17, 2011

Myrtle Beach Continental Cup

This past summer season of triathlon was my last year of Junior Elite racing at the sprint distance level. I was fortunate enough to get to travel all across the county competing in the Tech Jr. Elite series. I got to race in St. Malo Manitoba, Jr. Pan-American Triathlon Championships in Edmonton, a series race in Penticton BC, Ontario Provincials in Ottawa, and I capped off my season with Junior Nationals in Kelowna BC.

It was after Jr. Nats that I was still hungry to compete. I am moving up to the U23 Elite age next season. I figured my first Olympic Continental Cup in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina on the 10th of October would be the perfect opportunity to gain some experience.

In September I was also going to train with the Guelph varsity cross country team and compete for the Gryphons, train for my first Elite Olympic distance race, and manage a full course load in my Biomedical Science program. So my preparation for this race was quite frantic and not the most ideal. I was just looking to have fun and see what elite racing is all about.
Myrtle Beach was the perfect venue to host a race and the weather couldn’t have been any more perfect! It was overcast and the right temperature for racing. Man oh man! Was that one tough race! I am glad I did and it was quite the experience. I finished 14th out of 15 and 2 girls were lapped out. Here is a link to the results http://www.triathlon.org/results/results/2011_myrtle_beach_itu_triathlon_pan_american_cup/6629/
Here is link to a short video of the race (I am the girl in the red suit with the last name Jamnicky and CAN written on it) spot me if you can: http://www.usatriathlon.org/multimedia/media-center.aspx?type=video

Here is my race report:

Pre-Race:




Everything felt pretty good and ran smoothly. I felt pretty good and I ate my pre race gel.

Swim:
I had an outside spot on the pontoon. Dive was great and my first 170m was strong I was on the tail end of lead pack. There was (I kid you not) the strongest current I have ever had to swim in. We were drifting off course. After the shielded 180m in the marina the first 90 degree turn was with the current so we were all getting rammed into the buoy. At this point I was still at the tail end of the lead pack. I kept it this way until the second buoy. It wasn't until I turned around to come back against the current that the gap formed. Man it took forever to get the last buoy before turning into the marina. I literally felt like I was swimming in the same spot and girls were passing me and the pack was getting further and further away. I sucked it up and finished the first loop and went onto the second. For the second loop I just tried to survive and not let the gap between me and the other girls get bigger. I came out of the water three minutes down on the leaders

T1:

Running up the ramp I thought I was alone but there was a girl behind me and I was happy to run into T1 knowing I would at least have someone to bike with.

Bike:




The girl and I worked very well together on the bike. By the second loop we had caught the two girls ahead of us and by the third loop we had caught the rest of the field that wasn't in first pack. I was pushing the pace with the girl who came out of the water with me. We were the only ones who were working and the rest of the girls were sitting in or not strong enough to pull.

T2:


Came into T2 first in my chase pack. Once I got off my bike I had lots of trouble getting my shoes on. I was trembling and my hands wouldn't stop shaking.

Run: The fast runners in my pack ran away right off the bat. I was running in 13th for the first loop. I kept the first loop moderate and controlled. On the second loop I felt stronger so I made a surge on the girl in 12th place and kept it and was gaining on 11th place. It wasn't until the third loop that I felt the brick wall. I was passed by the girl who I surged and another from behind, halfway on the third loop. My legs started to feel like a million pounds each and the rhythm I felt on the second loop was gone! For the rest of the run it was a matter of survival. The last loop I thought I was granny jogging. I just wanted to finish badly and I was in so much pain.

Overall:
I am a little disappointed with my race in general but I did my best and it was definitely an experience. I was hoping to have a better swim and the current set me back a bit (but I guess everyone was in the same boat) so it’s no excuse. This race definitely showed me how much harder Olympic racing is and I have my work cut out for me. I really have to aim to run under 40 minutes off the bike. I wasn't expecting an extraordinary result because my prep for this race was quite minimal. Reality has set in and I got my slap in the face. Reminds me of my first year of racing Junior Elite, it can only go up from here. I also was selected randomly for a drug test which was pretty cool. I definitely know what it means to work now and I am prepared to put in the work this winter.

Dominika

Thursday, September 1, 2011

Runner's Life

I am proud to announce I have a new sponsor: Runner's Life. I am super excited to work with the owner of the store Dave Dame. Runner's Life is local running and multi sport store located on 174 Charlotte Street Peterborough, ON. I remember getting some of my first triathlon gear from there, back in the day. Like my first pair of racing flats with matching quick laces.


Not only is Runner's Life a store, it's a community within Peterborough. There are so many people that are a part of this unique running and triathlon family. I am honored to become a part of it! I will be getting some nifty swag which you will see me wearing. I will also be posting my race reports on the Runner's Life website and hopefully I might gain some followers along my journey. If you are in the area you should definitely check out the store or you can visit the website http://www.runnerslife.ca/







Friday, July 1, 2011

St.Malo

Race reports seem to be the theme of the week amongst triathlete bloggers. So if you have had enough race reports for one week, stop right here.

Last weekend was my first Canadian Junior Series race of the season and I couldn't have been any happier for the race date to finally arrive. I had been doing a lot of prep work in the weeks leading up to the race so I was ready to rock and roll!

I was well taken care of by two of the best massage therapists Marcelle and Noreen. And spoiled by my chiropractor Dr.Alban Merepeza who has worked with a lot of athletes from different countries at various Olympics and sporting events. He did a fantastic job making sure that my body was in tip top shape.

St.Malo is a great weekend get away place and I figure that most Winnipegians go there in the summer time. I liked the simplicity of the place but it was hard to communicate without cell reception. Oh well! Maybe that was a good thing.

Most of the travelling and race preparation was pretty smooth, except my bike! It got beat up in transit. When I was putting it together I lifted it up holing onto one of the handle bar drops and "crack" the whole drop snapped right off. Just my luck! My dad really helped me out and drove to Winnipeg and bought my bike new handle bars. We got them on just in time for the race.

The race itself was a great experience and was executed well. There were some rough patches (like my swim and run) and some positives (the bike). It seems like I just wasn't able to put the pieces of the puzzle together on that day.

My swim from the get go just wasn't there on the day but I didn't panic and did my best to come out of the water in as small as possible gap from the other girls. When my coach Lorri yelled "42 seconds from the leaders". I knew there was a lot of work to be done. Right from the start of the bike I could see a small pack of girls form in front of me. I just got into my aerobars and hammered. I was luck to have Alizee a Quebec triathlete with me, because we worked really well together to catch the girls. Eventually Alizee and I managed to break from that chase pack around two corners and we bridged up to the leaders. I came into T2 and my legs felt like jelly. I knew the run was going to be a long one. I did my best but I was missing that "ompf" I needed and finished in a solid 6th.

I am ready and super excited to race again in a week at PATCO. Hopefully I will have some better luck in Edmonton!

Monday, June 6, 2011

Zerod Family

I am proud to say I have jumped onto the Zerod Suit wagon for this season. I contacted Mauricio Beuno the Zerod USA sales rep in Californa (with the help of my training partner and good friend Tom) and I have been added to Zerod's Ambassador Branch this year. I am honored to be part of the Zerod family. My new suit came in the mail a couple of days ago and man oh man.... it's nice! I tried it on and it fits like a glove. It's sooo comfy and stylish. I can't wait to rock it this season.

Saturday, March 5, 2011

First Race of 2011

Today was my first race of the season and it was Junior North American Championships. For the States, Mexico and other South American countries it was a qualifier for PATCO. I decided it would be a good race opportunity as I was already here in Clermont for a training camp. I am pretty happy with the outcome (6th place). This was my first Junior triathlon that I have actually led out of the water. However, the swim course was set up to my advantage. Very shallow water for about 200m= lots of sprinting and dolphin diving, which I seem to be half decent at. I had a great transition and rode a little less than the first half lap of the bike by my self until I was caught. I tried to make some breaks in the technical areas with Gab Edwards but I am just not strong enough yet. Onto the run I was feeling little stiff and heavy but I still finished strong. In the elite women's race the run splits were blistering fast. I heard that run course was a little short for all the races but ours, they fixed it in time for our race. It's still early in the season and it was fun to get out and give it a go after a hard 13 days of training. I am looking forward to getting back home to get in some more consitent training and race again in the spring time.