Last stop: Guilin

We saved Guilin for last because I knew it would be beautiful and we were going to be there for our anniversary.

Driving through the countryside to the Reed Flute Cave we got to see mountains and the rice ready for harvest. 

Apparently you have to take your picture at Elephant Trunk Hill. 

We got to see pandas!

And also a kangaroo (in a zoo). 

Guilin is even beautiful at night! 

Then we took a boat to Yangshuo...

In Yangshuo, we took another little bike ride on some small country roads...

... ate some fried taro...

... and saw a show directed by the guy who did the 2008 Opening Ceremony.

We went to a "scenic area" to see some waterfalls and then spent our last night in China back in Guilin, with an excellent anniversary dinner at the White House Hotel restaurant.

What a great trip! Thanks again to everyone who supported me- ITU worlds was a great experience that I might want to repeat... someday... :)

Xian

Goodbye Weihai, hello Xian!

As much as I've been looking forward to the race, I've also been really looking to this week of traveling around China without the stress of the race hanging over my head. 

I can't even tell you how amazing the terra cotta warriors are. We really loved them. So awesome. 

And then it was time to get back on a bike. :) Easy cruiser ride on the Xian city wall... 

post-race golf day

Since Brad was such a great sherpa/photographer for my race, I decided he should get to play golf on a beautiful course in Weihai... which meant we had to get up early the day after the race, but he deserved it. If you are a golfer and you find yourself in Weihai, Weihai Point is definitely worth a try!

Race day!

I can't believe September 21 has actually come and gone! 

We woke up very early on race day and headed over to the venue. The travel company we went through had reserved a suite at a closer hotel, so all of our bikes were there. It was kind of fun to all be getting ready together.

I had packed my bags the night before, but I was still afraid I was forgetting something.

After checking everything lots of times, we headed over to the transition area to check in. 

The ITU officials were checking helmets and bikes (dimensions I think) as we entered transition, but otherwise it was like any other race. Except we got bins to put stuff in. I wasn't sure if that meant you couldn't put anything anywhere else, so I kept everything in the bin.

It was really neat to meet the athletes from other countries! (Later, at the party after the race, everyone trades gear - I traded a Team USA shirt for a Team Australia polo). There were also a lot of people (mostly locals, but other athletes too) who wanted pictures with Americans, and I can't even count how many people took my picture during the race. 

After my transition area was set and body marking done, we had a while to wait before the elite race started.

And then the age group men in the first wave and the age group women second. The water temperature was 22.7C, so it was wetsuit legal.

It was a beach start, which I was a little nervous about, but it ended up being fine. The swim was 2 laps, and you actually get out of the water and run on the beach for a second between laps. 

The first lap was not too bad, and I was able to get in some open water and into a rhythm, but near the end I caught up to some people. The second lap was more spread out. The salt water definitely makes you faster, but it made me thirstier too.

I was really happy to be done with the swim! It was a long way from the swim exit to transition, but at least they had some freshwater showers for us to run through.

Immediately out of transition, there was a super steep hill, so I made sure after the familiarization ride to leave my bike in an easy gear. 

The bike course was 3 laps of a 38K loop. There are several big hills and some flat straightaways where you can make up time.

The first lap was pretty fun. We followed the coastline and it was very pretty. And there were people all along the course, cheering and yelling "Jiayuo."  In a couple places there were women playing drums and chanting, which was fun on the long straightaway and encouraging at the top of the biggest hill. On the downhill after the tunnel I hit a new personal top speed (40ish mph) and overall made pretty good time on the first lap.

On the second lap the hill by transition started to be painful, and it was more noticeable that even on the flat sections we had a headwind. The biggest hill was just barely manageable. Near the top, a guy who was zig zagging to get up ran into me and we both crashed. Luckily for me, I fell on top of him, so I was a little bruised but OK. It was right in front of a medical stop (and a ton of people!) and the medical people started to take my bike, but I told them it was OK and took it back. :) I had to walk the last part of the hill though - it was too steep to get started. So the second lap took a bit longer than the first... when I passed Brad at the end of the second lap he asked how I was feeling... I just said OK because I didn't have time to say more. 

The third lap of the bike was really tough. All those hills started to add up and my arms were tired from the swim. I also ran out of water and Skratch, but I was able to successfully negotiate taking a bottle at an aid station, dumping it into my aero bottle, and handing the empty one back to a volunteer. 

It was pretty hot when I started running. The run course was 4 laps of a 5K out and back, with a hill in the middle so you basically had to go over it 8 times. It was fun to get to see people multiple times and I tried to cheer for the US athletes... my cheering got less by the last lap though.

Then a long run past transition and back to the finish line in the middle!

I finished with a total time of 8:41, which is roughly what I was hoping for. They originally announced a 9 hour limit, but then extended it due to the difficulty of the course. 

After finishing, in addition to a very cool medal, they gave us a towel with the logo.

I  was so excited and relieved and thankful and proud to have finished! 

I am so thankful to all of you who helped me get here! I had so much support from family and friends - it really means a lot to me that you were all cheering me on. Special thanks to Brad, my parents and brother and sister, my friend Kristin for making me ride with her while she was training for her Ironman which made me decide to do Rev3 Anderson last year where I qualified for this race, my friend Steph for always being willing to ride or swim whatever was on my schedule, my friend Kim for her amazing bake sale superpowers, my friends Julie and Martha for their idea to have a send-off party, Robin and everyone at Pedal Chic for making the send-off party happen, Stax's Original for the food at the party, Michelin for their generous donation of tire certificates for the silent auction and for letting the Michelin Man be there, Earth Fare and Joe's Place for more silent auction items, everyone who came to the send-off party, Upstate Rolfing for sponsoring my uniform, Pedal Chic and Smith Optics for my race sunglasses, Camelbak and QBP for providing a water sterilizer I could bring to China so I could safely hydrate - all 3 of my bike bottle and both of my run bottles were filled with water I sterilized with my bottle, all of my friends that I train with from the Greenville/Michelin cycling and triathlon communities, my new Team USA teammates who were there to help each other and cheer each other on, and the people of Weihai for being so welcoming and encouraging. I couldn't have done it alone.

Now that the race is over we have another week in China to explore and celebrate both this and our anniversary next Saturday. Hopefully by the time we fly home I'll be over being sore and my sunburn will have healed a little. :)