G'day mates! For those of you who are curious about how I fared Down Under, here's a brief report. The race in Newcastle was one of the toughest courses I have ever done, with 30 hills in 40km, fairly strong winds blowing off the ocean, and an impressive group of Europeans in the field. Still, the whole experience was truly amazing, and I'm happy that I can now say I survived my first elite Worlds!
After a whirlwind stopover in LA en route to Australia, and a few days of fun (but not too walking-intensive!) sightseeing in Sydney, Heather and I took the train up to Newcastle on Thursday Sept. 22nd to meet up with the rest of Team Canada. I got to ride the course with one of the other 2 elite women that afternoon, and then at the opening ceremonies we paraded to the melodious buzz of the didgeridoo, and ate a team dinner serenaded by a roving Scottish pipe band.
On Friday I was able to practice a few of the trickier turns and do some last-minute work on my transitions. My first impression of the course was that although the 5 hills weren't TOO long or TOO steep, they were going to be challenging one after the other, particularly since I would have to ride 6 laps! And the descents looked scary... some wide and sweeping with fairly dicey surface, one 90 degree turn on brick, another on a tight uphill, and two 180s. Help!
The run course at least was as advertised--totally flat... The majority of the 2.5 km loop was on a spit into the harbour, and took us across a patch of sand and--according to the initial plan, up a set of narrow wooded steps, but the race organizers decided to axe those at the last minute, thank goodness. One other worrisome feature for both the run and bike was the wind, which was quite strong, although probably would not be as bad in the early morning (our race was scheduled for 8:30 a.m.).
The age-groupers raced on Saturday, Sept. 24th, which was a beautiful warm sunny day. (They had an even longer, hillier bike course, which they tackled 4 times.
They also had a different run course.) Team Canada had some good performances, including gold in the women's 20-24, and the men's 75-79 (congrats Jimmie Georgas!). I started to worry about the next day's weather, which had some rain in the forecast. Fortunately, that never materialized, and in fact, we had slightly cooler and cloudier weather (~24C/78F).
Thirty elite women and 6 under-23s toed the line on Sunday morning; it was exciting--and nerve-wracking-- for me to get called to the line with the women who were top-10 in the ITU World Du rankings. I felt well acclimated to the 14-hour time change, and pretty well tapered, although I was quite nervous about my running fitness... I knew I wasn't as fit as I had been the year before, even though I was probably a bit stronger on the bike.
The opening run was fast, and I seemed to have some difficulty warming up, but I did manage to run in about 10th position, not far behind the legendary Hungarian past-gold medallist Erika Csomor. I played tag with the American Kim Hager. The wind wasn't too bad, but it was shaping into a warm day. I ended up running a 37:04, pretty much what my recent workouts had led me to expect, although a bit slower than I'd hoped, and somewhat out of my comfort zone.
When it came to transition, all my careful practice was foiled by two things: on one shoe I hadn't opened the strap properly, and the elastic suspending the other snapped before I could get into it, and then the shoe fell off all together! It was ugly. At that point, I was quite close to a group of 6 women (who were behind the lead pack of ~7)... but even though I chased on to them and caught them by the mid-point of the lap, I wasn't able to hang on once they started down the big hills. Frustrating, but at this very low point in the race, I was barely convinced I'd be able to finish, the thought of all the hills was so daunting.
Luckily, by the second lap, I had a gel shot 
and remembered that I'm supposed to be a hill climber... I hadn't come all this way not to finish! And I also desperately wanted to avoid getting lapped out (riders caught by the lead group would not be allowed to finish). Kim Hager dropped back from the 2nd group and we helped each other up the tough hill in the park at the halfway point of the course. I rode most of the next laps on my own, before 3 other riders including a British woman came up from behind and--much to my chagrin--passed me on the descents. I was slowing far too much on the corners and just not taking any risks... which may have been detrimental. I ended up riding the 16th fastest bike split, rolling into the very long transition after all of the women who had caught up to me on the bike.
At this point, it was a matter of survival... just get through the run Margaret! (One of the Canadian women had had breathing troubles and dropped out; the other rode a strong bike leg and was the second-last woman to avoid getting lapped; she would finish 16th.) The final 5km was excruciating, and even though it was pancake flat, was a brutal slog (I also had quite a blister on one heel!). Fortunately I had my eye on my nearest British competitor and was able to pass her with 3km to go. While 20:12 is far from a speedy result for a flat 5km, I was pleased to have posted the 12th-fastest time of the day, keeping up my pattern of closing with a relatively strong second run.
When I crossed the finish line in 14th, I have never been so relieved! I could never have made it through the race without so many fans cheering for me and Team Canada. I ended my elite debut with a massage in the physiotherapy tent, and a dip in the bracing ocean at lovely Nobbys Beach. After hearing some positive feedback from the team manager and other spectators, I started to feel that perhaps I hadn't looked as overwhelmed as I'd felt... and may even have picked up some speed on the final few bike laps. I was satisfied overall by my race, and am happy to report that it was one of the best performances by a Canadian elite woman in recent years.
Following the race, Heather and I did some more active sightseeing to take advantage of our time in Oz, hiking in the chilly, misty Blue Mountains on the day after the race (a painful exercise for my quads!), as well as snorkelling on the incredible Great Barrier Reef. Another happy result of this trip was reconnecting with a branch of Schotte cousins Down Under. All in all, a fantastic adventure, and one that we will not soon forget. Thanks once again for all your good wishes and support!
