Jillian Petersen

This is the first race this year that I am repeating form last year.  My goal for this race was to improve from last years results and of course improve my bike !

Race Day 24^th August:

Women’s pro-wave started at 11:04AM, with 18 women on the start line, small field but good. This was nice since we got to sleep in before the race for a change.

It ended up being a wet suit swim (barely). The water temperature the day before was 76 degrees, the morning of the race was 70 degrees and right before we jumped in it was 71.5 degrees. Talk about cutting it close, 72 degrees is when the pros are not allowed to wear wet suits.

• SWIM:

It was a one loop swim that was along side the edge, so it was very spectator friendly! Allow there was a few times I thought I was going to get creamed into the cement wall that we swam next too, because of the stupid boat that decided to make some waves……very dangerous!

Needless to say the swim was uneventful; this is good last year I kept getting punched in the head the whole swim. This year I swan next to one girl the entire swim and didn’t get punch………perfection! I did get quite warm during the swim and wished I didn’t have my wet suit on. I came out of the water with my non-punching friend in 10^th/11^th.

• T1: Last year my T1 was the slowest; I couldn’t get my stupid wet suit off. This year I had the FASTEST T1 (I improved by 21 sec.!!!!!)
• BIKE:

The bike was 2 loops, rolling hills and a head wind going out. I started off the bike in 10^th place and saw a few girls in front me that I wanted to catch. I caught both by the time I was headed back in to finish the 1^st loop, I was in 8^th. My dad was at the turn-around telling me that 7^th was 1 min. in front, I wanted to catch her. At this point in the race I eat my gel, and then throw it away as in every race I have done this year…….at the exact moment when I threw the gel away a motorcycle comes up to me and tells me to “STOP!!” I got slapped with a PENALTY for throwing trash, NOT cheating and DRAFTING but throwing TRASH!!!! For a penalty you have to come to a full complete stop and unclip both shoes and when both shoes are on the ground the clock starts ticking for 60 sec. SIXTY SEC IS A LONG TIME IN A RACE! And to make sure everyone knows you got a penalty they put slashes through all your numbers. Example: 62

I was a little upset (mainly because I knew better and should have remember they give penalties in non-drafting races), but mainly because with all the momentum lost I believe it is more equivalent to 2 minutes (…at least 90sec). As I got started up again, obviously I was passed back by the two girls I had already caught, I was back in 10^th position. “I just wanted the extra challenge!” And “I can still get 7^th”, were the only thoughts in my head for the rest of the bike. I rode myself back into 8^th well before I got off the bike.

• RUN:

The run was an out and back. I couldn’t see 7^th place, I was hoping she was still in range. I felt pretty good, not great, but better than I thought. I realized 7^th was pretty close after we went around the turn around and slowly reeled her around mile 4. I was excited I was able to still run myself into seventh. But after I went around the turn around I saw the girl in 9^th and knew she could run. She passed me with 800 meters to go. I tried to hand on but it was going to be everything I had, and I didn’t have a kick.

I still got 8^th with the penalty and ended up riding 20sec. faster then last year WITH the penalty!! That’s good right!

Things to remember…….DONT THROW TRASH!

March 13th:     4:30AM wake up to take the USCO Shuttle to make the 6:30AM flight……………..4 flights and 12hours later……..Land in St. Kitts at 8:56PM (2 hours ahead of Colorado Springs)……..Take a taxi from St. Kitts airport to the boat-dock (aka "The Beach") to take a water taxi 2.3 miles to Nevis Island……….Arrived at homestay’s house around 11:50PM!

Friday morning I went for a nice leisure ride around the entire island of Nevis……..that’s sounds like a lot, but it was really only 19.1 miles around. Followed by a swim and a light run.

Saturday I road the bike course 3 times, it was an out n’ back 4 lap bike course.  Swam the swim course twice (2 lap swim) and ran the run course twice (4 lap run).

16th March 2008:

Race Starts 9:45AM:

Swim: Ocean swim, beach start 2 loop course.  A much better swim than the previous week.  There was a pack of 3 girls in the front swim pack (Rebeccah Wassner USA and 2 Japanese women)  and I lead the second swim pack with Margie Shapiro USA and Corona MEX.  We came out of the water about 1 min 15 sec back from the front pack.

Bike: Out n’ back, 4 loop course.  The roads were much smoother;)!  We had a group of three of us and were quickly joined by one of the Japanese women to make it a 4 pack.  After about a lap, Margie and I were quick to realize the other 2 were not wanting to take a pull.  Eventually we dropped both girls and started to work together to catch the front pack.  By the end we made up about 25 seconds, but didn’t catch them.  Margie is an incredibly strong rider and being able to work together with her on the bike was an amazing experience!

Run: Out n’ back, 4 loop course.  The run felt ok, not great, without the breezy on the bike you started to notice the heat on the run.  I was gaining on the second place girl but couldn’t quite run her down.  I ended up taking 3rd, and having my first podium this year on a Caribbean Island.  Rebeccah won with an incredible run.

Here is a link to a little article on the ITU official website about the race:

http://www.triathlon.org/?call=TVRBMg==&nwsid=1873

March 6th: Wake up at 5:30AM to take the USOC shuttle to make a 7:45AM flight………………Arrive in Mexico City at 4:40PM (1 hour ahead of Colorado Springs)……….Take a shuttle bus/16 passenger van to Valle de Bravo arrive at 10:30PM (5 hours later!) 

Loading up the van with 7 athletes and 7 bikes (3 bikes were on the top bike rack)!  We were very close are this trip! 

Unloading the van at the race site!

8th March 2008, Race day:

Race start 11:18AM:

Swim: Lake swim, pontoon start, 1 loop.  I had a rough start, got knocked around and pushed under a few times. Eventually I knocked some sense into the girl, but by that time I was a minute back.

Bike: Out n’ back 2 loop course.  Felt good on the bike and bridged my self and a few other girls up to the, soon to be, front pack.  Then I tried to put my shoes on and almost lost control of my bike, and with that I lost about 10 seconds on the pack.  The road conditions of the course felt like you were going over ruts, bumps, and pot holes the whole time.  Then I proceeded to loose more time when we approached the decent, basically I got a little nervous and played it safe.  To sum it up I soloed the bike, not good. 

Run: Out n’ back 4 loop course.  Felt a little crappy coming off the bike, but on the 2nd loop I got a better feel.  I came off the bike in 7th and run into 5th place. 

Not too bad for the first race of 2008, found out a few areas that need improvement.  All in all a better start than 2007, and its a 7 week earlier start than last year; cant complain.   Justine Whipple was top American in the race with a 3rd place finish, first time on the podium and not the last! GO JUSTINE!

Next up St. Kitts and Nevis ITU Pan American Cup in 7 days!

After ITU Valle de Bravo Pan American Cup Triathlon, 8th March 2008 !

I always wanted another tattoo……Sorry Mom!

I promise……I will bring sunscreen this weekend!  In my defense it was snowing in Colorado Springs when I left for Valle de Bravo, the last thing I thought to pack was sunscreen!  From now on it will be the FIRST!

On February 1st I started my drive to Colorado Springs from St. Louis.  I was scheduled to leave at 4:30 AM on February 1st, but mother nature had other plans, like dumping 10 inches of snow on St. Louis late January 31st.  This only delayed me 5 hours, this was ok I added an extra 2 hours of sleep and my mom was wonderful enough to send me off on a full stomach consisting of my favorite style of omelette and monkey bread!

The drive was pretty good, I rather enjoyed it! I spent the time by talking with friends and family, and even listing to a book on tape/CD (Duma Key by Steven King), I have yet to finish the book but so far its good! The drive was smooth sailing until about 80 miles to go in the trip.  Go figure, when I got into Colorado it started snowing.  The snow wasn’t bad until I got off highway 70 onto Limo/24 heading toward Colorado Springs.  Road conditions were not ideal, speed limit was 65 mph and I was traveling at about 30 mph.  Luckily the road conditions were better about 30 miles out, it was not snowing in Colorado Springs.

I have a wonderful opportunity to train at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs for the next three months.  I will be living off campus but will  able to train with the other resident athletes.   

After my two wonderful family vacation I have finally gotten back into a steady routine of training. The last three weeks have been really good training blocks.  It has been a little cold in St. Louis, since I wont ride outside in anything below 40 degrees that means the training inside is going on two weeks.  My bike has managed to get a permanent spot in the living room, it’s getting a little old!

Lets take a look of what is wrong with this picture.  For those of you who have had the privilege of seeing me ride inside know the towel under the bike is too small!  Yes, that is a tennis shoe, size 12, being used as my front wheel support; it’s cheaper!  And in case I run into any nails in my living room I am equipped to handle a flat tire!

For New Years my dad and two brothers went to Hilton Head Island, South Carolina.  My uncle won a 5 bedroom house through his work for a week, and ask the family to join in his vacation.  We ended up with 25 family members in one house, it was a lot of fun. 

Since Savannah, Georgia was only an hour away we took a family road trip.  We ended up taking over the whole trolley with the 25 Petersen’s.  I would love to go through an name everyone, but lets be real.  (You can play find Jillian) I will say my Uncle Jeff, front right, was the one that got us all together, "Thank You Uncle Jeff!"

This time I actually got to sit, well pretend to sit, on Forrest Gump’s bench.  Instead of a bench there was a garden, it made it a little harder to sit.

The house was only 100 yards from the beach.  The beach was just like Daytona, so I was able to do all my running along the coast.  The view is what I looked at while riding my bike on the balcony, it was pretty good.  The other picture is of all the young women cousin’s, age range 12 - 24 years old, guess who’s the oldest.  It was a great and wonderful week, I love my family!!

The weekend before Christmas, I went with my mom and two brothers to Daytona Beach, FL to visit my grandparents.  I had never been there and to my surprise when I arrived at my grandparents new condo I was in aw.  They were on the 10th floor of a beautiful condo with a spectacular view of Daytona Beach, pictures don’t do it justice.

While in Daytona, we enjoyed long runs on the beach and body surfing.  We also went to my new favorite place to eat shrimp, "Bubba Gump Shrimp".  The shrimp was the best I have ever eaten and it was amazing. 

As most of you all know Ghisallo put together a travel fund for me to go the Eilat World Cup in Israel. They raffled off a George Hincapie autographed jersey, the coast for a ticket was only $10 and they managed to raise ALL the money that paid for my plane ticket!  I can not thank them enough! And a special thanks to everyone who purchased raffle ticket’s! As well as to George Hincapie for his special donation!

Having the love and support for my family, friends, and especially my sponsors is what is making my dream a reality! Thanks again!

The adventure to my first world cup in Eilat, Israel was scheduled to start at 10:00 AM on December 1st, 2:00 AM central time. I was flying out of St. Louis on November 27th at 6:25 PM. To make sure everything started off right ,my flight was delayed going to Atlanta for over an hour. It left me with only 30 min to get to my 11:50 PM international flight to Tel Aviv. The airlines apparently like you to be extra early, 3 hours early to be exact. I was very fortunate that Delta airlines let me on the plane, however due to extra security my bike was not as fortunate. Eleven and a half hours later I landed in Tel Aviv. I found out in the Tel Aviv airport that my bike was to be on the next flight out of Atlanta, 24 hours later.

I was accompanied by one of the other US athletes Mary Beth Ellis. We both had to get to the other airport in Tel Aviv, Sde Dov in order to get to Eilat. We were informed that it would be faster and cheaper to take the train to Tel Aviv University, which was most of the way. Then catch a taxi to the Sde Dov airport. Mary Beth dropped her bike off at bike transport and we got on the train for a 20 min ride to Tel Aviv University. When we exited the train, we were unable to find a taxi. We literally were going up to taxis in an intersection trying to get a ride. Luckily an innocent bystander on a motorcycle asked us where we wanted to go. He was kind enough to tap on this guys window and told him to take us to the Sde Dov airport. Normally I would never have got ten into a strange car especially in another country alone. But only because we were soo desperate, Mary Beth and I got into the car. He was very nice, a law student at the University. When we tried to pay him he refused. We got there safely, but I missed my flight by 5 minutes. I was able to get on the next flight just an hour later.

I arrived at my hotel King Solomon around 10:30PM, check in was rough because I had made the reservation through Expedia and apparently the hotel King Solomon had never heard of Expedia. I had already been charged for the room when I made the reservation, unfortunately I had to pay again, I immediately called Expedia and explained the situation, a talk with the manager and 30 minutes later, Expedia finally canceled my previous reservation. Luckily Sharone Aharon, who was one of the USAT coaches sent to Eilat, was there. Sharone is originally from Israel and was able to talk to the hotel, he later talked with airport security in order to locate my bike and find out when it may arrive and approximately what time it would get to Eilat form Tel Aviv.

My bike arrived in Tel Aviv at 5:30 PM, but missed the last flight out of Tel Aviv to Eilat. They sent in Friday late afternoon and it finally arrived at my hotel around 3:30PM. I had approximately one hour to put my bike together and get out on the road to ride the course before it got dark at 4:45 PM. Yoni Doron , who is very familiar with this course and a USAT triathlete originally form Israel as well and a good friend, road the course with me so I wasn’t alone.

The race was scheduled to start at 10:00 AM, air temperature was 75 degrees and overcast, a perfect day to race! We were swimming in the Red Sea a two loop course, exiting the water and running on the beach for a short 30 meters, water temperature was 72 degree a non-wet suit swim. I ended up swimming the 2nd pack consisting of about 20 girls, this number made it difficult when going around the buoy’s. Both times around the buoy’s was a little scary, a few times I thought I was close to drowning. I didn’t drown but I did manage to drink/ choke on a gallon of the Red Sea salty water. Exiting the water and entering transition with 20 girls was crazy, I stayed with the 2nd pack and ended up riding in the back for the 7 loop bike. The course was not very technical it had one hill about 5% grade for 500 meters, and at the bottom of the hill was a round-about. There were 6 round-about’s we went through each lap, the only one that was dangerous was the one at the bottom of the hill. On the last lap I went to the front of our bike pack to avoid at the girls entering transition at the same time. I came out of transition around 21st with a bunch of girls, I was very excited for the run and having the opportunity to run with a lot of people. Unfortunate, I hit a wall about 400 meters into the run! Ouch! That makes for a long 10k race. My legs felt like they weighed 100lbs pounds each and I believe I was dehydrated, possibly form the gallon of salt water I had consumed in the swim. Needless to say I faded back fast and it was a struggle to hold on.

I finished 39th out of 53 that started. I am satisfied with my swim and my bike, but I am disappointed with the way I ran. I did learn a lot from this experience and form the other USA traithlete’s there.

After the race, later that evening, Amanda Stevens (15th, her best finish in a world cup, amazing!), Heidi Grimm, Mary Beth Ellis and I went to ride the Sling Shot.

Later there was an after party for the athletes at the Monkey Bar!

On our travels home, Mary Beth and I were on the same flight back to the states. We were also accompanied by Timothy O’Donnel and Joe Umphenour at the Tel Aviv airport who were on different flights. While waiting we witnessed a bike transport, and learned what not to do with 3 bikes and a taxi cab!

Due to unfortunate events Mary Beth and I were scheduled to leave Tel Aviv at 11:35 PM. However we didn’t anticipate the great measures the Tel Aviv customs would go through to check to see if were terrorists. After they took apart our bike case and empted out our luggage and went though all our belongings, they only left us 40 minutes to get to the plane. Normally that is penalty of time, but they did not think so. In order for us to get on the plane they required us to pay $100 in cash for our bikes, between the two of us we had $50 dollars. They were not accepting our travelers checks or credit cards, and would not let us go to the ATM. Basically they did not want to let us in the international flight. We were stuck in Tel Aviv airport for the night. Lucky they didn’t not help so we had to attempted to get a hold of our mom’s in order to call Delta and get us on the next carrier out of Israel. Our mom’s saved the day and we were on the 10:40AM flight to JFK, New York airport. We pulled an all-nighter in the airport while sitting and eating Kosher Mc Donald and Kosher Mc Cafe. After 50 hours of traveling Mary Beth and I finally made it back!