Ladies and Gentlemen: MARK FRETTA!!!!!

Post Race Recovery & Update

Total recovery took a few days after Pro Nationals. I got home on Monday and spent another night getting some solid sleep. Denny (my coach) ordered some more blood work and urine testing for me so that the Sports Med people could see if there was any serious damage going on. On Wednesday I did another blood draw and got results back on Friday. Other than having low iron…I was given the ‘all-clear’.
It was a bit scary…the whole “hospital after the race” thing and I hope that I don’t have to do that again soon. I know that this year has been a lot of fun and I have enjoyed breaking into the pro circuit but my goal is to be healthy and safe (in training and racing).
After Nationals we have a solid 4 weeks of training before we get on the plane for Japan. I plan on making the most of every training session to get me ready for the World Champs!

Manny, Matt & Jaz in the hotel before Pro Nationals. Check out those BICEPS!!!:)

USA Triathlon Pro Nationals

As soon as I returned to the OTC in Colorado Springs, I went straight to training for my first USA Professional Triathlon National Championships! This is the big time…I would be lined up at the starting line next to the best in the country…women who I have watched for 10 years be at the top of the world in triathlon. I only had two weeks between the open water competitions and the Nationals in Bellingham, Washington (Bellingham was a really cute small town about 3 hours outside of Seattle).
A little explanation regarding the categories in the race: this race is the USA Pro Nationals…but it was also the U23 Nationals. Since all the U23 competitors must be pros…we were all in the same race as the elite/older pros. So at the finish line I would get a national place among all the pros in the country…and I would also get a national place as a U23 competitor. The top 3 finishers will qualify for the Elite World Champs and the top 2 U23 finishers will qualify for the U23 World Champs.
Last year this race was an Olympic qualifier…and it was really COLD on race day…and the lake was nice and cold for a wetsuit legal swim. Fortunately, this year…it was warm and the lake was above 68 degrees so no wetsuits were allowed! I was the 12th ranked American at the race…pretty nice for a rookie:)! The other members of the U23 team, who I have been traveling with and competing with all year were all ranked near me…Jasmine was about 10th, Jenna was 11th, Caitlin was 13th…it was great to show that the future of this sport was right up there with the best!
The swim was 2 loops with a quick water exit to run around the boat dock in between laps…the bike was 6 laps with the BIGGEST HILL I have ever climbed in a race (more on that later)…the run was 4 out-and-back loops on a flat and shady road.
The fact that this MASSIVE hill was on the course…and the fact that I am NOT the best hill climber…factored into my race strategy. The strategy wasn’t much different than previous races…but here it is anyways: HAUL BUTT ON THE SWIM FOR THE BIGGEST LEAD I COULD POSSIBLY GET!!!...and then take it easy on the first lap of the bike to warm up my legs and not kill myself up the hill the first time. I exited the water with a 50 second lead over Barb Lindquist…and she had a 30 second lead over the chase pack. My first bike lap was entirely by myself…I was caught by Barb at the top of the hill on the second lap…we worked together on the third lap and then she left me on the third hill climb. On the fourth lap I was caught by the chase pack containing Jazzy-Jasmine and the eventual race winner, Becky Lavell. I was able to get a bit of drafting on that lap and then completed the 5th and 6th laps alone focusing on: “Just getting up that STUPID hill 2 more times!!” I entered transition in 8th place and headed out for the run as the 2nd U23…only Jasmine was ahead of me. The first half of the run I felt really good…And then things just started going down hill. At one of the turn-arounds, I noticed that Caitlin (my U23 teammate) was really closing the gap and catching me! I had to totally red-line it to get back to the finish line before her and get my slot on the World Champ team. It was painful…and I only held her off by 3 seconds…she had an amazing race! I collapsed at the finish line and spent about an hour in the ambulance drinking a lot of fluid and having my vital stats monitored. After a bit, I felt much better and got out to cheer for the guys race…but then about an hour later I started feeling really sick and ended up getting back in the ambulance to go to the hospital for 3 hours…2 bags of IV fluids, lots of blood tests, and more!
Eventually, I was released and went back to the hotel for a much-needed solid nights sleep:)! (I would like to thank Cliff, one of my coaches who went to the hospital with me that day.) The next morning we all drove back to the Seattle airport for our respective flights home.

Check out the 2005 USA Open Water World Championship Team! It's like 105 degrees and we all had to wear the matching jackets...fun times at the Lake Placid training camp:)!

Open Water World Championships

On July 15th the USA Open Water National Team loaded up in a big bus and drove from Lake Placid to Montreal, Canada. We had a few days to practice on the race course. The course was in the rowing basin from the 1976 Olympics in Montreal. Each loop was 2500meters so the 5K racers did 2 loops, the 10K did 4 loops and the 25K did 10 loops. It was very “spectator friendly”. The 5K race was on July 17th…the women started around 9am. It was a great race; I was in great positions from the start to the finish. The other American in the race with me, Margy Keefe, pushed the pace after the first lap. I was struggling just to hang on to the feet in front of me. By the last 500 meters there were only 4 girls in the lead pack, Margy, the reigning champion from Russia, a famous chick from the Netherlands, and me. Unfortunately, I realized in those last 500 meters that I no longer have the finishing kick that I had when I was a competitive pool swimmer!! I was very happy with the 4th place finish, especially since my teammate took home the silver!
A few hours later that day, one of our American guys, Chip Peterson, got silver in the men’s race! It was a great way for the USA to start the open water world champs!
Two days later it was time for the women and men’s 10K race. This time we started a bit earlier in the morning…since the race would take a bit longer! This time my American teammate was Erica Rose, a very experienced open water swimmer. We both had great races, at one point we were hitting each other for position:)! I focused on drafting as much as I could but still could not dig up a finishing sprint and touched the pads at the back of the lead pack again. This time it was in 11th place and Erica was a bit in front of me in 9th place.
Again, a few hours later in the men’s race it was all Chip! This time he pushed the pace majorly with about 2000 meters to go and ended up holding off the favorite from Germany for the GOLD! It was another great day for the USA…we had fun celebrating that!
In the next few days the women, and then the men, swam the 25K. I walked MANY of the loops with our swimmers waving a huge USA flag for support. Erica was awesome, getting another 9th place and John finished 12th in the men’s. I was also keeping up my triathlon training during the off days…I was able to find a really great bike path outside of the city with great views and no traffic. Since most of the time we were at a swim meet…which means all we get to see is the hotel and pool…I was really thankful that I was able to get in a self guided tour of the city. On the 24th of July, we all said good-bye to Canada and flew to our respective homes…mine being in Colorado Springs...and resumed training for our next competitions!