World Racewalk Cup Recap and Back Home!

My European journey finally came to a close 3 weeks ago after my final race at the IAAF World Racewalk Cup in Saransk, Russia. After my Olympic qualifying race in Germany, I was excited to get to Russia and finally be reunited with my husband and get one final good race in before finally heading back home to San Diego.

I was in Russia 4 years ago for the IAAF World Racewalk Cup and I was hoping to have a much different experience this time. Last time I had a lot of stress with where I was staying, local sponsor commitments, bad food and my race went terribly. This time around I knew things would be different. I am a lot more mature as a person and an athlete and this being my 5th major international championship, it is becoming old hat for me. Conditions were different this time since we were in a different part of Russia where it tends to be a bit warmer at this time of year. With that in mind, I knew that I couldnt chase a time and that I had to fight for place. My best place at World RW Cup in previous years was 66th place. I knew that this year would be one of the toughest with there being a record amount of participants this year, 105 starters. My race plan was simple, just go out conservative and pick off as many women as I could and fight till the end.

I was fortunate to borrow my TEAMmate Trevor Barron's ice vest before the race and I think it made a big difference to keep my body cool in the 30c heat. The unfortunate thing about IAAF events is the call room. We had to be in the call room 20 minutes before the race and the "room" was a marked off area outside with little shade. I was able to keep the vest on until they took us out to the start line. I just kept praying for God to help me through this battle because that was what it was going to be, a huge battle. I knew the pain I would be going through pretty quickly into the race with the heat, wind and incline on the course.

Ill keep the rest of my race recap short....it was tough but I finished pretty well. I did what I wanted by starting conservatively and even though I kept slowing down as the race went on, it was my best performance at a World RW Cup or World Championship. I never felt like my body or mind completely crashed at any point. My first 10km's was 48:14 and my second 10km's was 50:30 for a finish time of 1:38:44. Not my best time but im happy that I was able to have my best performance at one of these events. Hopefully it will just keep getting better.

It was so great to have so many of my TEAMmates with me in Russia. It made the experience so much more fun. Over the years I have gotten to know so many international athletes also and its so nice to see everyone again. Saransk was a nice city with great people. Everyone was very nice and we had the greatest guides that the local organizers provided. They were there for everything we needed and were so much fun. This experience will be hard to top in my next World RW Cups in the future.

Even though Russia and my whole European trip was great, it was definitely time to head home. After travelling for 31 hours, I finally made it back. Being back in consistent weather and being back with Tim on a daily basis is great. I am so happy with my life and where I live that it really makes me appreciate it even more every time I am gone.

I had the easiest transition when I got to Europe but coming home was the complete opposite. Sleeping was easy, we just got tired early but I was feeling tired in training for longer than usual. My heart rate was outrageously high and after being home for 3 weeks now, it has only just gotten to normal levels in the last few days. This has been very frustrating but I knew that it would come down soon and that I just had to be patient. I also hadnt done many hard workouts the whole time I was in Europe and so getting back into those workouts again and doing more mileage is taking a bit to get used to again. Luckily I still have 2 months until my race at the Olympics so I have lots of time to get more work in and be ready for the biggest race of my life.

My plans for the next month are to be in San Diego for another week and then im heading for Canada for the rest of the month. I have some big events coming up with my nephew, Bruno's, first birthday party and dedication. I also have my sister Ruthy and her fiance Drew's big wedding day coming up and I am so excited for them! Then on June 30th ill be in Calgary for the Canadian Olympic trials where Olympic spot will be confirmed. There will be a big team announcement and I am so excited for that. Once I get to Canada ill be doing some media for the Olympic build up and this will make it even more real for me to be back in my home country! I love Canada!

Ok, I will try and update sooner next time! Thanks for all the continued support.

Keep on walking,

Rachel