Chicago World Championship

September 27, 2015 gwen jorgensen

What does it feel like to win a World Championship title on home soil in an undefeated season?

SURREAL. I would never have ever imagined I would go undefeated this year and it is strange to sit here and find words to describe it. I don’t think it is something I will be able to grasp until my career in triathlon is over. Often Patrick and I will say to each other, “Can you believe this?” and the response is always a laugh…and a “no!”

PROMISING. Last year I debated quitting the sport after my race in Auckland. I thought I didn’t belong. At the time, Jamie and Patrick told me to take a week and just think about it and reflect on what I wanted out of the sport and if I wanted to continue. It was a rough time for me; but ultimately, I decided to continue. To go undefeated a year later is encouraging. And, I am relieved I decided to stay in the sport. My advice for anyone struggling with something they love: surround yourself with those who will make you better.

ORDINARY. The gun went off on race day and a little less than two hours later, I was crossing the finish line in first, winning my second World Championship title. While I was racing, I never thought about the WC title. It just felt like a race. It didn’t feel like a World Championship. And I still feel like plain old ‘Gwen.’

JOYFUL. One thing I’ve learned over the years is that I have to celebrate every single race! After the race, Red Bull hosted a party for my family and friends and me. It was incredible to be able to catch up with people I hadn’t seen since I left the USA in December of 2014. Thank you, Red Bull. Red Bull also got me the hardest reservation in town at world famous restaurant Alinea! If you follow me, you know that one thing I love is food, so to be able to go to the best restaurant in the world was the perfect celebration after a year of hard work with my husband Patrick. My favorite course was a “hot potato, cold potato” – I put it in my mouth and there was so much amazingness going on I could barely comprehend it! It was perfect – thank you, Brent Beck and Red Bull.

SURPRISING. After the race, I met some amazing fans who traveled far just to see me race. It was surprising, but also exciting. I was blown away the following day at a signing I did at the Specialized truck. Fans stood in a line just to get a quick photo and signature. I’ve seen the sport of triathlon grow over the past years, and it is encouraging to see people passionate about triathlon. Thank you for coming out and amazing me.

COMPLEX. I can tell you there is no ‘easy’ button to achieve success and there is not one thing that gets me across the finish line, but what I do know is I have the support of the greatest people around me.

OVERWHELMING. I’m not sure if any other athlete feels this way, but the off-season is sometimes harder than in season. In season, I lead (in my mind) a very ordinary life. I train, eat, sleep, do emails, and watch Netflix. Other than that, I really don’t do much and much isn’t demanded of me (besides showing up ready to go at every training session). Now that the season is over, I need to adjust back into ordinary life and balance normal activities and sponsor engagements with training, which can be difficult. I love triathlon and I train for triathlon--what I don’t prepare for are media engagements. Over the next few months I will be traveling across the country multiple times for media and sponsor events. Thankfully, I’ve convinced Patrick to join me for most of the trips, and the trips usually include some amazing, once-in-a-lifetime experiences, such as us going to the Bahamas later this year with a sponsor, The Island House.

GRATEFUL. I have so many people to thank. I would never be able to accomplish what I do without Jamie, Patrick, the Wizards, my sponsors, my physios and massage therapists, and my family and friends. To prepare for Chicago, Jamie along with Adam Radford (bike data specialist), tailored workouts specifically to prepare the Wizards for Chicago. Chicago’s unique bike course included many u-turns, so Jamie and Patrick went to an empty parking lot two times a week and swept away glass and put up cones to mimic a crit course. They would come home sweaty and with hands full of blisters, but they would never complain. The little things like that make it possible for me to perform. I would arrive at a cleanly swept parking lot with the other lady Wizards and we would push ourselves and test each other’s limits. It was an event that caught local Basque people’s eyes. I don’t think there was a day we did crits that we didn’t have at least one person stop and watch us – they were probably wondering what these crazy, English speaking people were doing riding in circles in spandex.

EAGER. The season is over and it’s time to spend time at home. I am eager to spend time in St. Paul, MN, where I hope to go to new restaurants, do some cyclocross, go mountain biking on the river bottoms, and catch up with family and friends.

:) Thank you for documenting this photo and for letting me post it Delly Carr

Getting a pre race swim in with fellow wizard Natalie

These two help me more than anyone will ever know. Thanks Pat and Jamie!

This is my run warm up an hour before race start

Race photo! Thanks Paul Phillips for the photo

Love this photo and love racing against Non. Photo thanks to Paul Phillips

Some of my family members who came to cheer me on ♥️

This was a signing I did at Specialized. Photo thanks to JB

The line at the signing - something I never would have imagined. Photo thanks to JB

I love being back in the USA seeing my amazing sister Elizabeth

my best friend and her beautiful baby girl

A photo shoot in San Fran with Visa after the Grand Final

Hamburg WTS

July 22, 2015 gwen jorgensen

The 2015 Hamburg WTS was the first WTS since London six weeks ago. I have been training in Vitoria, Spain, for the biggest race of my season: the Rio test event which is on August 2nd. The Rio course is hilly on the bike, so I have been doing lots of riding to prepare for the race. However, before Rio, I had one final test in Hamburg.

I knew my competitors put in a big block of training to prepare for the second half of the season and were going to be getting faster. However, I didn’t think about the others going into the race as I knew there was only one thing I could control: my own race.

Hamburg was a sprint distance race (750m swim, 20km bike, 5km run). It started off with a non wetsuit swim in the lake. It’s an amazing swim venue where fans are literally sitting on the edge of the water cheering on athletes who are a few feet away. I exited the water in fifth and a group of 12 quickly formed on the bike. The chase pack could see us the entire race, and ended up catching us with one lap to go. The bike course is completely flat, but has a lot of turns, making the ride more difficult than it seems on paper. As I ran out of transition, I saw the leaders up the road. They seemed to get further away from me for a little bit before I caught the leaders with 2.5km to go. From there, I put in a few surges, leaving only me and Vicky Holland (WTS winner in Cape Town 2015). It was going to come down to a tactical sprint. I knew Vicky had a great kick from watching her win medals at the Commonwealth Games and in Cape Town this year. With a couple hundred meters to go, I started my kick and somehow managed to come across the line in first. It was an incredible feeling and I was extremely happy.

After the race, I had a lovely German dinner with two friends (Stephanie and Erik) who drove to my race from Gouda. Stephanie is a former Wisconsin Badger, and also a former colleague of mine at Ernst & Young, LLP. It was great to catch up with them and enjoy German beer, sausage, sauerkraut, herring, and potato salad.

I am now back in Vitoria for one more week of training and fine tuning before Rio. The Rio test event is the first opportunity for Americans to earn a spot on the 2016 Olympic Team. The first and second American in the top eight at Rio will earn an Olympic spot. It is what I have been aspiring to achieve since the London 2012 Olympics.

Pure Joy

The podium. Vicky Holland and Non Stanford

In Hamburg there are beer showers

Focus before others are called to the pontoon for lineup

Transition details

Pre race thoughts

This was my first race on my new custom Amira - isn't it pretty?!? I love it. It has many details that I love including my name, "Gwen Jorgensen" and my married last name Lemieux and a Wollongong Wizard hat.

This is what I do before a race: computer, legs up, chocolate.

My friend Stephanie Reed and her fiancé Erik came to watch the race!

This is Gavin Noble taking his picture with a cutout me. He should have just asked for a real picture in person :)

And this was the pre race hotel dinner.

Two bouquets of flowers. The one on the right was from winning the race, but the one on the left means so much more to me. The roses were a surprise from Patrick. The night before the race he came back with groceries and flowers :)

WTS Yokohama 2015

May 20, 2015 gwen jorgensen

I always look forward to racing in Yokohama. Japan is one of the few countries where I don’t see a large American influence. It is crowed, but not congested. Rice is served for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. At the hotel breakfast buffet salads, rice, soups, and dim sums were plentiful. I opted for the rice porridge, which was delicious, but I’m looking forward to my normal bowl of oatmeal this week.

It was raining on race day. I wasn’t excited for the rain, but I was prepared. I knew the likelihood of a puncture or a crash was higher than normal so I wanted to ride near the front to try to avoid being behind any possible crashes. During the bike, my legs felt awful and I had to keep reminding myself that feelings don’t matter. I told myself that I can feel horrible and still produce. I made it through the bike course upright and in the front pack. Even though it was raining, I felt safe on the course, mainly because every ten meters there were volunteers guarding the course. Japanese fans lined the course in the pouring rain, cheering on the leaders; however, they roared with excitement when one of their own national athletes would go by. It was incredible! The fans in Japan are incredibly generous. I received a few gifts from fans who wanted an autograph or picture. I signed countless shirts, pictures, brochures, and hats post-race.

Yokohama was my last opportunity to run a fast 10k before the Rio test event in August later this year (which is USA’s first Olympic Qualifying race). Because of this I wanted to push my limits so I surged early on in the 10k and compatriot Renee Tomlin went with me. Renee is a USA College Recruitment Program athlete who has a killer run…and kick. I did not want to be in a sprint finish with her! Renee and Ashleigh Gentle kept the 10km honest with fast paces. I was in the lead, but nervous the girls behind were going to catch me. I ended up crossing the finish line in first, with two Australians behind me (Gentle and Emma Moffat) with Tomlin coming through in fourth.

You may have noticed I had a few new accessories at Yokohama, my favorite being a new helmet design. A few weeks ago, Red Bull mailed me a newly designed Specialized Evade helmet. It is one of the neatest things I own and means so much to me because it tells a story about where I come from. On one side of the helmet is Bucky Badger (Go UW Badgers!) catching monarch butterflies. The monarch butterfly is Minnesota’s state insect. On the other side is Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox. Paul Bunyan is American Folklore. He traveled around Minnesota, and each one of his footsteps is said to have created one of Minnesota’s 10,000 lakes. He is also known for eating huge stacks of pancakes. I couldn’t be happier to carry pieces of my Minnesota home with me everywhere I go, thanks to Red Bull. I also raced in new running flats: ASICS Tartherzeal 3. They are lighter than my previous race shoes and have more grip (which proved to be VERY useful in the rain!)

Thank you to the ASICS team for their support. A huge team showed up in Yokohama, showering me with ASICS gear and collecting my input on products. Thank you as well to Sandy from Specialized who made sure my bike was clean and ready on race day. I have so many people to thank for my performance. What you see on race day is such a small part of what my team and I do. Jamie and Patrick play daily roles in getting me ready to compete on race day. But they aren’t the only ones. I have physios, psychologists, nutritionists, sponsors, massage therapists, the Wizards, fans, and then, of course, family and friends who are supportive even when I’m away for eight months of the year. My support is world class. It motivates me to perform on race day. I am now back in Vitoria (Basque region of Spain) where I will base until the end of the season. Up next for me is a sprint WTS in London on May 31st.

Thank you for your support! Photo thanks to Delly Carr

I love this helmet! Thank you Red Bull for the design! To learn more about Paul Bunyan google him :) Photo thanks to witsup.com

So many things I love about this helmet! Photo thanks to witsup.com

Bucky Badger!!!! Enough said. Photo thanks to witsup.com

The Wizards riding in Yokohama

Sushi was inexpensive and delicious!

This was my favorite sushi roll I had while in Japan.

Because it was raining I warmed up on my SportCrafters trainer in my hotel room to stay dry and warm.

This fan had me sign the pink folder last year, and found me again this year to sign the white board. She also brought me a gift! So humbled by her generosity.