I raced the ABR Team Time Trial National Championships on Sunday. It was really, REALLY fun. I had great teammates, really strong women, and their enthusiasm was exactly what I needed.

We had a few challenges going in. One of our team fractured her elbow last week, so we had a last minute replacement. Another was racing in Europe and didn't get back to Chicago until Saturday night, so she had a bit of jet-lag. The third forgot her shoes and ended up racing in borrowed sneakers. And I, well, let me count the challenges I had: I didn't have an aero setup, I'm still struggling a bit in the corners, and I've lost fitness since July. And we'd never been able to practice together. That was a big one. And we didn't get a chance to drive the course -- I was the only one who'd done this race before and had any familiarity with the course.

What we had going for us was Heidi, Noelle and Eileen -- all accomplished triathletes. Noelle led us out fast. As we rode, we got better at pacelining. We echeloned well. We were able to communicate and Heidi was great at giving positive encouragement. Unfortunately, we lost Noelle before the turnaround. The jet-lag and her inexperience in the paceline took its toll. Soon after, I was on the rivet, riding at my limit -- and beyond -- the rest of the way. Eileen was impeturbable. Heidi was a machine.

I was 100% focused on staying on Eileen's wheel. As Heidi dragged us around the second half of the course, I just hung on and tried not to drop the speed too much as I rotated through. When we got to the second to last turn, Heidi yelled "This is the last turn!" No, it's not, I told them. Then we turned into the crosswind and Heidi yelled "This is the hardest part!" No. I had to tell them, No it's not. Then we turned onto the interminable finishing stretch into the headwind. Heidi was pushing 23 into the wind. Eileen and I were doing our best to keep it above 20. I kept thinking I saw the end . . . but over and over we realized we weren't even close.

Finally, we got there. I tried to give it one last push and cross the line with Heidi and Eileen, but I had nothing left. Our time was 1:20:56 -- third place! And only 3:30-ish off the leaders. Our average speed was 23.9. If we practice and get good at pacelining, we can do even better next year.

This was a great way to end my road season.