Garmin-sponsored triathlete Jenna Shoemaker shares her training and racing experiences with the Garmin Edge 705 and Forerunner 405.

The Washington D.C. Dextro Energy World Championship Series race did not go as I had hoped, but that's racing. There are plenty of ups and even more downs! The whole weekend was a little bit chaotic with lots of events going on and some issues the day before the race surrounding the water quality that almost turned the event into a duathlon. I had a very poor swim, finding myself in the middle of the "washing machine," and ended up coming out of the water much further back than I normally do. From there, the race became a chase and unfortunately, the chase ended about 9k into the bike when I hit a large traffic cone in the middle of the bike course. I was at the back of the group, athletes ahead of me split right and left, and suddenly without warning, the cone was in front of me and I had no option but to hit it. I flipped off my bike, over my handlebars and landed on the left side of my head. I can remember seeing the ground and asking myself "can I get up and finish the race," but the next thing I knew, I was lying on a gurney in an ambulance trying to remember my name, birthday and mother’s contact information. CT scans revealed no fractures or bleeding in my head or pelvis, but they concluded, based on the time that I was "out," that I had suffered a grade 3 concussion, the most severe.

So, instead of flying to Des Moines to race the Hy-Vee Elite Cup, I flew to Boulder for a week of recuperation. I took 2 days off from training to let my body settle, but I am now back into training and am excited to get ready for my next big event in Hamburg, Germany at the end of July. I just got my hands on the Garmin Forerunner 310XT, so I have a new toy to make training this coming month even more exciting!  I love the way this particular model fits my wrist and I am really looking forward to taking it on some open water swims!

We wish Jenna a speedy recovery so she can dive back into full training mode before her next big race. Congrats to her brother, Jarrod Shoemaker, for his 5th place finish at yesterday’s Hy-Vee Triathlon. Read about Jarrod and Jenna’s family reunion prior to the Washington D.C. race.