Ironman St George Camp

Hey guys, just wanted to throw this out quick.  A friend of mine is putting on this awesome Ironman training camp over President's Day weekend in February in St George.  It would be an excellent camp for any athlete training for a half or full ironman, especially Ironman St George, and even better for someone looking to improve their swim.  There's some serious qualified swim coaching down there!  I tell you, nothing helped me prepare more than being down on that course, nothing.  If you sign up tonight or tomorrow with the code camp2011 you can get 20% off too.  The two head coaches of the camp are  certified and know what they're doing, and I'll even be down there too hopefully  :)  Anyway, check it out, could be great for your season!

Quick update

Still have no idea what 2011 or 2012 hold but just wanted to update that I am getting to feeling better, but not 100%.  Strong athlete or not, the last week was really rough both physically and emotionally and I've had to take it easy and listen to my body (not as an athlete, as a regular human).  I haven't worked out since, uh, Thursday Dec 9th, not that I really care, and may or may not this week.  I think a couple more days and I'll be able to do something at a modest pace.  I've just tried to give my body a chance to heal as it's thrown a couple fits this week when I tried to do too much day to day stuff.  It's like my body is one of those parole ankle bracelets not letting me get away with leaving the house... till today that is, must be off parole now.  I'd like to get back into the pool so I can swim the Master's New Year's workout.  I've never had a chance the last couple years, always timing conflicts.  The workout is 211x50's, yeah that sounds like a lot.  At least they're 50's, but it's nice to have some feel for the water before jumping into that, but I can't exactly get in yet if you get my drift.  If that doesn't work out maybe I'll consider the half marathon fun run my friend Jonathan is organizing.

Anyway, thanks for the kind words and thoughts and emails and texts etc many of you have offered, I really really appreciate it.  While the life I lost was a very little one, it's impact was and is a lot.  I hope to get back to training in the next couple weeks just to work things out in my mind. I think most of us do such soul searching and pondering and head clearing while working out.  I need some of that...and some endorphins, those are nice too  :)

2011? No idea

So I was finally going to reveal my 2011 schedule and plans, and I had big plans!  I was going to announce that I would not be "Triathlon Mom" for the year....... but "PREGNANT Triathlon Mom"!  That's right, I was going to have a baby in July so would enjoy a few sprint races and a few running events, and then enjoy the summer and get back to competition in the fall and 2012.  Instead, we found out at 10 weeks that we won't be having a baby after all, at our exciting 10 week visit Monday we found out I'm not having a baby, I'm having a miscarriage.  :(

So now,  I have no idea what is in store for 2011.  I don't know if we'll try again or not, if I'll race in 2011 or not, and it's killing me.  I love to have the next season planned, know what I have to look forward to and work toward.  I had a 2 year plan 3 days ago.  It's very motivating, now I have zero motivation.  I actually am not motivated to compete right now at all, can you believe that?  I'm sure it will come back eventually, but my whole world is turned upside down right now.  It's amazing how many plans and hopes and dreams can be made in 10 weeks.  It's so hard to have them all gone now.  I didn't bring it up on my family blog -which you're welcome to read, just don't stalk my kids  ;) - because I didn't want it misunderstood, but I would guess most of you could understand this side of it too.

This baby was timed out so well!  We don't normally have great control over when we get pregnant, but we were fortunate to have it happened when I wanted.  We'd have a baby in July, I'd be able to do a competitive Olympic tri in October, and then have a 5-6 month old when it was time to really start training hard.  Now I have no idea.  I'll stop beating around the bush and just say it.  I wanted to race Ironman St George in 2012.  Yes I understand my baby would have been under a year old, but I've been through this a few times now and I knew what I was getting myself in to.  But now everything's a mess.  I age up in 2013, so it's race it again in 2011 or 2012.  Sure I could do another race, but this one is most convenient for my family and I and our budget, and probably my best shot at qualifying.  But now I have no idea where to go from here.  If I didn't care about qualifying, I'd just do any race, whenever the time was most convenient, probably Vineman in California in August even though it isn't Ironman brand.  IF, huge IF we decided to try again and IF we got pregnant quickly, I'd be due anywhere from October to December 2011.  There is absolutely no way I can leave a 1-2 month old home with my husband for even 3 or 4 hours while I go off and train.  It's not fair to him and it's not fair to the baby and frankly I don't know that I'll be up to a 50 mile ride, 10 mile run 8-10 weeks postpartum.  I've done 5 mile races and sprint tri's at 5-7 weeks out, but that's about it.

 Ironman, triathlon, training, these are not my life.  I love them a lot and they make me and my life better, but my family does come first.  I'm just so sad this happened.  So mad and disappointed it happened.  I'm going from such a high to such a low.  So confused about where to go from here.  I had no intentions of racing IMSG in 2011.  I have no real base right now to build off of, we don't really have the money for the entry, and it was just wasn't in our plans.  I really wanted to watch this year and see how it plays out and be totally ramped up and excited and ready to go at it in 2012.  And I don't know that I can say we're done having kids, and if we're not done, I'd rather get on with it so they're not any farther apart.  Now I just don't know.  I hope my husband and I are able to figure things out quickly for my mental sake, and I hope I'm able to get some motivation to want to go out and do anything, swim, bike, or run.  Right now really sucks.  I'm all of the sudden not pregnant, can't be excited for the great spring and summer I was looking forward to getting my big pregnant belly out there and being active.  Please don't misunderstand all this talk about my own selfish timing for racing and such.  I am VERY much saddened and grieving over this loss, this baby.  This is just an outlet for me to talk about the less important but still important part of this loss for me.  Thanks for reading if you got this far.

I want this shirt!

LOVE IT!

SO cute!  Husband are you listening?  This would be an excellent Christmas present for this Triathlon Mom!!  Thanks for pointing out the link Paul!

CEP compression sock review

The stockings all hung by the chimney with care......sorry, couldn't resist  :)

So after attending a Powertri clinic about compression apparel I walked away with a pair of CEP compression socks.  I'm telling you people, if you're local, come to the clinics!  They're free, they're always informative, and you often times leave with product of some kind.  I answered a question right, so I got a pair of socks.  Come to the clinics!  And if you can't, you can watch them live online, or recorded online here.  Here is a link to the compression clinic I refer to in this review.

So anyway, I was thrilled to have a pair, and like some women, questioned and questioned what color to get, and eventually ended up with pink which I like.  The pink is pretty trendy with the ladies so if you want to be different, pink might not be your choice.  Believe me, I considered the lime green  :)   I was excited to get them when I did since my husband and I were going to run the Halloween Half Marathon in a couple weeks and it is a very downhill course, perfect testing grounds.

Compression is about lowering muscle vibration/bounce during impact, but more importantly, all about blood flow and keeping it from pooling in your feet and calves. Compression wear,  proper compression wear keeps the blood flowing well which improves oxygenation of the blood, improving lactic acid metabolism. We're all going to produce lactic acid, it's just an energy cycle, but with the proper oxygen in your blood it can get flushed out more efficiently. CEP's socks and sleeves (the term for calf sleeves, socks without the foot part basically) do not have to only be used during activity, but can be used before and after as well. As explained at CEPsocks.com, "Pre-exercise - muscle activation and reduction of injury risk, During Exercise - optimized performance and stabilization, reduced muscle strain, Post-Exercise - quicker and shorter recovery phase"

Now I've had compression wear, but only true recovery tights, these ones from Zoot, not active wear.  I think I notice a difference with the recovery tights, but it can be hard to tell how much with recovery only stuff, I do think it's beneficial though.  Maybe I'll wear one leg on one leg off sometime.....ok, probably not....maybe.  I was hoping for a more noticeable difference with the CEP socks since you use them during.  CEP even "consistently see increases in athlete's performance by up to 5% as well as a drastic reduction in recovery time and increase in lactic acid metabolization.".  5%?  Do the math, that's a savings of 12 minutes in a 4 hour marathon, or 4.5 minutes in a 1:30 half marathon.  That's pretty significant for a pair of socks my friends.  I didn't get to test them out for speed, but I did for distance, elevation drop and lactic acid metabolism.  And let me tell you, watching people at the finish line of this race really proved it.  Everyone was protecting their calves and complaining how bad they hurt, which is understandable on such a steep downhill course.  Been there, done that, many a time.  The pain for me?  Nada, nothing, zipp!  Seriously, my calves felt the same way they did when we started the race.  My poor husband, several friends, and dozens of people on the race's Facebook page were dying right after and for several days, but I honestly felt no pain or discomfort at all.  And I don't attribute that to running slower than my usual race pace since I was with my husband.  I ran a 10 mile downhill long run with my husband and friend at a pace slower than my race pace the week before and I came away considerably sore, but not this race day.  These results were unlike anything I've ever felt.  This is definitely something I will be using in my next half marathon or marathon, for sure!

So now that you're intrigued, let me tell you a little bit more about CEP.  They are a company from Germany (thanks to Sarah for the correction) and have just penetrated the athletic scene in the U.S. over the last couple years and are now the most popular brand of compression socks at Kona, the 140.6 Ironman World Championships.  They come from a medical background making true medical grade compression necessary for some people's day to day health.  They make excellent quality stuff, not just slightly snug socks that look cool (or not depending on who you're talking to).  Check out the science here. as well as the CEP link above.  I've tried on 3-4 different popular brands and these guys have it right.  They have a left and right sock as our feet are not the same, they have more Achilles and ankle support than any other brand I've tried, and they're long enough.  That's a big issue with a lot of brands, especially calf sleeves (socks without the foot part, used mainly for shorter triathlons), some can come very short.  The sole in these socks is also really nice and padded.   I don't feel like I"m going to put a hole in these in a few months.  They are built anatomically, of course allowing room for your calf, true graduated compression, these socks are not just straight up tube socks, you in fact have to measure your calf to choose your size, not just choose small, medium, large.  And just a tip, the women's socks are the same, just shorter, so if you're a man with shorter legs consider getting the women's so that you don't end up with a lot of fabric under your knee.  And tall women, works both ways, find your calf measurement on the mens chart and buy a man's if you have really long legs.  CEP is great with a 30 day money back guarantee too, so you can give them a try.  Did I mention they're the lowest price tag brand out there?  Yeah, they are!  I LOVE selling people on CEP because it's such good quality stuff, honestly the best that I've tried, but for significantly less than the other big brands like Zoot, Skins, and 2XU.

A few more details I want to give you, a lot of people, myself included, see these and say "no way, I'm running in the middle of summer, I'm going to be way too HOT in those!".  Not so though, the socks have many ventilation channels, and actually help keep you cool when the water you splash on yourself at aid stations runs down your legs.
Socks vs Sleeves.  The socks are better for recovery than sleeves, can be worn for longer periods of exercise, and in my opinion are the best choice if you compete in half-full marathons or half-full Ironman races.  The sleeves lack the foot part obviously which interferes with circulation a bit, but are a good choice for shorter distance triathletes who don't want to take the time to put them on after the swim.  With a sleeve you still get benefit but you can wear it under your wetsuit.  You can also wear sleeves after with flip flops if you don't want closed toed shoes post race.  CEP also recommends you don't wear the sleeve for more than 2 hours of running, a sock is better suited for the 13.1 distances and up for most people.
And finally, how to put these on.  I didn't use them in Ironman St George this year obviously, but plan to the next time I race a half or full Ironman, especially such an arduous course like St George.  But I can't afford 5 minutes struggling to get them on.  If you're like me, you scrunch your socks up, push your feet in and are off.  Try that with a compression sock, go ahead  :)  It's going to be VERY hard to scrunch them (think trying to stretch a dozen+ elastics all together) and stretch them enough to get your foot in.  And add moisture to your foot and it gets even funner.  But Matt Frazier the CEP rep who came to the clinic showed us a great technique.  You fold down the top half of the sock inside out over the foot part, slide just the foot part (with leg section over top) on over the heel, then you can simply pull the leg part up.  Make sense?  Try it, even with a normal sock, so much easier.  I could easily say I could have these on in under a minute with this technique.

So there you go, a long review, I apologize, but I hope it helped some of you.  Compression isn't just a fad, and with great quality brands like CEP out there, you can find out what it's all about for yourself.  Powertri carries their full line of running/triathlon socks and sleeves (CEP does actually make other socks for many different uses like walking, hiking, winter sports, soccer, etc), so you can come in, get measured and try them on for yourself, or you can always order online.  My athlete discount code does sweeten the deal some too.  :)  Oh and it can get even sweeter.  Check out this link to win a free pair of socks or sleeves of your choice simply by submitting a photo of you wearing CEP in your next race.  Race and train on friends!!

My little runner

One of them anyway, they all like to run! 

But I thought this picture from the Thanksgiving day races my family did was classic. 

Cute little thing

Favorite Person Friday

Ok so I won't really do one of these regularly, but my twin sister Stephanie definitely deserves it right now!  We are the best of friends!  We had a rough growing apart patch during high school, but since then as we've gotten married we've become super close.  She lives in Michigan, but we still know exactly how one another will feel in a given situation and can confide anything.  We'll still end up dressing alike unknowingly when we're together which I find fun.

Her first race shirt!!

Anyway, she started running in the summer after what I think she told me what a bug from watching Ironman St George.  Can't say I didn't know it would happen  :)   I'm really proud of her.  She's had some aches and pains since she started that I'd like to go away sooner than later, but she's still going.  I got to get her a 'coach to 5k' plan together and she followed it.  So on Thanksgiving we ran the Earn Your Turkey 4 miler together while she's out here for the holiday.  Her first race, I'm honored to have run it with her and she did great!  Was breathing quietly the whole time, never walked or complained, and we ended up finishing in 42 minutes, 3 minutes faster than she thought she could go!!

It was so fun running together.  I wish we could be neighbors so we could meet outside our houses in the morning and run a few miles together just chatting and enjoying the sunrise.  Someday, but until then we'll just make it a point to run together any time she's here or I'm there (our next race is already plotted for May).  And someday out there, she'll do a triathlon, I just know it......right Sis?   ;)
We watched my kids race after and all of them ran happily and self motivated, that's all I would ask for.  I'm so grateful for family.  I love my kiddies and husband to death, as I do the rest of my family, especially my sister with whom I share such a special bond.  You did great Sis!  Come back soon!!

Guess what I got to race in??

No no, no cool Ironman or anything like that, just a 5k, but that's not the super cool part.  The race was fun and all, I got to run at my old high school, but I got to race IN the Altra Intuition road shoe!!  These aren't available to the public yet, but will be soon!  I'm pretty sure I've mentioned it before, but my husband is 1 of 3 co-founders of Altra Running, a high energy innovative thinking company creating new and unique and awesome running shoes!
There are plenty of running shoe manufacturers you might say, why one more, how are they any different?  Their concept lies in 4 key things

• Foot shaped design - last time I checked my feet and toes weren't pointed in the middle like most running shoes.  Altra's shoes are rounded toes, wide in the toe box allowing the toes to spread out while running.  Try running barefoot on a soft surface sometime, or heck just stand barefoot on the ground.  Your toes will naturally spread out a little.  Altra's shoes make that possible, allowing you a bigger more powerful platform (your wide toes) to push off from.
• Zero drop - meaning zero hight deviation between the front of the shoe and the back, no chunky heel.  It does not mean NO material/cushion (the term cushion is very misused/misunderstood) under your foot, it simply means a flat natural surface to work off of.  No one's heel is raised off the ground when barefoot.  A large heel grabs the ground first, and a heel strike equals more impact and less efficient running, you're basically putting the brakes on.  You should try running in these, or just barefoot, it is so much easier to land on your mid foot underneath you, it's lovely
• Gender specific shoes - Here's my favorite term ever - 'Pink it and shrink it'.  That's what every other running shoe does for their women's line.  Add some pink and make the shoe narrower.  Last time I checked my feet were not the same shape as my husbands.  Women's feet are anatomically different in their bone structure.  So these guys at Altra made a true female specific last (or model for what the sole of the shoe is made from).  I can attest it really is different, and great!
• Learn To Run Initiative - Altra has a motto: Learn to Run, Live to Run, Love to Run.  Part of that is running with good form.  Not only will it make you faster and reduce your chances at injury, but it will make running more enjoyable!  So many people start and stop or never even start running because they don't understand how, it doesn't feel good, it's hard, I can't run.  Not true!  With some form guidance and the knowledge that you have to start out slowly, anyone can run if they want to.  You can read more about it here.  There are 4 simple steps to good form, it's worth your time.  Altra isn't just in this to sell shoes, their mission is to improve your running experience.

So anyway, the shoes are set to release to specialty running stores (contact yours and tell them you want Altra!) and online probably too, by April 1st (maybe Feb/March for the road shoe, Instinct and Intuition), but the boys just got back from the biggest running retailer expo in the country, The Running Event, in Austin, TX this week, and of course they needed demo shoes to show to the world.  Well after being rushed from the factory overseas, a couple came home with us and I get to wear the Intuition around for a while.  Yay!  It's been a long hard road getting this far so it's great to hold the real thing in your hand.  And it's almost time for everyone else to be able to too!

One quick note I thought I'd make, I mentioned barefoot running a lot in the 4 points above.  When people say barefoot running, they don't usually mean truly bare feet.  Yes some people do run many miles that way, and no they aren't tribal.  Barefoot Running usually means natural running by wearing minimalist shoes or simply running barefoot some of the time.  The misconception starts when people think they're supposed to throw their shoes away and never use them again.  Well yeah, that might make some people question the validity and safety of this barefoot movement going on.  This isn't the case though!  Barefoot running is meant as a drill, a strength tool, strength training for your feet if you will.  By taking your shoes off once a week and running on a soft surface for 30seconds-30 minutes you will improve your running.  Your feet will get stronger, joints more resistant to injury, and you'll teach your body better form.  It's much harder to reach way out in front of you and heel strike barefoot.  Most people land closer under their body and take faster shorter strides when barefoot.  So for the beginner barefooter, seriously, start at 30 seconds one day a week and don't run fast, just a easy to doable pace.  The next week add 30 seconds or a minute working your way up to maybe a mile or two after several weeks.  That's a great distance, you don't really need to go past it.  You must start gradually though as our feet are very babied and weakened by traditional shoes.  Those arch supports?  A crutch for most people.  Barefoot running will strengthen your arches.  I am not a wing nut barefoot proponent.  I'm a proponent for strong feet and joints and proper form, and incorporating a few minutes of running barefoot on a soft surface will help you achieve that.

Checking out the shoes pre-race  :)

And just like barefoot running, when the Altra Running shoes do come out, you'll start gradually with them, and there will be guidelines in the box telling you that.  Most shoes don't expect as much out of your feet or legs, and the positive change in form that will happen with a zero drop shoe will take time for your muscles to adjust to.  I've been running in modified zero drop shoes for about a year now.  We take regular running shoes into a cobbler, or shoe-smith if you will, and they cut out a section of the heel, glue it back together so we can have a closer attempt at zero drop, but the real thing?  Oooh baby it's nice!  I was 'blessed' with bunions (bony protrusion by my big toe) on both feet and they make finding any kind of shoe a challenge.  The Intuition felt so great, in fact, I could hardly feel them at all.  The shoe wraps around your heel and ankle so well and feels very secure.  I am so excited that these are finally becoming public, they sincerely are great shoes!  And they're not only for the elite runner or the extremest.  They will make anyone's running a better experience.  I'll keep you updated as the release dates approach, but you can also visit their website or Facebook page (lots of new shoe pics on Facebook too).

No new PR, I took 3rd overall, but just the chance to get out and be with my family, run fast and run in some great shoes made for a great Saturday morning for me!

Running on my old stomping grounds with 2 of my babies after the race

You know it's the off season when....

...you spend all Saturday morning (7:30am-1:30pm to be precise) cleaning, doing yard work, and caring for children INSTEAD of enjoying some long epic workout or race.  Oh well, such is life.  I thought about working out but it was my oldest's birthday party, and I just didn't really have time, and I'm ok with it.  Of course once I see pictures from races (like Turkey Tri that morning) it does me in and I wish it was race time again.  I'm weak, I know.

I just love racing.  I love going fast and feeling my body that I've trained cooperate and 'show up' on race day.  I love the anticipation of a race coming up, I love the 3 days before a race where I really prep my body nutritionally, I love seeing people I know at races, I love hearing and seeing my kids cheer for me when they come, and I love trying to podium (not being prideful, just saying it as it is, it's satisfying and fun JUST like finally placing in my age group was at one time and should be for most people).  I love following a training plan, knowing what I'm going to do every day.  So much in fact, I must get one back.  I am useless without it

Now there is for sure a time and a place for a break from everything, I've taken about a true week off so far.  I have worked out a couple times, but none really planned, just going out to do something.  It's nice to focus on my kids more, my house and cleaning it (my Achilles heel - I am NOT a domestic goddess), just other stuff.  But honestly, after about 2 weeks I've had enough and it's time for a training plan.  So I'll put something simple together so I know what workout is scheduled so they actually get done, because I feel so much better when they do.  A long base period until January/February when I can start thinking more about periodization and speed work and long rides/runs.  I'd really like to work on strength training this winter.  I have slacked seriously in this department for quite a while, at least a year.  A strong base is so important to effective speed and power, injury prevention, and just feeling well.  Here are a few strength training and off season training articles I found online.
Here - Periodized Strength Training Program.  Doesn't have some of the bigger movememt/dynamic moves I've been turned onto lately, but good info none the less.
Here - Off season article by Keena Schaerrer, a great coach and fellow Powertri athlete
Here - Another great summary on off season training by the great Debbie Perry, a great nutritionist and coach in SLC
And not off season specific, but I just found it and thought I'd show you the topical index for David Warden's (an owner of Powertri and the completely-geekiest-know-it-all when it comes to triathlon coaching....he's my boss, I can say that) Tri Talk podcasts, the most popular triathlon podcast site online.  Great thing to listen to during this off season.
Did I mention geeky?  Yes?  Well this is the man responsible for David's nerdiness.....I mean complete and impressive obsession for training knowledge and numbers  :)  Joe Freil, and he's written 4 excellent blog posts recently on Base Training.

So there's some jabber from me, what's your "you know it's the off season when..."  line?

Want another chance at a Handful Bra?

My favorite bra ever!!  Check out my friend Aly's cute blog,
A Little Great.  Good luck!!

Halloween Half Marathon review

My husband and I had the chance to run the Halloween Half Marathon together this past Saturday in Provo, Utah.  My husband ran a little track in high school, but nothing serious.  Then he picked up running (or any exercise for that matter) last summer, 10 years later, and I'm so glad!  While it can present training time management challenges with the two of us, he understands me better now, and best of all we can go out and be active together!  Now I've come to learn that we have our differences still, speed/endurance obviously being one of them because I've been fit for over a decade, he only has one year under his belt.   He doesn't care that I train or race faster, but he isn't overly fond of trying to do my quality workouts with me, even if he goes at his pace, and frankly I don't like having to worry if he's upset or not that I'm ahead.  So that's ok, we've learned that we can go on base. or non-tempo or speedwork runs together, and most trail runs (although he is way more into 'bagging' peaks than I am, I'd rather find a rolling trail and run fast, he likes climbing to the top of stuff then flying down).  Anyway, not sure where I was going with that except that we wanted to do this together.  I'd normally be about 20 minutes faster, but didn't care about that Saturday.

So anyway, we arrived at the buses at 6:40am or so only to find a VERY long line of people waiting to get on.  We also saw at least a dozen if not more buses waiting to be loaded.  We probably stood in line for close to 45 minutes while they loaded 1 bus at a time.  That's ridiculous.  I went up and asked some guy who appeared to be in charge why and he said "we have to make sure every bus is full, it's just easier for us".  Well yes, I'm sure it is, but there's no reason you can't load 3 buses at a time and check the full status of 3 buses, that's not 10, it's 3.  Just seemed silly to me that they were trying to get the race as large as possible, even encouraging people to call their friends to sign up the night before at packet pickup, yet they weren't being smart about getting everyone up there and not waiting in the cold for an hour.  We got up there in time and there was only 2 buses that were after the 9am start time, but still, could have been SO much more efficient.

Pre Race

So we get to the top and to the race director's credit there is a heated 15,000 sqft tent.  Very nice touch.  Not room to spread out per say, but plenty of standing room to watch the somewhat disorganized but entertaining costume contest.  The usual lines for bathrooms, not more than 15 minute wait probably.  The only thing the start was really lacking was water and music (both which can be important).

Steeper downhill about mile 2, Mt Timpanogus behind us

Anyway, so a brief post about the race itself.  Starting a couple miles above Sundance Resort, the first 5 miles are very steep, much steeper than one would normally run.  Didn't feel unmanageable except for in a couple spots.  The next 8 were on the Provo River Trail which is very forgiving, either flat, slight up, or slight down.  No big deal.  I was worried about crowding, but I think our pace managed to avert it.  Seeing some pictures like this one, from slower paces though, it looks like it got pretty crowded.

The aid stations were fine, simple, but fine.  Although they totally could have put MUSIC at least at the aid stations.  They made a big point that this was a fun exciting race, but it was kind of quiet and lonely during all but the start and finish.  I took a gel at mile 5 and water at most aid stations and was fine.  My hubby did well until about 9 or 10 where I kind of had to keep the motivation alive (very carefully though as not to make him feel like I wanted to run ahead, I did, but I didn't want him to feel that way), and then finally we got to mile 12 and we ran the last mile in under 8.  So we ended up with a 1:46 which is a 3 minute PR for him and not insanely slow for me, but yes, 20 minutes slower than I could have gone and it was hard sometimes to be running that slow, but it was easy and fun and gave me a chance to observe the fun costumes around me.  Some favorites were a Forest Gump who carried a box of chocolates the whole way, a Mr Clean who carried a mop the whole way, Dwight from The Office, and a huge 6ft5in guy in a full Captain America muscle costume.  Oh and my good friend Jason Crompton sported a full Super Grover costume.  Check out Zazoosh or the Halloween Half website for more.

Couple more tiffs I had with the race.  Finish food was sad, self serve cut up oranges and apples and bottled water, that's it.  No carbs (bagels), treats, chocolate milk etc.  Had to walk back 3 blocks from the finish line to get our drop bags.  I heard the transportation back to where people parked was ridiculous, taking an hour to go 10 minutes, and we saw several people walking the 2 miles back to the cars.  And finally the shirt.  Now don't get on me because I'm being prideful or something, my husband even pointed it out.  The shirt says in big bold letters "Halloween Marathon".  Now I've done marathons, and I don't know about you, but they were quite noticeably different than the half marathons I've done  :)  My husband could've thought that was cool to have a shirt that says he did a marathon, but he didn't and he doesn't.  That's like saying you're an Ironman when you haven't gone the 140.6 miles, not cool  ;)

We had fun though and that's what was important.  I don't know that I'll race with him again unless it's some fun race with costumes or a team event or something, but this was fun.  

Wanna party?

Come check out the Powertri Kona Party on Saturday!!  

All day coverage on a big screen of the Ironman World Championships from 10am-11pm (when our athletes finish). 
Food to sample and purchase
Kids races for kids under 12 with free T-shirts while they last
TONS to give away!  Bigger stuff at 11am, 2pm, 5pm, and 8pm, smaller stuff in between on the hour

It'll be fun, I promise!  Just come stop by for a few minutes and soak up the yummy spirit that is Ironman at it's best!  I'll be there too from 5pm on if that's any greater incentive, I'd love to say hi!

18? Say Whaaaaat?

Some of my friends from the Desert Sharks Triathlon Club (great club by the way, I encourage new athletes to find a club, you can learn a lot from others) put on the innagual SOJO Marathon, Half Marathon, and 5k.  I went out to help them with MCing, and of course had to get a little race action in myself.

I toyed with the idea of the marathon, since I haven't done an open maraton since Ogden last spring, but alas I haven't been doing long runs over 13 miles except 2 back in late June/early July.  I was curious to see what would happen when I got to 18-20, if my body would just plain revolt or if I still had enough endurance from Ironman and the rest of my season.  But I don't love running in pain for almost 4 hours, just isn't my idea of fun  :)  So I chose the 5k which also left me more time to help out, which is what I was really there for

Anyway, a couple hundred 5k runners I believe, a flat course, nice sunshine and semi cool temperatures.  Long story short (since 5k's don't have a ton of details), I won the women's race and finished 5th among the men.  My friend Charity finished 2nd only about 2 minutes behind me......pushing her year old son in their Chariot - debates are still out about whether he beat mom or not  :)   I wanted to break 20:00 (haven't run an open 5k since last year although my triathlon 5k's usually feel better than open because I'm good and warmed up), but ended up doing a little better than that!  The course was unfortunately short, only 2.82 miles, but I ran that in 17:06.5, and after some figuring in the head of my husband, I was on track to run an 18:50 something!!!   SO excited about that!  I've only officially broken 20:00 once, so to break 19:00 and be in the 18's?  So cool!!  I'm glad I was able to be excited about it as sometimes I don't give results the excitement I should.

The next 4 hours were spent welcoming finishers of the half and full marathon in, including my good friend Jonathan who just finished his 78th marathon in 3:50 I believe.  It was fun to watch people cheer their family in, fun to watch people smile and be excited to be finishing - or just being done, that was probably it  :)  I also announced awards, and have to say it was a little strange to announce my own...  The race directors faced a few challenges, but what race doesn't?  They did a great job and should do even better next year.  Check them out (think they're moving to October) for some Saturday morning fun!

More fun...

...and maybe I'll actually end my season now.....maybe....probably  :)

Only posting briefly as my husband and I actually are making a real little trip out of this, sans kids and actually staying in a hotel - gasp!

The race was great though.  Lots of friends which is always great.  Very warm temps nearing 100 which is a little tough, but sure made the warm and super clear water even better.  First out of the water, felt good to push it a bit, loved the sleeveless Xterra suit I got to try for this one (more on that later).  Haven't seen splits yet, but I finished 1st overall, 5 minutes ahead of 2nd place.  Sounds good to me  :)  1:14 I believe, hopefully the course was long today as that's about 3-4 minutes slower than my favorite personal Chrissy Wellington  :)  but I did probably only push 85% today. 

My husband raced and did great, his 3rd tri, 2nd overall.  It was awesome to get to watch him start and come out of the water.  I also saw him on the bike and run.  He was 5th in his age group which is great for a big sprint field like this one!  Great job babe!

We're having a great time so I better get off the computer now, but hopefully I can add some race pics and details later.  Chao!

The Fabulous Alta Peruvian Lodge 8-K

And fabulous it was!!  I've raced A LOT and man, this one impressed me big time!  No there weren't screaming crowds everywhere and thousands of athletes (just under 100 to be exact), but this race has its mystique.  My wedding anniversary is today, 8 years for us, and this was our little date.  We dropped the kids off at Grandpa's about 2:45 and headed up Little Cottonwood Canyon for the 4:00 race.  Check in was fast and easy and then we walked up about 1/2 mile to the start.  Good chance to warm up on a great day.  Seriously so beautiful up there.  Sunny skies, slight breeze coming up the canyon, nice green mountains around us.  Anyway, money was tight and my husband Jeremy paced a friend of ours 9 miles of the Wasatch 100 the night before, so he went for a trail run of his own up there while I ran the race.  Great compromise since we wouldn't run side by side anyway.  Forgive the lovey-dovey pics, but we were kid-less and it is our anniversary weekend  :)This wasn't a triathlon so the pressure wasn't on like usual.  I always want to go fast because it's fun, but all I wanted today was top 3 overall or an age group place or win since they have some awesome prizes!  I saw two ladies whom I know are very fast road racers, and talking to one of them there was another fast lady there who took second last year.  So now I had 3-4 to contend with, but that was it, so it eased any pressure some.  I just wanted to go out there, have fun, and hopefully earn a sweet prize.Ok, so this is a 5 mile downhill race, and when I mean downhill I mean downhill!  I heard something like 2000 ft drop in those 5 miles - yeah, wow.  Can't say I've ever done anything like this.  We started just above the Lodge and ran on the road down.  I can only recall about 30 seconds of the race where I could really think about my form and moving the legs forward, the remainder of the race was was applying the brakes, just a matter of how hard depending on the pitch of the road.
So the race starts and I settle into 3rd woman overall.  Didn't even worry about the 2 ladies ahead of me.  My optimistic goal was 30:00.  We roll past mile 1: 5:33.  Yeehaw!!!!  Hit the 5k just under 17:00 - yeah definitely a PR, but I'm not really going to count it as my official 5k PR.  This course is way faster than any other.  Aid station with water at 2.5 miles, took a little just to sip, didn't really need it.  I wasn't really out of breath during the race (not breathing easy either though), but I did deal with side aches.  I think just the fact that I was going so fast and landing a bit harder than usual.  Not too bad, but a little annoying.  I loved that there were a few spectators here and there down along the road, how awesome!  Anyway, the last mile was the steepest down and my legs were feeling it by then.  I never looked behind me for the 4th place woman, don't like to do that, just want to run my race.  I was only passed twice and each time they were coming up on me I thought "please be a man because I don't want to have to run down a woman".  Yeah the last guy that passed me about 1/2 mile from the finish?  Some 60 something year old......nice.  You can't see the finish till you're 200 yards from it and it was nice to see.  Came through happily in 3rd in 29:45!  Just a second under 6min mile pace!!  Whohoo!!! So we hang out down at the finish for about half an hour then jump onto shuttles and head back up to the lodge where a raffle was waiting.  You drew a number and came away with a prize.  I came out with a Utah Natural History t shirt, but they were giving out gear and such as well.  Very nice for everyone to leave with something.  Then onto the post race food.  Probably the best part of the night eating on the grass listening to the live chill music band playing out there.  And would you check out this food.....I mean DINNER and DESSERT!  Such good food!And a great atmosphere with all the racers out there eating (there were tables, just full), listening to music, and eventually listening to the humorous announcer doing awards.  Speaking of awards, I have to tell you how stinkin excited I am about my prize, definitely one of the best ever, if not THE best.
An overnight stay for 2 at the Lodge anytime during the next year which includes dinner and breakfast for two as well as a $50 cash prize!!  Thank you Alta for paying for our anniversary trip to St George this next weekend!  No we don't stay high class, just a chance to get away and be together is great.  Don't think we're wealthy because of all the racing I do and my pretty bike, quite the contrary actually, we're a young family, it's called a very helpful sponsor, Powertri, (but no, my bike was not free).

Overall winners, L-R, Danny 3rd, Patrick 1st, Devra 1st, Mary Ann, 2nd, and myself 3rd

After awards and dinner and dessert, lets not forget the chocolate cream cheese cake!, Jer and I hopped in the hot tub and enjoyed the nice water, views of the mountain, and talking with a few other runners.  What an evening!  So much fun.  We both got to do our running thing, came away with a great and super useful prize and were able to spend time together on a very nice evening.  I highly highly recommend this race.  Started on time, mile markers with people on them calling out splits every mile, shuttle back up, everyone leaves with a prize, awesome OV and AG prizes, excellent food, and use of the facilities, all for $28-$35 - SCORE!

It's so great to be able to get out and be active with my husband.   I love that he's active and fit now...and hot  ;)  Thanks for coming love, what a fun way to spend time for our anniversary.  I hope I can earn us an even better trip for our 10th  :)   Happy 8th Anniversary!

And the lucky lady is!.......

Jamie!!




Congrats Jamie! She is a great friend of mine, runner, and mother of 3 who just had most of her left lung removed this summer due to cancer. She's got a great attitude about it, and everything for that matter, and Jamie, I expect to see that great attitude come into play now with your Handful Bra. We're talking sporting that awesome almost full body scar baby!! :)

That was fun, thank you guys for entering, and THANK YOU HANDFUL for the generous giveaway! Can I just say that as much fun as this is, choosing a winner (well I didn't exactly choose, it was a totally random draw by my 6 year old) is SO NOT EASY! I'm rooting for all of you and wish I 'had enough for the whole class'. Powertri is placing their order today, so we should have stock by the end of next week, and you can use my 15% off code, so if you get the chance to buy one, take it! Husband's usually like lingerie purchases right? Well believe me, there's no lace or anything here, but you'll look gooooood in it nonetheless ;)

Favorite Things Friday - A girl's best friend

No, not diamonds, at least not for this girl. This bra, the Handful (yes that's it's name, isn't it awesome?!) is I dare say, my very favorite piece of workout clothing. Nothing makes me feel cuter than this bra, and yes, vanity is everything sometimes. I mean honestly, in my head, thinking I look good makes a huge difference in my confidence level come race day. It really does. I just think you race better when you feel confident about yourself. And I'm not prancing around shirtless all the time, I feel cute with it under my tech shirts and jerseys too. You can see it in almost all of my photos this year. Let me tell you more about it.
I've had this bra 6 months now. My first thoughts upon seeing it were three things. It's way cute, but is it a yoga bra or will it really support me, and as a triathlete, will it dry quickly? Let me address those 3 points.
Cute - SO cute! I love the colors (black, white, pink, nude, cocoa), and the pink matches my Powertri kit perfectly. Again, I'm back to the vanity, yes :) I love the thin straps, so flattering, and the back? LOVE it! The bra comes with removable pads that looked kind of bulky before I put it on, but they so totally work with this bra. Ladies, you know what I'm talking about here when I say I have grown, fed, and loved my 3 children, and as a result, the girls definitely do not look like they used to. Lets just say push up/padded bras are my friends (gentlemen if you're still reading, sorry to burst your bubble, but those beautiful babies you like to help create really do take a toll on all of us women). So I was so so so super excited upon donning this lovely creation, and just loving what it did for me. I had shape all of the sudden! And it looked natural too! Oh and those pads? Very good at concealing the whole 'headlight' effect too, definitely no worries there.
Support - does it support? Yes it does. Do I realize I'm not exactly the best girl to talk about needing a lot of support? Yes, I do. I've gotten smaller as my dear children have grown, but I've run through pregnancy and nursing and know how stinkin hard it was to deal with bras then, and I still know I never want any bounce even now. And this bra does its job. I've worn it during all types of training, and at every race but 1 this year I believe, including Ironman St George which includes a marathon of course. I've never felt like I was bouncing. That said, yes, the Handful is probably not the best high impact bra for those larger than a C. But that doesn't mean it can't be a great weight room, yoga, spinning, etc bra at the gym where let's be serious, it's a meat market anyway, so you might as well look good :)
Fabric - I was concerned as soon as I held the bra that it wouldn't dry quickly. I was worried these lovely shaped and gently lifting removable pads would just be sponges and leave me wet my whole race, but......NOT SO! I was pleasantly surprised to have no issues at all with it drying. I haven't paid enough attention (because it hasn't demanded it), but it's for sure dry within 30 minutes or so of being on the bike WITH the pads in. *I did hear of a lady soaking and then freezing the removable pads though and then putting them back in the morning of a hot bike race, interesting!*  No chaffing issues with this bra either. The fabric is very comfortable and seems to breath really well too, and I've never seen my pink one with sweat stains. The bra is easy to get on and off, which is always important. Sizing is great, and if you're falling between two sizes, I say size down. Oh and it comes in it's own little wash bag, so machine washing is a breeze.
Cost - $39.95.  No, not your Target $10 clearance special, but so worth it.  You get a bra that you'll really like the way you look in, a bra that does it's job, and it'll last a lot longer than a cheaper sports bra.  Look around at other online athletic retailers, really well made bra's typically go for $30-$50 .  This bra is worthy of it's cost.

So there you go, I love this bra. As there slogan states, "It flatters, not flattens". It feels good, does what it should, and looks great. So I thought how much I'd love one of you to have one so I contacted the good people at Handful Inc. And, drum roll please..........they're giving me a code to give to one of you for a FREE bra of your choice off their website (you only pay shipping). That's a $40 value ladies!! I'm so excited! So here's the deal. I'm super impressed that Handful was willing to give away a free bra, so I want to help them out. If you will become a fan of Handful Inc on Facebook (they send promos to fans by the way), you can have a chance at your own FREE Handful bra. Just post some brief little schpele here on my blog about why you'd like a Handful too, and let me know that you became a fan, and poof, I'll enter you in the random drawing. You have until next Thursday, Sept 9th at 11:59pm to post a comment below, and then I'll announce a winner on Friday Sept 10th. Cool? Awesome!

Your favorite tri shop Powertri carries these wonderful bras now, and I seem to recall a 15% off code on my blog somewhere to help you out  :)  Go in and try one out or order online, you won't be dissapointed.

Utah Half

I was so excited going into this race. One last race, a good long one, a good challenge, and one I'd done before. I knew I could do better this time than 3 years ago and unknowingly pregnant, but was excited to see how much better. I have more experience and know how to push myself even more now, a great base from IMSG, and am just stronger. I've worked hard on improving my bike strength and skills in the last year or two, and it's showing, so this was going to be fun to see.

I got on the road late Friday, got the kids to Grandma's, checked in at the Marriot (which was very cool, felt so official), and headed to my hubby's cousins house in Orem to sleep. Slept well and rose bright and early at 4am to eat and head out. Got to Utah Lake a little later than I'd like, and was concerned about getting a good spot so I jumped out of the car grabbed my bike and rode right over without bringing anything else. Turns out I didn't really need to go that fast, but oh well.
Now starts my being too casual in transition before the race and hustle to the start while forgetting a few things. After placing my bag in the car quite a distance from transition, and getting ready to grab the wetsuit and walk down, I realize I left my cap and goggle in the car. Ran back over barefoot to get them, and luckily remembered to get my timing chip too. I realized on the way over though, that I do really like getting to a race more than 90 minutes before the start. I forgot to put my wedding ring away (slips off my finger swimming), so I ran it over to my friend Grant who was volunteering to hold onto. Then I realize I didn't put on any Chamois Butt'r, a very nice and pretty essential butt cream basically. Helps to reduce friction in the saddle. Figured I could do without it though, just wouldn't be as comfortable (and it wasn't). Then the last thing I realize I forgot was to put my Garmin I took special attention to charging the night before, on my bike so it's alerts can tell me when to take my nutrition. VERY important to me. I can't just take it when I feel like it, it needs to be every 15 minutes, that's what works for me. I did happen to have my sweet cheap Powertri stopwatch style watch in transition though, so that'd have to do. Onto the race.

That's me in the pink cap. Thanks for the cool swim pics Craig!

1.2 mile Swim- 36:16, 5th woman. A good swim! The water felt great, and a sleeveless wetsuit was for sure the way to go for me. It is SO very murky though, hard to get used to seeing grey as soon as you put your eyes in the water. I had mostly open water, not too much contact or passing to deal with, and it was lovely to have the clouds covering the rising son. LOVED not having to deal with glare. My time is about 5 minutes slower than I predicted, so I'm sure it was long some, but not sure how much. My arms felt good, it was a nice swim. I have some shoulder/tricep thing starting to flare up in the right arm, so it's good I'll have some time to give it off. Getting out was tricky with a super slippery boat ramp, but they had 4 guys lined up in the water to help pull you out.
T1- 1:12, 1st woman. Easy peasy, not much to write about. Got the wetsuit off easy and remembered to grab the Powertri watch. Mounted well.

Thank you Chris for the great as always bike pics!

56 mile Bike - 2:42.44, 20.6mph avg, 6th woman. Rode comfortably hard. Never huffing and puffing like I am sometimes with sprints or olympics, but riding at a good pace. Nutrition went down well, I was pleased I was able to watch the time on the watch for when I'd need nutrition, but not be staring at it the whole time. The legs were tired at times, but cooperated. The winds were pretty good to me, but were pretty hard to deal with heading south back from the turn around. That was a tough 3 mile or so stretch. After that it was a manageable crosswind or a tail wind. Oh and the rest of the weather was great except for a 2 minute or so long microburst that left us all soaked and primed for all the dirt on the road. Thankfully it stopped. I was sure my running shoes and socks would be soaked, but thankfully were only a little damp. Oh but hey, the good thing about wet roads? Shows you where every pothole is! Which is especially helpful for any of you that have ridden near West Mountain.

Now for my issues on the bike. Man I hate having to learn during important times like races. I am not using these as crutches for my overall time or place at all, just telling you about my day. I wasn't too upset about these at the time, or now.
#1 About mile 15 we went over a bump that didn't seem that big to me, but my bike thought otherwise and my flask went flying off the holder on my frame onto the road. Dang it! Besides the fact that it's littering, I couldn't just leave those 300 necessary calories behind. I thought for 2 seconds about taking the HEED on the course, but it wouldn't be concentrated enough like the EFS Liquid Shot, and I'd be drinking a gallon to get the same calories. So I turned around and tried not to get run over while I grabbed it. Probably cost me 30 seconds.
#2 Construction surprised the race director with 2 weeks to go before the race, so we had to use a different way over the freeway....a bigger overpass that we couldn't close. That meant if you come to a stoplight, you have to stop. And there were volunteers there to make sure you did. I mean I guess they'd stop you, or at least write your number down. Anyway, guess who had to stop at 3? That would be me. Stopped at one on the way out, and 2 on the way back. Can I just say how un-natural it feels to stop during a race and just stand there?? It's so weird and so very frustrating. Lights probably cost me 3 minutes total.
#3 At the last light it stopped a girl ahead of me who I really needed to keep up with - sweet!!! Yeah, until I put my foot up to get ready to push the pedal down on the green light and my chain fell off - CRAP! No time to fix it before the light turned red again, so I had to run across the 3 lane street in my bike shoes while everyone rode on to fix the chain. Probably cost me 90 seconds.
#4 Coming into T2 one of my shoes fell off my bike - DOH! I asked someone to throw it, but the volunteer told everyone not to touch it (could be perceived as outside assistance, I didn't think so though since I didn't need it for the run, I just didn't want to lose it). I started to go after it, but realized I would mess my timing up if I went over the mats again so just said "screw it", literally, out loud. Not the best sportsmanship, I know. Someone did end up brining it in though. Which they didn't have to, I just wanted it at least on the grass, I'd find it later.
#5 I really missed that Chamois Butt'r......

....nevertheless! I was having a good time throughout the swim and bike, see that smile? PROOF!

T2 - 1:08, 1st woman. Not bad for taking 10 or so seconds deciding what to do about my shoe. Chose to wear socks today, it's kind of an obvious decision in such a long run. Not a big deal, but not something I'd typically take the time to do. Racetri put out lots of bike racks today, and it was really nice not to be crowded in.

13.1 mile Run- 1:42.23, 7:49 avg, 3rd woman (1st OV ran a 1:39, a gal around 10th OV ran a 1:30....really?? Props to her!) Oh man, those first 5 miles, I hated it. My legs were still tired from Hobblecreek, and I was just not in the mood to run. It seemed hot and hard and I was sure I'd walk. I was also sure the miles would go so slowly. Fortunately after about mile 6 things perked up a bit. My right foot hurt again (not where the fracture was last year, near the ball of my foot was and has been achy), but other that that I was ok. Thank goodness my stomach hung in there, nothing worse than running with an angry stomach. I took both flasks with me, had Liquid Shot in one, and would fill the other with water to use as spare in between aid stations. So glad I did because there were points where they were spaced a little far, or my mouth was dry, or I had to take the LS away from a station. I realized about mile 5 that I may have been grumpy because I was running 7 min miles. Didn't mean to, really wanted to keep it at 8, but that's hard without mile markers every mile and without a Garmin. I think that's my body's go-to race pace. I was pleased to have that much time in the bank and to be able to slow down a little though. The last 6 miles went better. I was building a lead on the women behind me who had me a little worried early on, and was creeping up a little on the woman in front of me. The running wasn't exactly easy, but was at least steady now.
* Funny thought about this course. There are 2 out and back sections, and one loop and you repeat all of that twice. I love out and back's so you can see your competition, and it was fun seeing so many people I knew on the out and backs, but kind of hard too because I get into my zone when things get tough and it was hard to feel like I had to say hi and wave to everyone I knew everytime we passed. I loved seeing them and giving a thumbs up, it was just distracting occasionally. THANK YOU to all my friend and fellow racers for saying anything to me and cheering though, I don't want to sound ungrateful AT ALL! I really do appreciate it!*
So I was running happy the last 4 or so miles now because I realized I was for sure safe in 3rd and would be able to end my season having placed overall in every triathlon I did (save IMSG that's a little different). Imagine my surprise when I approached the finish line and heard "Congratulations to the 4th place woman".........Wait, what??

Yeah. 4th. My first thought was that they were wrong and one was a relay or something. I NEVER saw another woman and had plenty of opportunities, or I wouldn't have thought I was in 3rd. But nope, there really were 3 ahead of me. I guess I may have missed the lady who finished in second because she went the wrong way on the course the first time around leaving off the first out and back. She ran it twice in a row on the 2nd time to make up for it I guess. I hope she covered all the ground to get from the first out and back to the second. I'm not going to play mental games thinking she didn't though. The race ended as it did. And yes, I was super disappointed (still am just a little). I really let it ruin my otherwise basically spot on race.

5:03.45

I was under the bike and run times I wanted by 3 minutes each. Those 3 minutes I was over the 5 hours I could have made up not having to stop at lights. Oh and I dropped 45 or so minutes off 3 years ago. But still, not getting to place overall in my last race for a while was really hard. I'm not ungrateful for an age group spot, I realize so very many people want and strive for that, but that's not what's important to me right now. I hope people will understand that. I'm challenging and expecting of myself something different. I think I'm capable of overall, have achieved it in every race except this one, and don't really want to hear that "well maybe you're just meant for shorter stuff", or "it's good to still have things/people to work toward" or what not. I could have placed overall, I'm capable of it, there were just 3 other women there today that were too. At least we were all within 5 minutes of each other. I don't think I'm all that, that I should be winning every race. You betcha there are some great talented women out there to compete with! That's good. I wouldn't want to win every race because there wasn't competition there for overall. All that said, yes, I'm still bumed, but I think mostly because I thought I was in 3rd the whole time. Several people told me that, and that's what I saw. No one told me I was in 4th. It was just hard to be surprised like that. Thank you to those friends that let me whine about it after the race. It was hard not having my family there, so thanks for being a shoulder for me.

I'm tired of not letting myself be happy for the great things I've been able to do racing wise this year. I have raced more than I ever have, and have raced among and gained friendships with some really great ladies (and guys), and I've done really great! It is so exciting, really it is! But I manage to find some reason not to get excited or to find something to be disappointed in. That can't happen. I should be over the moon with how I've done this year. So I think it's time for a break.
Thank you thank you thank you to all the great friends and fans (meaning you haven't come talked to me yet - do it!) that I have out there who are so kind and supportive, and to my family. I'm so fortunate to have all of you! Thank you to Powertri too, whom without, I could not have raced as much as I have.Their sponsorship has also helped me make so many new friends, being more visible in the Triathlon community. I really am grateful for this life. I'm grateful for a strong healthy body, for all the training and racing experiences I've had this year, and for the many more I look forward to in the future!