IMMOO

This was my first trip to Ironman Wisconsin and hopefully it won't be my last! What a great town, great venue, and great people. Spending time in the Midwest certainly makes me miss the Midwest. Corn, cows, cicadas...and really laid-back-yet-football-crazy folks. I love living in Utah but I can't escape the fact that I'm a Midwestern girl at heart.

Enough with the nostalgia.

After a longer-than-planned mid-season break, I made a few changes to my race schedule and decided to take a crack at earning some early qualifying points for Kona 2014. IM Wisconsin made sense for several reasons: the timing was good, it was close to "home" so friends & family could be there, and I really had a hankering to tackle the legendary hills. My run fitness was questionable but swimming and biking were great, and I thought with a little luck I might be able to pull off something special on race day.

The trip did not start off especially luckily. My flight had just boarded and five minutes before we were due to depart the captain came on the loudspeaker to tell us that the Denver airport (where the plane was flying to make connections) had just been closed due to bad weather and that we would be sitting there for probably an hour and a half before taking off. At first I thought it was a joke, but then I realized he was serious! At least he gave us the option of deplaning but warned passengers to stay close to the gate because we would take off ASAP after Denver reopened. Since I had a window seat near the back of the place I opted for staying put. True to the captain's word, we took off about 90 minutes late---blah. On the bright side, I got some good reading done (City of Thieves, read it if you haven't!) and since the whole Denver Airport was closed I figured everything would be backed up and I'd still make my connection to Madison. I did, and eventually arrived my homestay family's house around 11pm. Thanks Jen for staying up to wait for me!

My first order of business the next day was to get some FOOD. Jen pointed me in the direction of Willy St. in downtown Madison, and I found a cute little place called the Daisy Cafe where I had an awesome salmon omelette, potatoes, fruit, toast, and coffee. Did I mention I was hungry?! Then I made my way down to John Nolen Drive and Monona Terrace to check in and pick up my Fezzari T5 bike and gear bag from TriBike Transport. Talk about hassle-free travel! I'm used to lugging my bike + all the other equipment around myself but these guys really make it easy. You just drop off your bike (plus optional gear + wheels bags) at a local partner shop about a week before your race, then they load it on trucks and it's waiting for you at the event when you arrive! Then after the race you drop your stuff off---sweat, urine, sticky sports drink and all---and they transport it back home for you. Check them out at www.tribiketransport.com.

Picking up the T5 and Reynolds Wheels from TriBike Transport

Next on the agenda was course reconnaissance. At this point I owe another huge THANK YOU to my homestay "mom" Jen Savino for providing me with the BEST MAP EVER of downtown Madison from a booklet called the Annual Manual. I would have been lost without it! The majority of the run course was through the downtown area and the University of Wisconsin campus, and this valuable map gave me a good grasp of the visual layout of the area around the Capitol---not to mention it had all the one-way streets marked! Imperative for an out-of-towner operating a car. I only made one goof-up, when I was so focused on the "Bus, Bikes, and Right Turn Only" sign that I somehow failed to also notice the "Do Not Enter" signs on State Street. Oops! I wondered why that street was so empty of cars!

See those "Do Not Enter" signs? I didn't!

After driving most sections of the run course, including the famed Observatory Hill (yes, it is a serious hill even by Utah standards!), I headed out to have a look at the bike course. OH MY GOSH. Beautiful! Rolling hills, cornfields, and cows everywhere. It was definitely my kind of course; fair and engaging, lots of turns, with never a dull moment. I couldn't wait to get out and ride it!

The next couple of days were spent doing the usual pre-race routine: some training, fueling, resting, Recovery Pumping, race meetings, more course recon, then gear organizing and check-in. I met up with my client Sharon to go over last-minute details with her---this was her first Ironman!!!---then it was time to put my feet up and hang out with my friends Betsy and Zak (who drove up from Indianapolis) and Liz, who lives in Madison. We had some wonderful Thai food on Willy Street then later created home-made pizzas for dinner. There's nothing like a nice low-key evening with family/friends pre-race! To top things off Betsy surprised me by baking an early birthday cake, then we played a roaring game of Chutes and Ladders before they sent me off to get my beauty sleep. I wonder how many other athletes had pizza and chocolate cake for dinner the night before?!

Dinner of champions.

The 3am alarm came WAY too early but I was surprisingly alert and ready to go. I'm not sure if it was the way the transition was organized or if I just did a better job of budgeting my time than in the past, but it was definitely one of the most seamless race mornings from a logistics standpoint. It helped that I found parking close by---my legs were happy about that afterwards!---and also that someone pulled some strings so that the pros had their VERY OWN PORTA-POTTIES in transition. It's amazing how much stress is lifted when you don't have to stand in ridiculously long bathroom lines on race morning! I believe thanks go to Tom Ziebart for that.

Onto the actual race. It was an overcast and blustery day which meant a choppy swim...which meant a very happy me! A rougher swim generally is an advantage to the stronger swimmers. I had tested the waters out a couple days prior and decided it was really way too warm for wetsuits, but according to the WTC rules the 74 degree water temps were in the legal range for everyone. So I made the call to wear my new Blueseventy Helix Sleeveless wetsuit, and it ended up being a great decision! Full sleeves would have been too hot. It was also a mixed start with pro men and women going off at the same time, which again makes me happy. More faster swimmers to swim with! My goal was to stay with super-swimmer Hillary Biscay, which didn't happen, but I still came out in a good spot about a minute down in 2nd place. The long backstretch into the wind was tough but I loved it!

There are so many memorable moments from this particular race that I'd have to write a book to recount them all, but it would be shameful not to mention to run up the Helix. It was INSANE! The Monona Terrace is a convention center and parking structure (designed by Frank Lloyd Wright) that essentially ties the downtown Capitol square to the shores of Lake Monona. One of the cool architectural features of the building is the spiral entrance/exit from the parking structure called the Helix. The athletes got to run up one Helix from the swim to T1, then bike down & up the other Helix on the other end of the building to start and finish the bike. Spectators lined the entire Helix coming out of the swim and they were CRAZY!!!! The next stop was a quick turn into the ballrooms to grab gear bags and change, and I had my one silly blip of the day when I slipped on a plastic bag and totally wiped out on the carpet. Can we say RUG BURN?!!! It wasn't the best start to the day but carpet burn is better than road rash, and it didn't cost me any time. In fact, it became a good lesson for the day---if you fall down, pick yourself right back up!

Monona Terrace

My mantra for the bike ride was "go hard now, pay for it later"---I really wanted to ride conservatively and give myself a chance to have a good run. The first stretch out to the Verona Loop felt easy because of a nice tailwind, and I was able to overtake Hillary and grab the lead of the women's race within the first few miles. I told myself to not get too excited, which would have been easy to do since this course is so much fun! I usually like looped courses because they seem to go by quicker and this was no exception---it really flew by. It was the most enjoyable iron-distance ride I've ever done, and a huge part of that was the crazy fans lining the roads up the climbs and through Verona. What a rush!

On the bike. Photo by Dave Erickson

I held the lead throughout the bike and had a smooth T2 to start the run. My plan was to take it out at ~7:30-45 pace then see if I could build from there. Running around the Wisconsin state capitol to start the run was a lot of fun, and again the crowd support was incredible! I felt great for the first 11 miles and really enjoyed the twists and turns of the course. About halfway through I could feel my body tightening up and I went through a loooong gray patch. I focused on managing my nutrition, driving my hips forward, and keeping my feet moving. The spectators were awesome but they can only take you so far! Jackie Arendt passed me around mile 14 and Beth Shutt came by a couple miles later. With 6-7 miles to go I began to feel a little better and was able to pick the pace up a bit. At the last out-and-back section I saw fleet-footed Beth Walsh storming up behind me and I knew it would be a battle to hold her off. NO MORE SPRINT FINISHES, remember?! In the end I was able to hang on for 3rd place and snag some valuable points towards qualifying for Kona next year. Mission accomplished! I'd be lying to say I didn't want to win the whole shebang, but I did what I could on the day and had a really wonderful (dare I say fun?!) experience. AND I got to share it with friends! Thanks again Betsy, Zak, Liz, Jen, Cam x 2, Egan, and Kelly for the cheers and signs!

The day after the race involved dropping off my bike & gear with TriBike Transport for the return trip, going to the awards ceremony, and having lunch with my client Sharon and some of her friends from Colorado---all done while moving in a sore and stiff manner. Here's a big shout-out to Sharon for accomplishing HER mission of "just finishing" in style: 13:34 and 22nd in her age group at her very first Ironman! Yes, I'm a proud coach. :)

Ironwomen!

Congratulations to all the finishers, and thanks to: the city of Madison for being so welcoming & supportive of this event; to Ironman for the great production; to TriBike Transport for making my travel so easy; to my sponsors---REV3, Powerbar, Recovery Pump, Blueseventy, Rudy Project, Powertap, Reynolds, Powertap, Maxxis, and The Bike Shoppe; to my homestay Jen Savino for making me feel right at home; and to all the friends and family cheering from near and afar!

Now legs up and time to get ready for the next one.

Back to Boulder

I took a little solo road trip to Boulder last weekend to test out my fitness at the Ironman 70.3 event in the so-called "Mecca of Triathlon". It had been a LONG time since I visited Boulder (seven, maybe eight years?) but it was much the way I remembered it, and in a strange way even more familiar despite the long absence. I think this is because geographically it reminds me so much of Salt Lake, except of course that the mountains are on the "wrong" side, and now that I've lived in Utah for over eight years that type of mountain terrain seems normal to me. Once upon a time I actually considered living and going to school in Boulder and this trip reaffirmed my suspicion that I could be quite happy there. Salt Lake is a pretty outdoorsy place but Boulder puts it to shame; there are bike lanes EVERYWHERE and a real sense of community fitness. I was astonished by how many people were out riding their bikes and even more so by the number of organized running groups out training on Saturday morning---complete with coaches holding stopwatches and calling out splits. It was really pretty awesome to witness!

The race was an important fitness check for me as I've been plagued by a very unhappy ankle since mid-June and was forced to take a little time off from running. Despite the importance of the race and the inevitably strong field that it drew because of it being a "hometown" race for so many pros, I went into it without feeling any pressure and was pleasantly surprised by the low key atmosphere. It also helped that I had people other than myself to focus on! My dear friends and "adoptive" Utah parents Betsy and Victor Pollak were there as Vic was attempting his first half-ironman race and we had a really lovely pre-race dinner together. Vic is in his mid-sixties and is a "slow and steady" type of athlete, so his main goal was to finish the race before the cut-off time. I definitely felt more anxiety over Vic's race than my own because I really really really wanted him to have a good experience and be successful---which he was! It was great fun hanging around the finish line area when my race was done, bopping around to the music with Betsy and awaiting Vic's arrival. I definitely love racing but spectating can be a lot of fun too!

With Betsy, waiting for Vic to come in.

I also had the opportunity to check out the Ironkids race on Saturday morning. It's kind of a complicated story, but basically a good friend of mine used to do health coaching over the phone for a large insurance company, and one of his former clients is a triathlete who was racing at Boulder. Over the course of their consultations my friend mentioned me and the triathlete---his name is Rob Robinson---looked me up online and found my blog. Rob has a ten-year-old daughter named Mabry who also started reading my blog and she was somehow inspired to do a school project about me! How flattering! The entire Robinson family was racing in Boulder including Rob, his wife Lauren, Mabry, and her younger brother Blake. They came to the race with their friends the Cosgroves (Linda and Greg and their kids Riley and Hannah) who were also racing, and we discovered that without having planned it we were all staying at the same hotel. Small world! So I spent some quality becoming friends with them and promised that I would be at the Ironkids race to cheer them on. The kids race was really something else to watch! The event was super well organized and the kids were pretty darn cute. Some of them were obviously very well-coached and had REAL bikes, fancy race kits, and did some pretty impressive things in transition including flying mounts. I suspect some of those kids may have had last names like Alexander, Legh, and Reed! Mabry, Blake, Riley and Hannah had quite the cheering squad as two sets of grandparents as well as an uncle and a few other friends also turned out to spectate. I had an absolute blast cheering for the kids, and couldn't help but be impressed by the way the entire family was involved in the sport. How cool is that?! I didn't even know what triathlon was until I was in college and here are these kids being raised smack-dab in the middle of the multi-sport lifestyle. I would say that the future of the sport is definitely bright!

With Ironkids Riley, Mabry, Blake and Hannah. They are all studs!

As for my own race, it was a solid effort that left me sore in all the right places. I knew that my swim and biking strength was coming around but the big question mark was if my ankle would hold up on the run and whether or not I had the fitness to maintain a race effort for 13.1 miles. My fastest mile split was actually my last mile so I think the answer to that is a resounding YES! Despite being well down the list in the results I am pretty pleased with the performance and it's a good indication that things are heading the right direction for some strong races in the next few months. My swim was good but not great. I don't quite have the speed to match the best swimmers in the sport (some of whom were there of course!) and I ended up swimming alone the whole way. Two things about the swim surprised me: first, how warm the water was for a "mountain" reservoir and secondly, how I actually felt the altitude! It wasn't horrible but breathing was noticeably more difficult, even at just 1000 feet higher than what I'm used to. Going against my own advice, I hadn't gotten in to swim the day before because the Boulder Res has some very odd ideas about water safety and swimming was severely restricted. If I HAD tested the waters the day before I definitely would have known to wear my new blueseventy Helix Sleeveless wetsuit rather than the full suit! Ah well, hindsight is 20/20.

I exited the water in 5th place, then was almost immediately passed on the bike as eventual-winner Melissa Hauschildt motored by. I returned the favor by overtaking Christine Anderson, but roughly halfway through the bike Christine reappeared and then took off after we traded back and forth a few times. I knew it was a fast course and that I was riding well, but there were some really strong ladies out there! The bike course was one big loop on fantastic road surfaces with minimal traffic. It began with a steady false flat climb then turned into rollers for the rest of the course. There was one short out-and-back section near the end of the ride where I was pleased to see I was within a few minutes of Leanda Cave and Amy Marsh, but once I made the 180 turn I was dismayed to see that there were also two girls right on my tail! Darn. They---Uli Bromme and Jeanni Seymour---caught me just before we turned onto the road leading back to the Reservoir. I transitioned quickly behind them and hit the run in 8th place.

Photo by Louis Bednar. Check out that Reynolds Element disc wheel!

I LOVED this run course, which is pretty funny because I remember having a healthy dislike for it many eons ago when I did the Boulder Peak Triathlon. The 70.3 run course is two loops on mostly hard-packed dirt roads and gravel trails around the Reservoir. There are rolling hills at the beginning of each loop and not a speck of shade to be found. If the temperature had been what it was the day before I think I wouldn't have enjoyed the run half as much, but a well-timed storm had rolled through and cooled things off which made the run not nearly as oven-like as it could have been. The course has distinct sections which helps with getting a good mental grasp of it and staying focused. With the exception of a slight lapse between miles 8-9.5 I held things together and was absolutely thrilled that my ankle didn't bother me. I think the packed dirt was a nice forgiving surface that was about the best thing that could have happened for it! I didn't catch any of my competitors on the run and in fact was overtaken by one other girl, so I ended the day in 9th place---not awesome, but pleased to be back on track.

I spent the rest of the afternoon being a cheerleader for Vic, Rob, Lauren, Linda, and Greg and hanging out with the entire Pollak/Robinson/Cosgrove clans. What a blast! I left Boulder that evening with a good feeling in my heart---of a job well done, new friends made, and sharing in the successes of old ones. Friends, that is. Ah, Boulder! You have been good to me.

Thank you: to the Robinsons and Cosgroves for letting me tag along; to Betsy and Vic for dinner and your wonderful company; to Albert for holding down the fort in my absence; and to my sponsors for their unfailing support---Powerbar, Blueseventy, Rudy Project, REV3, Powertap, Maxxis, Recovery Pump, Reynolds, Fezzari, and The Bike Shoppe. I couldn't do it without you!

Would I Do It Again?

The answer is YES! Despite the fact that it's taken me a month to blog about it, REV3 Williamsburg was a fantastic venue and I had a really great time visiting and racing in the area. True, there were some hiccups that kept the event from running as smoothly as has come to be expected from a REV3 production, but overall I left with a good feeling about the race and am very hopeful that the kinks will be smoothed out and that REV3 will be back again next year. My personal experience is as follows:

PRE-RACE
I had the fantastic good fortune to be placed with a really wonderful host family for the weekend, Daniel and Michelle Ballin and their little daughter Alivia. Thank you Ashley Q. & Eric O. for organizing the homestay and to the Ballins for being not only generous hosts but just really great people! One of the great perks of racing and traveling is meeting new people, and I definitely feel that I made some new friends in Williamsburg.

I arrived a few days before the event which gave me a good opportunity to check out the course as well as visit some of the surrounding historical sites. My family took a "Revolutionary & Civil Wars" trip when I was 5 years old so I'd been to the Historical Triangle before, but I was so young that it didn't really mean that much to me at the time. It was fun to poke around Jamestown and Colonial Williamsburg a good 30 years later when the historical importance actually made some sense. It was like walking on hallowed ground!

The day before the race I had the chance to lead a swim clinic Q&A at the Jamestown Park Beach swim venue. It was held in conjunction with the open water swim practice and the Blueseventy Worst Wetsuit Contest so we had a great turnout. I really love doing this sort of thing---can't help it if I have a little bit of diva in me!---and always enjoy the interaction with the age-group athletes. Everyone has their own unique story and it's interesting to hear what draws different people to the sport. After the swim clinic I had a chance to swim a bit of the course myself, then it was off to the pro meeting and one last preview of the bike course before getting the legs up and relaxing for the rest of the day.

RACE MORNING
My alarm was set for the usual 3 hours before race start to give me plenty of time to eat, drop off my run gear at T2 then head to T1 for a warm-up. As I was applying my race tattoos I heard a noise that sounded like pouring rain...but no, it couldn't be! Must have been the air-conditioning kicking in. A few minutes later I stuck my nose outside and realized it was in fact rain! A torrential downpour really. I'd originally planned to ride my bike to T1 for a good warm-up but luckily Daniel came to the rescue and offered to drop me off instead. It was soggy setting up gear but the rain soon cleared and the morning turned quite pleasant.

THE SWIM
This race helped reinforce what little I knew about the nature of tidal rivers. At the practice swim the day before, the water had been relatively calm and while it was shallow close to shore you weren't hitting the bottom with every stroke. Different story on race day! I'm not sure if it was the rain or the tide, but the water was choppy and much more shallow than it had been the day before. In fact, you could have run in and done dolphin dives for a good long way towards the first buoy. It helped to watch the pro men go off first to know a little better what to expect, but I have to admit I was still caught a little off guard and didn't have a good plan of how to attack the swim start. The swim definitely blew the race apart as the strong swimmers were separated from the weaker ones. I was one of the stronger ones on the day but I actually had a pretty horrible swim. My goggles fogged up within minutes so I was blindly following other feet to the first turn before I had enough of that and stopped to clear them out. On the second leg it was tricky to see the far red buoy and once I did eventually spot it I swear it kept moving further away! Once I FINALLY rounded the second turn I was battling for space with Margie Shapiro, then suddenly she disappeared and somehow got to shore about 20 seconds before me. I'm not sure if I fell asleep there, if I picked a bad line or if there was some magical current that I missed, but I came out of the water 5th place in No Man's Land in probably the slowest time I've ever done for that distance.

THE BIKE
I really enjoyed this bike course. My homestay family kept telling me that REV3 picked the hilliest course possible in the area and it certainly ended up being more challenging than it appeared from inside a car. The course was broken up well with a couple of out-and-back segments and a really fun tricky section towards the end on Jolly Pond Road. The only drawback I could see was that there was heavy traffic in some areas which made me a little nervous, and the cars got backed up. It must have been pretty frustrating for the drivers to have to sit there so long while the bikes came through; I hope this issue is addressed for next year so that the community embraces the event and welcomes REV3 back in the future! I spent the entire bike in 5th place, holding my spot in No Man's Land and not really making any headway. Margie was ripping through the course like it was nobody's business while Tenille Hoogland, Lauren Goss, and Kelly Williamson were riding strong in front of me.

THE RUN
Once my shoes hit the pavement I was pleased to discover that my running legs had shown up! The run course featured two circuits of a long out-and-back through the William and Mary campus, followed by buzzing past the transition/finish line area and doing another mini out-and-back before repeating the whole thing. There was a good hill at each of the far ends of the course which made for a special challenge. I felt GREAT during the first lap and got a good look at where everyone was, both up the road and behind. The gap to the leaders was huge, but I also had a pretty solid lead over the girls behind me. Once again I was in No Man's Land and comfortably holding 5th place...until the very end that is! At the final turnaround I saw that Jess Jones Meyers had made up some serious ground and was barreling towards me. Crap! I tried to find another gear and almost managed to hold her off, but unfortunately I experienced being out-kicked in yet another sprint finish at a half-ironman this year. Obviously I need to work on my closing speed---or better yet, on my overall speed so that it doesn't ever come down to a sprint! I HATED losing out on 5th place at the very end, but overall it was a solid effort and considering the minor setbacks I've had this season I was happy with progress.

THE AFTERMATH
My flight back to Salt Lake wasn't until later the following day, so I had some more time to enjoy the local sights. I kicked off the day by doing a swim workout with Daniel and some of the other local triathletes, followed by a HUGE revitalizing breakfast with my friend Brittany from Georgia. Brittany had had a tough race day that ended with a trip to the med tent & ER, so it was nice to see that she was feeling better. Once we demolished enough food for 5 people we moseyed around Colonial Williamsburg and soaked in some history. We ended our tour in the stocks---I seem to remember doing that when I was a 5-year-old too!

REV3 Williamsburg capped a race-glutted month for me, which included 3 half-iron races in a span of four weeks. While each course was starkly different and it's hard to compare race-to-race, I feel that I made some good progress throughout the month. Now that the June race-fest is over (followed by a nice mid-season break when my brother and his family visited Utah), I'm immersed in a nice long stretch of uninterrupted training; this is when I typically get into a really good groove and lay the groundwork for a strong back half of the season. Because of a couple of niggling injuries this year my race schedule is slightly altered, so that I'm dropping Ironman Mont-Tremblant in favor of racing Ironman Wisconsin three weeks later instead. I'm still heading to Boulder next weekend for a fitness check at the 70.3 race there before putting in one more big block before Wisconsin.

THANK YOU
To the Ballins for the good times and hospitality; to REV3 for the vision and making the show go on; to my sponsors for the support through thick and thin (Powerbar, Blueseventy, Rudy Project, Recovery Pump, REV3, Reynolds, Maxxis, Powertap, Fezzari, and The Bike Shoppe); and to my family and friends for putting up with my shenanigans for so long.

The Dirty Double

Lucky Readers---you get a two-for-one race report! It's been a busy June so far and we're not even halfway through yet. I raced the past two weekends in my first official "dirty double", which is what I'm calling doing half-iron races on back-to-back weekends. Six days apart, to be precise. Trust me, that extra day makes a difference! First up was a trip to Connecticut for REV3 Quassy followed by a jaunt up to Idaho for Boise 70.3. In between I got to spend some quality time with my East Coast relatives in New Jersey and Pennsylvania---always a pleasure. This is the second year in a row that I've attempted the Dirty Double but last year the experiment was foiled by nasty weather in Boise which led to a drastically shortened bike ride. This time around I completed the entire 70.3 miles at each race, so mission accomplished in that regard; however neither performance was particularly stunning so there's definitely some work to do!

PART I: REV3 QUASSY

This is one of my all-time favorite races because in addition to being a gorgeous venue the course is honest and challenging; part of the allure is trying to crack the code of the course so that it doesn't completely chew you up and spit you out. Even though my overall time was the slowest of my three attempts at this race, I feel that I raced smarter than in previous years and figured out a good strategy for handling the course. It was decidedly hotter than the past two years which made the nutrition and hydration aspects more of an issue and I did a pretty good job of managing that part of the race. I felt strong on the swim and was able to build throughout the 1.2 miles---I got caught up in a little traffic in the first leg, was able to pull away from the traffic in the second leg (partly thanks to a few of the slower male pro swimmers), then pushed hard on the third leg coming into shore. Once on the bike I employed the same strategy of building my effort throughout the 56 miles. In past years I've been so excited to ride the course that I've started off a little too hot and then paid for it in the last 10-15 miles. This year I felt better as I went along and was able to finish up strong in the latter miles of the ride. I continued with my "building" theme on the run---it's easy to start this run off too hard because the first couple of miles are downhill so I found a rhythm that would help me be more conservative in the opening miles. The middle section of this run course is where it gets REALLY tough; miles 4-8 have a lot of uphill so you have to keep pushing and stay mentally strong. I had some gray patches out there but overall I think I handled the hills better than I have in past years. The last 4 miles of this run course are really fun and I was looking forward to using whatever I had left in the tank to push through that final loop. There's one final long climb in the last mile, a real doozy of a place to have a hill, but once you get to the top you only have about 400 meters to the finish line. I wound up in the top-10 for the third consecutive year, grabbing 9th place in probably the most stacked field ever assembled at this race (I would say the top six ladies all had a legitimate shot at winning). It was a good effort and I can't wait to come back again next year!

The Highlights
This trip had a lot of non-race highlights which made it really fun, including:

Reconnecting with my old swimming buddy & high school classmate Joe McDowell, now a Lieutenant Commander in the Navy who is training for his first triathlon(s) this year!

Staying with my AWESOME homestay girls, Kim & Sheri, for the third year in a row---and being allowed to drive Sheri's Porsche for a day!

Giving a pre-race swim clinic, supported by REV3 and blueseventy, focusing on open water swimming strategies and race-day safety. Thanks blueseventy for donating really cool Brick Bags for a trivia contest!

Having my #1 Philly Fan (aka Aunt Candy) using her impressive vocal skills to whoop it up cheering for me!

Spending time with my relatives for a couple of days post-race...it's always too short but a very sweet visit.

PART II: IRONMAN 70.3 BOISE

After two days back in Utah, Albert and I loaded up the car (doggies included!) and made the short trip up to Boise for the next weekend of racing. The weather forecast called for a HOT day---highs in the upper 80s on race day, about 30 degrees warmer than what it topped out at last year for this event. You just never know what you're going to get in Boise! I'm used to the dry heat though, so it didn't feel as hot to me as the sticky humid heat in Connecticut the previous weekend. Boise is an odd event because it has a noon start time, which is nice because it allows for a nice relaxed race morning...but last year I remember hating it because I ended up spending the entire morning watching the weather get worse and dreading having to race in it! No such problem this year. Race day set-up went smoothly and I was ready to go when the cannon boomed at 12:04 to send the pro ladies off. It was a small field this year---I think Boise's reputation for unpredictable weather scared a lot of people away---and I was able to get off to a fast start and find clean water right from the beginning. Lucky Peak Reservoir makes for a real swimmer's course; the water is relatively cold (60 degrees this year) and choppy, so it helps to be strong and comfortable in the water. The last two times I've done this race I've come out of the water in 2nd place; the third time proved to be a charm as I was able to build a 2+ minute lead and exit the water in first place! That was a pretty cool feeling, especially at a "local" race (out west anything within a 5-hour drive is local)---thanks to my blueseventy Helix and the friendly crowd for boosting me to the top swim! I had a smooth transition, bombed my way down the hill from the reservoir, then settled down to work on the bike. I felt solid throughout the ride---not spectacular but not bad---and focused on staying hydrated. Heather Jackson came storming up past me just before the climb at Mile 18, then it was a lot of lonely miles until Liz Lyles came by around Mile 45. At this point I made a tactical error; Liz passed me just before a descent (which I'm good at) and I should have gotten around her and tried to create a gap on the downhill, but then a media motorcycle pulled up and I found myself boxed in and unable to pass. I literally had to sit up and brake on the downhill in order to stay legal. Immediately after the downhill there was a tricky little "no-pass" zone on a bike path, followed by a left-handed aid station. I grabbed a bottle of Powerbar Perform at the aid station with the intention of taking a couple of sips then tossing it, but to my dismay the cap had been loosened and the drink was just leaking out from around the bottom of the cap rather than coming out the nipple. I slowed way down trying to figure this out then eventually just tossed the bottle, and by that point Liz had zoomed off up the road and I wasn't able to regain contact throughout the ride. Damn! So I started the run in 3rd place about 5 minutes from Heather and maybe 1-2 minutes behind Liz. I felt a little awkward running when my feet first hit the pavement, but started feeling a little better throughout the first mile. Then something BAD happened and I ran the next 8 miles very slowly. I'm not sure how much of it was the effects of having completed a very challenging half ironman only 6 days before, but I know for sure that my mind was NOT in a very good place. I'm really disappointed in the way I ran these miles and mad that I didn't have a better grip on what was going on between my ears---in addition to my running fitness I also need to improve my mental fitness! With four miles to go something snapped inside me and I suddenly started running like I knew how again and it felt really good. Three girls had passed me by that point and I thought if I really pushed hard I might have a chance to catch at least one of them. My mantra those last miles---"Get your head out of your ass"---really seemed to work and it just may become my refrain whenever I'm racing! I didn't end up catching anyone but I was glad to have at least turned the run around and finished strong.

I don't have any particular highlights from Boise, but I'll leave you with some favorite parting shots from the Dirty Double:

As always, THANK YOU to my amazing sponsors for seeing me through this endeavor! Blueseventy for the race kit & speedy wetsuit; Powerbar for keeping me fueled; Rudy Project for protecting my eyes & noggin; REV3 for believing in me; CycleOps/Powertap for keeping my effort on track; Reynolds for keeping me rolling on great wheels; Fezzari for the first-class ride; Maxxis for the rubber; Recovery Pump for helping my legs tackle the Dirty Double; and The Bike Shoppe for getting my bike ship-shape for racing.

You'll find me racing again two more times this month on June 23rd at REV3 Williamsburg and then at the Utah Spartan Beast event on June 29th!

Iron Fail

You got to know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em,
Know when to walk away, know when to run...

Okay, admit it, now you've got the song in your head...and I've got your attention!

Those lyrics are surprisingly apt when applied to my experience at Ironman Texas last weekend. It was my 5th iron-length triathlon and my first DNF at the distance. I am not proud of this and I don't plan to make it a habit---I've always been one of those "old-school" athletes who looks somewhat scornfully at other athletes who drop out and "save it for another day" when they're not having a great race. I always thought I had too much respect for the sport to treat it so flippantly; besides, an Ironman is such a long day with so many ups and downs that you never know what might happen so you might as well keep going and see it through to the end. However, I realized last weekend that sometimes the body simply doesn't cooperate and as a professional you have to decide whether it's worth carrying on and potentially doing more damage, or if it's better to take the long view, fold your cards, and wait for the next round. I knew by Mile 60 of the bike that running probably wasn't going to be a great idea, which meant I had a good 50+ miles to make peace with that decision. I HATED dropping out but I know it was the right thing for me to do. By the time I rolled into T2 and handed off my bike it was surprisingly easy to step off the course. Figuratively, that is----literally it was actually quite difficult! The pavement was burning hot, my back was in spasms, and once I sat down in the change tent I discovered I couldn't stand back up on my own. Luckily the volunteers were great and the sponsoring hospital Memorial Hermann had wonderful massage/PT personnel on hand to help straighten me out and get me walking relatively normally again.

Despite not putting it all together on race day, I really enjoyed the trip to Texas. The Woodlands is a unique setting for an Ironman including swimming in a canal, riding in the HOT lonely rolling Texas countryside, and running along the Waterway. In a way I had the best of all worlds: I was in the thick of things as a participant, put in a good swim-bike training day, then I had a lot of fun cheering at the finish line and being a spectator---with the added bonus that I wasn't sore and hobbling around the next day! Plus my rental car was a lot of fun to drive! It's the small things in life...right?? My homestay, Katie White Reynolds and her family, were really great down-to-earth hosts with a "no muss no fuss" attitude. Thank you for adopting me, trying to teach me how to use a GPS (unfortunately a fail), and showing me how to set my phone so the alarm sounds but everything else is silent---priceless! I made some new friends in Texas and spent some time with old ones. Thank you to Ashley for passing the hours spectating with me, to April for the Gatsby movie date, and to BJ & Chrystel for the VIP banquet seating. Thanks also to my fellow athletes for the overwhelming support in the wake of a disappointing race. Congrats to all who finished on a steaming hot day in Texas, particularly Kim & Ian for their breakthrough performances, BJ for punching his ticket to Kona, and to Todd for persevering and putting one foot in front of the other to get 'er done. And of course, thank you to my sponsors and supporters for sticking with me through thick and thin: Powerbar, Rudy Project, Blueseventy, Reynolds, Fezzari, Recovery Pump, REV3, Maxxis, CycleOps, and The Bike Shoppe.

So what's next for me? I'm not exactly injured, I just have some "issues"---and I have every intention of maintaining my planned race schedule while working through things. I have some underlying structural imbalances that I suspect were exacerbated by trying to do too much too quickly in preparation for an early season Ironman. Lesson acknowledged, and hopefully lesson learned. With the help of my massage therapist and some work with a PT to re-train my body how to move correctly I should be good to go...and it's off to Connecticut next week for REV3 Quassy!

Since I didn't have much of a race to report on, here are some pictures to illustrate the experience:



Swimming here made me feel like a real swimmer again!



Setting up the day before.



Banners along the Waterway.



Cows on course!



Ghost town.



Great for spectators & for runners alike.



So close...just a downhill followed by an uphill to the finish line!



Water features at night.

Just Driving Through...Photos From The IM Texas Bike Course

This is the scenery I get to ride my bike through this Saturday!