Kona

With the exception of some mechanical issues that left us sitting on the plane for FOUR hours at the Denver airport, this trip has been nothing short of amazing and I will say again how grateful I am to be here competing.  I haven't had one person ask if I received a roll down slot or if I was competing this year, so that is an accomplishment in itself.  In fact, the only thing I've heard is how young I look.

I've swam three times from Dig Me Beach, the start of Ironman.  The water went from being calm on Sunday, to downright wavy on Wednesday, so I guess only time will tell what Saturday will be.

Dig Me Beach

I have rode the Queen K twice - once with Alyssa on Sunday and once alone on Monday. I was quickly reminded how generous the tailwind is on the way out, and how strong the headwind is coming back into town.  I also made a trip out to Hawi to ride the toughest part of the course; unfortunately, the ever prevalent crosswinds were nowhere to be found on Tuesday.  While I'd like to think that will happen on race day, I'm mentally prepared for strong gusts blowing me across the road.

Out on the Queen K

I ran out at the energy lab on Wednesday and proved to myself that I could run the hills coming back up to the Queen K. According to my Garmin, they weren't exactly hills, so apparently I had a bit of a mental breakdown last year. I.WILL.RUN. on Saturday. Seriously.

I've worked the Powerbar booth, made custom goggles at the TYR house, and have been fortunate enough to talk to vendors of some of my favorite products.

Alyssa and I were lucky enough to be one of 400 that received Rudy Helmets to wear this weekend. I absolutely love this helmet, so I'm very excited for my new one.

New helmets!  Thank you Rudy Project

We've done a mix of cooking in the condo and going out, the best discovery has definitely been the acai bowls. I could eat these everyday.

The Banyan

I wouldn't be here without the support of my family and friends, so I can't say thank you enough.

 

Almost go Time!

AHHHHHHHHH, Kona departure is tomorrow! And as you may expect, I'm just a little EXCITED! My bags are almost all packed and I'm using my awesome new TYR luggage.

I've had a pretty awesome last week and I am feeling fit, fresh and happy that I have somewhat maintained a balanced lifestyle in the midst of Kona training. And unlike years past, I have not had ONE breakdown this entire training cycle.

Saturday morning was my last long run and I'll be honest, I felt like crap that morning. Absolute crap. I had the awesome idea a few weeks ago to ask Lindsay if we could extend the scheduled time of 2:30. I felt like mentally I needed to run 20 before Kona. Grumpily I started out a little before 8 am (late for me), but the miles ticked by fairly quickly and I had the most successful long run I've ever had and a huge confidence booster.

Later that day, Chris and I headed to the park for Apple Cross setup. While I was tempted to enter the CX race (HAH!), I watched everyone preride the course and enjoyed catching up with friends. It was great to see everyone and even more fun to go out for drinks and dinner that night (I am seriously the world's worst picture taker)! Kenny made a humorous toast that I will definitely draw strength from! :)

On Sunday I went to a winery. Fun! Since my typical Sunday involves riding my bike for hours on end, this was a very nice change of pace and a great way to start my taper. While there was some mention of Ironman, that conversation was limited.

This week has been filled with work, picking up a few last minute things I needed and getting some pretty awesome emails, pictures, etc. wishing me good luck. Lindsay sent me the plan last night and unlike Placid where I completely freaked out, this time around I felt completely comfortable and think it's totally doable.

I'm feeling very grateful to have the opportunity to go to Kona next week, compete with the best in the world and hopefully in the process, push myself to new limits. But regardless of whatever happens next Saturday for me, the sun will still set and nothing in my life will change.

Finish - 2011

Training Weekend with Beth

Ok, so I am a bit slow on the blogging front these days! Beth wrote a great recap up of our training weekend here, but I wanted to share some of my own lessons I learned from training with someone far more experienced than me.

So two weekends ago, I was absolutely overjoyed to have Beth come train with me. Oscar may have given Beth a tough time for inviting herself down to ride Skyline, but I was thrilled to show her one of my favorite riding places. And I was even more excited when she came down Friday evening to do a 6 hour brick with me Saturday. The only way this weekend could have been more perfect is if Libby was here to join us!

Kona 2011 - Lava Java with Beth and Libby

I woke up extra early Saturday, so I had lunch pre-made before we headed out right around 7a for the 95 mile route I had planned. I do this route almost every weekend and like usual, we had very little traffic, which allowed us to ride side by side for almost the entire way and talk. Because Beth now races pro, I definitely picked her brain a bit on why she made that decision, what it was like to race pro, etc. I may or may not want to race pro someday. . . :)

Riding by one of many orchards

I was a little worried what Beth would think when I got my miniature Reeses Cup at the 7-11 stop, but much to my surprise, Beth got a Snickers and a Coke.  It was a perfect ride since we are fairly evenly matched (besides the ever present headwind), so the nearly five hours flew by. I had a one hour run scheduled after the ride and in typical fashion, I started running much too fast, but Beth helped me manage the pace and before I knew it, the hour was done and I didn't walk at all. 

Afterwards we took Beth out to Marker Miller Orchard so we could all get some fresh apples and samples of apple cider donuts.  I tested out her recovery boots that evening and can attest that they do wonders. I was a bit worried how I would feel Sunday, but I woke up feeling fresh and couldn't tell I had done a six hour brick the day before.

Skyline Drive

Sunday was an equally awesome ride. We headed down to Front Royal to ride Skyline Drive. I ride Skyline quite often, but hadn't gone up to mile 32 on my TT bike since August of 2011. I was beyond excited to realize Sunday evening that our time on Sunday was 34 minutes faster than what I did last year.  YES. Progress is definitely a good feeling and the confidence and lessons I got from training with Beth will definitely stay with me, and hopefully, we'll train together again.

hmmm, I should learn to put my helmet on properly

Beth and I come from different backgrounds; I grew up swimming and she grew up running, so I think for both of us it was good to get some tips on each of our respective sport. It was very enlightening to realize that even for a true runner, you still don't feel great running off the bike. I've always enviously watched runner after runner pass me, especially in Ironmans, and it's easy to get very discouraged. This past year I learned my running form as a big limiter, but after some conversations with Beth and Chris, I think part of it is I need to be as mentally tough running as I am swimming and biking.

So this past weekend when I went out for my hour run after a 75 mile ride, instead of being nancy negative, I told myself to focus and I'd start feeling better. Not surprisingly, I did and had one of my best ever runs off the bike. This doesn't necessarily mean I'll run any better off the bike at Kona this year, but I at least finally have some confidence that I can do it.  23 days to go and I'm dreaming of this!

2011 Finish

Fun Things

I typically experience a post Ironman let down. You feel incredible when you're crossing the finish line, only to hardly be able to stand let alone walk 20 seconds later :)  It's still hard to walk for the next few days, you have cankles and people tire quickly of hearing about your race. This year was different, I had a few awesome surprises in store for me!

I had the top female amateur swim time at Ironman Lake Placid (for finishers), so I won the TYR swim prize. When I first spoke to the TYR rep, he said I was getting a set of the Convoy Luggage bags (I assumed the two suitcases) and a sleeveless wetsuit. While super appreciative, I didn't have a wetsuit so I was thrilled when they agreed to let me upgrade the Category 5 Wetsuit to the sleeved version and pay the difference. 

TYR Hurricane Wetsuit & T-Shirts

What I didn't realize until I ordered was I got the FULL SET of convoy bags including the transition and rucksack bags.  Since I didn't have a transition bag either, this is AWESOME.  Thank you TYR. I will now be going to Kona in style and have plenty of room to pack all my stuff.

TYR Convoy Set

While my shelf was already overflowing with Powerbar products, I really needed some Protein bars, Ironman Perform and Energy Blasts, so I got on the Powerbar Team Elite site and ordered a few things (I like the feeling of Christmas I get every time I receive a package from Powerbar). I've used the Energy Blasts on four long rides and I absolutely love them. The Cola Blasts are like having a mid-ride cola without actually stopping for one and gummy bears have always been my favorite candy, so it's a WIN WIN.  I will be well fueled for my next few weeks (and then some) of training.. . I've told myself I won't order anything unless I'm out of something I plan on using for Kona. Let's see how long that lasts.

Thank you Powerbar

And the biggest news is I got a new job with an OFFICE! I've worked for Valley Health Systems for the past two years as a Senior Financial Analyst for the physician management group. Right before I left for Placid, the Corporate Accountant position for Valley Health came open, so I nervously applied and hoped for the best.  Lucky for me, they told me soon after my interview that the job was mine. My effective transfer date is September 4th. Until then, I'm doing dual roles, but I got to move into my new office. No, I swear, I'm not Ironman obsessed.  I didn't hang all six posters, just three :)

My Office

And since I typically post mostly triathlon training babble, Kona is SIX weeks away - YAHOO! Ironman Canada Ironman Louisville were this past weekend, and I'm the most pumped today I've been all year to race. I've had some incredible long runs (for me), hit a power number I've never hit on a long ride two weekends ago and have managed to get in some good swims between all the thunderstorms. All in all, I'm getting excited for round three of Kona and am hoping this is the year I will RUN the marathon.

 

Ironman Lake Placid Nutrition Report

For those of you not interested in the amount of Powerbar bars, gel and Ironman Perform I consumed at Ironman Lake Placid, ignore this post.  BUT, I've received many emails asking for nutrition advice for triathlons, so for those of you just starting out or doing your 20th Ironman, I'm hoping you might find some insight in what I did. REMEMBER, you should always test out your nutrition plan before race day AND the food you eat the few days leading up to the race is almost as important as what you eat race day :)!!! 

Breakfast (done by 4am)

I have a standard pre-race and pre-long workout breakfast of a gluten free bagel with peanut butter and a banana. It's one of my favorite combinations that I don't otherwise eat, so I rarely have trouble getting this down in the wee hours before a race.  IMLP was an exception and I had to force it down.  I am incoherent until I've drank at least 1 cup of coffee, so 2 cups is a must before a race.

I always sip on either a bottle of Nuun or an Ironman Perform during the morning hours.  No, it's not a huge amount of calories (500ish), but it works for me and gets me some extra sodium.

Pre-Swim

One Powerbar Raspberry Cream gel (Yum - new flavor for me!) & a salt pill

Getting ready for 140.6 miles of fun!

Swim

Lots of mouth fulls of Mirror Lake.  Awesome.

Mirror Lake before the race - how peaceful :)

Bike

I struggle with cramps, so I took five Succeed caps during the bike (one / hour).  This worked perfectly and I didn't have a cramping issue at all for once :)  It's hot and humid in Winchester, so I've tested this out training session after training session.

Beautiful scenery

I eat half a Powerbar (peanut butter is my fav') every 30 minutes for the first half of any ride, then switch to gel so my stomach has time to settle.  At IMLP, that meant I took in seven gels.  I planned on taking an eighth gel, but I was already getting tired of it, so I drank approximately one bottle of Ironman Perform. I had two gels with caffeine; I'd like to learn to take more, but it tends to upset my stomach if I take too much.

Heading back to the school, done with the bike

Total Bike Calorie Count:  Bars (600) + Gel (770) + Ironman Perform (180) = 1550 (281/hour). That works out to be approximately half of the kj I burned during the bike portion of the race.

Run

I had my first gel 10 minutes in and planned on taking another six gels every 30 minutes or so. Unfortunately I was tired of gel and only got down one more before I was done with gel.  I tend to do well with Ironman Perform on the run and 220 calories was not going to get me to the finish line, so I took cups of Ironman Perform at almost all of the aid stations and started taking coke at mile 21. 

Both Feet off the ground :) - the finish!

Total Run Calorie Count:  Gel (220) + Ironman Perform (10ish cups @ 40 cals) + Coke (1 cup @40 cals) = 660 Calories (165ish/hour)

Post Race

I've found a glass of Sprite after a race tends to calm the nausea and then I had many scoopfuls of Ironman Restore once we got back to the room.  We headed back down to the VIP tent after I showered, and I had two pork chops and two plates of race, then followed that up with some delicious Ben and Jerry's Greek Frozen Yogurt.  Apparently I was hungry :)

While Chris and I were at Ben and Jerry's, my Dad called.  They had told the hotel manager I was the top amateur female, so he gave them a bottle of champagne for us to share. Very fun and a perfect way to end the evening. 

I typically eat a lot of fried crap after the race, then feel awful the next day.  This time around, I really focused on getting some nutrient dense food and I feel ten times better than I expected one week post Ironman.

I did have an Apple Cider donut though :)

Post-Race Nutrition Thoughts

Do not drink the Pacific Ocean at Kona.  Of course that will be dependent on how many times I get punched, kicked, dunked, etc. 

I am hoping to use Energy Blasts on the bike at Kona so I am not tired of Powerbar gel by the time I get to the run. I tested these out while I was working the Powerbar booth, and they were awesome. I also plan on incorporating more variety into my gels, which should help as well.

Powerbar booth with Caitlin Snow :)  Tim was also there - both of these pros are awesome!

Please email me if you have any questions.  I don't pretend to be an expert, but I can definitely provide you with insight of how my nutrition strategy has evolved over the years and how much better I feel during and post training sessions because of it. I don't remember where I read the statement, but for those of you starting this journey and frustrated with how you look, 'Get Fit, Get Fast, Thin will come,' really is true. . .

Ironman Lake Placid 2012 - 1st Amateur Female

Ironman Louisville 2009 - YIKES - 16th AG

Ironman Lake Placid Race Report

Most people assumed Ironman Lake Placid was going to be a "fun" Ironman since I had qualified for Kona last month at Eagleman. However, qualifying for Kona was never my goal for Ironman Lake Placid. When I outlined my goals for the year for my coach late last year, I told her I wanted to be the top amateur at Lake Placid. Even though it sounded a bit ridiculous to me, I also thought it *might* be realistic given my results from last year. So needless to say, I was a bit of a nervous wreck all week. In fact, I think of the six Ironmans I've done, the only one I was more nervous for was my first Kona. My poor parents and Chris who put up with me.  Yikes.

Pre-Race

Swim - 54:18

I think mass starts are awful. While some find it magical for thousands of people to start their Ironman journey with the boom of a single cannon, I prefer the time trial start of Ironman Louisville. Ironman Lake Placid is a very narrow course, so the start line was jam packed with everyone vying for the magical buoy line. I lined up right on it though, behind a larger male, so he could clear the water for me.

Swim Start

From the first few strokes, I was getting punched, kicked, dunked, etc.  I've taken my fair share of blows over the years; however, this was the most violent swim experience of my entire life. I considered quitting, but decided that was ridiculous and continued swimming. After the first turnaround bouy, it thinned out and I hopped on some feet on the way back for lap one. 

Mike Riley announced after lap one I was the first amateur and my split was faster than either of my half splits this year, so I knew I was in for a fast swim.  Although I felt disorientated, I lunged forward for lap two and kept swimming strong and riding the feet in front of me. I could feel the current for lap two and before I knew it, we were rounding the turnaround buoy for home. I pushed as much as I could that last lap to stay on the guy's feet in front of me and was very happy when I reached shore.

T1 - 4:40

This transition is worth mentioning since I was a bit of a klutz. I stopped at a late wetsuit stripper to get my suit stripped and started running up the 400 yds of carpet to the transition. I remember thinking that I was afraid I was going to fall and unfortunately I did somehow slip a little later.  I had a nice male stop and help me up and I kept running for transition and did my best to forget it. Since I was one of the first females in transition, I had four volunteers all to myself and was out quick.

Bike - 5:33.52

Coming out of transition, I could tell my bike legs were feeling good. My cadence was high, my heart rate was good and my power was right where it should be. I left town smiling reminding myself to be patient with the climb. I really like to climb so I enjoyed this first part out of town. I passed a few males, which always makes me smile, and before I knew it, I was at the descent I feared.  Except it wasn't bad at all. I pretended the males in front of me were Chris and I was chasing him down Skyline. I was aggressive and made it down much faster than I had in any of my other times I had rode the course (top speed of 44mph for those considering this race). I hit mile 30 five minutes before I expected to and could tell I was setting myself up for a great ride.

Then I started noticing some weird back tightness. I sometimes have pain in my sciatic when I ride, but this was different. It was like my whole low back was spasming and it was running up my spine. I tried to stretch / ignore it, but it wouldn't go away. I thought maybe it would feel better once I got to sit up during some of the climbs from Jay to Wilimington. Nope. Well, I don't believe it quitting things so I kept riding and prayed it would loosen out or I wouldn't notice it when I hit the run.

Unlike most, I was happy to hit the climb from Wilmington to Placid. I like steady climbs and enjoyed passing males the entire way back to town. Didn't think much of the three bears on lap one (thank you Skyline Drive) and enjoyed all the cheers I was getting. The highlight was definitely rounding around the school for lap one and seeing my parents and Chris going wild as Mike Reilly was announcing I was the first amateur female.  SWEET.

End of Lap One

I still felt strong for much of lap two. I didn't hit my normal ironman low around the four hour mark. I think partly because I took in more nutrition, but also because I've done a lot of long rides this year. The back tightness kept getting worse, so I sat up to stretch more than I would like the last 30 miles and by the end, I couldn't push the power I wanted.  Uh oh, was my day going to end after the bike?  I really had no idea what I would find when I would hit the run, but I knew I had a huge lead on the rest of the amateur pack and was not ready to give up.

T2 - 2:33

I walked for much of T2 in hopes that my back would loosen. It was awesome to see a friend's sister, and once again, I was treated like a queen in the tent since I was the only person there.

Run - 3:56.44

I ran out of transition and my legs felt fresh.  Like really fresh. This never happens. But my back hurt and as soon as I hit the first hill, I knew I was in trouble. There was no way I could run up. So I stopped and tried to touch my toes. I could barely bend over. Crap. I walked a bit, tried to stretch, but nothing was helping. Did my best to start running again, but things were not going well. I made the turn down River Road and was wondering what I should do. I didn't want to injure myself and hurt my chances to do well at Kona, but I also didn't want to give up my shot to be first. I had worked so hard all year for this and had already endured a lot of pain.

Luckily, a nice camera man started cheering for me and got me running. My stride was off, but I was able to run and run fairly strong.  I made it to the turnaround at mile six and could see how I was doing in the amateur race for the first time all day.  When I realized how far ahead I was, I told myself I had 18 miles of pain to go. I thought about anything I could to distract me.

Ready for Lap Two - Heel striking galore!

Once you get off River Road, things pick up.  You see lots of people.  Tim Snow was awesome and cheered for me all day long. My mom, Chris and my dad stationed themselves on different parts of the run hills to keep me running / walking fast.

I hit the turaround feeling pretty good. I knew as long as I kept the paces under 10, I'd stay in first and made that my mission for lap two.  Things felt pretty good until around mile 18 and then the fatigue hit quick. I focused on one mile at a time and did my best to break things up. When I made the final turn off River Road, I knew I would have to walk up pretty much all of the hills. My left achilles was now also acting up.

Miles 21-24 were a bit of a death march. I did my best to shuffle, walk, etc, but once I hit 24, I knew I was almost there. I took my last water at 24 and clenched that cup in my right hand for the rest of the race. Chris ran on the side of the road from me for much of mile 25 and even though I wanted to kill him at the time for yelling at me to run, I kept running.

And suddenly, I was back at the Olympic Speed skating oval. I ran through the gate for finishers and started running around the track. Finally I saw the clock, I heard Mike Reilley yelling; the crowd was screaming, and I was D.O.N.E. in 10:32.05.

Finish Line

I crossed and almost immediately collapsed. The amazing volunteers held me up and walked me over kindly to a chair where my parents joined me. I was overwhelmed after I finished with the attention I received and I still slighly am, but I cannot thank enough those reading this who have reached out and congratulated me. It means the world to me.

Ironman is truly a journey. Race day is the climax of months and months of sacrifice and hard work. It's a very selfish endeavor.  So to my family and Chris who have been there for the good and bad, thank you. My awesome coach from Carmichael Trainig Systems, Lindsay Hyman, I can't thank you enough for helping me achieve what I thought were very unrealistic dreams. To Powerbar, Cyclelops, and Swim H20 Audio, thanks for your support.

Women's 25-29 Podium

TYR Swim Prime! Thanks Haley for not doing the race :)

Eagleman 70.3 RR = Aloha!

**I'll post pictures once they're posted**

After doing Kinetic last month and then a solid four day training block in Lake Placid, I knew my fitness level was higher than it was in previous years for Eagleman, but I still wasn't overly confident that I had a chance at qualifying for Kona at Eaglmean. As "luck" would have it, I discovered at 6pm on Saturday evening that I had left my wonderful Soas shorts at home and we made a mad dash back to the race site (40 minutes away) that evening before the expo closed at 7 pm for a new tri kit for me. I was so sad not to wear my pretty Soas kit, but the whole saga had me so stressed out, that all my race nerves were gone and the Newton kit I got did match my pretty pink Newtons. Chris and I were able to go to bed relatively early that evening and the 3:45 am wakeup call wasn't too awful.

Race morning was luckily fairly uneventful and before I knew it, I was helping Chris get into his wetsuit so he could head over to warm-up and start. I started 30 minutes after him (wave 13), so I dawdled a bit longer before putting on Lindsay's awesome Aquasphere suit. I got in the water a bit and played - temperature felt fantastic and I knew it was the only time I would be cool ALL DAY LONG. I did my best to stay calm and focused on thinking about my family and friends.

Swim (26.46)

For once, I lined up on the front line and was one of the few people that lined up in front of the buoys. The current was fairly weak and I had no issues swimming straight. Within the first few strokes, I lost everyone around me and could tell that I was going to make it to the first buoy right when two other competitors did from the far right. Once I got to the buoy, I assumed I got on the shoulder of Megan Martin and enjoyed the ride for the majority of the swim. I hardly had to sight, my shoulders didn't hurt and for the first time EVER, I did not stop ONCE during an open water swim. SCORE. My tow tried to swim away from me about 200 yds from shore, but I thought for certain it was Megan Martin (Knepper at the time) who beat me my entire childhood in swimming, so I would not let her go. I found out after the race that Megan Martin did not show, but it definitely kept me motivated. I swam hard until my hand hit the sand and ran for the shore.
TI

I was overly confident that it was not going to be wetsuit legal, so I didn't bother to practice unclasping my wetsuit. D'oh. Had to get a volunteer to help that maybe added 20 seconds, but of course that seems like an eternity when you are watching other swimmers from your wave fly by. Did my best to be quick once I got to my bike, but made sure to spray on sunblock and pull on the arm coolers.

Bike (2:32.47)

Out from the dismout line, I spotted a few people from my wave up ahead. I passed them all within the first mile. At the point, I was leading my AG and just focused on hitting my power range. I was pleased to have no cramps, but I took a salt pill and waited a little bit to start my fueling plan since I had smartly drank some river water. My head started hurting 30 minutes in and I got the chills, so most of the bike was spent passing people (remember, started in wave 13), drinking and pouring water all over me. I was having a hard time focusing on the race and since my heart rate and power was right in range, I sang songs and started thinking about my family. I got a good laugh at the number of people that told me they liked my Netwon kit. Around 2 hours in I was getting tired of the headwinds and pretty frustrated since I realized my time would be slower than last year even though I was riding the same power, but I focused on making sure I was hydrated, cool and ready to run.

T2

I really tried last week to learn how to do a flying dismount, but I had no luck, so I stuck to my normal dismounting the bike and running in my tri shoes. Oddly enough, I passed three men all running barefoot from the dismount line to my rack. Racked, changed shoes and grabbed my fuel belt and started running for the exit.

Run (1:41.52)

As I was leaving transition, I kept reminding myself that Lindsay told me to settle in and my legs would come back, but the thing was, my legs felt great. I kept thinking my calves would start cramping before the end of the first mile, but my first mile was a 7:25 and I was passing people right and left. (umm, what?) The first few aid stations were super congested, so I never grabbed anything until roughly mile 3 or 4. By that point, I was overheating and I was very happy to put some ice down my sports bra. I kept running wondering when I would see Chris and when I did around mile 5, he screamed a few things and I think I just stared. . just slighly disorienated and wishing to be done :) I saw Steve Breeden soon after and probably once again gave a disorienated stare. It did pump me up for a bit to see them both and kept me running strong until the turnaround. I realized then my pace was still under 7:50 and I thought if I held onto this, I may get my Kona slot. I was really overheating at this point and starting to get the chills, but I so badly wanted to qualify for Kona that I kept pushing and trying to keep the miles under 8. I planned at first to pick up at mile 10, then at 10 I was feeling pretty rough, so it was pushed back to mile 11. At mile 11, I thought I was going to hurl, and was starting to get really worried I would pass out before the finish, so I made sure to grab Pepsi (where was the COKE?!!) and a cup of the Gatorade at the last aid station. I passed one guy and said "only 8 minutes of torture to go" and started running as hard as I could towards the finish line. I turned around quite a few times during these last few minutes expecting to see someone, but luckily I never did. I've ran scared in almost every triathlon I've done, so it was surreal to be the one passing people and running strong.

I crossed the finish line completely done. I had two volunteers helping me - one put three colds towels on me, got some water, and the other helped me over to sit down. Not sure why they didn't take me to medical; so instead, I sat down and waited for Chris. I tried to get up and go look for him, but I made it five seats before I sat down again and waited for him to find me.

We found out about 20 minutes later that I was 1st in my AG and 4th amateur. While many people thought this would happen and I dreamed it would, I almost started to cry I was so happy and surprised. I may do the workouts and get up at ungodly hours every morning, but I wouldn't be able to do this without the support of my family and friends.

So, thank you to my family and friends who listen to me babble on about triathlons, support me, get me balloons and bring me congratulations donuts :) Thank you to CTS's Lindsay Hyman for coaching me, loaning me her awesome Aquasphere wetsuit and always being there when I have a ridiculous question. Thank you to Powerbar for the fueling products, Cyclelops for keeping me dialed in on the bike and Swim H20 audio for making swimming fun again.