Lifetime Fitness Ad

Pretty exciting...this ad for the Lifetime Fitness Series has been running the past few month in Triathlete Magazine. Yep, that's me and my speedy Aquaman leading out of the water! I'll be racing in the last two races of the series: LA and Dallas.

5430 Race

What a GREAT race!!! A humongous THANK YOU to Barry and Jodee for all their hard work over the years to make 5430 Sports so awesome! I love all of your races and appreciate all the time and energy you have put into them...and there is so, so much behind the scenes work that we don't even know about too. And once again, the awards were Fabulous! As you can see from my award, I ended up 4th...but let's not get ahead of ourselves :)

Race morning started off a bit hectic, as I rolled out of the Boulder Twin Lakes Inn (Thanks Binesh!) in the complete darkness...I realized my disc was rubbing my frame. And it wasn't an easy wheel swap that I needed to make...I had to change my casettee from my HED Jet disc to my super speedy HED Jet 6; and also change out the race tire and tube. Randy made sure I stayed calm and took plenty of deep relaxing breaths! I reached the transition area and could start to feel the excitement of the race scene...it was going to be a fun day. I got my transition area all ready to go and headed out for a short run before heading down to the water for a quick swim warm-up. Before I knew it, it was Game ON!

The gun sounded and I took off. All of the pros started together...so I tried to find some good feet. I didn't have my normal spunk and start speed and was not in the best position around the first bouy. I put my head down and swam up to third position behind Timmy and Joanna. As we rounded the second bouy, I could see that Timmy was starting to get a gap, so I put my head down again and sprinted in hopes of finding his feet. Well, I never quite made it to his feet, but I did come out of the water as the top woman and 2nd out of ALL the pros! As I tried to get my bike out of the rack, my back wheel was stuck on something, so I ended up sending things flying every which way...but still got out on the bike course first.
The bike course was 2 loops, the first loop we were pretty much out there on our own, but the second lap was a completely different story as there were age-groupers everywhere! I felt pretty good and tried to keep my pace steady, with hard efforts uphill and even harder downhill. But for some reason, my legs weren't clickin along quite like usual and I got passed by ALOT of girls. I think I ended up coming into T2 in 8th place. And my entrance into T2 was comical as my shoe flew off my pedal when I took it off, so I had to 180, go back pick it up, and since I didn't want to waste more time putting it back on, I just stuck it in my mouth, yummy! And once again as I racked my bike, I ended up causing bikes to go tumbling every which direction, no idea what my deal was with those racks! I headed out on the 2 lap run and had to take a pee break right away...I actually had to pee while on the bike but just couldn't seem to let it go :) guess that is something I'll have to work on.

I got my head focused and decided it was time to run some girls down. I actually ran my way back up to forth, which I was pleased with. My run split was not indicitive of what I'm capable of, but I'll take it for the day. So all in all, a solid day, with lots of lessons learned, and a great result against a field stacked with numerous world champions. Congrats to everyone who races and thanks for the challenging competition!

During the race, my new coach, Lance Watson (more to come on this in another blog) and I decided to try a different nutrition plan. I ended up taking in 9 gels on the course and LOTS of caffiene...well LOTS for me! As a non-caffiene person, I feel the effect of small amounts, so the 300mg during the race hit me hard post race. I had so much energy and ended up having tons of fun handing out water and gatorade to the racers still racing...and also doing a bit of dancing!

Bike and Run photos provided by David Young. Thanks David!

5430 RACE

Raced the Boulder 5430 today (half-ironman distance)...had tons of fun!!! Race report to come tomorrow...just wanted to post some pictures of my FUN race kit, which was a HUGE hit! Thanks SPLISH!!!!!

The Best Homestays Ever!!!!

Wow! I am so lucky! I have been blessed with the best homestays ever...and not just one of them, but FOUR in a row. Yes, that's right, 4 in a row...I have been traveling like crazy lately, basically I've been on the road since June 11th. So this blog is to thank everyone who has opened their homes up to me...and then hopefully I'll be following up with some good stories from my travels!!!

First up, the Summers! What an awesome family!!! I stayed with Jamie and Brett and their three kids: Taylor, Perry, and Ryan for the Eagleman 70.3 race. They spoiled me with good food (my favorite: home-made noodles from Bella Luna!), a comfy bed, and a fun time. I really enjoyed hangin out with them and I even played some guitar hero! The girls all helped out at the race and it was so cool to have my own cheering squad. And rumor has it...there are some new triathletes to be in the family, good luck ya'll! Oh, I also need to get that picture of us from you, so I can post it here :)

After the race I headed towards Washington DC where my next race was. Fellow pro, Margie Shapiro and her family, Brendan, Molly, and Will let me stay with them for a few days. While staying with them, Margie pointed me in the right direction for all my swimming, biking, and running. I was amazed at all the bike and run trails, community pools, and rec centers. I had a wonderful time hanging out with them and am amazed by everything Margie gets done in a day--training, coaching, keeping up with her two energetic kiddos, and owning 7 running shops! Check out their Potomac River Running stores.

On Friday I moved into the Team USA hotel in Downtown Washington DC for the ITU World Championship Series Race. Then following the race, I had an early morning flight out to Des Moines, for my 3rd race in three weeks, and my 3rd homestay. I arrived to very HOT weather, thank goodness Coach Mike likes his house to feel like Antarctica...it made my workouts in the 109-heat-index weather bearable since I knew I would be welcomed home by a blast of cold air! I had quite the set-up for the entire week: the whole basement to myself, plenty of room to chill out and relax. I also got caught up on tons of movies, thanks to Redbox. I mostly watched chick flicks to save Randy from the cheesiness...the best was Confessions of a Shopaholic, also caught He's Just Not That Into You, Bride Wars, The Code, Gran Torino, and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, yah movies! I also got to make some delicious Puppy Chow with Mike's kids and they kept me laughing every night.

After the HyVee race, I made a pit stop in Colorado Springs and then headed up to Canada for a training camp (more on that to come.) A HUGE thank you goes out to my fantastic homestay in Victoria, Theresa & Sean. The HUGE thank you because it was such a last minute trip and they found out they would be keeping me for 3-4 days on Saturday and I arrived on Sunday...and I stayed a bit longer than expected...as I was there for 17days!!! They loved my Oklahoma accent and laughed at my misconception of Canada's miserable weather...but then again I was in the 'Mediterranean of Canada.' I also got to visit their CrossFit gym...which was totally cool. I would have loved to jump into a workout, but knowing I would be using muscles that I usually don't...which means I would be sorer than sore in funky spots for days...I declined. We also ate Sushi a few times, yum yum! And we tried to fit all three of our heads into a self-portrait taken with a phone:

Okay, so one more homestay to mention. I know, I said four above...but there was actually five. Many thanks to Carolyn, whose house I took over during the day between workouts. She was nice enough to open her house up to Justin and then I showed up too! We had many great laughs and good times...and yummy treats that she spoiled us with! Thanks so much Carolyn!

So now, I'm back in Colorado Springs for a short time. This weekend I'll be racing the 5430 race in Boulder and on the way up I'll be making a pit stop at Angela and Dan's, which means I get to see my precious niece Annie!

THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU to everyone! Without your generous hospitality and suppport I wouldn't be able to keep racing like I am. And you all have an open invitation to come visit and stay with me! Hope to see you soon :)