Rhoto IM Florida 70.3

Sweet!  Another great race under my belt.  2010 is off to a great start!

The race this weekend was at DisneyWorld, that place is HUGE!  There are some many different parks and resorts and things to do.  I am amazed at how much of the roads they were able to have closed for the race!  Funny thing about the roads is that you can end up driving and driving and the place you want to go is RIGHT THERE, but you just can't seem to get to the place.  For example, my hotel was about 8min from the race start but it took me over 30min to get there race morning :)  Anyways, on to the race...

The night before the race, I layed down around 8:00pm and felt pretty tired and was hopeful I'd fall right asleep, and I did.  However at 10pm, I jolted awake and was up for the rest of the night!  I think my body thought it was supposed to be nap time and wasn't ready for a full nights rest.  With a 6:20 race start, I wanted to be up a little before 4:00am (yep, 2:00am in Colorado!)...so when I finally fell back asleep at 2:30, it wasn't too long before I heard my alarm.  Despite the non-sleepage night, I woke up excited, energized and ready to race: Bring it ON!

I showed up at transition to find my Zipp Disc with a flat (we'd checked our bikes into transition the night before)...fun, fun. I was pretty calm and collected about the whole situation, found the race mechanic, and handed my wheel off to him...he got me all set up and race ready, THANK YOU!  Did a bit of a run to loosed up the legs and then headed down to the swim start.  We weren't able to do a swim warm-up, so I did a good dry-land warm-up for the swim and was ready to go!

The cannon went off and into the water the women went!  I had a super fast start and was able to jump on Sara McLarty's feet for a little bit.  I hung on for as long as I could and then settled into my own pace and rhythm.  About half-way through the swim, I realized how warm the water was...man, if the water was this warm, it could turn into a hot day!  I exited the water about 1min down from Sara and had a good lead on the rest of the girls thanks to my TYR Sayanora SpeedSuit!

I jumped on my Blue Triad and my legs were feeling strong, yeah.  Coach Lance and I had a good race plan in place and I knew if I went out and executed then I was going to have a good day.  I was patient and consistent on the ride and focused on nutrition and hydration since it was hot and humid.  I loved the ride...the best part was the few times we'd pass by huge Welcome signs that said: 'Where Dreams Come True'...those were my reminders to make my dreams come true on the race course :)   Leanda caught me around 30miles and then I stayed with her into T2.  I had fast transition and was out on the run first!

The run was 3 loops and almost half of it was on a grassy field.  I took it out conservative but fast and my legs felt good.  Leanda came by me right at the start and I just wanted to keep her in sight and hopefully reel her back in.  She extended her lead to about 1:20 on lap one...and then I had it down to about 45sec towards the end of lap 2...and then the heat got to me!  My legs felt good and wanted to keep running fast...but my body had a different idea!  The last few miles I switched from race mode to survival mode...and boy was I happy to see the finish line!  Another 2nd place finish (to another World Champion: Leanda Cave)....I think now its time for me to be on TOP of the podium!

Thanks to Rhoto, Ironman, Race Director Tom Zeibart, all of the wonderful volunteers out there on the course keeping us safe and cool, and everyone else who helped make the weekend a success!   Also a huge THANK YOU to my sponsors: TYR, Blue Bikes, Lifesport, Powerbar, Oklahoma Spine Hospital, and Ranch Foods Direct.  Congrats to everyone who raced this weekend!  See ya at the next one!

Magail and I at the awards...not sure what I'm doing :)

My new BLUE Machine!

I'm sitting here chillin' out at the SEA-TAC airport (yeah free wi-fi), headed down to Galveston to kick off my 2010 season.  Once again have my wheel bag (loaded up with a speedy set of Zipps) and have been getting all sorts of weird looks as people try to figure out what I'm carrying...have been asked if they were large cymbals and even if it was a super-sized Frisbee!

My super wheels belong to my NEW racing machine ...a BLUE Triad!!!

I got the bike just before heading up to Canada for my training camp, so it's only been ridden in Canada...time for some riding in the USA! Many thanks to the crews at CS Bikes in Colorado Springs and the Trek Bike Shop in Victoria for getting me set up and dialed in...I am feeling FAST!!!  And of course, thanks to Blue and Chance for making me part of the Blue Family.  Can't wait to represent ya!

Check out this weekends race at Ironman.com and look for me and my BLUE!

BabaGanouj & Gardening

Yes, I'm horrible for not updating by blog since, gasp, early February! So much has been going on I just don't know where to start :) So I'll just start with where I am right now...which is up in beautiful Victoria, BC. I've been up here for the past few weeks with my LifeSport teammates and Coach Lance. Training has been going so so so good...and with my first race coming up this weekend, Galveston 70.3, I am rip-roaring ready to go!

Today was a bit of a recovery day, so I ate some BabaGanouj (delicious!) and did some gardening with my homestay. John and Madeleine are the most wonderful couple ever, they have totally been spoiling me, THANK YOU! And their garden is amazing! Check out more pics here 

And here are tons of  PICTURES from Beacon Hill Park. Enjoy!

I'm a bit embarrassed....

USADA (US Anti-doping) knocked on my door bright and early this morning. I'll admit I wasn't the happiest camper in the world, especially since I couldn't sleep last night and was up past 3am! So most of you probably know about my shy bladder...however today's embarrassment did not come in the form of a shy bladder (although my test still took over 2hrs, 2:09 to be exact!)...it was in the form a a disastrous apartment!

The whirlwind of my life recently has left me without much free time, so what gets shifted to the very bottom of the list? Yep, cleaning. Actually not even talking about cleaning here, more just picking up and straitening. I think Alex (her first time to visit) was in totally shock! I would be too if I walked into someone's place to be welcomed by this view:

I don't know how many times I apologized for the mess...
Anyways, thought I'd share with the world the current status of my apartment. As you can see, it does not resemble that of the typical obsessive-compulsive, Type A triathlete. If anyone knows of a cleaning lady that would love to sponsor me, send her my way!

The lovely kitchen....

I think I need another bike to drape some clothes on...

The washer has been broken for over 1mth...will they ever get us the part delivered in one piece, I hope so!

How do I get any work done?

Okay, now that I've embarrassed myself and my parents! to cyberspace and not just USADA...I better go start cleaning, oh wait, I've got to ride first :)