Fuel of Champions!

I was going to write a post about training last weekend now that I have my dexterity back, but James already did it for me over on his blog. Just picture what he did, and then me hanging off the back somewhere. Seriously, for 13+ hours on the bike and 3 hours running over the weekend, my view did not change- it was either Dirk, Trevor

, or James' butt and I was proud to just hang on and stare at their nice calves. I could probably go into A LOT of detail about the intracacies of each ones backside...

Since my training recap is done for me, I thought I'd drop a note of "what it takes", nutritionally, to hang on a wheel for 7.25 hours and 8300 feet of climbing (with a 3500yd swim before and knowing I had an 8 mile t-run after)...and stay in a good mood all day long (note, boys, this is SATURDAY i'm writing about, not Sunday...I know my positivity was "compromised" at points in the rain...)

I started the day with breakfast (1/2 cup oatmeal, piece of gluten free toast with Nuttzo) and then opened the floodgates :) on the ride once we got to Ramona and never stopped....

water

3 servings G2 (60 cal)
1 bag baked lays (most of bag-150)
1 purefit bar-almond crunch (220)
1 peanut buddy natures path granola bar (minus a bite- 120)
1 snickers (270)
1 fun size snickers (70)
1 big bite Dirk's cinnamon roll (maybe 100)
1 banana (90)
1 Starbucks double shot vanilla (200)
diet coke
= 1280 calories... for 7.25 hours thats 176 cal/hour

Surprised it doesn't read "8 perfectly measured scoops of Ironman Perform with 6 Powergels blah blah blah ?" For me, I have one or two rides where I practice my race nutrition (which is Ironman Perform drink & clif bloks) and I really like these things...But I also like a little party in my mouth and just buying along the way what I feel like eating. Keeps it interesting. It's also interesting that although I don't count calories while I'm riding at all, if I ever lay it out like I just did, It's nearly ALWAYS in the 150-200 calorie/hr range for any ride over 4 hours. My body knows what it wants.

Don't worry, nutritionists! After all that crap, we went out for huge salads at Lotus Cafe for dinner, so I definitely got my 5-a day. Finished the night off with dessert of greek yogurt with chia seeds and some bonus peanut butter puffins mixed in there...to try to restore some semblance of glycogen for the 5 hr ride and 2 hr run on tap the next day...

phew....taper? are you near yet? i'm looking for you!!!

So....what are your training "treats"...anything I'm missing here? do you always do with race nutrition or like to have a little fun? 

Monday Runday

When Ironman gets close, sometimes Dirk actually requests that I do a long run. When this happens,  he floats it over to Monday after a long weekend of riding & running.

Today was an exercise in mental toughness. Last week may have been my biggest week ever, and ended with a 3 day trainfest in Tucson where we rode 230 miles and ran 16  in 3 days...

But in order to finish the huge 10-day block, I had to put the cherry on top with a 2hrs 30 run. This will be my only one over 2 hrs before IM Texas, so I was cool with sucking it up.

Today went like this.... 5 am wake up, 6 am masters swim, 7:45-3:45 psychologizing with the kiddies at work, 4- 6:30 RUN!

I was going to run home from work (for  little point-to-point action), and running with my phone stinks, but I couldn't wrap my head around being phoneless all night.

Since I brought it, I decided to take a couple of pictures along my merry way...

mile 3, climbing up to Del Mar

Same place, where I came from

Cardiff...Who stole my Tucson Sunshine?

The flowers brightened things up on the way to Encinitas

Storm a-brewin'?

7 miles to go!


Long day, time for bed! In case you are wondering, I just cruised along, never looking at pace or HR until the end...Avg pace was just over 8 min./mi and avg HR was exactly 120. Some may call this lazy. I call it building my musculoskeletal system and creating capillaries. 

Smashing

Today was smashing in more ways than one. A leisurely wake up call straight into a seven hour long smashfest. Close to 6 hours and over 105 miles riding with team Tucson (Hillary & Maiki- better known as the German Cycling Machine)...We rode out to Kitt Peak. It's about 40 miles to get to the base and then 12 miles up up up...We let the boys ride ahead and used the 12 miles as a gossip/therapy session which made it fly by. Much more entertaining then Lemmon!

The bottom of Kitt Peak

Maiki, Hillary, and my finger...near the top. 

Seriosuly? my pose is ridiculous. I apologize.

We got home in the heat of the day (98 degrees!) and set out for a 70 minute t-run. This was not one of my finer or more beautiful moments of running as I slogged along quite slowly. But, for some reason, through the hills, and heat, and dehydration- I was still loving it! 

Then, just when I most needed it, the Ice man delivered! Thanks, CAT! Ice baths & naps for all!

We topped off the night with a perfect dinner al fresco at Maynard's Kitchen. 

Keepin' it euro style...Espresso for dessert.

Ok, it's past 10 pm AGAIN. 3 nights in a row is for sure a record for me. Tomorrow is one last ride then home again. We "forgot" to swim this trip, but the riding & running make up for it, right?

Tucson take 2!

Back in February, James and I had plans to roll out to Tucson for a few days to visit with Hillary & Maiki and log some quality cycling miles. Last minute, plans were cancelled and I moped a bit, but got over it by recruiting friends at home to play "camp".

Time for some spring break redemption! This week, James ended up being able to take a last minute day off and last night we made the trek out to T-town! This ends up being perfect timing as Ironman Texas is in 5 WEEKS!!! And it is going to be HOT HOT HOT. Good thing it's in the 90's out here...yee haw!

James gives T-Town 2 thumbs up. Or, he would if he wasn't holding his phone. 

Day 1 so far has been the best! First of all, I had the best night's sleep last night at the Biscay-Twieselk Desert Oasis Resort & Spa. I may never leave.

When I woke up this morning, fully rested, we all enjoyed some coffee and computer time..And then, off to the trails! James, Hillary and I hit some of Tuscon's finest (and rockiest) paths. And within 10 minutes I took a mega digger. Blood everywhere, a couple minutes to collect myself and we were back on track :)

Double mint!

After the run, we hit the casa for some quick breakfast and then James and I drove off in search of Mt. Lemmon! We'd been hearing of the 25 mile climb for years.It. was. awesome. And REALLY long. Since I climbed alone (James went ahead), I had to entertain myself, which gets old at about mile 18... But we had perfect weather for the climb and the descent.

At one spot on Lemmon looking down

At the top, we skipped the famous cookie cabin....I thought I had spied some frozen yogurt at the bottom where we parked our car.

I WAS RIGHT!

It was called KONABeri..Hello! I had to have some  :)

James couldn't resist...

Back at the Oasis, we whipped up a Vegan feast for our hosts: Butternut squash & black bean enchiladas with avocado/mango/spinach salad. good times and now it's past my bedtime. These pros stay up late! Goodnight...more tomorrow if I'm not too hobbled to type. It's going to be a big day!

A day in the spring break life...

I'll spare you yesterday's glamour of passport renewal, the dentist, two trips to the grocery store, laundry, blah blah blah and get to the good stuff....but first, say "AH!"

Yes, I really did that when the hygenist wasn't looking!

That was yesterday, back to TODAY! Today was, for me, what spring break is all about. It's no secret that I take any 3-day weekend or week off of work to fit in a training camp-like block. This works for me because it let's me pile on the miles and then when it's back to work, I rest and don't worry about having limited week-day training time. On typical work weeks, I probably work out less than people think I do. I do some targeted intervals and such, but no long monster sessions. Just typical stuff. I save the big days for weekends and other days off. 

Today was a goodie and pretty typical for one of my bigger days of "camp".

I slept in a bit (6am) and then was in the pool by 6:30am. I missed the warm-up and hopped straight into 5x200s on my base interval, then a broken mile of 3x100, 2x200, 300, 2x200, 3x100, a couple 50s kick and then 1000 straight pull w./ paddles and a buoy by myself. Knocked out 3700scy in just under an hour, hit the jacuzzi for 3 minutes to warm up, showered at the Y, threw on my bike kit,  and hit the road.

I had a cycling date with Julie, Brian, Noko,  & Lynn out in the mountains of east county. I can ride and run from my house by the coast, but there are about a billion stoplights and lots of traffic to get anywhere decent. On most days, we still ride from home for convenience. But, when I have the time, the trek to east county (about 30 minute drive) is well worth it. I can ride for 100 miles without ever unclipping. Today we had a climbfest- over 6,000ft in just under 4 hours including 2 hour-long climbs. Ooch! But, wow...crisp fresh air, open roads, and great company made the miles fly.

Skyline Truck Trail...So pretty you forget how much your legs burn..almost.

When we got back to the cars, Julie and I headed out for a 30-minute t-run before the Starbucks "reward" at the finish. Ahhhhhh......

It was already almost 2pm, so I hopped in the car and headed to RU Sports Performance Center for a strength session, making a quick pit stop to pick up something pretty for my weekend host- more on that later! I was pretty worked from the 3 earlier workouts, but determined to fit in a good strength session before heading out of town for the weekend. I lift 2 times per week at RU and really try not to skip any except for race weeks.

It was mentally challenging to buck up for this last workout, but I'm  glad I went. A great session of pain made just for me...and Alexa, whoever that is...she wasn't there when I was.

Can u crack the RU code? Thanks, Bry, for taking it a lil easier on me today! 

After the RU beat down, I was HUNGRY! Slater calls me "volume monster" on my break camps (though my volume is nothing compared to his Ultraman & epic adventure races)- and it was time to feed the monster! James and I are making a push to fit a lot of plant power into our diets over the next six weeks, so I was torn. I was craving frozen yogurt, and well, I had worked out for over six hours! BUT, we had a deal to try to make at least one green shake per day and I hadn't had mine yet. I WANTED frozen yogurt, but I felt like I SHOULD have the green protein shake.

So, at the advice of Beth on twitter, I decided to go for both :)

A tiny yogurt to get me through the Interstate 5 North "parking lot" of afternoon traffic.

And then a green monster in the Vitamix when I got home.

Almond milk, L-glutamine, hemp protein, local strawberries, kale, beet greens, spirulina, chlorophyll, and (horror!) a packet of splenda.. 

More gray than green I suppose

 Now, I've got to deal with the aftermath of a 4 workout day

No room for passengers in this front seat...Non-caffeinated beverages need not apply

So that's it, a razzle dazzle day in the life when I'm off work. Rinse, repeat as necessary and you've got yourself a home-grown training camp! 

Once I unpack today, I need to re pack for a weekend of riding, riding, more riding, and some running out in the Arizona desert...Next update from Tucson!

not so Gran Fondo

Sunday was the Gran Fondo San Diego...a first class cycling event in SD the way the euros do it...lots of style, a little flash, and lots of wine & prosecco. The event is sponsored by Colnago bicycles, and as Colnago is Nytro Women's bike sponsor...we got the VIP treatment. 2 years ago, this was my first century ever! (I just re-read that post and laughed as I said, " also decided that for me, century rides in general are like disneyland. it's fun to go, like once a year. its an all day event, you'll be tired and hot, but its worth it. however, who wants to go to disneyland a couple times a month? i really admire those who sit their butts in the saddle for that long week after week...but i'll admire from afar." Not quite sure I stuck to that plan! 

Back to this year....
The day started on the line, leading out the Ducatis & Ferraris.....

Vrooom! 

Kristin ready to chase that Ferrari

molly, me, kristin, julie, & sara ready to roll! 

All was grand and going smoothly until mile 8-ish. A launched water bottle over some train tracks caused Julie to go down HARD. A bloody nose, aching head, and some killer road rash (that looked way worse in person)...and she got back on the bike

One of the many battle wounds she sustained. Worst part was her pretty new kit was in shreds!

Seconds later, Polly's rear tire literally CAME OFF. and was hanging by the chain. She skidded all over the place. We thought all was well until 5 miles later, she flatted. Turns out she had shredded her tire and needed a whole new tire. Julie's hubby John to the rescue (how many rides has he saved? The guys has EVERYTHING) and he had a whole spare tire for Polly. 

We finally made it to the rest stop at the Olympic Training Center, when Polly & Lori both realized their rears were flat. Seriously? Luckily, super mechanic Greg was there and changed them quick and good. However, we are still only one hour into a 6 hour ride people! and that one hour had turned into two hours. 

After that it was smooth sailing. We climbed up, up, up, Honey Springs all the way to the top of the Great Western Loop- 6300 feet of up. I was so excited to descend and have down/flat for the last half of the ride. Oh, it certainly was my lucky day- we were treated to 50 miles of STRONG headwind heading home. I hung tough and even pulled several groups of people (yes, me! ) around Otay Lakes.

Actually, scratch that...I hung tough until the last 10 miles. Then, Polly & I weren't tired, we weren't bonking, we were just over it. so we soft pedaled and gossiped until the finish. 

107 miles later and I sure was happy to see the VIP tent with plenty food & booze. 

Sara....don't mind if I do...

A long day in the saddle, but another bail of hay in that Texas barn. And in the end, it took a while (over 8.5 hours "elapsed" time for 6.5 something hours ride time), but everyone made it home (mostly) in one piece. be safe out there on your bicycles!

Race Day Magic

I definitely didn't coin the phrase and am pretty sure I stole it from Rachel before the Las Vegas Marathon. I've always believed good things can happen on race day, I'm just glad she gave me a name for it:

RACE DAY MAGIC

Race day magic happens at the intersection of fitness & focus. As JP said on twitter, it's "the beauty of a well executed taper combined with mental toughness." He NAILED IT! The thing about RDM, though, is that it's like Santa Clause. It only comes to those who believe! RDM is different than confidence. You can be confident, and still blow it.It's more than confidence. Race Day Magic comes to those who are physically prepared, but also mentally prepared to win. Those who have executed a training plan, and know that their performance has the potential to be the confluence of every workout in their preparation. Those who believe in (and have benefited from) RDM know that there is no single workout that tells you how you will race, or indicates that you can hold XX watts for your ironman bike split. RDM may not come to those who put too much stock in one fast paced t-run or a flicker of excellence in a swim set. It comes to those who slog through a painful 90 minute t-run after a long ride, but KNOW they will hold a pace more than a minute faster per mile during Ironman. It comes to those who put in the work week after week. They may not be winning workouts (they're too tired), but they're the ones that are at masters swim like clockwork, and have few excuses for missed sessions. You'll see their weak spots in training, and they may have days where they just need to take it "easy". But they get it done. 

On race day, RDM comes to those who believe that they have done the work, and the work will converge in a performance that is above what they have shown in any single workout. They may have done workouts with MORE work, but no work as QUALITY as what will magically appear on race day. RDMers know how to taper and taper hard. They didn't put in months of work to go in tired and feeling heavy. They know that the RDM can only appear to a rested body and mind....Oh, the mind! RDM will come when you sit there on race morning knowing that there is nothing more you could have done to prepare, and when the gun goes off, the party will begin! These are the relaxed people in transition, chatting easily with twinkle in their eye. They know that the RDM is about to begin. Its a special thing that I hope you get to experience!

My Race Day Magic is only possible because I have faith that my equipment and my body will not interfere with execution of a good day..I have to thank those that made my RDM possible on Saturday at California 70.3:

Geek shot! For my parents :)

The body...

Dan the A.R.T. man keeps me working and irons out the creaks and niggles before they every become creaks and niggles. While Bryan and the Rehab United crew give me the strength and the core to keep good form to the finish. Nuttzo nourishes me with the "good fats" during training and Powerbar keeps me truckin' on the course. 

The gear...

Nytro makes their Nytro Women feel like triathlete princesses decked for the ball in Betty Designs..From Giro to Oakley to Colnago to Squadra to Reynolds to SCAPE. We're set up like pros. And from someone on a teacher's salary with 4 years of grad school loans, I truly truly appreciate (And wouldn't be able to compete without) the support. 

Zoot is a major team sponsor, but one that is even more to me. For me, Zoot feels like home. Zoot's part of my triathlon family and I hope they always will be. When I talk about Zoot, I talk so passionately, it's like I own the company. I BELIEVE in their people, their mission, their SHOES, their compression, and more wholeheartedly. The shoes have carried me to many-a best run split and i train, race, AND recover in their compression. There is no product I stand behind more. 

My newest bevy of beauties. I chose the Ultra RACE 3.0 for O'side....good call...  

Thanks to this team for helping me live my dream and thank you for sharing in my race day magic..

Oh, and James and coach Dirk....my leading men. I tell you how much you mean to me all the time. There's not enough space in this little blog entry. Next time...

Did you get past the thank-yous? Well, thank YOU and now you deserve some pictures!

Post race with good friend and W45-49 CHAMPION (sub 5 by the way!) Julie Dunkle. A partner in crime for summer training for 70.3 & IM Worlds! 

Hunter, James, Me, & Tawnee (I think H & T should make out. cute, early 20's, total tri nerds...they're gonna love me for posting this :)) 

California 70.3

Saturday's california 70.3 was different for me this year than last year. last year, i wanted to break 5 hours. that was the goal. along the way, i won my age group and got a slot to Kona which was incredible, but changed the game for me this year. this year, i wanted to win. i wanted to get that slot again, but i also had the BIG goal of sharing the 30-34 podium with husband james. i was pretty sure that if he had the race he was ready for, that it would happen for him. that left me to hold up my end of the deal.....oh, the suspense...is it killing you :) ? or maybe just my crappy writing...

Brandy, Me, & Laura pre-dawn
 (please note my travel coffee mug- essential  for those long pre-race mornings)
thank you to Steve for this and the swim pic! 

pre-race this time was a completely different experience than last year. i had much more confidence in my preparation this year and i knew that i was more than ready based on the training Dirk had us completing over the past 3 months. my only worry was that i was over-prepared and not rested enough. since james' wave went off at 7:11 and mine was not until 7:33, i had more than enough time to socialize, chat, and get my stuff together. waiting in the corral, i knew what i was getting into. and i knew i had to execute a near perfect race to catch the speedsters in my age group. i think i am closing the gap with my swim and bike abilities in comparison to the girls i am racing, but i'm still not quite there.

James setting up his transition

My homegirl Kristin

i saw Brandy and spent a lot of corral time chatting with her which was awesome. Brandy is a veteran and has accomplished so much in road triathlon but also mountain biking and all kinds of other crazy stuff. for her, this was just another day to have fun out there and her easy attitude rubbed off on me. we waited in line for more than 30 minutes until our wave start (wave 18) and by then i was just really relaxed and excited! the music was pumping and we hit the water and it felt WARM compared to last year. 59 degrees is nothing to write home about, but it felt warmer for sure and the air outside had already  lost it's chill. it was shaping up to be an excellent day for racing in southern california.

my goal for the swim was to swim hard the whole time (d'uh!). i really think i did this, and i didn't make any major mistakes on the swim that i could see. the course felt long (i'm sure it wasn't!) and it got choppy the further out you went. swimming around tons of floaters from previous waves was mildly annoying, but everyone in your wave has the same thing, so c'est la vie. what i DID love was that i was warm in my new Zoot Prophet, and as its so much more flexible than older models, for the first time ever, i had NO shoulder fatigue. oddly, my hip flexors were really sore and barking...not sure why (except that i'm sure it has something to do with my kick). anyhow, exited the water in 30:49. one minute faster than last year, but still no sub 30! d'oh! i will keep trying. no matter that my husband has been back in the water for only 6 months and swam 28 minutes...i will still try to believe that eventually my hard work will pay off :). my swim ended up 10th in my age group (fastest girl was 27 minutes, so i wasn't too far behind)

Dear goggles, please stay on!!

T1 (can't get it to rotate!) No, i don't know how to mount w/ my shoes on the bike. rookie!

would be cooler if it were upright... thanks TCSD for the photos, though! 

anywho....on to THE BIKE! my goal here was to RACE THE BIKE!! i kept saying in my head, "race the bike race the bike, this is a bike race, this is a bike race". i rode like there was no run. the first half of the bike, i was thinking to myself, "i'm killing it!" i was holding over 24/25 miles an hour and i was passed by just one girl in my age group and one other female. at the halfway point (28 miles in), i saw my time was 1:16, what?!?! visions of a low 2:30s bike split danced in my head. then i turned right. WHOMP. let the wind and the hills begin! i gave myself the "everyone is faced with the same thing" self-talk and pressed on, trying to maintain a high heartrate and (hopefully) good power. [i got a powermeter last week! more on that later, but i decided not to look at it during the race, but i collected the data so we can look at that to get IM Texas training even more dialed...] the first big hill came and i felt good climbing except for my left calf locked up almost completely, making climbing out of the saddle near impossible. so i sat and spun up. as i crested, Tawnee came up and passed me...and i made it my mission to not let her get away. we cheered for each other and motivated each other to keep it on the gas. at times, she got 2 or 3 hundred yards away, but i always kept her blue top in sight. a couple of times, i caught up and passed her, and then she would do the same later on. was nice to have some friendly company out there and DAMN, miss tawnee's got some serious bike legs now- rock it sista! she has improved SO much over the past year. i lost a LOT of the time i had banked on the first half- the winds were pretty crazy and the mix of cross and headwinds seemed a bit evil! i realized that a bike split in the 2:30s was not going to happen, but i really felt like i was riding well and racing my face off, so there was nothing else i could do. every time i wanted to let up, i thought of james and how he was out there racing HARD and tried to make myself focus

James lookin good. chicken is getting some swimmer arms! 

i said some little thank you prayers near the end of the bike to make it through without incident or mechanical. once you are off the bike and in your running shoes its all you. you can't blame it on a flat or a brake rub or anything but yourself.
i got off the bike in 2:45...four minutes slower than last year, and 8th bike split in my age group. meh. but i am a lot closer now to the top times than i used to be (the fastest bike split in my group was a 2:41).

so, i was apparently off my bike 6th in my age group- meaning i passed 5 on the bike (b/c i know one passed me). holla! i passed people! i did! i knew it was time to "do work" as james would say, but i was afraid that my quads were going to call in and take a personal day. i had really laid it out (for me!) on the bike and didn't know what i would have left. my first mile told me it may not be much. Dirk set a goal for me to run a 1:25 but i knew that was a little aggressive. i tried to keep the pace on my garmin around 6:30s but my legs were putting up a fight. i passed a few girls in my age group, 3 i think in the first 3 miles...at mile 4 or so, i saw caroline. she told me i was off the bike in 6th. doing the math, it looked like i probably had  2 more girls to catch. but you can never be sure. i passed one more girl on the second lap, my friend christine, who is a solid athlete. i know she has built some solid running skills over the past 2 years, so i thought she would come with me. instead, she graciously told me there was one more girl ahead. i thanked her and was stoked christine was having a good day (can't wait to see her crush it at vineman 70.3). after  i was closing in on the final 3 miles and this first place girl (jessica) was nowhere in sight, i came upon my good friend & teammate, julie, who was in the process of smashing her age group. julie had it all dialed in for me (what a friend! she had her own race to worry about and she was totally on top of the intel for me :) ). she said, "there is one girl in your age group up there. she's wearing blue and red." i asked, "can i catch her?" julie said, "yes". i really needed that confirmation as i was honestly about to throw in the towel- the race was almost over- i was 10 miles in and i was cooked. i didn't think i had much more push. as we neared the turn around, julie yelled up to me "she just passed"....and i realized she was less than a minute ahead. the mission. was. on. i ran a bit harder until she was within my distant sight and then i returned to my steady pace and focused on making her backside become bigger over time. i had 2+ miles and i knew there was time, not a lot, but hopefully enough. on the sidelines, Ben yelled, "Beth! James won his age group- your turn now!" YES! i was so stoked for james, but more than a little nervous that i couldn't close my end of the deal. on one of the last uphills, i crept up and passed jessica in a big move, hoping she wouldn't respond. i didn't look back until i couldn't run any harder, as i turned a corner, i glanced back and she was gone. in my head, i thought i had done it. i had run into first in the last miles and i was going back to KONA and with my husband! holy crap  holy crap holy crap. BUT, what if my friendly course scouts were wrong? i played a mind game, but then decided to just keep running my race and stay strong.

at mile 12.5, Jim Vance called out, "you're in second, go catch her." WHAT?!? i was really confused, but there was nothing i could do...except run my guts out the last mile in hopes of catching this phantom girl. i ran i ran i ran i ran. i crossed the finish line.

 i vomited profusely EVERYWHERE. it was all coke and water, but it was gross and more than i've ever thrown up in my life.

pre or post barf. wish it was mid-barf that would be awesome!
Thanks Kevin @ finishline multisport for the photo 

 my stomach had been aching the past 2 hours and i think it shut down somewhere near the end of the bike. (forgot to mention that i dropped my calorie bottle at mile 2 of the bike and relied on gels- which i never take). i think my stomach hated the gels and just stopped processing, but who knows. anyhow, i finished. they walked me over to coach dirk and james who were waiting. i hugged james while dirk looked up results on his ever-present ipad

Dirk & Laura- internetting at the finish! 

....and i was first in my age group and first amateur. wow. Jim was wrong (thanks, Jim! haha). I was happy for me, but more happy for james and the fact that we had done this together. all of our hard work paid off and he was going to race Kona for the first time and i get to go back to try to crack the top 10 in my age group.

results:
Swim (1.2 miles) 30:49
Bike (56 miles) 2:45:10
Run (13.1 miles) 1:26:48
Overall time: 4:47:09 - 1st Amateur, 1st AG, 15th OA w/pros

first time making the ironmanlive blog.. woo

ok, that's enough for now...i think i'll write another post that's less results-y and more final thoughts, post-race, aftermath, funny things,  thank-yous and such later, but i want to get this posted now. CHEERS and ALOHA!