Before the Ironman I wrote to you all that there is a difference between expectations, and hopes. My heart rate zones and my ability to execute a race were examples of my expectations. One of my strengths as a triathlete is my ability to execute, to race with a strong mind and to stay smart. I tend to not get wound up with those around me until it matters (at the end) and I seem to keep most mistakes to a minimum (famous last words).

I’ll admit, Kona was a “hope”. I thought it would take some magic because you just don’t know who will show up. You don’t know who will have an outstanding performance. I know what I can do, but I don’t know what others can do (despite my attempts at cyber stalking). So, getting a Kona slot either requires that you are just eons ahead of everyone, or that you have a little luck.

I tried to work hard during IMCDA at what I had control over. I tried to race with strength, determination, brains on the bike, and heart on the run. I wanted to race to my potential very badly. I wanted to see what I was made of, to learn more about my limits. I wanted to learn what Chuckie’s training had made me into. I was successful in those attempts.

I learned that I can take more than I think I can. You would think after running a 100 mile race that there would be no more surprises, but there were. I learned that I can run over the edge and not falter. Feelings of pain and panic can be talked away, settled down. I learned how to race certain parts without emotion, to just focus on the numbers and the effort and how I was feeling, to watch myself from a birds eye view, trying to stay outside of my emotions. I learned how to use my emotions and my desire to attain my goals to fuel myself onwards when my body was tired.

We are made of so much more than we think. When we want something really bad and we understand that it’s going to take everything we’ve got, and then some luck, it’s an opportunity. This race was an opportunity to race for my dreams and that I did. I consider it a “gift”, a “fortuity” to race for a Kona slot. Of all the participants, I would say 10% have a chance on a good day at competing well enough to race for a slot. Half of that 10% take themselves out of the running due to their own mistakes. Of the half that are left… well, those are the ones that should feel blessed at the opportunity to even give it a go. 2200 athletes were racing, 72 of us walked away with slots, 3.2%.

Riding with mom and Annie in Bend, OR.

It’s now 14 weeks until Kona. I will step on that line at Kona, and I will race my heart out. My mom asked a few nights back if I was going to “race” Kona, or just have fun. Last year before Canada I told her that if I made it to Kona I just wanted to enjoy it, have fun, soak up the experience.

This year I have a completely different outlook. I feel BLESSED to even have the OPPORTUNITY to start at Kona. There is no way I would squander that opportunity. Every time I race it could be my last, and I don’t take that thought lightly. So in 14 weeks, I will swim, bike, and run with everything I possess. Plus, Chuckie has made it abundantly clear that he will not coach someone to Kona as an afterthought. It’s go big or go home. No need to tell me twice!

Luckily, I have a few more weeks to get my head around “”Here we go again, round 2, ding ding”. Chuckie said I’m allowed to get fat, and be lazy for a little while longer. Although I’m itching to get started, I know that come 8-10 weeks from now I’ll be begging for mercy, so it’s important to step back, chillax, enjoy not training seriously for awhile. So, what’s a girl to do while she relaxes, why THE DEATH RIDE, of course!

In a couple days my dad and I head out for the infamous event called The Death Ride. I wanted to do this ride last year and didn’t get a chance, so I’m excited to be back this year. It’s 129 miles, with 15,000 feet of climbing. You make your way over 5 passes, and if you make all of them, you are provided the opportunity to purchase a cycling kit commemorating your cycling stardom. We’ll see about that!

Either way, I’m excited to get out for a long day in the saddle on my ornery little white road bike. She’s a spicy little specimen who has gotten herself into a fair amount of trouble. I’ve already had a few talks with her about behaving. It’s going to be just a mellow, soak up the rays, take my time, catered training event kind of day for me. Dad and I are camping a few days prior so we will get some time to sit by the campfire and chat. Good times!

Heading out of town I heard Troy cheering right away, his voice is booming, and I saw and heard my parents shortly afterwards. I had my Garmin in multisport mode and for some reason it wasn’t finding my heart rate monitor. Dang, what do I do, what do I do? Do I risk shutting down my watch and restarting it, thus no longer knowing what the time on the race clock is, or do I go without heart rate data? I hemmed and hawed over this. What to do, what to do? Finally I made a decision. I shut down the watch at mile 9 and I restarted it. Wha-Lah! I was now in business.

I had some great guidance from Chuckie on how to pace the bike leg and what sort of heart rate numbers I needed to stick with. I wanted to run well and so I strickly stuck to the plan. And you know, It was really nice. There is so much emotion starting off the bike in an Ironman. You have all the slower guy swimmers going crazy trying to catch up to where they think they should be. I saw people in the first 15 miles pushing so hard on their pedals. Like quads engaged serious hammering. Not me. I just got comfortable, settled into my heart rate range and tried to stay smooth as butter. At about 15 miles in I biked by this lady that was spectating and she said “Good girl, nice and smooth”. I almost felt stealthy.

I hit the hills on the first loop and I planned to stay in the saddle as much as I could, but the first really big one I ran out of gears and had to stand for a bit. No biggee. Its impossible to hit a groove through this section so I just stayed focused on my plan. The hills felt a lot better compared to when I was out training on them 5 weeks ago, but they were still uppity. My legs were definitely there, they showed up, they felt good. After you are through the hills there are more rollers and turns. I settled back into the plan and got myself back to town. Coming into town Mom and Dad were cheering up a storm. Then Trista and Sean were cheering in town, and Troy was on the outskirts with Annie.

I felt great going into loop two. I got passed by my high school ex-boyfriend. Hadn’t seen him since high school, so that was a bit interesting. He looked very strong, and I was still grovin’, doin’ my thing. I was surprised that I didn’t feel any pull to go with him, but I rarely do with the young dudes, I just expect them to be stronger on the bike, then I try to run them down later.

I grabbed fresh bottles out of special needs and got on my way. I knew I was in a good place, but like I’ve been told many times, the race just begins at mile 90 on the bike. Getting through the hills the second time was good. I allowed myself more time standing, which I enjoy. I passed a friend on the course who had a fantastic swim. I had a friend pass me. I met Darryl who is coached by Chuckie too. This was the first time we met, but we instantly knew who each other was. My mom had put some chalk on the course. It said Grr and I knew it was for me. There was Grr written like 8 times with “Go Son”. That rocked.

At mile 90 I assessed myself. I felt good. I was working hard, but my legs were in a good place and my head seemed to be in a good spot as well. I was computing my time and I noticed that I had slowed a bit in the second lap. I had maintained the upper end of the heart rate range for the second lap, whereas I was in the lower end for the first lap. The wind had picked up quite a bit as well. We had a headwind back into town and I figured with 22 miles left it was time to go. So I picked it up here got as aero as possible and just stuck to it. I hammered all the way back to transition and by my calculations had biked the same time as Canada. My official time was: 5:45:08, or 19.5mph

I would say that this bike course, for me, was a bit more challenging than Canada. It could be that this Ironman is on the earlier side of the season and that we have had an especially hard winter in Colorado that has thwarted more than a few rides. Before Canada I just had so much riding under my belt. However, I was super pleased with the effort. I had to work hard those last miles, but I choose to. I enjoyed having a strict pacing plan for the bike, thus allowing me to feel pretty rockin’ on the run. I think that there is more in me too. I think with another Ironman build I will see my numbers get better and better.

My fueling was spot on, lots of little sips throughout. I went through 3 flasks of EFS liquid shot that were mixed in a water bottle. I went through 1 bottle of EFS. I went thrrough 3 bottles of NUUN with my EFS bottles. I had a few other various goodies that I stashed in my bento box along the way as well.

Ironman transitions are the greatest, especially T2. It’s so cool to just hand off your bike to someone and run to the tent. This transition was really quick for me. I threw on my compression socks, and my hat. I grabbed my Nathan waist belt that had some nutrition in it, and grabbed my hand bottle and I was out of there. Now, had I raced a smart enough race to run to my capabilities?

I see Ironman in three stages. The swim is where you need to be strong and set the stage for the day. The bike is where you can screw up your race or you can set yourself up for a great run. The run is where is you can cave mentally, or you can stand up to the demons in your head.

To me, the swim is all ability, the bike is all brains, and the run is all heart.

Before I get into it. I just have to thank all the new faces that I met out there this weekend. You became my Iron-family. New York, Punk Rock, Smelly, Chris, Goofy, you all know who you are. I loved meeting you and being a small part of your experiences. Good times!

Also, Troy, you are a rock star. I love you to death, baby. Your cheers were BOOMING and I heard them all. Thanks for tending to the munchkin, and thanks for being the hot-to-trot hubby that you are. Mom and Dad are always so supportive. All the pictures are taken by my dad and there are some great ones!

My sponsors are the best evah, my goods worked well, I did not bonk, and I will be sending each of them sand from KONA!

Finally, Chuckie! I asked if he thought he could train me to get to Kona and he said yes. 6 months later I’m sitting here with a Kona slot. Thank you coach.

Annie armed with her vuvuzela!

Well, here we go folks. Have you ever swam 2.4 miles with 2200 other friends?

Ironman morning is pure magic. With 900 Iron-virgins in the field of 2200 the anticipation and nerves is tangible. And it’s not just the newbies, I myself was quite nervous. I was more nervous than IM Canada and I kept telling myself, “Sonja, it’s just a really long day, no need to get nervous” But I couldn’t help it. How do you make nerves go away when they are…just there. The nerves hit the night before and lasted until the minute the start cannon went off. I tried distraction. I tried rationalization.

I had decided to line up on the right side of the start line, similar to Canada but for a counter clockwise loop. Wow! I’m not sure if there was any safe place to line up but clearly my spot was no bueno. Right from the cannon I was getting hit, kicked, swam over, swam under, you name it. There were bodies everywhere and they just didn’t let up. I would poke my head out to look for some open space and there just wasn’t any. I understood for the first time how people feel when they think they are going to die in an Ironman swim. It’s scary. I’m swallowing water, and there is a chop out on the lake to add to it. I couldn’t swim the line I was anticipating, I became just one of the masses. Getting boxed in was the hard part because you had nowhere to go. What can you do?

So I put my nose down and I battled through it. I arrived at the first turn buoy to see hundreds of my closest friends right there with me, trying to turn around a buoy. There was no space, people were completely stopped, like someone was herding cattle. It was insanity. I finally managed to climb my way around that buoy only to be confronted with another turn buoy not 100 yards away. Again, salmon spawning, or possibly sardines swimming in a pack is what we all looked like trying to get around that buoy. For the way back I actually went to the inside of the buoys and was able to find some space and some challenging feet. I stuck to those feet like glue, trying hard not to lose them.

The swim at Ironman Coeur d’Alene is a two loop course. I exited the water on those fast feet and glanced at my watch while running over the timing mat. 32:30. Sweet! I just wanted to keep that up. Before I dove back in for loop #2 I glanced at all the people in the water ahead of me. There were a lot of them. But in I went, ready for another dose. I expected to have less body contact this lap and it was slightly better, but not much. I encountered an odd phenomenon that happened several times. I would find myself a nice set of feet to hop onto, I’de be swimming along and then BOOM, someone would come from the side and body slam me off the feet. What the? It was odd, happened three times. I wanted to fight back, but I just swam on and found another set of feet.

Another highlight was when I felt somebody on my feet. No bigee, like I’ve said before “Join the party”. But this person had not cut their nails and they repeatedly scratched the bottom of my feet. Ouch! I was hoping that wouldn’t come back to haunt me.

The second lap we experienced much rougher water. The chop had increased quite a bit and it felt like a boat had driven very close to you very fast. It had most of us tumbling sideways and only breathing to our right. I got motion sickness for the first time ever in the water. The two mix1’s I had that morning kept coming up into my mouth. Finally, up it came and I threw up in the water. And oddly, this didn’t really phase me. It seemed like something that could obviously happen and I puked and swam on. I did worry a little that my tummy would still be upset on the bike because of it, but those thoughts were momentary. Typing all that right now makes me feel hard core.

The turn buoys on the second lap were just as evil as the first with kicks to the head, stomach, and back. I was happy to clear the last one and put in one last solid effort to get out of the water. Checking my watch after running up to the timing maps I saw 1:07. I was stoked for that since it was 2 minutes faster than my peaceful IM Canada swim and this swim was CRAZY. Baby steps Sonja. I think there is even more in me with the swim, but IM swims are never easy so you have to assume some adversity will come along.

I’m actually glad that I experienced an Ironman swim like this. While it seems like it was harrowing and epic, the truth is that 2200 of us went through it. Everyone had to deal with pretty wild conditions, and what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. Now I know that I don’t have to fear a crazy swim, I can keep my cool, puke up my breakfast, and exit the water with a smile on my face and a PR. Which is exactly what I did. Would you expect anything else from me?

Running out of the water the crowd was awesome, they were cheering so loud you could barely hear yourself think. I ran up to this sweet looking girl of a wetsuit stripper. I already had my DeSoto top, goggles and cap off. I try to pick a calm looking stripper, and I thought that I had. Then her partner emerged and instantly and aggressively ripped my suit off. Hmm, not exactly what I was going for. I wanted to tell him “Be Gentle”. In a jiffy I was up and running to the change tent. I try to keep my transitions quick and I was well prepared for a quick one. I keep a spare pair of contacts in my swim to bike bag just in case I lose one in the swim. Other than that I put everything in the bag on and I get out of there. I grabbed my bike and mounted it, seeing 1 hour and 10 minutes on the race clock.

Boo Ya, let’s get this party started!

I just love mine, super cute. They are custom, so Lindsay can put whatever you want on there. How cute would IMCDA and 10:21 look? Or BOSTON and 3:05? Eh? What about SWIM BIKE RUN. Or IRONMAN and ROCKS. I could keep going all day. What about WONG and STAR for this super-chick, or HAWAII and KAINOA for this epic-chicka? No really, I could keep going here! HAM and BURGER. COOKIES and MILK. Okay, it must be about bed time, and the kitchen has been closed for almost 3 hours (still going strong with the kitchen thing).

Anywhooo, if you think they are cute, you want your own, or you want to become part of the PIC possee, well, you know where to order now! Thanks Lindsay, you are a sweetie FO’ SHO’!

In other news, I am now a mere 16 days away from Ironman Coeur d’Alene, and thus am starting to become “elusive, crawl in my hole, Sonja”. I don’t know why I get this way, but I kinda dig it. It’s like the calm before the storm. All I WANT (note the want in caps) to do is get in my workouts, take care of Annie, eat the right food, at the right time, get the right amount of sleep, get massages, etc etc. I’m so close I get a little strict with myself. Over the next 10-12 days I really just want to do everything right so that I don’t come down with a cold, or become overly tired. In about 10 days when I am packing I’ll start to get excited and feel like I’m in the clear, but for now, the rabbit is in her hole.

PIC and I got to go train with Chuckie and Angela yesterday. Just like last time, I can not smile for two days afterwards because my cheeks are so sore from laughing. If every day was this fun I would not survive it! Or I would have super strong, muscular cheeks (not those cheeks…well, maybe those too I guess)!! And since my last blog made Chuckie out to be hidden, well, he does in fact exist!

We rode up to Lake Brainard from Boulder, and it’s just so nice to ride somewhere new. It was a great climb, super steady, so much laughing I hardly felt like I was going up. The town of Ward is cute, and the secret (not really) spring on the side of the road was a highlight. As was the descent which is not scary and is a aerobar cruiser for the most part.

Total hilarity ensued when we were descending and we passed this guy. See, Angela (AKA mighty mouse) was long gone in front, and this dude said “Is that girl on the Orange bike with you guys”. Michelle said “Yes” and he said “Holy SH!T”. The way he said it was hilarious. We all had mental pictures of Angela passing this guy going 60 miles an hour to his 30. We laughed for awhile about that one.

So, as I sit here and write, all is very very good. Life and training is cruising along. I’m on my game, and I’m not going anywhere. I’m enjoying that game, I’m happy. Those of you training for an Ironman will understand when you get there and those that have done one in the past know what I mean. There is that lull, that calm, that you start to get when things are lining up, and the epic day is near.

Driving to the race that morning, MIchelle and I in a red little Chevy thing and Kathleen following in a Red SUV we hit EVERY DARN LIGHT on the way there. It was comical as we sat there at 5am waiting for the light to turn green, not a soul in sight.

Red lights or not, we made it with time to set up transition. I had the sweetest spot I’ve ever had in a race. I’m pretty sure it was better than 90% of the pros. It’s such old hat setting up now, doesn’t seem to matter if it’s oly or half, same stuff for the most part. I keep it as minimal as possible: run shoes, hat, race number. My bike shoes are on the bike, all my nutrition is on the bike, helmet on the aerobars. That’s it, do it quick, a little air in the tires and get the heck out of the crazy land that is transition. I tend to race without sunglasses because they bug me…but I do try to train with them (when I don’t forget them…don’t get mad dad).

PIC Fordy-Ford and I headed back to the car and put our bags back. The parking lot at Quassy is right next to transition and all cars are accessible. We Tri-Slided up, threw on a few Trakkers temp tattoos on our calves, and grabbed the wetsuits. PIC headed to the potty and I headed to the water. I got in my exercises from Josh, and sat in the WARM water for a little while. I saw all the waves go off and waited for mine which was second from last. All the mens waves went off before the ladies. PIC was in the last wave 3 minutes behind me. I knew she would pass me in the water and I would need to catch her on the bike, if I could. If not, then the run maybe?

I got a good spot on the start line, and I got out well with little contact, and I found some feet for a little while. Somehow I got stuck in a little group of three, all of us idiots swimming shoulder to shoulder to shoulder. I was in the middle and we were drifting off course. I would try to veer back on course, only to smack the girl next to me over and over. Eventually we got sorted out and went around the first turn buoy. I got on a set of feet that belonged to a girl that was the same speed as me, so I felt like I was swimming too easily on her feet, and I kept tapping them. Apparently she did not like this (I don’t mind people tapping my toes in a race by the way, I just assume I have a friend with me, you wanna join the party…hop on board). She stopped, turned around a little and kicked me. Wowah! So, I swam off. Yikes. Wow, I wonder what her heart rate was! Dude, life, and racing, is soooo much better when you chill out a little.

So then I proceeded to swim in a general off course nature for a while. I actually missed two buoys, but they weren’t turn buoys so I’m assuming that it’s okay. The last several buoys I finally started getting into a rhythm and was feeling some mo-jo. I exited the water 5th in my age group (out of 28) in a somewhat slow time of 34:29. Anthony also swam a 34 and we swam the same at Knoxville as well, so either we both swam bad, or it was a little long (PIC swam a 27, so that makes it seem not long, or…she’s a fish right now). Who knows! Either way, it’s all good!

I was through transition super fast (1:20) cause my spot rocked the house. Off on the bike I knew that I would recognize much of the course from last year (only a few modifications to the bike course this year) and I knew that my Trakkers teammates were manning the mile 29 aid station so I was looking forward to seeing them. I got going into the bike and it’s always dicey the first few miles. It’s where I get an idea if my legs decided to show up. Would they ache and need a longer warm up, would they be stiff, or would they feel good and rested? I don’t know how on earth, but when I took roll call, and I said “Legs?”, they said “HERE”. Boo Ya. I didn’t spend much time easing in, I just started rolling.

About 10 miles in I spotted PIC. From 100 yards back I could tell something was wrong. I got up to her way too quick, I would have expected to reel her in very slowly, if at all. When I pulled up next to her she said “I’ve already flatted”. I immediately thought, “She’s still 3 minutes ahead of me and that included a tire change” (b/c she started 3 minutes back on me). So I told her “Your still three minutes up on me, it’s okay” but as I rode on I didn’t get the feeling that she was coming with me (not in a drafting sense, we don’t draft, it’s not legal, but in a “momentum” sort of way). I could feel her frustration, it’s the first time she flatted in a race. I felt for her.

I rode on and I tried to focus on myself. Getting back into my rhythm was easy, everything just felt so good, and the work was work, but it was fun, and I was racing. I did a lot of smiling because my legs showed up for work and I LOVE it when they do. Since we started behind all the men it was constant passing. Always chasing and passing the next guy. I passed one of my Trakkers teammates Chris on the side of the road with a flat. There were a lot of flats, but really nothing on the road that I noticed that would lead to flats…strange. Chris had it taken care of and he passed me a little later in the bike looking strong. Then I passed him back, then he passed me back. And then he was gone.

This bike course is so dang challenging. It’s definitely the hardest bike course I have ever ridden in a race, and many others were agreeing. If you did Rev3 and you know of a harder bike course, I’de like to hear about it! There were 87 hills…in 56 miles! Steep buggers too! I stayed focused the entire time, taking the turns as strong as I knew how, and being bold on the descents. I watched my heart rate and my power on the climbs and tried to stay consistent and evenly paced. I was surprised to be descending at 40mph in my aerobars. At home I tend to play the chicken card.

The mile 29 aid station ROCKED. My Trakkers teammates were full of so much energy, and I gave them lots of smiles and loves, even though they were directly after this gnarly hill. It’s was a blast to see Michelle (anthony’s wife, not PIC) at the aid station because to me, she is a piece of home, and of family. By the way, she volunteered BOTH days. I love her!

Here is the handoff to Amanda Lovato. Nice one!

Onwards I went. We got to the out and back and I started counting ladies. It was hard to tell who was an age grouper, and really, who was a woman (as sad as that sounds) but I thought I was in the top 5-10 non-pro chickas and that got me excited. I looked for PIC behind me and I didn’t see her, which made me worried that she had flatted again, or had DNFed.

The last miles I was feeling the climbing in my legs, but they were still very much underneath me, going strong. I wondered if I was going to beat the 3 hour mark and it looked like I would. Rolling back to transition I started counting ladies in earnest. I could see the numbers on their arms and knew that 2 digit numbers were pros. I saw that my teammate Kathleen was in the lead and I told her so. There was a lady hot on her tail and then I saw maybe 4 other ladies, but couldn’t make out numbers on them. I rolled in off the bike in 2:52:35, good for the 6th fastest amateur bike split. My bike is really coming along and that has me excited. I’m feeling more powerful this year and my legs have gained some “girth”. Yes, I just said that word.

It was go time. I was FIRED up. I rolled into transition and I was back out 0:56 seconds later, socks and all. Boo Ya! By the way, I love my new Saucony Kinvaras. They rock the house. Totally squishy and supportive, in 7 ounces. LOVE THEM and they are my Ironman shoe, FOR SURE! I have found that I do prefer a minimalist shoe. My feet feel stronger when they are allowed freedom. A light weight trainer is about as heavy as I like to go. Except for a trail shoe…but this year even has me thinking differently on that front.

So I take off running and I know that the first 1.5 miles is really the only sustained downhill section of the course. It’s not time to settle in, oh no, it’s time to take advantage of the downhill and RUN. I came through the 2 mile point in 14:05. mile 3 was 7:00. About 1.5 miles in a lady cheering said “nice job ladies”. WAIT, “ladies”, that’s the last thing I wanted to hear. So I turned around and looked. Crap, she’s right, there is a lady in black right on my tail.

Of course it shocked me for a second, how long had she been there, was she gearing to pass? But then I remembered…calm, think, no need to race anybody. Just run the best race you know how and if this lady is still around in about 11 miles, then you can reassess. I generally like to run my own races. So I decided to do just that. I relaxed for a little while and then checked up on my heart rate monitor and settled into a similar heart rate that I had maintained the first three miles which I had run entirely by feel. That really worked for me. Then we entered the hilly portion of the course. And there were lots of hills for 11.5 miles. Big hills, little hills. Short hills, long hills. Hills above, and hills below. Red hills, blue hills, yes I would like two hills, Sam I am.

And again, this was the most challenging run course I have ever been on in a tri. But I had prepared in my head for it, and my legs were on FIRE (in a good way). My abs were working strong and I was standing tall, keeping my form, and smiling for the most part. I came upon Robert from the Terrier Tri Club. I LOVE Robert, he’s adopted us Trakkers folks and he is just the nicest guy, even though he once cleaned up dog poop with a Trakkers shirt. On purpose. I thought about slapping his butt when I went by him, but wasn’t sure if it was appropriate so I pulled up right next to him, shoulder to shoulder, all quiet like. He said “I knew you were coming, how are you feeling” I gave him a big thumbs up and he said “Go get em girl” and SLAPPED MY BUTT! Hahahaha. I felt so loved, in a Terrier tri club kind of way!

And off I went. I reeled in lots of people and it was really motivating. Around mile 5 I finally saw a lady in the distance and I worked hard to reel her in. When I got up to her I saw she had a “P” on her calf for PRO. I felt bad then, knowing that they started 30 minutes ahead of me and she must be having a tough day. On a short out and back section I was super relieved to see PIC. Whew! She looked a little miserable, but I was just happy that she was still putting up the good fight.

Of all the people I passed I only had one guy go with me and he was the cutest dude. At one point I kinda freaked out and turned to look at him because his footfall was so soft and light I thought he might be a chick. After my look back he pulled up next to me and said “I’m sorry to tailgate you but I can’t seem to pass you”. I said “As long as your not a girl it’s fine”. We ran close to each other for most the race. It was really nice and motivating. When he felt strong I would work to stay with him, and visa versa. I think it’s always fun to find a buddy on the course.

There were so many hills I can’t even tell you about all of them. I had an 8:16 mile in there, seriously steep! But I was still running fast(er), taking names, and feeling good. On a second out and back I passed another PRO and I saw I was in 5th (amateur), with 4th in sight. I worked hard to run her down and when I pulled up on her, I saw a “R” on her calf. So I pulled up next to her and said “Are you a relay?” She said “yes and you gals are crazy”. I love that! And then I ran on. The final mile was the most brutal on the entire course with a very demanding and steep prolonged up hill, it was a 8:21 mile! Ouch!

Just before it started I had a visitor. Charlie (owner of Rev3) pulled up next to me on a golf cart! He said “How ya feeling?” and I said “GREAT, I’M IN 4th”. He said “Yea, but there’s a girl right behind you”. He’s ALWAYS giving me flack and I knew better than to believe him. Plus I knew that if anyone challenged me at this point in the race they would loose, I felt super strong. BTW the lady that was close to me at the start never made a pass. Funny how much can change in 11 miles. We chatted a little, and he asked if I wanted a ride…which I did not! Silly Charlie. Rides are for quitters.

Coming into the finish was awesome. I had talked to Troy the night before and asked him what he wanted me to do on the finish line. I knew he would be watching on the live coverage that Rev3 does and he said to jump up and down (original, I know). I came down the finish line and I went CRAZY. I was skipping, and jumping, and leaping, and just being generally crazy, all for Troy. The crowd was laughing and the announcer was getting a kick out of it. I hope I was at least a little entertaining out there! He was watching, and he was laughing. I blew him kisses into the camera too. I was really happy. My run split was 1:40:47, the 3rd fastest amateur split, and only 39 seconds off the fastest amateur run of the day (but not even close to all but two of the pros).

To finish 4th overall non PRO is awesome, a great result for me (5:10:07) on a hilly course. They awarded top three overall, so I was given the age group win, being 4th, although the first overall woman was in my age group, so it’s kinda like a 2nd age group, if we are to get technical. All that is exciting, and always fun, but the best part was my LEGS! It was such a boost in confidence to remember what it feels like to have my legs under me, to feel like I can race hard and strong. The border collie was out in full effect today, taking advantage of being off the leash. I felt like the Sonja that I like to be with lots of smiles, lots of go-go power and lots of Grrrrr. With IM CDA three weeks away this race was a really good confidence booster and I feel ready to tow the line in three weeks.

Team Trakkers had many podium finishes!

Love Tony, love PIC. Love sharing these races with them.

I’ll admit, it was hard to see PIC come in, tears in her eyes. She’s such a trooper and the rest of the day she kept saying “That was the hardest thing I have ever done, I wanted to quit 100 times”. By the way, she was 2nd in her age group. Her blog is www.gofastmichelle.com

A huge thanks to Charlie. I love the Rev3 races and was really pleased with Quassy, just as I was last year. The course is challenging, but it’s honest and it’s a true test of your stamina, strength, pacing, nutrition, and heart. If you are all up into your times, or want a super fast course, this is not that. But if you want to find what you are made of, if you want to challenge yourself, or…if you just want to race at an amusement park…then this one’s for you.

Also, I can not thank Vahid and Shallah enough for hosting not one, not two, but THREE of us crazy Trakkers triathletes at their house for three days. They fed us and took amazing care of us. Many humble thanks!

Vahid and Shallah!

Sitting out on their back yard beach the night before the race, having a (small) glass of wine, enjoying life!

Chuckie… thank you Chuckie, thank you Chuckie, thank you Chuckie!!! We are getting there aren’t we?

It was better than I remembered. It’s amazing how little you actually see when you are racing. There were tons of little streams I never noticed, I called them “gater streams” because if I were a gator I’de live in one. Are there even gators in Tennessee? I experienced Southern Hospitality at it’s finest on the ride. At one point the road was rather narrow. I had a car back and I scooted over to the edge of the road so they could pass when it was clear. The car sat at a comfortable distance behind me, pressure free, for 3 miles waiting for a spot that they could pass comfortably. When they passed they gave me a little thumbs up. I’ve never had that kind of treatment anywhere before.

Instances like this happened 4 times during a 20ish mile ride. I was pretty shocked. I’m not used to this in Colorado where drivers seem to make dicey moves daily on my rides.

After my very enjoyable ride we packed up, had lunch at this super awesome restaurant where the curry chicken noodle soup had soba noodles in it (must do at home…add curry and soba noodles to chicken soup), and then we were off for the 2.5 hour drive to the airport. I was a little sad to leave. The weather was so nice in Knoxville, a little brisk, but sunny and not humid at all. It’s very green there, so I assume they normally have higher precipitation levels, or humidity, but the weather was grand for our trip.

On the drive to Nashville I got an email from Chuckie reviewing that this week was a huge week. It’s time to put the nose down and get it done. It’s time for the hammer, time to let the Grrrr out, time to stay on my game. I don’t think I’ve EVER had this much excitement and anticipation for a training week in my life. As Chuckie has said before, I’m like a border collie, if I don’t get my daily run, I start ripping up the house. Well, I’ve been ripping up the house and he was letting the dog out for a run. Big training weeks are one of my favorite past times, so I was jazzed.

Then I got an email from PIC saying she was home and that it’s projected that Denver will get 2 feet of snow on Wednesday…the day that Chuckie had me scheduled for a 7 hour ride.

I sat there in the car stunned. I started tearing up and could feel the anger mounting in the back of my throat. I didn’t even know how to process this information, it’s May 10th for Pete’s sake. I have an Ironman in less than 7 weeks. At first I actually felt like the weather gods and the triathlon gods had a special meeting and said “We don’t want Sonja to get to Kona this year”. Then I thought about it a little bit, and you know, I have positive feelings about the triathlon gods. They have been good to me in the past. They gave me a little sign about 8 months ago telling me to work on my swim LOTS, and I did, and they rewarded me this weekend, so they must have bigger plans for me. After a few minutes sitting there stewing, I came to the conclusion that they were actually saying “What are you made of, lets make sure you really want it”.

So I looked at Troy and said, “I need to go to California”. I checked the weather. Humm, sunny and no rain all next week. So we started calling Southwest, trying to change my flight. After all, I had my bike, and my swim goggles, and plenty of new swimsuits from Trakkers. I had everything I needed for a week of training, why not California? Sure, I only have like 3 outfits for Annie, and 2 sportsbras for myself, but seriously, I can make it all work. And I’m sure Annie will have like 15 outfits after a week at grandmas house.

After several calls to Southwest we ended up calling my good friend Hillary and she got on her computer and booked Annie and I one-way tickets from Denver to San Jose that departed an hour after I arrive in Denver. Denver and it’s stinky snow has been demoted to a “connection”. Boo Ya!

My parents live in San Jose and my mom will be great support. She will work from home in the mornings and I can get in my first workouts. Then she’ll go into work and Annie and I will play, and color, and do fun things. Then I’ll get my second workouts in after mom comes home from work. It’s going to rock. Plus, I’ll get to ride some terrain that I don’t usually ride, thus it will be a different stress on my body which is super good! There are plenty of masters programs, and outdoor pools, and SUNSHINE.

So, here’s to making lemonade out of forecasted lemons. California here I come. It’s time to drop the hammer.

PS: I arrived safe and sound in San Jose. Laundry is in the washer and it all begins tomorrow. Impromptu training camp for one…here I come.

Well, the first race is done! And I not only survived, but thrived!

Walking to the start in the morning with dad, Troy, Annie, and Sharpie was a definite highlight. The sunrise was gorgeous, and the water looked inviting.

Chuckie had explained that for me, with my swim, my race is made or broken during the swim, so get on that line and SWIM. I was really excited for this. I wanted to swim hard, leave it all out there! Being in the elite amateur wave was super cool, especially lining up with PIC, but I’m not sure I’ll do it again, it depends on the race, me thinks.

So right after the pros we hop in the water and get ready. The swim is an out and back. The gun goes off and I GO, like, I REALLY go. I was in the thick of it, but not getting punched around too much. I found my place eventually, and got into my groove. I was with one other person and I couldn’t see feet. The water was very murky and your couldn’t even see the bubbles that you could feel. So I pulled up beside the person and swam beside them. Now I know this defeats the drafting thing, but it helped me with the straight swimming thing, which was a big issue for me last year.

About every 20 strokes my friend and I would body check each other. I’m sure they hated me as much as I grew annoyed with them. The reality is that we both probably suck at sighting, but we kept each other relatively straight! At the end of the swim I dug even deeper and pulled away from my friend. Getting out of the water we had to pull ourselves onto a dock. It took me just a split second of thought “Humm, can I actually do this after swimming so hard”? I pulled myself up, and slid myself onto the dock belly first, just like a seal…or like one of those Antarctic penguins.

As I ran up the dock and pulled off the top of my wetsuit my Garmin strap popped off. The strap went flying into the water, and the Garmin part went flopping on the pier. I reached down and grabbed it, and shoved it in my pocket.

I was OUT OF BREATH. I had swam HARD. Troy yelled on the dock that PIC had 3 minutes on me, and I was pretty jazzed about that. PIC is like my litmus test because her swim is so fast that it can barely get any better and thus, it’s pretty consistent! So, she’s a guage. And last year that deficit was in the 5-12 minute range, so 3 minutes is SWEET!

Off through transition, huffing and puffing, over LT (whatever that is, if I knew) and onto the bike. Breathe Sonja, breathe. Olympic racing HURTS! I pushed on the bike, yes, my dear, I pushed. I LOVED the course. Here I am literally huffing!

I was all by myself out there after passing one lady about 5 miles in. I just got into Zen mode and went hard. There were some great little climbs, and some awesome descents, and I’m happy to say that I didn’t touch my breaks ONCE. Not once, I was BOLD Sonja.

My dad and Troy were cheering up a hot storm, taking photos, and Annie was so cute in her Trakkers shirt. She kept telling people “Take it home”. I love that! What kid says that?

Coming towards transition I was going hard and then I saw PIC running. Dang, she looked good, and she looked FAST, How on earth was I going to get off my bike, through transition, and THEN catch her? DANG! She’s so fast!

I came into transition…still as hypoxic as I left and while running through transition my Trakkers devise went flying out of my pocket. The volunteers were so nice to pick it up and leave it at my transition spot (so glad I didn’t loose it). So if you saw my devise stop in transition, that’s why! I took off running, but of course my hypoxic brain took me to the wrong exit, and then the volunteers directed me the right way.

Headed towards the right way out I was jumping over towels, bags, and transition bike racks, I made transition into a total obstacle course.

Whew! Onto the run course. I dug my now strapless Garmin out of my pocket and hit the lap button. That way I would have an idea of my splits. Wow, I’m going as fast as I can. Where is Michelle?

I’m not feeling any more taxed than on the bike, but I can’t seem to will myself to go any faster. My first mile (after I dug the Garmin back out to check it) was in the low 6:40 range. Ok, not bad, that sounded like a good spot to hang around.

I stuffed the Garmin back in and just focused on keeping consistent. Where is Michelle? She’s NOWHERE in sight.

I’m running hard. Mile 2 goes by and we are on a bike path. I’m still looking for Ford. I was counting Elite amateurs and had counted three. I thought Ford was in 4th and I was in 5th. I was stoked about this. Then I see her. She SWEARS she waved at me, but we were both going as hard as we knew how. She was running from me, and I was running for her. I hit the turn around and knew it was going to take some serious work to catch her. Sure enough I worked really hard the whole way back and with two miles to go I could see her.

She had me! I worked the uphills, hard! I was gunning for her, but coming into the last quarter mile she still had 100 yards. We came in one after another and it was all hugs and wide eyes. I think both of us had forgotten just how much Oly racing hurts. It’s over quick, but it hurts in the process.

All in all I’m really pleased with my race. I’m super pleased with swimming hard, keeping some sort of contact with the front and not feeling like the rest of my race was lethally compromised. It was a really solid effort and has me excited. I think I am in a better place that I originally thought I was. It’s hard with the 100 miler race only being 5 weeks back. There has been lots of recovery, and less fitness building, but I am pleased with where it has all landed me.

I could still feel a little of the 100 miler in my lower inner quads, but I think that’s to be expected and I think that going hard helped to get a little more of the deep junk out.

The definite highlight of the week was meeting all my Team Trakkers teamies. We have had so much fun this trip from BBQ dinners, to pre race ice cream meetups, to post race happy hour…VERY HAPPY HOUR! I feel like I have a network all over the US of super cool folks and I just adore everyone I’ve gotten to know this trip.

Another HUGE highlight was all the love I got on the race course this weekend. It was so awesome the last two miles to have literally 20+ people cheer for me. The best was while we were in the water waiting to start all you could hear was GO SONJA! Beth and Tyler were going crazy and I think everyone was thinking “Who is Sonja”. Even Kathleen was laughing. I have the best friends EVAH!

Ford and I with Megan, she so rocks the house.

Ford and I with Jamie

Having Troy and Annie at this race was such a blast. I will have to put a post together of funny Annie pictures from the weekend, there are some pretty hilarious ones! Troy, your a rock. And your shoulders are going to rock, because you carried Pook around for 4 days on your shoulders. Love you babe, thanks for helping me chase my dreams!

We got to meet Tara from the biggest loser. It was so interesting to hear about how hard it is to go from weight loss to athlete. Something both Tyler and I have had to negotiate. From low cal, to fueling to perform, from no salt, to ample salt, and learning how to eat while exercising! It’s all new stuff for her. Good on ya girl!

I also really enjoyed having Beth and Tyler at the race. I think they had a fun time and Bethie won her age group! Super cool!

There are way too many cool pictures to post, I wish I could put them all up! A huge thanks to my dad for taking like 1,000 pictures for the team this weekend. We loved having him around.

Finally a huge THANK YOU to my sponsors: GOAL0 (I know I know, you are all wondering what, who, huh, no worries, you will know soon), Trakkers, Saucony. Mix1, Core Concepts, Tri-Massage, First Endurance, Justins Nut Butter, Nathan, NUUN, and TriSwim. You all so totally rock the house.

Tomorrow I will step on the line (errr, float in the water) for my first triathlon of the year, and my first race entering the elite amateur category. To say, for several reasons, that I have some healthy nerves would be to state the obvious. Olympic distance racing always hurts whether you are in shape or not! Racing in the Elite amateur category is something I have always shied away from since my swim was in a different ball park as most elite amateurs. This year, I said, yes, I’m going for it. And going for it at the Rev3 races, where my Team Trakkers is racing as well, feels like a safe and supportive place to do so.

The race is going to be so fun. If you are here in Knoxville you can come down to Worlds Fair Park and watch the entire race unfold on a huge Jumbotron, and then see the finishers come through the chute. If you are spectating from abroad, you can watch the live coverage HERE on competator.com

Also, you can watch the Trakkers showcase! Tomorrow will be the live Trakkers debut. I have my devise, its charged up and ready to go. The devices aren’t waterproof yet, so my devise will start trakking and will sit in transition while I swim. When I get on the bike you should see my green dot moving. Michelle and Kathleen (Kathleen is the current Kona amateur record holder) are also wearing devises and are in my elite amateur wave, so be sure to watch and cheer for them as well! The link to watch can be found by clicking HERE, or you can go to http://live.trakkersgps.com/events.aspx

You’ll want to click on “Rev3 Knoxville Olympic” to see me.

Lastly, you can follow twitter where Troy will be tweeting it as he sees it. Follow @gosonja on twitter, or click here to see my feed.

Today has been a blast. We had a great photoshoot this morning featuring the very famous photographer….my dad! He did such a good job and we had a lot of fun too.

Then we were off for a run with some teamates. We ran down to transition and around to the swim start. We loosened up the legs and FordyFord and I got in a few pickups.

Off on the bikes, Michelle, Jamie and I went went and rode a little bit of the course including a really rough section that we were nervous about seeing it on the drive. It’s as bad as we thought and I’m glad that I got a preview.

Back to the expo we met back up with all our Team Trakkers crew and we had so much fun giving away lots of free First Endurance goodies. People were so excited and it was great to hear so many people say “This stuff works”. No Duh! That’s why we use it!

I caught sight of Julie Dibens. I really dig her, and she is killing it on the pro scene recently. She was so nice to take a quick snap shot with me.

After the giveaway we headed out to the water for a swimy-swim. There were lots of cool parts to the swim but some of the highlights were hearing a talk from Pip Taylor and Heather Golnick about how to swim the swim.

Another highlight was that our Trakkers swimsuits came in so when you looked around the swim deck there were lots of teamies and you could recognize them easily. So much so that Mary Beth Ellis came over and asked to borrow a swim cap. She is on the Trakkers Elite team and I think of us as the age-group minor leaguers. Knowing that she could turn to any of us AGers for help made me feel good. It’s nice to feel like you have a family out at the races.

Hopefully our Pro team will come to understand that we age groupers totally dig them and are always willing to lend a helping hand, whether it be at a race, or if they are racing in our hometowns. We are a big network of people who love this sport. In return our pro team has been so awesome about reaching out to us age groupers. Every one of them has stopped by at some point to meet us, wish us good luck and answer any questions. Here is Dede Griesbauer coming by to say hello.

The swim was a total hoot! The dingy water was actually really nice. I even tasted it and I was impressed. Apparently the only reason it’s dingy is because of the recent storms, and it’s actually a really nice river to swim in (so we were told, and I would agree at this point). Beth, Michelle B and I paused at the first buoy for a photo op!

There are no words to explain this photo, pure happy!

Finally after the swim, a little lunch, and a little Trakkers booth time, Michelle and I headed back to our respective hotels to nap, blog, and rest our feet. This evening we will drop our bikes in transition, grab some grub, and hit the hay…it’s ALMOST RACE DAY!

Team Terrier Tri Club is going DOWN (as is Dynamo Multisport)

Okay, with that start, let’s get this rolling.

Last year when it got close to Ironman time, my good friend Debbie helped me out in a HUGE way. Debbie is the mommy to Annies best friend Kat. These two get along like sisters and are so cute together. Last year Debbie (or Troy on occasion) watched Annie every Wednesday for the last couple months before IMC so that I could ride/run all day. Most of these were spent riding an 85-100 mile out and back section of road out east and then running 45 min to 18 miles off the bike. They were long days and what helped me through them was knowing that Annie was in amazing hands, playing up a storm.

This year Debbie has stepped in again, but it’s more complicated because she is actually picking up Annie from school and then delivering her back at our house at 5pm. This will allow me an entire day of training and access to our car. Today Troy actually stepped in, which was awesome, but it will be Debbie going forward. Thank you Debbie, I love you!

So, I’m now calling Wednesdays “Train like a pro day”. I get to wake up and start my day on the right foot with a good family breakfast, then it’s off to my “pretend” job. Today was the trial run…to work out the kinks. Troy was on Annie detail, so I got her off to school at 9am, then dropped the car back at the house, grabbed my huge bag stuffed with all sorts of training gear, and headed out the door on foot.

Since Troy would need the car to pick up Annie from school I was going the public transportation route. I walked the one mile to the light rail station and procured myself a round trip ticket. I headed over to the University of Denver and got busy with a weights workout. I love that gym because it’s full of college kids and they are always pretty cool. After weights I downed a Justins Almond Butter and honey sammy like it was no tomorrow.

Next workout! I changed into my swimsuit and met up with PIC Fordy Ford and EVAN on the pool deck! Evan is coached by CV too and we were so stoked to meet him and work out with him. So, we got knee deep into a tough swim workout. I loved having Evan in the lane with me, it was nice to have someone to chase after, and quite the chase he provided.

After the swim I bid farewell to PIC as she was off to run and I was off to a secret Chuckie workout. I would tell you about it, but, well, I can’t. So I’ll just say that it was brutal, but super good too.

Whew! Back to the locker room for a shower and to pack up. It was beautiful and sunny out as I walked back to the light rail station, eating a second Justins Almond Butter sandwich. On the walk back home from the station I was noticing something that was going to be an issue. The wind!

I walked in the door and Pook (Annie’s nickname is Pookette, or Pook) and Troy were having a blast. Troy was getting in some work and Annie was playing up a storm. Everyone had survived, Troy did a great job (I don’t know why I worry).

But, I wasn’t done! It’s ride time and that wind had me nervous. But the pros don’t get nervous about the wind, they just get it done. So into bike clothes and off I went for a 90 minute spin. There came a point in the ride pretty early on (10 min) where I had to decide whether I wanted to head into the wind, or just ride around where I would be in and out of the wind the whole time. I decided…”face your opponents head on” and I went straight into that angry weather.

It was so bad it was almost funny. But really, I think I prefer a headwind to a stiff cross wind or unpredictable swirling stuff. This was supposed to be an easy spin but there was just no way. I tried, but fighting that wind it was impossible to spin like I was out for a Sunday stroll. I was debating when to turn around. I knew I would be flying home and I didn’t want to spin around the neighborhood to make up time at the end so I decided on 11 miles. It took 57 minutes to get there, but 11 it was.

When I turned it was HILARIOUS! I was spinning alright. I was in the biggest gear my bike owns, I was going uphill, I was spinning, and I was going 27mph. It was almost a little scary to feel like you are being pushed home by a freight train. I definitely prefer the challenge of a head wind to the push of a strong tailwind. I made it home in 32 minutes, despite hitting almost every stoplight. Crazy!

Check out these details, they are super funny.

Lap 1: 57:01, 11.14 miles, average MPH: 11.7, average HR: 161
Lap 2: 32:12, 11.14 miles, average MPH: 20.6, average HR: 128

All of that and one very large helping of Polenta with peppers, tomatoes, pepitas, green onions, cumin, avo, cilantro, and a little cheddar and my first day working as a pretend pro is in the books. Ha! Too bad I’m just pretending. Tomorrow I go back to my real job, that I love, being head mommy to Pookette. Nevertheless I am looking forward to my wednesdays for the next few months where I don’t have to balance a million things during the day and I can put my nose down and train hard.

Thanks again to Troy, to Debbie and to my munchkin.

Michelle and I met shortly before our first ever trip to USAT Age-Group Nationals in 2007. That was way back when I had only done two sprints and Michelle was still riding this red bike with like Shimano 105 on it (I don’t mean to offend anyone…well maybe I do a little bit).

Breakfast two days before Nationals in 07

We were roomies in this totally cheep extended stay hotel right next to Nike in Portland. We both had what I would call super solid races, but even bigger than that we began a friendship that both of us never realized would be so much fun.

I think this was probably the last time we got totally sloshed right after a race…we are much more dedicated now (we are the middle two).

We trained together occasionally, mostly on weekend bike rides. Michelle was a working girl with a demanding job, but she was focused and nailed her workouts.

We went through a Twinkie phase (identical, comes in a pack of two). Almost all the group pictures we were standing next to each other, and we had matching helmets, blue bikes (she got rid of the crummy red one…no offense) and ponytails. Check it out.

Twinkies we are

Scary huh?

We came back to nationals in Portland in 2008 ready to kick ass, and qualify for Team USA. We had Australia on our minds. For the first time we allowed another person into our nationals lair, Tyler.

PIC, Me, and Tyler

He proved to be an acceptable addition. It also meant that PIC and I shared a bed for the first time. And we learned that we sleep well together, who would have thought? Probably a fact that our husbands try not to think about too often…or maybe they do. I don’t know and this is going south…

So we both really rocked the house at Nationals, it was the same course as the year before and PIC knocked 16+ minutes off her time, and I took off a little over 6. PIC nabbed that Team USA slot, and I missed it by one, but got it back in the lotto.

Early morning pre race, we are together, there’s a shock!

Several months after Nationals, the best thing EVER happened to my athletic career (and let’s be honest, it’s all about me). PIC got laid off, SWEEET, full time training partner. I think this is when the term “PIC” came about. That year was about becoming super stud kick ass athletes and helping each other get there. We started on the bikes.

Mt.Evans in the back, we two man teamed it all over the place that spring.

We really learned a lot about each other. Usually we knew more about where each other was at than we knew about ourselves. I knew when she was blitzed, she knew when I needed to eat. We shared gels, we took turns on each others wheels, and we had so much fun.

We raced across the county, heck the world, together. We always found a way to get our PIC time even if we weren’t rooming together. We found a camaraderie that year that was sorta “the next level”. I think in the beginning we may have felt a little competitiveness against each other, but any and all of that dissipated throughout last year. When we became PIC’s things changed and we helped each other through the hard times, and the hard races, and we celebrated with each other through the good ones. It helped that we had numerous good performances through the year. At Kansas, we qualified for Clearwater together.

We went to Nationals for a 3rd year together, we added Beth and Tyler to the room, which meant again…PIC and I were sharing a bed. Which apparently meant great races for the both of us. PIC taking 5th in her AG, and me 14th, both earning TEAM USA spots if we so choose to take them. Seeing her on the podium made me feel like I was on the podium, I kid you not.

Red hair extension…it was for CHARITY!

We went to Worlds in Australia with our different families, but we found a way to hook up and train everyday together. Training in unfamiliar adds a whole different crazy factor to things, but when we were together we seemed to have so much more confidence. It didn’t matter that we were riding on the wrong side of the road, we handled it together and we laughed a lot. Meeting up with Michelle was like a having a piece of home with me.

In AUS, training, note that we now have matching TT bikes, and non matching helmets, since I crashed and broke mine.

I think having each other there at World Championships paid off, we went 19th for PIC, and 30th for me, in our age group, in the world. And you know, PIC slept over in my hotel room the night before, I’m thinking that’s why we raced so well.

And at the end of the season we found each other in Clearwater, out there on the race course, and ran together for part of the race. It was almost poetic.

Michelle and I have learned through the years the value of having a training partner. I don’t think either of us could have ever imagined just how tight we would become. Going forward this year we have switched coaching, and we have switched team affiliation. It was a process that we relied heavily on each other to get through. Lots of leaning on each other, and a fair amount of tears.

It wasn’t easy, but you live, you learn, and you try to move forward with an open heart. With Michelle, I’m not afraid to tell her the truth, and she knows I’m in her corner 100%. I’m so extatic that the recent changes in our athletic career have brought us even closer together. I couldn’t imagine racing in a uniform that is different from hers, so I’m pretty stoked that this year we will be Twinkies again.

Having the same coach will enable us to continue to train together and to help each other achieve our goals. We have been very upfront with our new coach (who likes upfrontness) and he has instructed us to tattle on each other to our heart’s content (when it pertains to training). He seems to “get” our relationship and has an idea on how to use it to make each of us stronger.

We feel like we are a little mini-team this year. Our sponsors are the same, we represent them together, and although we are training towards different goals (as we have most years) I have no doubt that this year will yield lots more fun and silly pictures.

Thank you PIC, Michelley-elley, Fordy-Ford for all of your support, for being my “honesty” meter, for not making things harder than they need to be, for traveling with me, planning with me, schooling me in swimbikerun, for not holding it against me when I school you in bikerun, for sharing recipes, and photos, and lessons learned.

Here’s to another year of fun, we’re gonna kick ass!