A Whale of a time in Wales!!

This race was my primary race focus for the summer, I had worked hard and 2 weeks before Joe had me do my usual taper.  Tapering for an Ironman is much longer than the usual taper for short distance races.  What this usually translates to is me having a lot of extra energy because I’m not exercising as much as I’m used to.  Can you say house projects!?!  Steve just rolls his eyes and says “here we go again.”  Well thanks to Ironman Wales, I painted our bike “stable” and completely reorganized it.  Yes, we have a bike “stable” and no garage, it is all about priority J

I flew into Bristol airport, on the descent you could see all the little hedgerows with herds of sheep, England is just so CUTE!  It was a long flight, compared to what I am used to and I was so tired.  Seeing my parents perked me up, we headed to Tenby by van, lots of room for the bike box and all our stuff.  Kudos to my dad for kicking ass driving down the left side of the road through the twisting streets of the British countryside in the huge van while my mum and I ate liquorish and looked at all the beautiful scenery!

We arrived at our base for the next few days, Celtic Haven in Tenby.  Really cute little cabins with a small kitchen and several bedrooms, right on the Ironman bike course and very close to town.  My parents are the best for finding such a great location to stay!!  We headed into town to peruse the grocery store.  Nothing is better entertainment for me than a foreign grocery store.  I can spend hours checking everything out!  We scored some crumpets, lemon curd and clotted cream and some good healthy stuff for race morning and the lead up.  I must say, clotted cream is the best stuff ever and I was so impressed with all the locally produced inventory at the grocery store, North America could really learn something from the UK in this respect!

I got in some practice swim, bike and run sessions.  The swim in particular was good to practice as it was in the ocean and was pretty cold, temps in the high 50s F.  I was glad to get used to the water and realized it really felt better after a good warmup swim.  LOVE my TYR wetsuit too!!!

I don’t always worry about driving the bike course but this one was known to be challenging so we drove it the day prior in the van.  The hills were ridiculous, I realized this was going to be quite an epic ride, with over 7000 feet of climbing.  There were two cat 4 climbs (15-19% grade) within a few miles of each other at the end of the first and second loops (we were to do them 2 times each and at the end of the race when I would be tired).  I knew the crowd support would be great though; the hills were famous and everyone knew they would be great to watch from.  I racked my Valdora and they gave us rain covers for the bikes; only in the UK!

Race morning was dry and cool.  We had to walk a kilometer to the swim start and would have to run back after the swim so we had a second set of shoes they allowed us to place at the swim finish for this purpose.  They started the pros only a few feet in front of the large field of amateurs, I knew this would mean a rough swim but I would have the advantage of a draft of a large group of swimmers instead of only a small field of really fast pros, so it was an advantage for me!  Off we went and I braved the first 5 minutes of cold water and began to warm nicely as I worked through the swim.  I felt comfortable but was still swimming hard, I came out of the water feeling fresher than I thought I should (I had swam 55 minutes – a huge personal best!).  I was thrilled to see several bikes still on the pro women’s rack.  I was still in this race and not dead last after the swim!  I had started working with a local swim coach about 6 weeks ago it was the best decision I made this year.  Contact me if you want his info, he is great!!

I got on my bike and could see several pro women around me, I decided to go for it and take some risks on the bike by driving up my wattage early in the race.  Joe said this was something I needed to be brave about this year!  The course was challenging but just breathtakingly beautiful.  I do admit to chatting with a local pro women about how awesome the scenery was as we rode along!  The crowd support in all the towns we passed through was great, and then came the hills and the crazy twisting descents.  I tried not to let visions of my beloved job, husband and furry children flash through my mind on the hairy descents but I know I was a bit of a sissy, a couple girls passed me.  I hammered up the hills like a mad woman though.  The two crazy hills at the end of the loops were fun, just getting up them without eating shit was heroic.  My parents said 300 people fell of their bikes on one of the hills, sort of hilarious, as long as I wasn’t one of them J  The bike took me just over 6 hours, almost 1 hour longer than any other bike course in an Ironman had taken me, but my wattage was the best I had ever done so I was happy with the effort.  The Hed Jet 5 Express wheels I chose for the trip were perfect, I felt very safe in the strong winds on the course and they climbed flawlessly.  A great wheel set if you are looking for something racy, light and cost-effective!

It started to rain as I finished the bike and started the run.  I could feel how much the hard bike had taken out of me and I tried to hang on for the first half of the run to my goal pace.  I was having GI problems for the first time.  Ok folks, if you can’t handle poop talk you should bail now!!  As a vet this is dinner time conversation for me J  Halfway through the run I definitely had to poop, stopped at the loo and only could manage some cute little princess farts (sorry, told you to bail a few sentences ago).  I was pretty annoyed that I had wasted 30s on the jon for a benign fart issue so the next time I felt a similar urge (about 1 mile to go to finish) I thought here comes a nice little fart again…..aaaaannnd then I sharted.  Luckily it wasn't a huge volume and yes, it is funny now that my shorts are thoroughly sterilized and decontaminated.  My mum was mortified, she figured she was done dealing with this kind of shit about 33 years ago J  I still had a decent time on the run though, despite the poo drama!  I placed 6th in the women's pro field and got my first paycheck as a professional triathlete!

After the race my parents and I stayed in Bristol for a few days.  We had a great time touring the surrounding area and sampling the local pub fare.   The day following the race we went to Bath and enjoyed the hot springs (good recovery).  We also saw Stonehenge which was absolutely incredible.  Thanks to my amazing parents for being the best Ironman sag ever and for making the trip a great holiday to remember together!

State TT and Steelhead 70.3

I decided to do a couple shorter races in August as a build up for Ironman Wales.  The first was State TT championships.  Every time I do a 40k time trial I say, wow, that was a sufferfest, I’ll never do that again!  You'd think I would learn one of these years.....Time trials are always good people watching, not sure how we get called “trigeeks” because the “bikeaerogeeks” at the local TT definitely take the cake in terms of nerdy aero shit!  I am sure the local Missourians watching thought they had found a giant cult of Tron worshipers!  I rode down to the race from Columbia which was a nice 26 mile warmup, races the 40k (I swear I will never do it again) and was about 20s faster than last year, not too shabby as I was pretty fit last year for it and more tapered.  We rode the 26 miles back for a total of about 80 miles so it was a solid training day!  Sorry, no photos, I was worried I'd be arrested for photographing people sporting head-to-toe spandex.....

Next up was Steelhead 70.3 in Benton Harbor, MI.  I needed a nice 70.3 to get back into a race before the big Ironman in September.  I’ve always loved swimming in the great lakes (great childhood memories swimming in lake Huron at Port Elgin in Ontario, Canada).  Two other women from our Multisport Club were going so I knew it would be a fun road trip.  The weather was amazing, we have had such terrible heat so the 80 degrees felt great and the race start was about 65 and the swim was point to point and wetsuit legal.  Got to finally wear my gorgeous TYR Freak of Nature wetsuit – YAY!!  The swim was a beach start and I held back a little from the first pack of pro women as I usually am last out of the water and was thinking I would try to locate the draft of the two girls behind me….turns out I was the stronger swimmer and maybe I should have risked it with the first pack.

Got on the bike and was loving the cool weather and flat roads, a bit of sketchy surface in areas but no big hills and a really fast course due to low wind.  I averaged close to 190 watts which was superb for me, and a I had a girl stalking me the whole time which made me really work to keep my distance from her.  I knew with how hard I had ridden that the run would be interesting but Joe told me to race aggressive!  This pro deal really makes me go harder than I ever would have as an amateur....I keep thinking I will blow up later and usually the risk pays off so I'm sticking with it!

The run was hilly and I really had to have some good positive self talk to keep my average under 7:00/mile pace.  This was probably the first race in a full 70.3 where I really persevered when I in the hurt box on the run and stuck it out for a solid 1:30 range ½ marathon.  I was happy with my 4:39 time (a PR) and I know my training is progressing well for the Ironman next month.

It was a great time travelling with friends Cheryl Rathert and Amanda Gerke from CMC!  They put up with my 20 minute milkshake orders, Starbucks for breakfast and a million pee stops on the ride back J  Cheryl qualified for 70.3 Worlds next year so I’m excited for her and glad to have her for a training partner on the bike, she rides like a BOSS!!

Super excited about my new toy that I just got this week!  I decided to sell a couple bikes I didn’t ride and build up a Valdora PHX2 (my race bike for triathlon) as an aero road bike.  Should be awesome for group rides and climbing (I went with a compact crank).  Steve and I have a couple FUN trips coming up with some big mountains to ride so looking forward to putting her through her paces in the next few months!!  Took her around the big tree loop and felt great!  Also loving the new Hed wheelset (Jet 5 Express – affordable aero wheels!!) and the primo XLab sidekick cages that fit nicely in the frame.

Stuff Jackie Noticed:  The BarFly mount, which is a rad little plastic mount that will position a Garmin 800 or 500 device in front of the stem (more like an SRM) and so pro!  It’s hard for me to resist looking down a lot when I’m riding as I am such a geek when it comes to data, now I can stay aero and check out the numbers, sweet!  Check out this nifty little gadget at: http://tatelabs.com/ the best news is they also have a TT mount coming out really soon which will mount on an aerobar extension!  Nerd Alert!!

DO WORK!!

Well someone I know has been a bit delinquent with her blog…..

I’ve spent the last couple months doing work, hopefully putting money in the bank of Jackie Pearce from the engine standpoint.  It is always a challenge taking training to a new level each year.  How do you stay motivated on the days you are so gutted from training that you would do anything to KO on the bed with a warm furry cat and a good book?  This summer’s drought has really cramped my style of taking the odd day like this off with no guilt, dammit!! 

One thing that does help me renew my motivation for more training is changing the environment a bit and making sure I schedule workouts with friends I know will keep me training consistently and put a smile on my face.  And I bribe myself with food.  Not going to lie J

I’ve been lucky to spend some time in Manhattan, KS working at the vet school.  They have a really busy Ophthalmology service and I learn a lot about what is true clinical dogma vs. actual evidence-based medicine when I am there.  I also get to see a lot of horse eyeballs which is awesome!  Manhattan is also a diamond in the rough when it comes to the food department as small towns go, check out Taco Lucha, So-Long Saloon and Radinas Coffee House if you ever pass through!  I did quite a few beautiful solo rides in the flint hills of Kansas, ran some big miles on the linear trail and even did two sadistic 20x800m workouts on the indoor track.  I thought it would be so smart to use the indoor track – in Canada these are temperature controlled but apparently indoor tracks in the USA do not have AC in the summer.  I probably left over a liter of dirty Missouri Tiger sweat on the indoor track at K-state, take that KANSAS J Definitely some extraordinary heat tolerance training logged since it was 110+ degrees most of the time…. I almost killed my iphone leaving it on the beach when I did a 90min open water swim!

In early August I had the opportunity to speak at the AVMA (American Veterinary Medical Association) Conference in San Diego.  Seemed like the perfect time to dovetail a nice week-long training block in cooler weather, I trained in the morning and worked on my talk during the day.  I almost forgot to get stressed out about the 4h of lectures I had to do at the end!!  My friend and vet radiologist extraordinaire Stephanie Essman lives in San Diego and she loves to ride bikes up mountains, game on!  We had such a blast riding all over Southern California, so much fun and wow did I put the hurt on myself!  We did Palomar mountain the first day, which absolutely tore my legs off, might rethink the 53/39 crank next time…..crazy power files on that bugger!!

Two days later we did a breathtaking 80 mile ride in Pine Valley that started out with a HC climb and finished with a Cat 1 climb, ooof!!  The only saving grace was the heavenly slice of apple pie with a slice of sharp cheddar in the middle of the ride.  How do I get that in my special needs bag at an Ironman?

I got to see and smell some beautiful eucalyptus fields and there were oranges and avocados falling off trees onto the roads all over, it was hard to resist putting all the fruit in my pockets….but we did some good damage at the local farmer’s market and at some great restaurants after the rides!  We actually caught a few people staring at us as we hovered down some food at one restaurant, like a couple of locusts, ha!  Nice photo of a eucalyptus plant below, actually I used the photo op as a diversion going up a huge hill as an excuse to stop.  Close to barfing!

My talks at the conference went well and I got 300 miles on the bike with 25000+ feet of climbing plus some good runs and swims too.  It was like being a real professional athlete for a week, amazing!!  Loved the motivation the change of training locations gave me, this was a great solution for the mid-summer blah feeling!!

Next up State TT and Ironman Steelhead 70.3!

I Messed with Ironman Texas!!

This was my first Ironman as  Pro, and my spring race focus for 2012.  One of the huge perks as a professional athlete is instead of a hotel I am given the option of a homestay at races.  Basically this means a wonderful family volunteers to adopt me for the Ironman!!  I was the very lucky winner of John and Cynthia Specht for my homestay in Texas.  I knew it would be wonderful when they said they had several cool dogs – music to a veterinarian’s ears!  Cindy picked me up from the airport and we drove to the Woodlands, TX a beautiful community with tree-lined streets and very specific laws concerning streetlights, signs etc. (they had to be small and very unobtrusive).  I wished Steve could have been with me as I am sure it was an urban planner’s paradise!  We went to the grocery store and I purchased a few things for my race morning breakfast plus some naughty stuff (Hagan Daas and Baked Lays!!  Yum!), oh were you expecting something naughtier??  Sorry!

The next day we went to pick up my bike and check in at the race site.  Tribike Transport again had my bike ready flawlessly, can’t imagine how stressful the day would have been without them!  I discovered some new salt tablets from a local company called EnergyLab at the race expo – nice combination of electrolytes in a solid tablet that dissolves really fast, looking forward to using these in races!  Pro meeting was also fun to attend (I’m still awed by the who’s who in triathlon at these!).  In talking to other “real” pros I was amazed at the amount of training they do, especially for the swim, 5000-9000 yards 7 days a week.  I do 3000 yards 3-4 days a week.  Changes will need to be made if I want to keep up in the swim, clearly!  John took me for a nice 10 mile bike and 3 mile run around the Woodlands to get my legs spun over and ready for the race, I was feeling good!  In the evening I got to check out Market Street as we headed there for frozen yogurt.  WOW, fancy cars galore; Lamborghinis, Austin Martins, Rolls Royces, Ferraris!  Ok, I had to take a couple photos it was just insane!  Little Canadian girls like shiny sparkly things!

The day before the race I checked my bike in and relaxed for a while.  I got hooked on the Game of Thrones books recently.  Nothing like a little savage medieval wartime action reading to get me ready to race Ironman right?  Had a nice pasta dinner with Rodney and Diana Adkison, kibitzing about the coming race.  Rodney and I had a bet going that he would pass me about mile 50 on the bike….not going to stray from my race plan but will be fun to see how that plays out with my 10 min head start in the pro wave!

Race morning was still and quiet, nice temperature and moderate wind.  I got to transition in good time and made sure my tires were aired up and all my nutrition was in order.  The bike was covered in dew so it needed drying off, glad I had a towel to do this!  The swim start was about a 1 mile walk from transition and it was nice to loosen up my legs walking there.  No wetsuits as the water was comfortable – bummed I couldn’t race the TYR Freak of Nature, the warm water legal TYR Torque speed suit is also pretty sweet, and I’m glad I could wear this for some advantage!  The start was in deep water and I did my best to position myself behind some women so I might catch a draft as we started – I sprinted but felt like I lost feet very quickly.  With the murky water and reduced light it was hard to follow people, something for me to work on!  I concentrated on good, correct stroke and sighting well, it was nice not to be in the washing machine of the age-group start but I truly was swimming by myself and it was hard to be motivated until the super-swimmer age groupers started passing me!  My arms became really tired as we started down a long channel to the transition, definitely increased swim miles are in order to rectify this, it was hard to keep my stroke correct and even with the fatigue setting in.  FINALLY I was out of the water and sprinting to my bike!  As I left the transition I saw the clock said 1:14, I was not sure if this was my time or if I needed to add 10 minutes to this…in both cases not a stellar swim but I did beat one male pro (technically not last out of the water, you take what you can get!!).

The bike course was lovely and flat, I tried to keep it calm for the first 5-10 miles, I had lots of age group men to ride with so I did not feel all alone, that was nice.  I was riding over 23 miles per hour and feeling solidly within my power zone of 160-170 watts.  I could tell that I was getting a little fatigue at about 40 miles but I still felt relatively good.  At the halfway point I was at 2.5 hours almost exactly.  I thought to myself, holy shit, if I can hold this I will ride 5 hours!!  Then came the rolling hills, and the heat of mid-morning; my legs started to fray and unravel.  I could see my power numbers fading and I started to watch my data more, setting little goals like “keep it over 22 for another 10 miles” and “just don’t let your average power below 160 watts” ANYTHING to distract myself from the tired feeling in my legs and my chafed places!!  I caught a few pro women and felt comforted by the fact that I was definitely suffering in good company.  The last several miles were downhill and in town, lots of people cheering which was hugely wonderful.  I was delighted to reach the bike dismount line and gave the bike catcher my Valdora (didn’t pee on it this time!!  YAY!!).

In the run tent I was told that I was in the top 10 amongst women, and I was happy and surprised to hear this.  The volunteers were just wonderful.  They had my bag with all my gear and essentially put my shoes and socks on as well as assisted placement of Vaseline in important anatomic locations and a sunscreen slathering extravaganza!  I am sure Ironman athletes in the bike-run transition tent have lower dexterity levels than most toddlers, myself included!  I was VERY concerned that I had not seen Rodney yet and as I started the run I saw Diana and Shanelle, she assured me he was ok and had a bad swim, I felt better knowing he was ok.  Starting the run I clicked off 7:30-7:40 miles.  Rodney went by me around 2 miles in, damn he can run!!  At 10 miles I had averaged 7:43 pace and knew I was doing exactly what I hoped I would pace wise.  

The heat was getting really bad and I started noticing it as well as the thick humidity in the air that made it hard to breathe.  My hip flexors tightened up and I started to feel a dreamy state of emotionless haze descend on me mentally.  I looked at my watch and to my horror I clicked off a 8:30 mile then a 9:15…..  I was emulating a zombie and I needed to be the terminator.  I started walking aid stations and really hitting the ice and cold water to try and wake myself up and snap myself out of my negative hazy state.  I was passed by a pro women about 5 miles from the finish…..but I was unable to respond.  In hindsight, the 1:30 I lost to her was the difference between 8^th and 9^th and $1000 vs. $0.   Sigh.  Everything in me wanted to quit as I knew the run was not the one I had hoped to have and I was absolutely in agony every step (hip flexors so tight I could barely raise my knees, blisters on my feet screaming every step).  As I am sure anyone who finishes an Ironman knows, there comes a time in the race when you care about nothing but finishing.  Time, goals, nutrition and hydration go out the window and all you really want to do is get the thing done!  I hung on and got it done.  I did set a 10 minute PR, finishing in 10:09, and even though the marathon did not go well, the overall time was respectable for an early season race!!  I had an incredible bike leg, now I just need to improve on either side!  I really can’t be disappointed!!

As I finish writing this report two weeks after the race I am filled with motivation to train more!!  I will step up my swim mileage and frequency, continue to ride with quality and produce a marathon at the end of my next Ironman that I will be proud of.  I’ve got a sub 10 in me, I know it!!

A HUGE thank you to the Spechts, my homestay family (pictured below)!!  It was so much fun getting to know Cindy, John, Nicole and Rachel, AND their wonderful dogs (YAY DOGS!).  John is planning on signing up for IM Texas next year, AWESOME!  A big thank you to my sponsors: Endurance Company (I was incredibly prepared for this race and had a 15 minute PR on bike and 10 min PR for the Ironman distance), ABPro sports (I could not have felt more comfortable in such a stellar race kit, truly triathlon couture!), Tryathletics (great swim, bike, run gear helps me train and race!), Valdora (my PHX2 was flawless), XLab USA (the rocket pocket held all my nutrition and the side kick and gorilla cages never dropped a bottle), TYR (I am a weak swimmer but  the incredible Torque speed suit gives me a huge advantage) and  Electrodelytes (yummo race nutrition).  Thank you for believing in me and supporting my first year of professional  racing!  Hopefully the best is yet to come!

Ironman New Orleans 70.3 (First Race as a Pro!)

I flew into Baton Rouge, LA so I could have a fun visit with friends Ted and Shanelle and Tiago and Paula.  I feel lucky to have met such great people through the sport of triathlon!  Staying with Ted and Shanelle was a blast, they have a gorgeous new house and we have a super primo dinner that all of us contributed to (ok Shanelle made the best chicken ever, Ted's garlic bread and asparagus were awesome and I tried to contribute with a salad).

I got to get some sleep during the day (leaving Columbia was hectic and I got only 3-4 hours sleep the night before I left).  We had a nice swim session on Friday morning at Crawfish Aquatics, with some solid sprint sets and Tiago (who is a superstar swimmer) filmed us and I got some really excellent feedback on my stroke, which was especially helpful.  Hilarious how bad my stroke looks compared to true swimmers, lots to work on!!!

As you might imagine, I was really nervous about my first race in the pro field.  I wanted to belong and I didn't want to be racing by myself but I knew this was an honest reality given the strength of the field amassed for this race.  The weather had been extremely windy and lake Pontchartrain was boiling with waves and really scary so they cancelled the swim and replaced it with a 2 mile run.  The bike was also shortened to 52 miles due to debris on the course.  I was disappointed but I knew this would be an advantage for me since I am a weak swimmer compared to the other girls.

We drove down to New Orleans at 4:00 am on Sunday for the race.  Ted, Shanelle, Paula and Tiago all came down (BEST FRIENDS EVER!!).  I felt like I had a posse/hommies/goons/entourage with me, so pro right?!?!  Ted and Tiago (both PhDs in Exercise Physiology) distracted me during the drive with various super tri-geek discussions varying from crank length to power/wattage graphs and I almost forgot I had to race.  See Ted and Tiago pictured with fellow Baton Rouge Tri-club member Doug.  Talk about double trouble !! ;)

I was glad I had discussed my plan with Joe before the race, I was prepared to go out hard to stay with the pack but wanted to cap my pace around 6:00/mile given the length of the race to follow.  There were some serious big-time girls including Mirinda Carfrae, Caitlin Snow, Magali Tisseyre, Heather Wurtele, Amanda Lovato and Amy Marsh.  WOW, talk about some awesome competition!!  They started us in a corner around a traffic circle and I had flashbacks of my track days.  I started at the outer corner so I could run the tangent to the curve.  The run felt effortless and I checked my mile split and it said 5:45, holy SH**!!  I calmed it down a little for the second mile and came into T1 about 30-40s behind the lead pack.  It was the experience of a lifetime to come into T1 that close to the World Champion and multiple Ironman champions, I was giddy!!  

The first 10 miles of the bike course was more windy than any conditions I had ever experienced.  I had a 808 front and disc rear which probably wasn't the best choice but it was what I had, my bike lifted off the ground completely a couple times, YIKES!!  I decided to not put my shoes on my bike and put them on in transition.  I felt like a tool doing this but I noticed a lot of girls stopped during the bike to put their shoes on because of the wind making it so dangerous to take their hands off the bike to get their feet in their shoes.  The most exciting part was I had girls to bike with and they were going for it!!  I thought, well if I stick to my standard 70.3 pace which is 180 watts I will get dropped right away so I'm going to risk it and ride with these girls and stay in the fray for as long as I can....first 20 miles I had 200 watts and ended up with a 189 watt average which was absolutely stellar for me and almost 10 watts better than I've ever done before!  I wasn't last off the bike!!

Starting the half-marathon I knew I needed to be conservative because I had biked really hard.  I started out with 6:40/mile pace and was feeling good but I was careful to really try and stay in 6:50-7:00 range for the whole race.  I caught a few girls and was passed by one in the first 5 miles, when I came around the loop for the first time Ted was yelling that I was only 1:30 down on the next girl (who is really good and I was shocked to be anywhere near her).  I continued to run conservatively and carefully in my goal-pace range and it was starting to get harder to achieve this.  With 1 mile to go I caught the last girl and took the pace down to 6:30 and ran as hard as I could into the finish.  I was really excited to run 1:29 (a PR of over 5 minutes) off such a hard bike and with training focused on full Ironman distance predominantly!!  It was a huge relief to complete my first Pro race 15/20 (not last!!).  I felt like although I wasn't in contention for a podium or top 10 I did belong in the pro field and it gave me an opportunity to get such a great race out of myself due to the incredible talent I had to race against!  Next up, Ironman Texas on May 19th!!  Check out the nice flag behind me in the photo below!!

I flew back a few hours after the race as I needed to be at work first thing on Monday, still do love my day-job!!  It was awesome using Tri Bike Transport so I didn't have to take my bike box to the airport, they transported my bike from the site directly to a partner shop in St. Louis!  So convenient!

Training, Sponsors and Going Pro!

In the last few months I have been hard at work getting a good base and preparing for two spring races (Ironman 70.3 New Orleans in April and Ironman Texas in May).  Balancing a career as a veterinary ophthalmologist and an athlete is always a challenge and my time away from my real job (a vet) is mostly spent training.  I feel so lucky that this training time is also my social outlet, I have such awesome training partners and friends making the hard days so much less of a chore!

I have a great group of people who are into doing long rides (such a pleasure to have people who want to do this and not look at me like I have rabies when I say I want to do 100 miles twice a week!!).  My very good friend Stephanie Essman did an epic ride with me out to Glasgow from Columbia recently (110 miles with 5x30min intervals at 70.3 pace).  The pie in Glasgow at the Bakery made it all worth it!!  I am so sad that Stephanie is moving to San Diego this week, I will miss her as a riding partner very much but look forward to visiting her and getting a cycling tour of San Diego when I go out to lecture at the American Veterinary Medical Association Conference in August!!

Kate Chettle, my superstar running training partner has also had some great success racing this spring.  I am so lucky to have her to run with and push me in workouts and keep me honest with a really solid interval set every week on the track or trail!  She is a true talent and I am really excited to see her success so early in the season, she recently ran 17:37 on the track beating a whole load of college girls!!

Sponsors!!

I am so, so lucky that several companies believe in my goals and are willing to help me this year, for a first-year pro sponsorship opportunities are truly a gift and I am so grateful for the ones who have trusted me with their brands in 2012!! Endurance Company coaching provides me with superb guidance in my training and provides me with realistic plans that coincide with the time I can realistically commit to training since I do have a full-time job!  Valdora cycles has helped me obtain best tri-bikes (yes I own two, and they are awesome!!) on the market!!  I have ridden other top-level brands and my Valdora PHX2 is by far the stiffest, best climbing, super primo amazing bike I have ever been on!  The guys at Tryathletics are simply awesome and constantly help me make good decisions on gear, keep my bikes in order mechanically and drink lots of beer with my husband Steve!  I hate to think how fast Steve woud be without all that beer, I would never keep up.  I am excited to have some super top-notch carbon hydration bling from XLab USA, a company that sponsors some goddess-level triathletes who are the leaders of our sport!  My cat Gidget is shown below, clearly as excited as I was about the new XLab pressies!  I will be racing in TYR Freak of Nature wetsuit this year and using TYR gear for my swimming.  People, this wetsuit is AMAZING!!!  No more sore shoulders when you swim long distances.  The best was when I was out swimming at a local lake and upon exiting the water over heard a kid asking his mum if I was a superhero, due to the graphics on the suit which are quite superhero-esque, it made my day!!  I'm fueled by Electodelytes (these are the equivalent of turkish delight with electolytes in them), so yummy and delicious, even when I don't feel like eating during a race I want to eat them!  I am using Gu energy gel for training and racing (they are now the official gel of Ironman events).  I am glad to have continuity with products I successfully train with being available in races I am doing.  For those who know me well, I do have a fashion diva streak in me, my new race kit from ABPro Sports is simply awesome!!  The fabrics are technically elite and the completely custom graphics and design satisfy the diva in me too!

Making the decision to go pro in 2012 was a difficult one, I will trade success as an elite amateur for hardship as a pro in terms of placings at races.  I know with my primary career as a veterinarian, I will never be able to give the time it will take to be an elite professional in the sport of triathlon but I do think it will be an incredible experience to race as a professional and see what I am capable of with truly tough competition.  It has already increased my motivation to train at a higher level and I look forward to some really cool travel opportunities and adventures it will also open up in the next year.  As a mere mortal in a field of immortals at races it is daunting but what a great experience it will be to race alongside world champions and heroes of triathlon right?!