IMAZ Update and 2012 Review

Here we go again…another long overdue post!  In my defense I have been on an extended offseason and have taken a complete break from all things triathlon related since IMAZ (well really since Kona..)…and that includes writing about it!   As I have mentioned many times, blogging isn’t really my thing. Why you ask? Well I like to consider myself more of a “do-er” and not a “writer”.  I don’t like talking about myself and blogging requires me to do that.  I also don’t have much free time in my life…so blogging is the thing that falls to the bottom of my “to do” list.  

As I mentioned in my last post I was experiencing some burn out post Kona.  I took some much needed time off to just enjoy “life” in NYC.  The timing of this break was perfect as it coincided with the Holidays, winter in NYC, a nagging foot injury and allowed me time to get Lasik Surgery (finally! no more contacts and glasses – Amazing!) without having to worry about the required time off of training.

I left off filling you all in on my dilemma as to whether or not to race IMAZ.  Before I go into my day, I first want to give a big shout out to Sissy for completing her first Ironman!!  She had an amazing race, beating her goal time by almost an hour!!   Sooo proud of her and so glad to share the experience with her.  Xox

As for me, once in Arizona I made the final decision to race. I figured why not, I’m entered, my bike is here, Sissy is racing, and I could end my season for good after a 140.6 mile “workout.”  Let me backtrack for a minute…IMAZ has always been a race I wanted to do. And when Sissy decided that this was to be her “first and only” Ironman to celebrate her 40^th birthday, I decided to sign up as well. This would be my first time doing two Ironmans in one year, let alone 6 weeks apart. But, I love a challenge and I love Fall Ironmans as it gives me the opportunity to try and get my Kona qualification over for the following year.  However, after Kona, I started my offseason and spent little time on S/B/R (one swim, 2x on bike, 5 runs to be exact), and if it wasn’t for Sissy racing IMAZ, I would have definitely pulled the plug on this race.  But since I would be flying to Arizona anyway to watch my Sis, I figured since it is a 3 loop bike/run course, it would be fun to be there with her during morning transition and the swim start.  Then would see her out on the bike and run course multiple times and also be there when she crossed the finish line!  Perfect plan!  I was also able to get to a place mentally where I had little expectations of myself on the day and was going to go out there and just “have fun”!  Well, all went according to plan until I realized during the first loop of the run that it was 3 figure eight loops and it was not likely I was ever going to see Sissy on the run.  Not Cool!   So after one loop of the run I decided to call it a day.  I didn’t drop out because I was having a poor race, my decision had nothing to do with my race but everything to do with Sissy’s race.  I was actually having a decent race (which I found out after the fact since I wasn’t paying attention to my time and place at all, was just focused on Sissy and having fun!) - I got off the bike in a good position, ran my way to 3^rd by end of first loop, and since running a strong marathon is my strength, I’m confident I could have landed on the podium and with a Kona slot.  But, that wasn’t the point of this race, I was there to support my Sister.  Sissy has been to every major athletic event of my career.  She was at every Ironman, running around cheering like a lunatic, tweeting/updating friends, taking photos, and I wanted to be able to do the same.  How could I miss out on what could potentially be her One and Only Ironman!   So after one loop, I saw my Mom, told her I was done, and to not even try to talk me out of it.  So off we went to see Sissy on her 2^ndand 3^rd loops of the run, and we were there to see her cross the finish line.  It was so much fun to be out on the run course, cheering and encouraging her, she looked so strong and happy and it made us so proud. And at that moment, I knew I made the right decision and I haven’t regretted it since.

                                            Sissy and I at the race expo

                                        Sissy and I checking in our bikes!

                                        Sissy and I post race...soooo proud!

First (and only?) Ironman done...looking good Sis!

                                              Race Morning with Sissy

                                       IMAZ awards morning with Mom & Sissy

2012 Review

This past year was a struggle for me…I was really frustrated with my work schedule and trying to fit training in around it.  I was always exhausted and constantly feeling like I wasn’t doing enough.  I know my training, focus on rest & recovery and nutrition is less than optimal and certainly less than majority of my competitors.  I have had this same job and schedule since I got into the sport but still somehow I have been lucky enough to pull off some good race results despite this.  But with the growth of this sport and the amount of time that everyone else seems to be able to spend on triathlon, my life situation has really started to wear on me mentally.  I talked briefly about this in my last post, and I’m not going to dwell on it further.  My goal for 2013 is to just focus on doing what I can within my control and block out all the “noise.”

Even though 2012 didn’t go as I had hoped, and I fell short of some of my goals, after having some time to reflect on the season I realized I was probably a little too hard on myself and there were some good results after all, soI thought I would share some highlights and races that I am most proud of:

1.  Ironman Cozumel 2011….I know this is 2011 and not 2012, in my mind it was the start of the 2012 season, and one of my proudest athletic accomplishments and this is my blog so I’m going to include it J   I was 1^st Female Amateur Overall with a PR of 9:57 (3:14 marathon which I’m also proud of!).  This race is a good reminder to me that when my head is in the game, I can get after my goals! I had a rocky 2011 and then in Sept. decided to sign up for Ironman Cozumel, get focused and with exactly 2 months of training, I pulled off this win.  This was a huge goal of mine and I was so incredibly excited and proud to accomplish this goal at my 3^rd Ironman attempt.

2.  Carlsbad Marathon 2012 – Overall Female – 2:53 (PR).  Winning a marathon was another big goal of mine and I was ecstatic to start 2012 with this Win.

3.  NYC Half Marathon – 1:21 (PR).   I hadn’t run a standalone half marathon in a few years so I was excited for a PR in this distance. 

4.  Ironman Racine 70.3 – 1^st 30-34 AG….after a few 2^nd place AG finishes at the 70.3 distance, I finally pulled off a win.   I was surprised and happy after coming off an injury that kept me from running for about 8 weeks.

5.  Rev 3 Maine – 1^st 30-34 AG – this was my first Rev 3 race and was thrilled to win my AG at this race.

6. And last but truly the highlight of 2012, although its non-triathlon related, this was a huge 2012 highlight, my first nephew and godson,  Eamon James Kenney was born in September.  And I am totally in love with this cutie.

                                        Just love this picture...total Heartbreaker!

                                            Christmas Morning with Eamon

                                           Stylish Eamon! Love!

                                                   NY Giant Fan!

                                            First minute with Eamon

                         My brother Sean - proud Daddy. Sweet moment :)

I’m excited to report that after almost 4 months of off season, I am FINALLY starting to miss triathlon and l am looking forward to racing again.  I am still working on my race schedule and will likely be starting my season later than usual this year.  I will update on this once I have it all squared away.

I am also really excited about old and new sponsors that I am working with this year and will update soon on this as well.

A huge thank you to all my 2012 Sponsors/supporters: My Family, Tribike Transport, Health Warrior, Lululemon, Sai Systems, Tripower Multisports, Terrier Tri, Bicycle Planet.  Your support means the world to me, thank you!

I hope everyone is having a great start to 2013 and hope to see you all out on the course soon!

Xo

C

Kona Pictures.. Finally! Blog update with more than pics to follow - Promise!

Ahhh running...finally!  

Can't beat that background :)

Billy B!  Always great to hang with the Buskos in Kona! And yes of course my abs look like that too ;)

Underwear Run.  Thanks HealthWarrior!

B

We thought these were so cute and funny.  

Best support team/cheerleaders EVER - Mom and Sissy.  Love you guys.

Pre race routine - sissy does my braids while I sip my tea,  No coffee for this girl

Pure happiness

Some official race pics.. Really thought the 112 mile would never end..ever

Always love a finish line and this one is THE BEST feeling ever.

Mom and her fan.  haha too cute

Post race with my favs.  xo

Bike drop off.  Always one of the last ones...no matter how organized I think i am :(

Kona Race Report - and a little therapy session!!

A month later and I am finally sitting down to write a little bit about Kona.   I’ve really been struggling with what to write, where to start and how deep to get!  As I have mentioned in the past, blogging really isn’t my thing.  I guess I feel like an open book if I tell too much.  But today…I am going to try.  I think being open here will actually help me with a lot of what I have been feeling.  So brace yourselves..haha.  Oh and I’ll try to keep it organized, but my thoughts are sooo all over the place lately.

Let me first say – Kona 2012 was amazing.  The week was really great – spending time with mom, sissy, coach and friends.  Actually pretty cool how many NYers were there racing.  Way to represent from the concrete jungle!  Despite being nervous and full of emotion, I tried to take in all the pre race week had to offer.  The week before really is so much of what the whole Kona experience is all about.  I just wanted to start with this because I’m afraid the rest of what I am going to write may sound like negatives.  But keep an eye out for silver linings :)

Simply put – my race didn’t go as I had hoped.  However, I am still proud of my effort and am thankful to have had the opportunity to race in Kona again.  A lot of lessons learned in this race, so I am going to breakdown this race report by what I learned:

1.     You really do get out of something what you put into it.

2.     If you have doubts and negative thoughts pre race, they will affect your race.

3.     When things aren’t going as you planned/hoped, how you react and handle the situation is what matters.

4.     When it’s not your day, cheering and supporting your competitors is even more gratifying than when you are having a great day.

5.     Salt water will mess up your stomach.

6.     I’m tired.

1. You really do get out of something what you put into something.

Ok, I have to admit – I slacked big time on my training going into this race.  Which I am embarrassed to admit since I was racing in KONA.  But in hindsight I feel like I didn’t work hard enough.  So all race while I was struggling, all I could think is….you deserve this.  I qualified at IMCOZ in Nov. 2011.  I felt like I had so much time to get ready.  So I decided to run a couple of early season marathons and then pick up the tri training in the spring.  Great plan except the injury during the Boston marathon in April set me back and derailed my plans.  It set back my training and my race schedule.  I really wanted to get in some early 70.3s, then have a few weeks to recover before IM training.  That plan didn’t happen.  And now looking back, I just don’t feel like I made a new plan that worked well.  I felt strongly about getting in another 70.3 before Kona and there weren’t many August options.  I decided on Rev 3 Maine, which was the weekend in between my 2 weeks vacation.  I didn’t train through the race (maybe I should have?  I don’t know!) but I just feel like I didn’t maximize those 2 weeks of NO WORK!  And earlier in the summer when I couldn’t run, but I could bike, I just didn’t feel like it.  I was so exhausted from work every weekend all I wanted to do was join my mom on the beach.  I know this sounds crazy since this is a sport I love, but I’ll revisit this again when I get to #6).  Bottom line is, I could have done more.  And I didn’t.  And I knew that.  And it was in my head A LOT as the race approached and it was too late to do anything about it.  Which brings me to #2…

2. If you have doubts and negative thoughts pre race, they will affect your race.

I had MAJOR doubts.  I guess I started to realize I didn’t put as much as I could have into the training and I started to doubt myself.   I have always been fortunate to have decent results despite not putting in a lot of hours of training.   (For those wondering – a max week for me is 15 hours and that probably happens once a year. 10 hours is pretty typical and sometimes less).  However, I suddenly felt I ramped up the IM training/focus too late and the Rev 3 race was not a good idea.  I lost a couple of weekends of long rides and runs because of that race.  My confidence comes from knowing I can run strong off the bike.   But because I hadn’t done any long runs as of labor day weekend – I really started to panic.  I managed to get a couple in, but I’m not sure it was enough to quiet the noise of doubt in my head.  That just spiraled over the next 6 weeks.   While I may not have been as trained as I should be…the negative thoughts did not help me on race day.  I took myself out of the game before it even started.

 

3. When things aren’t going as you planned or hoped, how you react and handle the situation is what matters/ 4. When it’s not your day, cheering and supporting your competitors is even more gratifying than when you are having a great day/ 5. Salt water will mess up your stomach

(Combining #s 3-5 here)

Its ironic, I was finally able to quiet the doubts once I was out on the course, but it may have been too late.  The swim was really tough.  Swimming is not my strength and not something I focus much on in training, but I didn’t expect to battle people for 2.4 miles.  I really did have bruises on my arms after the race from getting hit.  Unfortunately, due to the battle for 2.4 miles, I seemed to swallow A LOT of salt water (something I need to work on!).  I was so happy to be out of the water in 1:12, which was actually a decent time for me as the swim times were slower this year. But once out on the bike I realized quickly the water I took in was not going to be good.  All the way out to Hawi – everything I took in for nutrition/fluids came back up.  All I can say about the rest of the bike leg is - demoralizing.  I don’t know what happened out there, besides the head wind that felt like it would never end.  What I do know is I reallllly struggled.  I felt like I may never get back to transition.  I would look down and see my speed and want to cry (I’m sure I did cry!).  Thankfully I saw an old teammate out there and that lifted my spirits a bit.  I just kept telling myself – get to the run, get to the run.  That’s where a race usually starts for me anyway. Not the case on October 13...I was feeling soooo dehydrated which I assume was from getting sick the first half of the bike.  I ran well the first 8 miles or so.  Then I saw my mom, who is always so sweet and supportive.  I never stop in a race or really even talk to my family when I am out there, but I yelled to her, “I don’t know what to do.  I feel awful.”  She yelled and I mean YELLED (with this look on her on her face I have never seen because she never yells, EVER), “Christine, you keep going.  KEEP GOING”  Hmm ok, no sympathy from her I guess.  Haha.  But she was right and I needed that tough love.  She knows me better than anyone and knows the disappointment I would have felt if I gave into the pain and dehydration.  I slugged my way up Palani, saw Sissy and Coach.  Told them what was going on and just being able to tell them made me feel a little better.  Out on the Queen K I met my race Angel.  Jennifer Hanley-Pinto – I would pass her through the aid stations and she would pass me in between.  She said to me as she passed me, “come on girl”  I said, “today’s not my day.  You go, have a great run”  She said, “don’t be afraid to walk through the aid stations:”  DING DING DING   Not sure why I needed someone to tell me that, but it was brilliant.  I guess I needed someone to tell me because  I have never walked in a race or even slowed down through an aid station.  She saved me though, walking through the rest of the aid stations allowed me to take in more fluids and replenish more from the dehydration.  In between aid stations I was running surprisingly well.   Despite the race not going how I had hoped, what really surprised me, was how I handled it.  I learned a lot about myself out there.  I am a very competitive person and had you asked me pre race how I would feel if the race went this way, I would have said upset, angry etc.  And most of all I wouldn’t have predicted that when my day was s*cking, I’d want to support my competitors.  I know that sounds bad, but I told you earlier I’m going to keep it real here.  Maybe it was the support from Jennifer that helped me or maybe I just have more good in me than I thought (haha), but there is no doubt, the more I cheered and supported other people, the better I felt.   I highly recommend this to everyone whether your day is going well or not :).  I learned the other side of Ironman that day.  I have never struggled in a race like that before and it was very humbling.  There is a camaraderie out there despite the competitive nature that we all have that is truly remarkable.

Somewhere along the way, I found my running legs again and the competitor in me came alive.  Even though I knew that I wasn’t having the day I hoped for, to me this is still a race, and I wanted to get to the finish line ahead of as many girls as I could.  It no longer mattered if I was racing for 20^th place or 30^th., I wanted to finish strong.  I ended up running a 3:21 marathon, 3^rd fastest in my AG and I ran my way from 50^th off the bike to finish 18^th in my AG.  This is definitely a reminder to me to never give up in an Ironman, it’s a long day and you never know how things will end up!

No matter what happened out there all day, the finish line of an Ironman (especially Kona) is AMAZING.  What I did find interesting, I almost always cry at the end of a race.  Yep, I’m an emotional person…can you tell?  But I didn’t cry in Kona this year.  I think I processed so much out on the course that by the time I got to the finish line I really had nothing left.  I pushed through when so much of me wanted to stop.  But I never would and for that I am proud.

6. I’m tired…

What I realized these past few months and what I realized also led to my decisions to skip training for the beach all summer was.. I am tired.  Not tired of training, but tired from trying to fit it in around my work hours.  I do love Triathlon, but my job s*cks for Ironman training and it leaves me mentally exhausted. I’m tired of sleeping 4 hours a night to fit in a 90 min training session at most.  The stress I put on myself to fit it in has officially worn on me.  Admitting this is really REALLY hard for me.  I feel like I am admitting defeat.  Maybe I am, but I know that my race in Kona was directly affected by this on many levels.  All of which are mentioned above.  The skipping training, the doubts and my race results.  What I would love is to be able to train, sleep, spend time with family/friends (and of course P&R) and work a lot less.  Until I figure out how to do that I am just not sure I can compete at the level I want to.  And to be clear, I am not trying to cut back hours on a 40 hour work week, I want to cut back on the 60-70 hour work weeks!  Does this mean I am officially burnt out?  Is this what burn out feels like?  The off season will hopefully answer this for me.

In the meantime I am off to Arizona this Thursday.  It’s Sissy’s first (and only, so she says!) Ironman!!  SO SO excited for her.  I am supposed to be racing as well.  Final decision on this to be made Friday.  Bike is on its way and I’ll be there either way, so why not race?  Well… Since Kona I have swam once, biked once (yesterday) and run a handful of times.  I did just tell you about my burn out, so I guess this isn’t much of a surprise.  Recent NY weather has not exactly helped the training, but I cannot blame it just on that.   I am sure I can still do an Ironman right now, but will I do it well?  Or am I setting myself up for more disappointment?  A good friend of mine told me – participate only if you check your ego at the flight gate and can go do it for fun.   And that is what I need to figure out these next few days.  Can I really do that?  (PS – I do not have an ego!)   If I am racing, it will be great to be out on the course to see Sissy lots (3 loop bike and run course).  If I decide not to race, I’ll be cheering for her allllll over that course.  Everyone send lots of cheers to my Sissy next weekend!!

Sorry for the really long post.  I probably lost you all at #2!   I think writing this may have helped me process all my feelings and thoughts, so thanks for listening to my therapy session ;-)

And a HUGE THANK YOU to everyone that has supported me all year long, especially my family and sponsors! It means sooo much to me to have people that believe in me and support me in this Journey!  A special shout out to the following: My MOM – my rock, my biggest supporter who travelled with me to every race this season.  I really could not do this without her.  My Sissy – my biggest cheerleader and my voice of reason.  My Sponsors – Tribike Transport – thank you for your AMAZING bike service. I was honored to be a part of the 2012 Ambassador team and you made my race travel so much less stressful! And to Health Warrior – your chia bars help keep me fueled and healthy. And an extra thanks for outfitting my Mom, Sissy and I for the Underpants run!  And my Coach for all the guidance and being flexible with my crazy job and understanding of my many missed workouts :)

Ill be back with an update on AZ…

Xoxox

C

Rev 3 Maine and Back to Reality

Wow...I can't believe August is over, Kona is less than 6 weeks away!  I am sad to say goodbye to summer but the only positive is that my weekend schedule will be a little less hectic now that I am not trying to fit in a full beach day on top of trying to train for an Ironman :)  Add the extra running around on the weekend to my already ridiculous work schedule during the week and trying to fit in training when I can makes for an extremely exhausted "Me"!  I had been sooo looking forward to August -two weeks of a much needed vacation, Sissy was coming home from San Diego for almost 4 weeks (yay!!) and I was racing my first Rev 3 race in Maine.

Sissy arrived home on Aug. 15 and my last day of work was Aug. 17.  We spent the first few days catching up over some vino, getting in some light training, and of course lounging on the beach! I also had to take care of the usual pre race stuff which always causes a little bit of added stress. Sissy and I (and the pups, P&R) headed up to Maine on Thurs., Aug. 23 (Mom arrived on Friday) and the race was on Sunday, Aug. 26. The race was held in Old Orchard Beach, but since I was on vacation and have never been to Maine, I decided to make a mini trip out of it and we stayed in Kennebunkport for the week. I absolutely loved it, Kennebunkport is such a cute little town and the R&R with my mom, sis & pups pre-race was just what I needed.

                                     

I typically don't race in August. In previous years, I would race a lot early in the season and after a July race, I would take a little break, then in August re-focus for my fall Ironman. However, with my early season injury I didn't get in much racing, so I really wanted to get in one more race before Kona. I wasn't racing Vegas this year since Coach and I had decided at the beginning of the season I would skip it this year so I had turned down my slot at Racine. And it is also my sister in laws baby shower - I can't wait to be an aunt!!  I had never done a Rev 3 race, and with the addition of the race in Maine this year, I thought this would be a great August race, just a 5 hour drive from home, and it didn't disappoint.

Ok...onto the deets of the race. On Friday morning before the race I woke up feeling like I was getting sick (Ugh). It wasn't one of those things where I couldn't get myself out of bed, but I just didn't feel right, everything I did seemed to just take a little more effort than normal and I got very winded and wasn't feeling great during my pre-race shakeout workouts. But I tried to just ignore it and hope that on race day it would miraculously go away. Well, not so much. I woke up on Sunday feeling exactly the same way. Again, not so bad that I would skip the race, but I definitely wasn't feeling 100%. I tried to put it out of my head and focus on the race.  I stuck to my normal pre race routine and everything went smoothly and before I knew it I was in the water and off we went.

The swim was an ocean swim and I typically don't have great swims in the ocean. I guess not being a very strong swimmer (and one who doesn't train for the swim much) I have a tougher time than in a nice calm lake, so I knew regardless of how I felt I wasn't going to be setting any records on this swim. A few hundred meters in I was already realizing this little "sickness" was going to cause me some issues -I was having a really tough time breathing and at one point had to turn over and float on my back to catch my breath. I did contemplate if I should call it a day, but I turned back over and continued on with my swim. I came out of the water in 37:26, not a great swim for me but was to be expected. I saw Mom, Sis & the pups as I ran into T1 and there was no smile or wave for them like I usually do. I knew this was going to be a tough day for me.

The Bike...I honestly can't even tell you much about the bike course. I was just focused on getting through the 56 miles..it felt like one of the longest rides of my life. I didn't feel great and I couldn't wait for it to be over. My heart rate was very high for the effort and watts I was putting out, and I was still having trouble breathing. Going into the race, I was really excited to see what kind of bike time I could put up. I am loving my new Trek SC (Teddy), my bike training has been going well and was hoping for a solid bike time. I know my bike time was totally not reflective of my current bike fitness and I was bummed not to have the ride I am capable of. But I'm hopeful that I'll have a good ride sooner rather than later :) Kona, would be a good time for my bike fitness to make an appearance!

Entering T2, I saw my fam and again I couldn't muster a smile for them. I knew when I set out on this run, it was all going to come down to a mental battle for me. I was clearly not having the race I was hoping for with a crappy swim and bike (according to my own expectations for myself on this day) and as the day progressed, the worse I felt. My body was screaming at me to get back to bed!  I slipped on my pink Newtons, ran out of T2 and was hoping for some magic on this run. At about 1/4 mile, I saw my great support team again cheering for me, at this point I yelled to them that I wasn't feeling well and for about the first mile I can't lie I was battling the negative thoughts of just calling it a day. But then I realized that a DNF in my last race before Kona would not be the mental confidence builder I wanted going into that race. I had no idea how where I was in relation to the other girls in the race or what place I was in.  I just had to focus my energy on trying to pass as many girls as I could and within the first few miles I passed a bunch of girls which helped motivate me to continue plugging along.  As I approached the finish line I noticed one more girl ahead of me who seemed within reach.  I told myself 'you will pass her, you will pass her or you will pass out trying.'   Turns out, it was a matter of 4th place overall vs. 5th place overall.  I had no idea if it was for 10th overall or 3rd overall, but I was really happy that after such a tough day mentally (and physically of course) I still had it in me to make that last push.

                                 If you look close at finish line photos, Riley made the jumbo tron pic with me :)

Once I crossed the finish line, I completely let go of any negative thoughts about this race.  No, I didn't have the race I wanted or knew I was capable of, but not every race can be our perfect race. With Kona 6 weeks away, I chose to focus only on the positives:

1. On a day where I felt like total crap and wanted to quit during the swim and bike, I dug deep and didn't fall apart on the run, I managed to finish stronger than I started.

2. I ran my way from about 15th off the bike to 4th overall with the fastest female run split of the day.

3. Even on a bad day, I was able to eek out a sub 5 hour finish and finish in the top 5 overall and top 3 in AG.

4. I am incredibly proud of my ability to stay mentally strong and run my way through the field on a day when I was feeling less than 100%. I know this mental strength will serve me well in Ironman.

As soon as I crossed the finish, I went over to the Normatec booth to try out the recovery boots..and OH...MY...GOD....best things ever - I totally felt a difference in my recovery after this race. I. MUST. GET. A. PAIR. 

I can't say enough great things about this race...Rev 3 puts on a fantastic race and I can't wait for next year...I'll be back.  The volunteers were amazing and Old Orchard Beach really seemed to welcome us with open arms!  I'm also excited that I won a free entry to a Rev 3 race of my choice next year for my 1st in AG finish (yes, technically was 2nd, but Rev 3 has top 3 overall awards, so a girl in my AG was top 3 which moved me to 1st in AG for awards).  

Now, I'm back to work and the next 6 weeks will be super busy, work gets chaotic (think loooong days in the office) again between now and the holidays.  I need to get focused for Kona, so its time to put my head down and do my very best to fit in good solid training (quality over quantity!) around work. Its back to getting to bed at midnight and up at 4:30 am.  There are no 20+ hour training weeks for this girl.  Literally, I am lucky if I get in 15 hours, and a typical week is more like 12 hours of training and I rarely am able to fit in everything my coach has on my schedule.  Yup, its those swims that most often get missed, and many many workouts getting rearranged to fit in whenever I can.   Feeling stressed already and I'm just back from 2 weeks vaca!!  In 2 weeks I'm heading to San Diego to visit sissy and get in some training in sunny SoCal.  Followed by a local sprint race where I'll attempt to defend my title from last year, and then its off to Kona.

Thanks everyone for your support, especially the super fast girls at Rev 3 Maine that motivated me to push my limits and keep fighting on a tough day, my Mom, Sissy and P&R for being the best cheerleaders, and my Coach and Sponsors for their continued support on this journey.

xo
C

                                     The Candy lover in me couldn't wait for post race to visit "The Sugar Shack"