A lot has been going on at the Leiggi's these past few weeks. There are going to be some big changes coming in the next few months! But first up, my long over due IM Chattanooga race report. This race was definitely an improvement over Louisville but still not the race I was hoping for. I obviously still have a lot to learn with this ironman racing. Since this was the first year for IM Chattanooga, I wasn't sure what to expect. The city itself had a great vibe with mountains, good restaurants and a fun downtown. They even had an outdoor climbing wall on the side of one of the buildings on the main street which was REALLY tempting….The race course looked to be pretty fun.  A fast downstream swim in the Tennessee river, a rolling hill course through the countryside and a 2 loop run along the river. The race start was delayed a bit due to lack of light but even when the sun came up, it was still pretty dark. Thankfully the swim was pretty easy to navigate (a straight shot downstream) and the pro list was big so there were plenty of women to swim with. As expected, it

earlier, the damage from the bike was too bad to do much more. I ended up in 11th. Not quite the results I wanted but I did run an ironman marathon PR so it wasn't all bad.  One thing that never gets old is crossing the finish line at an ironman. It really is an emotional and special feeling, no matter how good or bad or day was. So, another ironman in the books.  Now it's time to rest, catch up with friends, do a little partying and then start planning 2 ...

The good: I had an amazing training block leading up to Ironman Louisville! It was one of those rare blocks where workouts are nailed almost perfectly, recovery happens quickly, distractions are at minimum and you pleasantly surprise yourself with times and paces. It helped to be able to spend some time in Victoria, BC.   Having my coach and other fast women around to provide company and motivation was amazing. With that, I headed to Louisville extra excited to race. Training had gone well and I was excited for my 3rd another attempt at the ironman distance.

Race morning came and temps were quite a bit cooler than expected. The days prior to the race had been ridiculously hot.  While I wasn't overly concerned about the heat and humidity since I am usually race well in those conditions, it was nice for a little reprieve and I was still quite a bit surprised with just HOW stifling the heat was in Louisville. Anyway, thunderstorms the night before the race cooled things down and also made for a super fast swim. The swim at Louisville starts upstream in a relatively protected area before you turn downstream for the rest of the swim. The cannon sounded and off we went. I wanted feet extra badly because I really didn't want to have to pull myself upstream. A few of the women were quickly off the front but I was able to get in a group and follow some feet. It was a challenging draft with the water being so murky and strange river currents but I managed to stay on...barely. I exited the water with a group of 3 other girls and was off on the bike in 6^th. I had a little trouble settling in on the bike. My legs wanted to go harder but my HR was still pretty high. I knew I didn't want to ride too hard so I forced myself to slow down and stay controlled. After about 10 miles, I got passed by 2 women and I decided to go with them.  I managed to find a nice rhythm and eventually passed the 2 women back and gained some ground on the women ahead. The second loop got pretty chaotic with us merging with the age groupers. I'll admit to losing track of time through this section and letting my nutrition and hydration get away from me a little bit. The last hour of the bike felt pretty rough and I was happy to head into T2. I had focused a lot of my training on my running leading up to Louisville and I was looking forward to testing out my fitness.

The bad: Starting off the run I did not feel good. Still, I had felt worse getting off the bike in Texas so I stayed positive thinking the body would eventually come around. I was psyched to be in 5^th too, although I knew there were some pretty fast runners behind me. After a few miles, the body was not coming around and I was actually feeling worse. I did everything I could think of to pull myself together. At the turnaround (~mile 6) I was mildly comforted in that all the other women looked about as bad as I felt.  At mile 10, I caught Kate who had been leading and unfortunately was suffering GI issues and walking. Now w ...

One of my friends commented this weekend at Syracuse about how hard it seems to put together a complete race. It's definitely a challenge in our sport of triathlon, especially trying to balance all 3 sports. But I'm sure that is partly why we come back for more, searching for that perfect performance. Thinking back to all the races I've had, I don't know if I've ever had a race where I felt it went exactly as I'd hoped from beginning to end. That doesn't keep me from trying! That's one of the things I love about racing. Pushing myself and testing myself to be better than the last time. This comment definitely hit home as I thought about my last 2 races. Eagleman 70.3 and Syracuse 70.3, from a performance point of view, ended up being complete opposites. At Eagleman, I had a great bike (with a new PB!) but had a pathetic swim and run. At Syracuse, I managed a great swim, solid run and pathetic bike. While I can't help but be a little disappointed with the less-then-stellar parts of my races, they are great learning opportunities.

I knew racing Eagleman 3weeks post-IM might be a little risky. I am pretty new to ironman racing so I wasn't sure how my body would respond. Eagleman is one of my favorite races and close to home so I decided to take the risk. The weather turned out to be nice, for Eagleman standards anyway.  The pro field, while always strong, was much deeper than normal after Rev3 canceled the pro purse at Quassy. I was excited to race, with no expectations other than to race as hard as my body would allow. I was looking forward to having a good swim here after having some good swims in my last 2 races. To be honest, I still don't know exactly happened during my swim but I have a few theories. Whatever the case, it was not good. I felt like I might have been swimming a bit too easy during the swim but I was hoping I was just drafting really well. :)  Fortunately, I did not see my time when I came out of the water. I hopped on my bike and was pleased that my legs felt great immediately. I've had some great bike training this year so it was nice to be able to back up that training with a PB. My legs had a different idea for the run though. I could see another pro women about 20-30sec ahead of me as I headed out on the run but as much as I tried to chase her down I just couldn't get my body moving any faster. In the end, I did manage to catch her by mile 10 but I still had to settle for a sub-par run and a 12^th place finish.

Two weeks later I headed up to race Syracuse 70.3. I was honored to be asked to help with the Ironkids event. It was a blast watching the little kids race their hearts out and with such big smiles on their faces. The Syracuse 70.3 course is a tough one, especially the run course which is one of the hardest around. I had raced well here the year before so I had nothing but good memories as I lined up at the start on race morning. After my pathetic swim at Eagleman, I was extra focused on this leg.  I did some recon, planned out a little strategy and then went for it. Mostl ...

My second IM is done and dusted. I am happy to say this one went just a tad bit better. I'm not going to lie…I am also pretty relieved to have it over. The anxiety I had leading up to this race was over the top. I'm used to pre-race nerves by now but this was different. I knew a lot of it had to do with my previous IM experience which, while I had initially just been happy I had finished, I obviously was not happy with finishing somewhere in the bottom of the pro field. A lot had happened leading up to IMFL so I knew I hadn't really given myself a fair shot at success.  But it still left me hesitant about wanting to do another one. However, I knew I couldn't give up after one failed attempt and this year I felt ready for another shot.  I made sure that distractions were at a minimum and I was ready to give myself a real shot this time.  And while my training went much better this time around, my IMFL experience still weighed heavily on my mind. I did my best to deal with it like the professional athlete that I am...ha! I have learned a lot about dealing with expectations and pressures but I am constantly having to re-assess.  There were definitely a lot more chats and email exchanges with my coach and a few more visits to Mitch at Greenepsych.  "Courage over confidence" as Mitch always says and in this case it had never been more appropriate. I didn't have a lot of experience with ironman racing so I had no idea if my preparations had been enough. I knew this was a large and very experienced pro field. My previous race experience was far from stellar.  There was no way I was going into this race with much confidence.  But, I would be brave and courageous and do the best I could on that day.  I would worry about the rest later.  Coach P also gave me a very specific checklist of goals for race day. They were things like get in a pack on the swim, hit your nutrition goals on the bike, etc. This helped get me focused on this things I needed to do during the race and off of the things I couldn't control.  It was just another triathlon after all…I had myself pretty well convinced by race morning. :)

Air temps promised to be on the cooler side for Texas and so were the water temps. Surprisingly it ended up being a wetsuit legal swim. I was a little worried about swimming 2.4miles in my wetsuit. The water was legal but warm and I didn't know how my shoulders were going to feel about swimming 2.4 miles in a wetsuit. Fortunately Zoot makes awesome wetsuits and my shoulders felt great through the whole swim.  The pro field was big at this race and with the men and women starting together, the start was utter chaos... at least that's what it felt like to me.  As I said earlier, my goal for this swim was simple: get on feet and stay there. I had managed to do it at Puerto Rico 70.3 so I felt like I had a good shot at it again.  After getting punched a few times and bumped all over the place, I did actually manage to find some feet and latch on. I had no idea if I was swimming well, where most of t ...

After debating for several weeks on which race I wanted to start my season with (way too many options), I finally settled on Puerto Rico 70.3. I was looking forward to visiting Puerto Rico having never been there before. The race itself looked fun too-islandy, beachy, hot, humid, windy... After solid winter of training and a great training camp in Australia, I was more excited than normal to get out there and race. Unfortunately, and with terrible timing, I caught a cold a few days before the race. I did everything in my power to get rid of it as quickly as possible but honestly, I needed a few extra days. I kept my fingers crossed for a miracle and hoped that my body would still feel good on race morning but I did have to re-adjust my goals a little. Regardless, with the pro field being extra small and with strong swimmers, I prepared myself for a lonely swim. The gun sounded and off we went. Just as I was about to settle into my own little swim groove, I looked up and saw some feet not too far ahead. The opportunity to draft and not swim alone was right in front of me! I accelerated as best as I could and to my surprise, I managed to get onto the feet and stay there for most of the swim. It was hard for me to get a sense of whether we were swimming fast or slow but I knew my effort level was good and I was thrilled for the company. I was happy to see post-race that I had managed to break that elusive 30min barrier (yes, I know swim courses are pretty unreliable when it comes to proper distances but I'm just going to go with it). Sophie, the girl I was drafting off in the swim, gapped me a bit as we exited the water and I chased her through the super long transition. It took me FOREVER to catch my breath and get my HR back to normal race levels as I headed out on the bike course. Initially we made a bunch of turns and went up and over a few overpasses but then headed out for 2 loops on a flat and windy highway. I attempted to keep Sophie in my sights despite my legs not feeling very peppy. This is not uncommon for me in the first few miles of the bike but as we hit the first turnaround and my legs still felt like garbage, I knew I was going to be in for a long day. I had made a promise to myself at the start of this race that no matter how I felt, I would keep the effort up and keep pushing no matter how bad I felt. So, I did my best to stop obsessing over my watts and just keep the effort up. This was made quite a bit harder on the back half of the first loop since we were heading straight into a head wind. On the second loop, we began merging with the amateurs. To my surprise, the motorcycle that had been trailing me from the beginning of the race, pulled around in front of me and began whistling 

and beeping to clear the way for me. All the pro women had our own police escort and it was such a nice treat. The run went about the same way as the bike. I just felt flat. The run course was gorgeous. It had great views of the ocean, went through the streets of San Juan and along the water by one of the spectacular forts. With that being said, it was one of the most challenging run courses-hot and hilly. There were so many people out on the course cheering though it act ...

I know it's time for an update. Honestly, life here in Philly has been pretty boring. Boring in a good way though. I have settled into a nice eat, sleep, train, coach groove. You know when you have those periods where everything just seems to be flowing smoothly with minimal distractions or interruptions? Well, that's how things have been....It's been nice, although the weather has definitely been challenging my training groove. I can't remember a winter like this ever in Philadelphia. Multiple snow storms, single digit temps, crazy ice storms and power outages has definitely tried my motivation and dedication. I am so ready for winter to be over and I am counting the days till training camp begins. It's still 3 weeks away though. Boo! While I've been ramping up my training, I've have been extra focused on listening to my body. Staying on top of my health and energy levels is a big focus for me this year. Managing my nutrition better, tracking my iron levels and paying better attention to my recovery and fatigue. As I found out last year, it's so easy to make excuses for rough workouts or brush bad days under the rug. And while it's important not to be negative and dwell on the bad days, it is also important to listen to your body and make sure you are not ignoring significant signs. We are all different. We all improve and progress under different conditions and with different types of training. That's why it never any good to compare what you are doing to how others are training. What is good for one person is often not good for you. I'm learning that I am one of those athletes that needs a lot of recovery. It's tough because like most triathletes, I want to train more and train harder. But, that is not always the smart thing. Sometimes it is. But that is why knowing your body and listening to it is so important. Knowing when to push and when to hold back can be the difference between taking the next step forward and falling backwards. I really want to have a successful FULL season this year. And, I am excited to have many of sponsors back supporting me in 2014. Part of my off-season included working to strengthen my relationships with these companies. Zoot Sports has been with me since the beginning. Their 2014 apparel line is one of their best...it's all about stripes! Rudy Project has proved to be a great company to work with making cool sunglasses and helmets. I am anxiously awaiting the release of their new aero helmet, the Wing57. GU Sports has kept me fueled for several years now. They have come out with some yummy new flavors and are now running a fun new Willy Wonka inspired contest to find the golden packet of Salted Caramel GU. 

Finally! An update! I have practically gone off the grid the past few months. Part of the reason was just due to spending more time with friends and having fun since my season was over, but a lot of it was my need to maintain a little sanity. My coach decided a nice super long off season was in order and while I am not someone who normally has trouble taking time off, this length of time was going to be a bit more of a struggle. So, in order to not drive myself crazy reading about everyone getting back to training, all the races that were still going on, etc., etc., I decided to just step away from facebook, twitter, triathlon mags, triathlon website, and pretty much anything triathlon related for a while. I did of course keep up with my coaching activities. Writing training plans, holding post-season reviews, talking about pre-season schedules, welcoming new clients are always fun so there was no issue there! I also gave several talks this off-season.  One to a local triathlon club on off-season training tips. I travelled up to Syracuse to give a talk on getting the most out of your training at a seminar held at Morehouse HFC and spent some timing catching up with my friends from CNY try club who were so welcoming when I came up to race Syracuse 70.3.  And I assisted with a seminar on functional strength training in Doylestown at Fusion Fitness where I have been doing quite a bit of functional strength myself. While all the coaching business managed to keep me busy, my lack of training still gave me time to partake in all the typical triathlete off-season acitivites: catching up with friends, staying up later than normal, drinking a few extra glasses of wine, cleaning and organizing, cuddling on the couch with my cat, shopping (I love to shop..it's a good thing I don't normally have too much time for this!), enjoyed being outside for some hiking , MTBing, and snowshoeing when I felt like it and enjoying the holidays.  I enjoyed the break...for a bit. As I said, I am one of those athletes who really enjoy my off days and the typical little mini breaks which happen throughout the year. Don't get me wrong, I love to train hard and chase goals, but I don't feel the need to workout everyday or train hard all the time. I understand the importance of rest days and recovery time and I really need it too. I also spent quite a bit of time getting my health in check, making sure my iron levels were coming up and everything else was 100%.  I will definitely be keeping better track of all this throughout 2014.  Live and learn!  As my off-season lingered on, my wounds healed, my fatigue resided, I got fat (haha, just kidding but I felt like it!), and I got lazy. I started to become totally fine sitting on the sofa for hours. But I also started to get antsy. Unfortunately for my coach this meant receiving several panicky emails from me. When it felt like every single triathlete on the planet had returned to training, I was still continuing to get out of shape, get fat, and lose all my fitness..at least that what it felt like. But Coach held fast to his decision. Of course, I trust my coach and the plan so I stuck it out. Finally I got the go ahead. I had never been so excited to get back to training but I was also VERY scared. Just how out of shape was I? I could only imagine what kind of a slug I was going to feel like.  But you know what? It surprisingly&n ...

Hindsight truly is 20/20. When I look back on everything that happened post-Syracuse 70.3, I don't know why more red flags didn't go off in my head. I'm gonna use ignorance as part of my excuse. I've been fortunate through most of my racing career to have suffered very few illnesses and injuries. I've had the occasional cold and flu and a few small injuries here and there but nothing that's really affected me for more than a few days. So when my recovery from Syracuse took extra long and I ended up losing most of my July training to illness and fatigue, I didn't really react. Sure I was annoyed and frustrated and antsy to get back to training but I but that was it. I probably should've been more curious. I mean, a month is a long time to not be feeling 100%. August came around and I was finally able to get back on a consistent training routine, but things still weren't right. My training days were up and down. I ran a few 5ks and my times were way slower than normal. I didn't feel like I was recovering well. Still more signs but I ignored them. We as athletes are all taught not to dwell on the bad days and focus on the good training days. I had enough decent days to convince myself I was fine, perhaps just a little tired from my lack of training in July and I did jump back into training pretty hard. So, I pushed on. I raced Timberman in the end of August, finishing 6^th. Not a terrible result but I remember saying to my husband that I didn't feel great and I didn't have that next gear or any “spunk”. It was probably just because I hadn't raced in while, right? 70.3 Worlds Champs came before I knew it and we all know what happened there....DNF. This might be the first time I started to think that more was going on than just the typical training fatigue or an off day. But even then, when my coach suggested getting some bloodwork done, I scoffed. But I got the bloodwork done and since I still wasn't too concerned (plus I already had the trip booked) I headed down to Cozumel 70.3 2 weeks after 70.3 Worlds.I was so excited for this race too. Cozumel is beautiful, the race vibe was amazing, and the course was just the way I like, windy and flat. The transition area was set up in amongst palm trees. The water was so clear it was like swimming in an aquarium. I had a decent swim. And as I headed out on the bi ...

Ah, the World Championships...apparently a race that is going to go on haunting me. I have been to 4 World Championships events now as a pro and before that as amateur, many National and World Championship events. If I look back on those races, the fond memories I have of them are mostly the cool locations, grandiose atmosphere, and the post-race fun. I can honestly say that I can only remember one race which was good from a performance standpoint..and even that is a bit of a stretch. For some reason, I lose all ability to think rationally when I get to these big races. All the pressure and importance of these races take over my brain. In my defense, I was sick for a few of them but I suppose one could argue a case that my illness was stress-related. Not only does this lessen any chance of me having a good race, it also makes racing a lot less enjoyable. Obviously our minds play a BIG role in how we perform, not just in racing, and but in training as well. It's something I believe we all can improve on (and should!) and can be a big part of growing as an athlete. I am happy to say, I have come a LONG way. Not just due to my own maturity, I have learned from others as well. My husband has taught me to toughen up, my coach has helped build my confidence, my sports psychologist, Dr. Greene, has given me mental game plans prior to races and other little day-to-day words and phrases have continued to inspire me. The point of all of my rambling here is to say that this year, when I accepted my slot to Worlds this year, I knew what my goals were going to be. I was going to enjoy the day, not let my head give any excuse for a bad race , and put together a performance I was proud of. This was going to be harder than it looked on paper but I had something to prove. 2 out of 3 ain't bad right? I didn't care whether this got me 1^st or last. In the weeks leading up to Vegas, I struggled a bit in training; low energy, a few little illnesses, but in the end was able to put together a solid training block and was ready to go when I hopped on the plane. I kept my own race day goals in mind, constantly reminded myself that this was “just another race” and was able to get on the start line with nothing more than the normal pre-race jitters. The swim start was a little rougher than normal but spread out pretty quickly and I was happy to find some feet to follow. Once things settled down, I realized I was in a nice little group. I felt like my effort level was a little lower than I wanted it to but I was enjoying swimming the company. I debated on whether I should pull out and try to swim a little harder or just sit in. In the end, I stayed with the group. I did try a few little times to surge off the front but in the end made the decision I was best where I was. I was able to pick it up a little toward the end of the swim and was one of the first women out of the water in my group. I made the long run through transition and was off on the bike. The first part of the bike is a few miles of steady climbing. Immediately my legs felt terrible. It always takes me a while to find my legs though so while I'm never happy about feeling this was, I wasn't too concerned. A few of the women who came out of the water behind me caught and past me and I did everything I could to stick with them. I felt like I was struggling more than usual but I told myself to be patient and just do damage control until my legs come around. I hit the 5mile mark, still no legs. The 10 mile mark, still no legs. That's when I started to worry. I knew that I had already lost more time on the women ahead than I had hoped to and my legs definitely felt stra ...

My July/August ended up playing out quite differently than I had originally planned. After some fun and recovery from Syracuse 70.3, I was looking forward to carrying on the good momentum, getting in a couple weeks of quality training and getting back to racing. Unfortunately, my body had other ideas. Just as I was jumping back into training, I got sick. At first I wasn't too concerned. It was mid-season and I figured I probably just needed a little more rest. But as the days dragged on and I was was still not functioning at 100%, I began to panic a little. My original race plans went out the window and I did my best to stay patient and wait it out. I tried a few times to get out the door to train but each attempt was unsuccessful. Three long weeks later, I was FINALLY able to get back at it. I haven't been sick like that in a long time and it certainly wasn't fun! Coach P didn't waste any time in ramping up the training and after 2 tough and exhausting weeks of training, I headed off to Timberman in hopes that I still had some salvageable fitness.

Two months away from racing seemed like ages and I felt like I was starting my season off all over again. While I love racing Timberman, I absolutely hate the drive up there. Too many miles, too much construction and way too much traffic. Next time I'm flying. Anyway, we arrived Friday afternoon, headed over to the race site for a quick swim and bike and then off to find our house. We opted to rent a house this year with a few friends instead of stay in a hotel. It was nice to be close to the race site, have a kitchen and room to spread out and relax. So many triathletes from Philadelphia come up to race Timberman so it almost feels like a hometown race. Race morning came quickly. I was a little unsure where my fitness was after some significant time off and only a couple weeks to prepare but it sure was nice to be racing again.

The swim went smoothly enough. I missed some feet early on and ended up swimming by myself. In hindsight I should tried a little harder to hold on at the beginning but I still ended up with a decent swim. I came out of the water in 6^th and a few minutes down from the leaders. I was off on the bike and climbing before I knew it. The first part of the bike course is all uphill and then it flattens out. I got caught by 2 women during this early section but I did my best to keep them in sight. One women did get away but I was able to pass the other girl once we hit the flat section. After that, it turned out to be a lonely ride. I couldn't see anyone ahead of me and there were no out and back sections for me to judge where I was in comparison to the other women. I focused on staying on the gas and pushing hard. As I got closer to the end of the bike, I attempted to do some math to figure out my bike time. I wasn't very happy with what I came up with. I put a little more pressure on the pedals. In the end, I ended up with a better second half of the bike but I was still off of what I know I am capable of biking. Obviously I was still a bit off because my run was even less stellar ...

Did that really just happen?!!!  Second place???  Anyway, before I get to Syracuse, I should say a few words Eagleman.  I procrastinated way too long and never got around to writing a race report, which is bad since Eagleman is one of my favorite races. However, my race performance at Eagleman was pretty unexciting this year. Other than getting stung by the infamous Choptank river jellyfish and swimming slightly off course, the race went by uneventfully. The one good thing that happened was I finally ran a consistent half marathon. It wasn't fast, but I managed to feel good and run strong the last few miles which is something I have not done yet this year. The bonus at this race was the amazing homestay host I had this year. Dave was so generous, cooked all kinds of good food for us, go up early with us on race morning, and came out and cheered us on and took pictures (check out the picture gallery for all the fun!). I met Kendra and Grant, who were staying with Dave as well. They are new pros with such a great attitude and good positive energy. I will never forget the post-race crab feast that Dave put together for us in his backyard. It was a great ending to the weekend and one of the reasons Eagleman remains one of my favorite races.

And then of course came Syracuse 70.3.  I am still a little in disbelief that I finished 2^nd. My season had been off to a good start with lots of improvements and solid performances but not a lot of high finishes. While my goal is always just to race well and I am constantly striving to be faster, it's nice when you get rewarded for your sacrifices and hard work. It was an amazing feeling to run down the finishing chute on Sunday and finally get a little reward. What has surprised me even more and made this finish even more meaningful, is all the texts, facebook messages, tweets, phone calls, etc. that I have gotten from friends, peers, sponsors, and fans congratulating me. I feel so lucky to know so many people who are positive and supportive and honestly happy for me. Thanks everyone for all the love! I never could've gotten here without all the support, especially from my husband, family, Coach P @ Lifesport, and my amazing sponsors, Zoot Sports, GU, Rudy Project, High Road Cycles, Amrita, Greenepsych, Nathan Sports.

So anyway, here are the nitty gritty details of the race for those interested. I skipped town and headed up to Syracuse the weekend prior to ...

Yes, that was quite the stinker of a race. I had a really hard time getting my act together for this one. Combine that with a bit of bad luck and the race turned out poorly. And I'm pretty disappointed about it. I had big goals for this race. I had a great few weeks of training in Utah leading up to Florida. My fitness was as good as it has ever been, I had a few “warm-up” races under my belt and my body was recovered and feeling ready to go. As always though, these things never guarantee anything. I arrived down to Florida on Thursday and other than having to deal with a little mechanical issue with my bike on Saturday my pre-race routine went smoothly. It was surprised with how hot and humid it was. I've raced Florida 70.3 3times now and while it is always hot and humid, this was taking it up a notch. I wasn't too worried though, I like this weather but I knew I was going to have to stay on top of my hydration. A 6:35AM start time Sunday made for an extra early wake-up call. I arrived in transition, pumped up my tire and immediately flatted. My pre-race nerves were quickly replaced with my thoughts of how to deal with this as quickly as possible. I hurried over to the bike tech, got my wheel checked and tire changed and headed back to set up my transition. As I was getting my bike racked, I tried to shift into an appropriate gear for my transition and I realized my bike would not shift at all. Seriously?! Back to bike tech I went. They were able to fix the issue so that I would be able to ride but the shifting was not going to be 100%. That was the best I could do. I was annoyed but not stressed. I finally managed to get my transition set up, did a quick run warm-up and headed down to the swim start. My goal for this swim was to see if I could get on some faster feet. I had some great breakthrough swim sessions leading up to race day and I really wanted see if I could break that 30min barrier. The cannon sounded and off we all went. Worst. Start. Ever. I somehow ended up in the middle getting pummeled by women on both sides of me and unsuccessfully managed to find any space or clean water for a good 200m. In the meantime, I watched the main pack swim away. Just when my panic levels had just about reached their maximum and I was seriously considering stopping to catch my breath, I managed to find some clear water. Calm down, calm down, get air. It took until the first turn buoy (which was like 400m into the swim!) to finally get back into a rhythm. By then, most of the women were way off ahead. I tried to make the best of it and just continue pushing hard but I was annoyed. I had a women 25m in front of me and I just focused on keeping her in my sights. I came out of the water, ran to my bike, fumbled through my transition, which is very unlike me, and finally was off on the bike. Time to get after it. The swim is always a bit of a wild card for me and while I've made vast improvement I still have a lot of work to do. But, I've learned to not judge anything until after the race (especially when it comes to the swim). The bike is where I can make up a lot of ground. This race however, I was not patient. Sometimes it takes a while for the women to come back to me and at this race, there were no sections where I could judge my distance so I had no feedback on where I was. The shifting on my bike was still off although it was rideable but I once again had trouble finding my rhythm and settling in. The result was a terrible bike split. I knew this race was going down the drain really quickly as I rolled into transition. In the hopes of salvaging something from this race, I headed out on the run and talked myself into trying to put down a good run time. The run was a lot more challenging than I expected. It was starting to heat up quite a bit but wow, the hills. I ran out of transition and within ab ...

I had been toying around with the idea of racing St. George 70.3. As luck would have it, my friend and training partner was going to be in St. George doing some training so I decided to fly right from New Orleans to St. George and keep her company. My post-race recovery from New Orleans was thankfully much quicker than Texas and after a few easy days, I was able to take advantage of the great training opportunities here. There was a nice aquatic center 5 min from the house, lots of running trails and paths, and plenty of beautiful scenery to enjoy and mountains to climb on my bike. The climate seemed to be my biggest hurdle to overcome. Apparently the desert air and I do not get along very well. It's not the heat, I love training and racing in the heat. It's the dryness. Yes, believe it or not, I seem to prefer humidity. Then throw a little altitude into the mix and I'm left one suffering little athlete. Of course in the end I know it will make me a stronger athlete so I was willing to tough it out. And since getting good quality cycling in around Philadelphia is hard, I spent a lot of time cruising the quiet roads on my bike. I rode up through Snow Canyon National Park several times, through Kayenta, a small artist village set in the red rocks with neat adobe style houses, and out to Zion National Park. I saw a road runner on one ride, a few jack rabbits and grouse, and was almost got taken out by a big snake coiled up on the side of the road. Luckily I managed to avoid it at the last minute but I swear my heart stopped beating for several seconds...We stopped at the famous Veyo's Pie shop for a mid-ride snack once (or twice...). On our ride out to Zion, we stopped in town for coffee and a treat before heading back to the Sand Hollow National park and jumping in the lake for a natural ice bath. Hard training and fun times combined. Running on the desert trails seemed to be too much of a challenge for my navigational skills. My first day out running, which just happened to be on one of the hottest days, I went in the afternoon which just happens to be the hottest time of the day, I got lost running on some trail in the canyon. It didn't take long for my imagination to take over and me to start hallucinating about being stuck out in the desert for hours crawling on my hands and knees trying to find water. Unfortunately there was not a soul in sight to ask how to get back although it might have been fortunate because I could here gun shots in the distance. I did see a few animal bones here and there which did not help my imagination. In the end, I found my way out and was really only lost for like 10min (even though it felt like hours!). After that little foray, I decided it was best to stick to paved paths a little closer to civilization. My coach and I made the last minute decision to take advantage of this little training block and not race St. George 70.3. While it was hard to be on the sidelines, I did really enjoy spectating the event and cheering on my friends. I am now heading home briefly before heading down to Orlando for Florida 70.3. Oh, and I have an anniversary to celebrate before leaving for Florida. My husband has managed to put up with me for 7 whole years and did not even complain when I ended up being away during out actual anniversary. Check out the photo gallery for some beautiful pictures from St. George!

Race time again?! Two short weeks after Texas, I headed down to New Orleans for race number 2. After a good showing at Texas, I was excited to be hitting the start line again. My body, however, did not agree with my mind. My post-Texas recovery was way slower than I had expected. I thought my body was just in a bit of shock after the first race of the year but looking back on it, I realized that it was more likely due to a bit of a bug I somehow contracted. It was minor enough to just keep me feeling not my self and keep me wondering why my workouts felt extra hard and my appetite was off, etc, etc. Anyway, by race week, I finally started to feel back to normal. I was still feeling kind of flat but race week is always weird anyway. I've had some great races after feeling terrible the week prior and some horrible races after feeling great. So, you never know. I was hoping that my 3^rd time at New Orleans was going to be the charm. My previous 2 attempts were a bit of a disaster. In my first attempt I got lost on the run course (don't ask but I wasn't the only one!) and the second time, a mechanical issue on the bike forced a DNF. Both years the swims were cancelled due to high winds anyway. This year, with the change of swim venue, the race looked promising for a full on triathlon. And to keep from the suspense, there was no drama this year. I did not get lost (although WAS paranoid about this, especially with the crazy N shaped swim course) and my bike held together (although I might have had a few moments during the bike course where I was secretly wishing something would happen-those darn headwinds!). The swim venue moved to a marina this year which was provided the necessary protection from the wind but also did not give much room for 1.2miles of swimming. We were told the water was 64 degrees and so the race director kept us from jumping in until after the pro men had started but we still got a short 5min warm-up. I hesitated jumping in and was expecting a cold shock the water really didn't feel that cold. So, after quick warm-up we were off. My weird breathing issue from last race was not an issue this time so I was able to get the start I was hoping for and be a little more aggressive from the beginning. A few of the fast swimmers got away pretty quickly but I managed to get myself in the main pack of women and we spent most of the swim together. It is always nice to have people to swim with and draft off. The N shaped course was not as challenging to maneuver as I thought but the water had a nice chop to it despite the protection from the marina. The waves hit the walls of the marina and came back to slap us in the face. I ended up swallowing quite a bit of water which was pretty gross because it definitely wasn't the cleanest water... Our pack of women held together for the rest of the swim and I ended up heading out on the bike in 6^th place with lots of women close by. There was a lot of action early on in the bike course since we were all so close. My legs did not feel great but as I remembered from Texas, it sometimes takes them a while to come around. I tried to pass a few women but the efforts seemed to take more out of me than I expected. The ref's were tailing us big time too and you could tell we were all twitchy and nervous trying not to draft. After about 20miles, things started to spread out a bit and I was finally was able to settle down and ride steady. My legs still felt flat and the head wind we were riding into didn't help. There was a lot of talking to myself and I basically just ended up forcing my legs to keep pushing hard even though they were screaming not to. Some races just feel easier than other. But, I'm not gonna lie, I was a bit discouraged with how I felt. I know from past experiences not to judge or let these things affect your race ...