A Short Break in the Racing Action

It’s hard to believe I’m at the midpoint in my season. Starting in early May it was a constant frenzy, racing 9 out of 10 weeks straight. Of course, it was my choice, I love to race, but it certainly doesn’t lend to much more than that. Race, recover, 1 or 2 key workouts, taper, REPEAT! After my last race July20th, I was ready for a break. My body was fully aware it was done racing for a while, and therefore tried to go into full hibernation-I was a zombie. I gave myself several days to recover, and before too long I was ready to go again.

A small sampling of the simple joys I experienced during my non race week:


1) Attend all Karin’s Soccer games (STATE Tourney)
2) Joined group rides w/o worries when it got “out of control”!
3) Stayed out late with buddies enjoying post workout refreshments
4) Golf with my hubby
5) Had a chance to bike longer than 2 hours
6) Slept in past 7am on Sunday morning
7) Mountain biked with Jmac in Lebanon Park
8) Solidified all KONA travel plans
9) Solidified all Portland (USAT Nationals) travel plans
10) Connected with old High School friends via Facebook


I’m now into my second week of non-racing and Kerry and I decided to take off to our fun desert oasis. The kids are with their mom in Colorado, so it was time for us to get away. Unfortunately I don’t have unlimited time-off at work (IM-Kona is 10 of my precious 25 days), so we are working remotely for a few days, as we unwind from the hustle of the homemade daily routine. Just saving the commute time (~2 hours total for me) makes the day seem much longer; allowing MORE time to play. I can guarantee there will be no shortage of that this week!!

I have some quality training on the schedule as I prepare for my first half Iron distance race August 17th. Although I’ve been racing for 6 years, this is only my 3rd race of this distance. It’s certainly intimidating coming from racing OLYs and sprints all season, but I’m really excited for the challenge. I’ll be racing alongside my best buddies (we’re all road tripping to PIGMAN and crowding 5+ people in a room together), and for me, it doesn’t gets much better than that. After Pigman Half I have 5 weeks to prepare for Nationals in Portland, then I’ll go to the US Open in Dallas October 5th, and just five days later I’ll be toeing the line at the Ironman World Championships for the very first time!! Honestly I’m not sure where I will fit in any Iron distance specific training, but that’s part of the novelty. I’m a test case for how the body withstands an Ironman without specifically training for it (just get me to the finish line). Luckily it’s the finale for my season, and I get to spend the following week with my family on the beach in Maui.

Lord, Thank-you for giving me these amazing opportunities. I am SO grateful and I intend to make the most of them.

Miracle Kids Triathlon

Kerry and I had the opportunity to witness 300+ kids racing this morning at the Miracles Kids triathlon. This race is directed by Age Group World Champion Tony Shiller, and helps raise funds for the Miracles of Mitch Foundation. This was certainly one of those volunteer situations where I gained much more from the experience than I could have possibly provided. It was truly inspiring.

The Miracles of Mitch foundation was created by the family of Mitchell Chepokas, whose life was cut short by cancer at the age of 9. I had the privilege of hearing Mitch’s story from his father and I will try to summarize what I heard from Steve today:

‘Mitch was an amazing kid, who despite having terminal cancer, wanted to help other kid’s less fortunate. It was around Christmas 2003, when Mitch heard another kid ask if they would still have Christmas. The parents responded that they would love too, but didn’t have any money. That family was sleeping in their car in the middle of winter to be with their child during the cancer treatment. Mitch heard this conversation and immediately asked his dad how much money he has saved (Mitch had been receiving a lot of support and gifts). With $600 in the bank, he told his dad to give it all to this family!! Even at 9 years old, and in spite of his diagnosis, Mitch considered himself lucky and made his father pinkie swear to help the families of kids with cancer when he’d be gone.’



I pulled this from their website, “Steve, Becky and Melissa Chepokas have created a safety net and tangible resource for the various needs of the families of these special children. MOMF provides rapid assistance (typically checks are cut within 48 hours of grant approval) to families so that they can focus on their child and spend precious time together as a family.” WOW!!



The Theme for the Miracles Kids triathlon is “kids racing for kids who can’t”
Each child wears # 1 and proudly write a child’s name (a cancer patient) on their left calf and races in that child’s honor. No race times are recorded- The kids raise money for the foundation and everyone is a winner.

With good reason, the kids were so happy and proud of what they accomplished.


These inspiring people remind me of my favorite motto “we have a choice in our thoughts and actions, so do everything you can to choose positive ones”. Mitch’s parents took a sad tragedy and turned it into something truly positive and meaningful.


I’m sure Mitch’s parents can find peace knowing their son is watching from Heaven and IS PROUD of everything his parents have done.

Lifetime Fitness Race Report

THANK-YOU, THANK-YOU, THANK-YOU!!


I sincerely appreciate all the lovely well wishes and kind congratulations surrounding my race this past weekend. I made it very public that this race was indeed important to me, and undoubtedly my KEY race of the early season. I know this added pressure, but I was OK with that. I was ready for the challenge and couldn’t wait to see what the day had in store for me.


Race morning came very quickly. I was so excited to get started and had no trouble getting out of bed at 4am. Thankfully, I was not part of the group of people waiting at the gates for transition to open (at 4:30am), but I was not too far behind. After getting my bike in Transition, Pam and I watched the sun rise while sitting on the beach eating breakfast. It was a glorious morning.


With a 7am Pro start, it did not take long for the hustle to begin. I was expecting a non-wetsuit swim, however it was announced race morning that it was actually wetsuit legal. Thankfully I had just received my new Helix Wetsuit and Point Zero 3 in the mail from Blue Seventy, so I was perfectly equipped for either scenario. I loved my old Helix (which is why I pursued Blue Seventy for Sponsorship), but the new 2008 version is something else-ABSOLUTLY amazing suit.


Thanks to this suit, I had a great swim. I came out with the front pack (3 of us) and felt great.
I worked hard through transition and made it out on the bike in the lead. I hammered hard from the start, and was enjoying every moment. Just after the 5 mile mark I lost my water bottle (my ONLY calories) after taking a rough corner. I almost went back for it, but I noticed a volunteer picked it up and got it off the road. AT this point I had plenty of adrenaline flowing and didn’t think it would be much of an issue on this cool day. I tried to slow down to grab a bottle at the next aid station, but didn’t quite slow down enough to sync with the water boy! I was still feeling great, so kept pushing along.. I was starting to feel the need for water/sugar by the 20 mile mark and came to a near stop to grab a water bottle at the last aid station. The bottle didn’t really fit in my handle bar aero holder, so I ended up holding it the rest of the ride. Not ideal, but desperate times call for desperate measures!




T2 could have been the highlight of the day. When I dismounted my bike, it was as if I had my own Pep Squad in transition. I was amazed at the abundant cheers, and was utterly grateful each and every time I heard my name-THANKS!! I LOVE THE LOCAL RACES!!

Aside from having my sister in town from Toronto to watch the race, my coach was also in town visiting from Boulder... I've been training under the tutelage of Coach Jared since 2003, and since he's moved to Boulder, I rearly have the chance to see him. It was fun to have him watching, but I expect it will lead to increased run drills :-)


The run was pretty standard. At the 1.5 mile mark I was able to get my first look at my pursuers and noticed Suzanne and Cindy about .5miles back. I was confident I could hold a steady pace to thwart any attacks on their part. It’s a two lop run course, and when I arrived at this point on the 2nd loop, I saw Suzanne approximately in the same place as the first loop. I tried to stay strong through the finish, but I was fading fast. I consumed a total of 30 calories during the entire race, but I was not about to test my intestinal fortitude against the High Fructose Corn syrup knowing water was enough to get me to the finish. I continued to hear from spectators that there was no one in sight behind me. Those are THE BEST words to hear at the end of a race, especially when you’re not feeling too strong. I finally made it to the finish chute and completely hammed it up with all the kids along the road waiting for high fives. I heard Jerry (the announcer) state that I broke the amateur course record by over 2 minutes! It was a Super feeling.
It didn’t take too long before Kristen came flying across the line in the runner up position in her VERY FIRST triathlon. Yup-First race, and she gets 2nd. I don’t know the full story, but I’ve since heard tidbits, and apparently she’s part of the Olympic development program for 10k and has trown down 32 min 10k’s in the past. Of course you couple that with a collegiate swim background and regardless of her tri experience, she’s a force each and every time she steps on the start line. Congrats Kristin-You will undoubtedly raise the bar with each race you enter.


I have decided to take my spot and race at the Toyota US Open in Dallas October 5. It may seem insane considering Kona is just 5days afterwards, but actually, I’m trilled with the schedule. Since deciding to focus on OLY distance this year as I prep for the AG Nationals, I figure another race 5 days before Kona won’t kill me. In my mind Kona will be a huge Training PARTY with 1500+ super inspiring athletes. My sisters, Kerry and the kids will be with me in Kona, so I simply want to enjoy the whole experience. I’m not a fan of Ironman Distance racing, but maybe going into it with that attitude and “winging it” will change things around! I’ve given my coach quite the task… Help me survive AND enjoy the Ironman World Championship, while training specifically for OLY distance!! A challenge indeed.

Here's a fun video clip from the finish line-Thanks Yndecam!

Tie Me Down!!

The last few days I’ve been bouncing off the walls. I have that Childhood Christmas Eve excitement as I anxiously wait to pick up my big sis at the airport tonight. I have not seen Pam, since last July when she came to watch me race the Newfoundland 70.3 race. I can’t believe it’s been that long since we’ve seen each other, but we’ll be sure to make up for it this weekend. I credit Pam for introducing me to Triathlon. She was a rock star athlete growing up, always exemplifying what it means to be a dedicated elite athlete. She was an Olympic hopeful in Diving for so many years, spending more time at the pool that you could even imagine. I guess I can also thank her for my swimming ability, as I took up swimming just because I had to wait around the pool for her to finish mastering her dives. After battling injury just before her last Olympic trials, she retired from diving and took up Triathlon. It didn’t take her long to show that she can excel at whatever she decides to do. This just goes to show how much attitude plays into success. With her encouragement, we qualified together for the 2003 World AG Championships in New Zealand and enjoyed a great trip together; however it was shortly after this trip when she decided to focus her energies into her school/career and put racing on hold. This weekend may just be the weekend to spark that desire again…

To add to my extreme excitement, this coming Saturday is the Lifetime Fitness triathlon. I’ve done this race for the past 6 years, and really look forward to it each year. The race venue is just 10 minutes from my house, and you have the opportunity to race on some of the prettiest roads in the city. You wind up and down the Mississippi River, and around some of the classic City lakes. These roads are typically filled with crazy motorists, so having the roads closed for this event makes it all worth while. This year, the Elite Amateur division has attracted top talent from all over the country, which makes this event even more exciting. It’s such a great opportunity to race some of the best triathletes in the country while at home! It will be an extremely challenging race, but that’s what it’s all about. It’s not about the fastest person registered (I’ve counted at least 7 different people who could legitimately win), rather its about the fastest person THAT day, and who puts it all on the line down the stretch-A true RACE. The LTF race is part of the Toyota Cup series, which means that they take the top 5 Amateurs and fly them, including accommodations and entry to Dallas for the US OPEN. I did this last year and hope to be back in Dallas in October to defend my US OPEN title.

I’ll be surely racing my heart out on Saturday…I CAN’T WAIT ;-)

One for the Memory Bank!

I’ve raced 7 of the past 8 weeks including the Minneman Tri this past weekend. I was happy to be back racing along side my local buddies. I had a solid race setting a new course record but more importantly this race day was about Kiersten.
This was her first tri, she was excited, and the memory of watching her experience triathlon is one that I’ll cherish for a very long time…

I was in the first wave and “Kierst” was in wave 10 the last wave. This gave her plenty of time to get used to the water (she basically does not like water, and her lake water tolerance is extremely low). She used my old wetsuit, which helped, but she did admit that sidestroke was her stoke of choice for the .3 mile swim.

Timing was perfect because when I arrived in T2, Kierst was exiting the water and making her way to her bike. It was great to know she made it through the swim without any sort of panic attack :) We exchanged cheers in transition and she took off on the bike just as I was leaving for the run.

After I finished I headed back out on the course to watch for her come in on the bike. It didn’t take long before I spotted the pink helmet and the huge smile. I met her at the T2 exit and decided to run along with her for a little while and see how she was holding up… She told me she felt great and was having SO much fun out there, she even expressed a desire to race again! Another rookie is hooked ;-)

There were so many people cheering her to the finish, and seeing her cross the line was truly special. We exchanged big hugs and a few tears. She was so proud…and of course I was too. That pure joy of accomplishment is WHAT IT’S ALL ABOUT.

Congrats Kiersten your first place Novice AG WIN!!! Let’s find you another race ;-)