Seattle Ironwoman

tl:dr version: Swim: Ocean swim, 33:43 - good for ocean swim! Bike: 2:51:45 - climb, descend, repeat, did not go great (power output low) Run: 1:58:16 - terrible time, but actually super proud of this half with the heat Overall - 5:29:59 for my hottest race ever - not a PR but not my worst day! Longer version:  I signed up for Cabo hoping to get a slot to the WC's in NZ. You never know who else will show up to race or what kind of day you'll have - so instead of only focusing on a slot I tried to focus on having a fun racecation with friends, keeping some post IM MT fitness and getting to race somewhere new!  The Sunday leading into race week I caught a nasty cold. I then had a work trip the first half of the week to Minneapolis which did not help things! It never went into my lungs thank goodness, but definitely zapped my energy all week. By the time we got to Cabo, I would say I was at 75% and on the mend for sure, but going into race morning I felt about 80-85%. I w

Short Summary - Swim: 1:06 - PR by 3 minutes Bike: 6:06 - PR by 9 minutes (but on a WAY tougher course than AZ!) Run: 4:28 - PR by 3 min Overall: 11:52:21 IM MT Swim:  short version- got a swim PR. long version - as I walked to the swim start, I cried (I don’t think I’ve cried in 2019). I felt so thankful to get to the start line, to be a part of this incredible group of people, and so proud of all the work I put in the bank to get here. As soon as I lined up to hit my rolling start, a calm overcame me and I repeated “stay present, each mile as it comes”. I ran in, dove to start and instantly my goggles filled with water. FUCK. I stopped to drain them and tried to keep swimming - repeated that 4 more times till I just treaded water to try to see what was wrong. Could I do this swim with no goggles or with them full? I swam so many OWS with these goggles, what on earth was happening?! Eventually I got the left goggle cleared and staying water free, and just dealt with a hal

It's horrifying to type this out but... my Ironman is 3 weeks from yesterday. SHIT. That's so soon! I'm getting asked "how are you feeling?" and "do you feel ready?" to which I've been responding with analogies that I think are real like "well the hays in the barn" (is that a thing?) and "I've made all the big deposits in the bank" or something like that. First off, are these even real analogies? Unsure, but no one has challenged me yet so I'll go with it. But, what I MEAN remains true. Am I ready? I've done every workout I was supposed to. In the last 6 months I've missed two swims and one lifting session. I've raced only twice leading into this - the first was terrible and the second was great. My hamstring has been mostly good. I've been seeing what I'll call an "ironman versed chiropractor" who does mostly ART and graston type work on my body every couple weeks to try to stay tuned up. 

A couple weekends back I got the opportunity to race Ironman Coeur d'Alene 70.3. This was my first time to Coeur d'Alene (I haven't spent much time in Idaho at all...) AND my first time toeing the start line at an Ironman branded 70.3 where I wasn't injured! After a REALLY shitty first race of 2019, I'm not going to pretend I wasn't worried leading into race weekend. I have had great training most of this season, I've put in all the work (I am a super diligent athlete and I don't miss workouts), and I always put some pressure on myself to perform. I totally understand that we all have bad days (I mean, I was 1/1 on bad races so far this year), but there's a mental component and I just did NOT want to live in a negative mindset all year racing. I knew this race would be a confidence builder into my full Ironman in FIVE WEEKS, or it would do the opposite... I got to race CDA with my #wattiefam, and was stoked for a fun weekend! I also didn't w

I'd apologize for the lack of posts this year, but: I don't know how many people keep up on this I'm busy I'm not sorry 😏 Life comes in waves, and 2019 so far has been really busy. A lot of travel, finally a lot of training (seriously thankful), but at the end of the day, very manageable stress life levels.  I feel so fortunate to be able to train this year. Losing most of last year, not being able to run, I am constantly reminding myself to just appreciate every run, even when it's track sprints... Every time I think something like "but I'm so sore, I'm so tired, I don't wanna...." I remember that it's a privilege to be able to move my body and do the things I do! The last couple months have had some really fun triathlon upgrades! I got a new Roka wetsuit that I'm pumped about - I've been swimming in a really entry level suit since I started in triathlon. Of all three sports, swimming is the one where I feel like I