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As of yesterday 8/19/2017, we are looking at exactly 90 days left of this journey! I know the next 3 months are going to be some of the hardest work of my racing life so far, so I decided it would be a good idea to do some journaling about the journey. This journey officially began last year in November when Lynn, Estella and I signed up to be volunteers at the IMAZ 2016 race in Tempe, AZ. We worked in the women's changing tent after the swim portion of the race. WoW! what an experience! I learned so much, saw so much and gained a lot of confidence about doing this race...now 3 months to go...not sure I know as much as I thought I did, but i'm learning for sure!!
We started our training in Jan of this year with our coach Brad Hildebrandt. Since then, we have worked on swim techniques and bike techinques...i've definitely gotten faster on my swim...not so sure about the bike. I started this out on a Tri bike...went back to my road bike and then bought a completely new road bike from Trek called the Trek Domane...I like to call her "The Beast". I decided after 4 different fittings on the tri bike, it just wasnt for me. Now i'm getting used to my new road bike and its a lot of adjustment...but I know I can get there. Right now I feel a lot slower than my amazing lady counterparts on the bike, but I'm also learning to be patient with where I am and not compare myself to others. This is tough for me because of my competitive nature!!
On the swim I am feeling quite strong! Brad and Craig (from masters at common ground) have both said my swim is looking good and fast :) This is a huge ego boost for me, because I've been working so hard on getting the technique down and I feel so comfortable with it now, even in the open water!
So far this year I have raced in the Omaha Women's Tri, where I got 1st place (sprint distance), The Accel Triathlon in Cedar Falls Iowa where I got 2nd place in my age group and in the Omaha Tri where I also got 2nd in my age group :) It feels good to be on the podium. My win in the Omaha Women's Tri got me a qualification for the USAT national race held here in Omaha just recently. It was a good but tough race. The swim felt great and I felt strong...the bike going out was great, I felt like I was flying...then I hit the hill...some people were walking...not me!!! coming back it was head wind all the way and back up the hill! yikes...The race was delayed because of traffic coming into carter lake park, so I didn't start til 9:45 which made my run really late and it was a bit brutal. Hot and on pavement with no shade the whole way...I still did it in 54 mins. So over all a decent race.
The last 2 weekends have started our long grueling journey to Ironman officially with 4 hour rides and 15 and 16 mile runs...I know this is just the beginning, but so far so good. I feel stronger than I thought i would due to building a strong base. Today I am quite sore after 16 miles of running...but i'm hanging in there!! Up next is the Ad Astra race in Lawrence KS. This is a half ironman distance in Sept. I have raced this before when it was called Legends, and it is quite the tough race...but my new mantra is "I am one with the force the force is with me (thanks Rogue One!) so i know i can do this! It's all part of the journey!!

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