Comeback Tour 2014

One stroke, one peddle and one step... followed by multiple more. Gotta love Wildflower!

One year and two weeks ago, I had surgery on my anterior cruciate tendon. When the doctor was finished, he looked me in the eyes and told me the tendon could not reach and I would never run again. I remember tears flooding my eyes as I realized my job had come to an end and my life as I knew it would be totally flipped upside down.

Then something amazing happen. I prayed and I trusted that God would heal me if it was in His plan. My parents and my sister were my biggest fans and they continued to encourage me when I felt like the road had come to an end. With determination and phenomenal physical therapists, I got back on my feet and started working to strengthen the muscles in my leg. I still remember the first mile I ran with my PT Jason. It was a grueling 8:43 mile and I didn't think I would make it the entire way, but I did it. Slowly, I built my way back to race shape.

A year later, here I am: Lake San Antonio, California. My Santa Barbara Tri Team is here; Sloan is here; my mom, Todd and Richard are here! Life is great!

The morning started at the bottom of my tent. In Wyoming, the kids nicknamed me Inchworm because I would inch into a new sleeping spot throughout the night. Last night, I inched to the bottom of the tent. I woke up and laid in my bag for a bit before making my morning oatmeal in my Darth Vador mug from Jameisha.

*Sidenote: Happy Star Wars Day! May the Fourth be with you! Remember last year I had a Star Wars marathon day on this day? My, how things change.
  

After setting up my transition area and meeting up with Richard (which completely made my day!!), I got on the shuttle and headed out to Harris Creek. I had almost 2 hours until my start time, so I did some squats and some Optimal Core Performance/Pure Awesomeness. This girl Heidi set up next to me and we became fast friends! Turns out her dad lives in Santa Barbara! Heidi and I walked down to the race start and got ready to go.

This year's race was a little different because of the water levels at Lake San Antonio. It was so low, they had to move the swim out two miles from the transition area. So, instead of the typical swim 1.5k, bike 40k and run 10k, it was a swim 1.5k, run 2k, bike 40k and run 4k. The water we swam in was sludge. As soon as you put your face under the water, it was a total black out; even darker than if you had closed your eyes.

All of that is usually covered in water

The swim felt awesome! It was the first race I felt really confident in my abilities. Hiring a swim coach was a great idea. A big thanks to Jeremy for whipping my butt into gear! I was able to spot pretty well, even after having my goggles kicked off and losing my cap then having to carry it in my hand while I stroked.

During the first run, I was right on pace. I felt like I was floating on air! But I looked down and realized my timing chip had come off with my wetsuit. Oh shoot. I debated turning around, but I was already 1.8 miles in. When I got to the transition, I had hoped to get out within 3 minutes, but I had to run around trying to find someone to get me a new timing chip.

The bike started about the same time Lynch Hill started. Eek! I heard Richard and Laura cheering my name then climbed that hill like nobody's business. Right when I hit the point of utter exhaustion, I heard Todd call my name. He was running up the hill next to me, my cell phone in his hand. "Your mom wanted me to play this for you," he shouted. Eye of the Tiger blasted through the speakers. The woman next to me commented that she was sticking with me the whole way and I asked Todd if he would run 25 miles with us.

My mom was at the top of the hill, yelling and cheering. I tore down the road, pressing and pulling. My legs felt so strong. The entire bike was amazing. People nicknamed me The Pink Powerhouse and kept commenting to each other that they didn't know how I was able to climb so well. One man told me that he was known for being a great climber, but he was impressed that I was kicking his butt. No one ever passed me! I don't know if it was the new bike, my legs or just the fact that I trusted God would get me to the end, but I felt so good!

I rode into the transition area ready to go, but once I was off of the bike and had my Kinvaras on, my quads started to seize up. Todd ran up beside me with music, but once we hit the first hill, I had to walk. I had never felt so much pain in my life, not even after my accident. The hill was a beast, but I didn't have to take off my shoes this year!

Running down Lynch Hill toward the finish line, I knew I had not met my goal of completing the race in under three hours or placing in the top 20, but I raced with all I had and I did it! My tendon held and I am here to tell the tale!

My race ended with hugs and notes of encouragement from my family and friends, a bouquet of gorgeous flowers from Richard, a bracelet from Todd and a huge grin on my face.

This just goes to show, with faith, encouragement, determination and hard work, you can do anything to which you set your mind.

Next race: Ironman Boulder! Let's do this!!!

Wildflower Prep

This morning I woke up to the sound of birds singing by the fountain outside my window and the smell of the ocean breeze wafting into my room. I had spent the night with my friend Kate and we woke up at 5AM to go to Adrienne's yoga class at Power of Your Om in Santa Barbara. Afterward, we grabbed coffee at Handlebar Coffee Roasters (my favorite coffee spot) then I had breakfast at Cajun Kitchen with Cosy. It feels just like old times, just like my old life.

Part of me misses this wealthy beach community, but a larger part of me is so grateful I am not a part of this culture anymore. It is so easy to revert back to that yoga-girl-living-in-the-city lifestyle: Drinking coffee with the girls, watching the sunset on the beach, worrying about the fact that the girl next to me in yoga class looks better in her luluLemon pants than I do... It's not the life I want.

If I was offered the choice between living in Santa Barbara or Bend again, I would choose Bend every single time.

But it is so nice to be in my second home, to see my amazing friends and to catch up with my favorite shop owners. Santa Barbara was a huge part of my life and it will always hold a special spot in my heart.

Training has not been so great. I spent the past three weeks doing the wrong workout. Whoopsidaisy. I definitely would have benefited by staying in Oregon these past two weeks and training at elevation, but I made my choice and I have appreciated my vacation greatly. I am figuring out what I want in life and what I want to accomplish. It sounds life a selfish time in my life, but oddly enough, I think I am becoming less self-focused in the process.

Wildflower is less than a week away and I am ready to go have some fun on Lynch Hill. I do not expect to do well during this race. Honestly, my foot has been bothering me a great amount this trip. But I want to go out and finish and see what I am capable of in this stage of life. I feel confident that I will finish in under three hours and I am excited that my mom is coming to cheer me on.

Thanks for all the positive thoughts, y'all! Stoked for my abilities and for a great group of supporters!

River and the Dwarves

At the end of Serenity, River Tam heroically stands with sweat dripping from her brow, catching her breath, her body held tall, looking down at the pile of Reavers she just took out single-handedly.

When the dwarves and Gandolf are captured in the orc cave in The Hobbit, they are surrounded 1,000 to 13. Somehow, they fight with such poise and skill that they defeat the orc king (who looks strangely similar to Jabba the Hut) and escape the dark pits of the earth.

Obviously, I have been watching too many Sci-fi and fantasy films lately (ehhem... nerd alert). The thing that stood out to me about these films though was the characters' skill at defeating their opponents. It was beautiful watching the gracefulness in the dwarves' movements as they dodged and killed their enemies. It was as if every move was planned. The orcs had no logic to their attack; they attacked with all they had, but never stopped to look at the situation. The dwarves had a cleverness behind their form. They never killed their own, they were able to pick out the bad from the good. Every movement had a specific purpose.

My past races have been sloppy, much like the fighting of the orcs. Wildflower was the only race I really worked for; I designed and followed a training plan, watched my nutrition, created a pre-race plan.. everything. My other races have been very sporadic with no pre-designed plan of action.

I don't want to be an orc. I want to be hardcore like River Tam and the dwarves. Wildflower was the only race I really worked for; I designed and followed a training plan, watched my nutrition, created a pre-race plan... everything. My other races have been very sporadic with no pre-designed plan of action.

I don't want to be an orc. I want to be hardcore like River Tam and the dwarves. My A-priority race this year is going to be the National Age Championships in August. The next 9 months are going to be exactly like the 9 months preceding having a baby. My nutrition will be carefully monitored, each workout will have a purpose, I am going to start stretching and foam rolling more religiously. Once again, I am choosing to make triathlon my life (didn't I swear this off last summer?). No drinking alcohol, no late nights, no missing a workout... this is my life once again and I'm actually very excited about it!

Just like River and the dwarves train to be master murderers, I am going to train to "murder" the competition. Hello, month one of nine. Time to meet your maker!