I Have No Doubt, Someday The Sun Will Come Out...

Finishing up the run at Whirlpool last year

This week has been fairly rainy, and I'm glad to see the sun finally out today! Plus my mood took a turn for the better this week which was much nicer. Having Lissa stay with me was a much needed distraction, and we had tons of fun (oh..and she took that little test too!). She said she doesn't know how it went, but it seems like she's satisfied in knowing she did her best (much like racing I suppose). I'm so happy she's done, and now we sit and wait for the next two months to hear the verdict :)

I decided to show you my week in pictures so here we go... Welcome to my world.

The packing stage I was in last night. It's all finally loaded in the transition bag and I'm ready to rock. I need to go over my list one more time, but I think I've got the basics that I need to race so that is always the most important thing. Who cares if you forgot your toothbrush - KIDDING..just kidding...geezz..

What I was wearing during the packing stage last night! Thank you Mark Allen Online and our great sponsors! I love my new compression socks. I've wanted a pair for....well.. all of my life!

Lissa's "DAY ONE I kicked the bar exam's hiney" special dinner. She wanted sushi..and I said - only the best for a girl who just took an 8 hour exam! We had a great dinner and a wonderful new (CHEAP) red called - Pino Evil (it has three cute little monkeys on the front if you can see that). It was excellent!! Try it!

My new favorite homemade appetizer. I was on a real Brie cheese and cracker kick for awhile. That has now been sidelined, and the new summer summer appetizer is (drum roll plllleeaassee....) Fresh Mozzarella and Organic Local Tomatoes. My mother planted some, and although this is not her tomato (I think we have about two weeks left before hers are ready), this is a locally grown farm market tomato with olive oil and basil on top! So delicious! So easy! So much lycopene!

The flowers above are from Lissa as a thank you for her staying with me all week. It was no trouble at all my friend, but they sure are beautiful. I've been buying myself flowers lately - mostly carnations due to the $. I'm not sure why. It's almost like I've been visiting myself in the hospital or something... Either way, it's nice having fresh flowers around. It just makes me smile. Thank you Lis!

This rockin psychedelic smiley card is from Heidi. She was so thoughtful and wished me luck this weekend. She even made me a great CD to get ready for the race! I absolutely adore it. Thanks girl!

So, with that said, I'm out like a boy scout. Have a great weekend everyone. If you need me, I'll be in Benton Harbor, Michigan on Saturday swimming like a fish, biking like a fiend and running like the wind for 70.3 miles! I sure do love to race! I'm ready - here we go!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Good Luck to everyone else racing this weekend - three words..Do it up.

Sweet.

The pilgrimage to the start of Whirlpool 70.3 last year

Ahh.. stop and smell the taper my friends. Ok..I'll admit its a bit strange to be tapering when I just feel like I got started training again! O wait, that's because I did.

My races are just spaced much differently than last year, and it isn't ideal, but it is what it is.

By this time last year I had a very solid part of June and most of July Ironman training under my belt. Every Saturday was spent getting acquainted with 5+ hour bikes and saying hello to some really long swims and 2+ hour runs! I had some serious endurance on the menu for this time of year!

This year... not so much.

It's nice though I have to admit to have some Saturday left AFTER the training is over! I can do things - like clean my house, wash my car (ok..I said I COULD, I didn't say I did!). You get the point.

This weekend is Whirlpool Steelhead 70.3. This will be my third year in a row competing, and it feels nice to know a course and race pretty well before even stepping foot in the expo. Last year it turned into a duathlon and that did not make me (or my legs) happy when they had to sprint a 5K before we jumped on our bikes. That second run HURT! I do hope we can swim this year and do a real true half ironman.

I can't WAIT to see my friend Jim and catch up. We have some dinner plans with his crew for Saturday night after the race to re-cap our day and it should be wicked fun.

This week is a few small workouts and recovery. I put in two pretty darn solid weeks after my time off, and I can say I feel good about it! It will be interesting to see what doing things this way (two weeks off, two weeks training, one week taper) brings on Saturday!

To all the IMLP'ers this past weekend - amazing! You did simply awesome! I saw some great race times, and I know my friend Chad had a truly inspirational day and missed a slot to Kona by such a small margin. You're still an A+ athlete in my book my friend! The Pittsburgh Tri had some fast times too - Rob & Janine - way to go!

If you wouldn't mind, say a little prayer for my good friend Lissa who will be taking the bar exam this week. She'll be staying with me for a few days, and I am asking the Man for some grace and to calm her down so she can focus! We both appreciate it!

The Kim & Lissa Show in Aruba this year! You can do it Lis! I believe in you!

Why Can't Sleep and I Be Friends??

Why can't we be friends..why can't we be friends...

I think that might be a song. Either way, it's the story of my life. Not just my life now, my life for as long as I can remember.

For those of you who know me or have been reading this blog for awhile, you know that sleep and I have a love / hate relationship. I love sleep and I hate it when I can't get it. Sometimes I can't get it because I'm a bad kid and don't go to bed when I'm supposed to! Other times I just lay there trying and wishing and hoping for the sandman to visit me and whisk me off into nigh time dream land but that jerk just laughs and flies off in the other direction. Not cool dude.

It started in college when I made the cross-country team at PSU and was a bit overwhelmed by the fact that this small time high school runner was in the Division 1 big leagues and traveled all over the country racing against these tough schools. I remember calling my coach in the middle of the night once telling her there was just no way I could run tomorrow because it was 2am and I had been in bed since 10pm trying to sleep and I was going home.. immediately. I would be calling my Mother to pick me up (in like Michigan or something!). No matter what, I bucked up, woke up at 6am with the rest of the team and ran my butt off. I was asleep the second I hit the van on our way home. You tell me how that happens - can't sleep all night and then can sleep through a van full of girls putting whip cream on your face? Seriously??

Anyway, my whole family has sleeping issues (we run, and we don't sleep, that's all you need to know about us I guess)! I'm sure it hasn't helped that my Mom tells me about Aunt so and so who couldn't sleep for two nights, or cousin so and so who's on this sleep medication. It probably messes with my mind!

Either way, I've taken every over the counter, sleepy tea, warm milk, lavender oil bath sleep aid in the world I'm pretty sure!

Lately, it's not only falling asleep, it's staying asleep that plagues me. Last night we had a huge storm in Pittsburgh and the lightening was so bright it lit up my entire room. The thunder that followed cracked and almost scared me out of bed! At 3:40am I remember looking at my phone and thinking.. ok...enough.. time to go back to sleep. Who knows how long I sang "Birthday Sex..Birthday Sex" in my head. Whoever thought this song up is a real genius. I wanted to call them up and thank them for those catchy lyrics that I couldn't seem to shake and that were the last thing I wanted to be thinking about at that time!

Anyway, I still managed to get my swim in this morning, missed my run and tonight I'm taking a chance with the rain and heading out on the bike. Hence, the reason I have chosen to do a half ironman this year instead of a full. Full = no sleep = no decent training and certainly no decent racing. Half is a bit more manageable on this non-sleeping kick I've been on lately!

In other random news, I finally had another modeling job this week and Donna and I traveled to Columbus where I could be Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz for the Jo Ann Fabrics Halloween flyer. It was a flashback to my days of high school musicals. I guess I must look like her because I was their first choice. At 29 years old I was in braids and red sparkling shoes..and getting paid for it. Who knew that could work?

Mom and I traveling back from Columbus stopping at her favorite place - Olive Garden

Doing that shoot reminded me to look at the Fisher Price Website for a job I did back in January or February with about 20 different babies and a booster seat. This was probably the only kid I made remotely happy in the whole bunch so they choose him! He does look excited to eat that food doesn't he! Poor guy, they didn't let him eat it the whole time - I just showed it to him, took it away. I'll tell you that wouldn't fly for me for an instant!

Hey.. we're going on a trip with our booster seat in front of these fake trees!

Have a great evening!

Hanging On For Dear Life...

I should have known I was in trouble biking on Saturday when:

- I showed up at 7am to find only one other biker in the parking lot and he was wicked fast

- Two out of the three men I was riding with were wearing aero helmets

- One guy was a former pro

- I had three hours on the schedule but Matt (another super biker/triathlete here in Pitt) talked me into four

- At 2.5 hours I started praying I would get hit by a car because it would hurt less than getting through these last antagonizing minutes

- I felt like I was racing for all 70 miles or so (after all that my bike computer didn't work and Matt didn't have one, I almost cried when I had no clue how far we rode in what seemed like an eternity of kicking my bum!!)

Needless to say, my legs were so mad at me for the rest of the day they almost threw a fit and shut down. I know I probably slowed Matt down and I was definitely not following my training program for fear of getting dropped and it taking me 6+ hours to get home. Matt was such a nice guy, he did wait at every stop light and I just realized he is a crazy uber biker and I should have just turned around and said "ok, Matt, I'm going to head on back" at about two hours.

Either way, it just reminds me once again how important finding good training partners are and how hard they are to find sometimes. I miss my regular guys. Hopefully, they'll come around again soon.

After recovering for a millisecond, I attended a wonderful surprise Birthday party for my friend Sharon! It was so fun and I found out someone earlier in the week who was putting the family's new swing set together said "well at least you'll have it ready for the party!" Whoopss.. there went that surprise! O well, she still had fun and the food was amazing for recovery! Burgers! Yum!

Tammy, Sharon and I at the party

On Sunday I did my long run and then headed out on my friend John's boat for a little in the evening, which was a blast. I just love being on the water. It's one of my favorite things! Even after it got dark the Pittsburgh skyline was very pretty and I love going by all the stadiums lit up at night. If you've never seen it, PNC park is pretty exceptional at night with it's little blue lights everywhere! Check it out sometime!

On the bow of the boat with Pittsburgh in the background

It was a nice weekend, and I really did do some good training. No swimming - bad Kim, bad! O well, I"m off to the pool now to make up for my lack thereof this weekend! 3500 yards here I come!

This is Your Foot... (if you don't like seeing blood this post is not for you)

This is your foot with electrical tape on it because you don't have any band-aids.

This is your foot with the electrical tape coming off in the first 5 minutes of your run and thirty minutes later what's left of your heel after a new pair of Asics.

Tuesday night was what I would term "The Running Debacle." I had biked in the morning and hit the park after dropping off my bike at the shop to get a new cassette. I had my running clothes in the car and I headed strait to North Park afterward. At 6:00pm I got dressed in my car, as usual (shhh...don't tell, I just park in a secluded section!). Car = locker room sometimes right! I couldn't find my socks ANYWHERE. As hard as I looked from the morning session, they were no where to be found. Either way, I was running.

Then I thought "o wait, remember how my new Asics had given me that little blister from rubbing my heel during Sunday's long run - I better tape that up or something." The only first aid materials to be found were electrical tape. Therefore, that was the decision.

Within minutes I knew it was going to be an issue. For some reason the way those shoes were hitting just pushed that stuff right up and over the shoe. I tried to fix it, but to no avail. It just wasn't going to work. I threw it in the trash. It was such a nice night though and I had 50 minutes on the schedule! I really, really, really, wanted to run.

Looking down I could see the little bugger was starting to get bad (red blood starting to flow freely). Not only that, I could feel it with every stride rubbing my now raw heel like sandpaper.

By the time my friend Jerry was spotted running the other way I latched on with him and never looked back. My 50 minute run became a hobble back to the car and grit your teeth in pain. After 30 minutes I whipped those shoes off and walked back barefoot.

I love Asics, but this pair is really starting to bug me. For now, I'm back in the Newtons and trying to figure out what to do next because they are wayyyy too old with too many miles!


I hope I figure out what to do soon because I don't want to take any time off running! I guess we'll see. Wish me luck!

What I Learned in Triathlon School

Triathlon isn’t really a sport for the meek, in my opinion. To cross that finish line you have to be sort of, well, gritty. It’s a tenacious endeavor; that really means if you do it right, you’ll probably end up fairly scarred, certainly sore, definitely sun and wind burned (with bad tan lines) and most likely with a big-ass smile on your face. I'm not saying anything about not being humble, as I find that the most important and respected of the qualities of those who perform at any level.

I didn’t get into triathlons to learn something, or to be good, or to see the world, all I really wanted to do was race and find something new into channel my competitive energy. I wanted to continue improving. Improving what? Humm…interesting question. Looking back I might have said, each sport, the world, myself…who knows. Something though.

I needed a new gig. Yep, I can say I got that.

I actually got quite a bit more than that. Something about triathlon has allowed me to tap into another level. In college sometimes I would end races and think, “did I really go hard enough?” or “did I realy give it every last drop?” Triathlon never allows me to ask that question.

Not only do I give it every last drop, I squeeze it out…mile by mile. Like a sopping wet rag at the beginning of the swim, I get to the end of the run and I’m wringing my soul out for all it’s worth. I spend my time seeing just how far I can push it every time I hit the course. I never question anything. Actually I do question a few things, but most times it’s just a matter of if I will make it to the finish standing or not, which lately I have been doing (thanks to the Lord above and learning how to dial in my nutrition).

From triathlon I’ve learned to be a fighter like I’ve never experienced. I fight to stay in the swim pack (coming from someone who hadn’t swam a stoke four years ago, this is a feat for sure!). I fight to ride a solid and aggressive bike, passing with authority (and safety). I certainly fight out that run. Many people probably think since I’m a runner it’s all smooth sailing for me. Actually no kids, that couldn’t be farther from the truth. I hunt every last mile split down and then beat it into submission. I push myself beyond what I think I’m capable of actually managing for those first ten miles of a half IM, and then spend the last few miles with my brain talking my body out of shutting down (and vice-versa).

It’s good though. I needed to learn more about that over the last few years. Sometimes life requires us to be fighters. Lately, I’ve been doing everything from fighting to fend off negative thoughts, to fighting just to get out of bed and train and go to work. Some days are really, really hard. I’m not saying I have it the hardest, but for me, this time of my life is pretty much as hard as it’s gotten thus far. I lay in bed when the alarm goes off and when the thoughts start pouring in about turning thirty in two months and my life not looking anything like I thought it would, I fight back the tears with reasons that I’m thankful and that I should get out of bed and move on one more day.

One of my favorite lines from the movie Shawshank Redemption is when Red says to Andy that he can either, "get busy living, or get busy dying."

Just because I’m not talking about it doesn’t mean I’m not going through it.

Most of the time I just put it away because people have a hard time hearing just how I’m really doing or how much the pain eats me up, swallows me and then spits me out again.

I look to routine. I look to my friends. I think about my blessings and being healthy. I pray to God, and I go on yet another day. Nobody's life is perfect. Mine is far from it. I'm learning a bit more about how much I can take, and looking to those who have more understanding than I do in counseling to help me sort it out.

Speaking of friends, I just met up with a good friend and triathlete, Heidi, who inspires me daily by recovering from a broken pelvis this winter and finally getting the go-ahead to swim, bike and run again! She's amazing and such a great person. We had a wonderful dinner on Friday night at my favorite little Itlian place where I go so much they know me by name now!

Thank God for triathlon. Thank God for the people in it who remind me that I am strong and that this too shall pass. Thank God for the little things that make me happy and make me feel like as messed up as things are, somewhere, someday I’m going to not have to fight quite as hard as I am now and maybe the road will be a little smoother.

Until then, yep, you guessed it..I’ll be over here duking it out with my thoughts and praying that I can keep my eyes focused on whatever is in store next. I surely didn’t think I’d be here at thirty (well, almost…) but I also never thought I’d see the finish line of the World Championships three year after my first (and only that year) Butler YMCA triathlon.
What I’m trying to say is…despite it all, this crazy sport and everything in it has served a huge purpose for me. I’m thankful I found it and I truly enjoy all aspects about it. Who knows what IT will bring…surely not me.

Sometimes I just think about Aruba and how much fun I had there with great friends. What a trip!

In the mean time, I’m starting to swim, bike and run again and it feels good. It’s only three weeks until my next race and I don’t have a CLUE what that will bring. Whirlpool Steelhead 70.3 is on the horizon and my love of the sport is coming back slowly and surely.

I've started training again and even thought it's not what it once was, it works for me for now. I'm just slow and steady. I think I won't be doing Ironman Florida this year. It's just too much. So, look for me in Clearwater at the Half Ironman World Championships on November 14th! I'll see you guys there!

When You Boil it Down...

Autumn Leaf 5k September 2008

I'm a runner.

I will always be a runner first, and foremost. When I was young I would run with my Mother. Even at eight years old I would go with her and stop to pick flower along the way getting side tracked. Why run when you can get the pretty flowers right?! Even then I remember her saying, "Kim, we came out to exercise, we can pick flowers later."

My family is a long line of runners. My aunt and uncles run, my many cousins of all ages have run at different times of their lives in various distances from 5k to marathon. It must be in the genes I guess.

So, I guess it doesn't surprise me that even when I'm taking a break, I still can't help but run.

I feel about my feet pounding the pavement and wind sweeping acrossed my face like I do about a first love. I will always go back to it, the memories are just too sweet and the temptation of a warm breeze on a summer evening is just too much to pass up.

Running is so dang easy. No bike, no pool - no problem. All I need is those shoes and I'm out the door. Pre-tri I never knew how good I had it. With triathlon came both learning about much more preparation (bike shoes-check, sunglasses-check, helmet-check, pump-check), and the experience of starting from the ground up in two new sports. I can't believe that was just four years ago! I fell in love with the simplicity of running and the feeling of that final half mile of a nice hour run a long time ago. When the legs are light and the weather calls for "sports bra only" there isn't much I would rather ever do workout-wise than turn over those legs.

Long after the bike is put away, and the goggles are hanging I know those running shoes will always be there for me.

I'm pretty sure without trying I put in about 30 miles this week. Whoops. The point was that I didn't' have to do it, and it felt nice. No monitor, no set time, just me, the open road and the sweet smell of summer. The mental clarity it brings is as good as therapy if not better. There's never been a time I came back and thought, "wow, I feel worse than when I started!"

With that said, I'm sure the runners of the world feel me on this. I know it's time to start thinking about getting on Blue, and pulling out my new swimsuits (I just got three new ones to pump me up!) to get excited about the swim and bike again.

Have a great weekend of training everyone! I hope your bikes take you to new unchartered territory, your swims are speedy and effortless and your runs bring you back to a place you've always adored.

BSLT 70.3 Photos

When you travel to a race yourself, you have to rely on the photographers to snap a good one! They did a nice job and although expensive to purchase, these were pretty good. Unfortunately, I really looked beat at the finish line. I decided not to include that one!

Coming out of the swim - I always close my eyes right as my pic is being snapped!


Wet roads (well, they weren't bad in this one, at least not yet!) speeding around curves on the bike

Doing a little climbing out of the saddle

Mile 6 or so of the run - chugging along looking focused!

I always plan on being one of those athletes who looks like they are having a blast out there, but I just can't smile the whole time. I do smile when I chat with other racers, or see friends and family along the way - I swear! I'm pretty sure I was wearing quite a bit of chocolate gel at this point. I thought it would be waaaayyy worse than this in the photo since I had it all over my hand and then wiped sweat off my face! That's always cool - running with a face covered in gel!

Last night Blue came back to me and I have to say, I was pretty excited to see her. She was all in one piece despite the many miles traveled on a fed-ex truck. Also making me smile, I unpacked her and put her back together in record time (just under 40 minutes). For, me, this is quite a feat. My rear cassette needs to be replaced so I just put the ZIPP wheel back on for now. I don't want to ride it like that though if I can help it - it's no fun buying and mounting a new tubluar tire!

Other than that, I'm doing a lot of chilling, and sleeping, and umm.. eating (whoops..and shopping). When I think about my season lasting until November either way, I realize I have to take a break now if I want to make it that far. Mentally, physically, all the way around I need to take a little rest from swimming, biking, and running (or at least doing it with a schedule). In Vegas I did 0.0 hours of training (I did however do some dancing - does that count?) On Saturday I ran/walked four miles with my Mom - yep, guess who was sore on Sunday!! Amazing how quickly that happens!

Either way, I'm enjoying the time to just do what I want. Tonight - SUSHI with Tamie my workmate! So excited! Bring on our favorite red wine. Don't you just love red wine with sushi!

Buffalo Springs 70.3 Race Report (finally..geezz..)

I have to open with this photo of Gary at the Expo. I made him hold up these awful (um...I mean..wonderfully colorful!) men's bottoms. He's going to be mad I put this up here, but it's dang funny.

Ok. So I’m aware I haven’t written in a thousand years and it has been four days since the race. Vegas will do that to you. It will eat you up and spit you out if you let it! Don’t get me wrong, I have a great time here…but getting up at 2:30am after you just raced a half ironman to fly here on Monday would not have been my ideal situation by any stretch of the imagination! I guess that’s why they call it work!

Getting back to the race… The evening before the weather forecast was predicting showers for the morning. I woke up early (but not early enough, there is only one way in and out of this park and traffic was a bear!). After wondering if I might only have 10 minutes in transition to put my stuff together, I realized there was no way they were going to shut out over half of the athletes. I was number 83, right next to the pro rack. I was fairly calm considering it was race morning and I was about to put the pedal to the metal for 70 miles.

I got into the water to warm up and it seemed rather dark for 6:45 am in the morning. Before I knew the pros were off and my wave was coming up quickly. I would be starting with about 100 other women, so no small wave. I lined up near the front and when the gun went off, for the first time ever, I fought to stay toward the front! It was a good effort and I swam fairly straight. It seemed like I was out there for hours though! I lost much of the group and thought I might see a decent time when I checked my watch out of the water. Nope…not happy with that at all, I thought. It was time to move on though! I had my very FIRST wetsuit stripper experience (yes, all the men are like – what? there was a stripper in transition). It was great not having to do that myself! I ran right to my bike and executed a pretty dang fast T1. I ran out and as I mounted my bike, the small pellets of rain began dropping. For the first 25 miles or so my legs did just not feel right. I’m not sure what the problem was even to this day. My bike computer wasn’t reading cadence for some reason, but I knew I was keeping it high. Nevertheless, my legs felt heavy and tight as I tried to get my heart rate down. I tried to think about light legs and feeling fresh, but it just wasn’t happening. It could have been the non-perfect taper that went on during the week. My heart rate was fine, and even was a bit lower than I wanted. Coach told me to be conservative for those first 25 miles. However, I don’t think he meant this!

Then the hills came, as did the rain. It was a nice cooling off period, but it made for a slick course. I had two very close calls on the bike this time, one that took my breath away it was so tight. As I was going up a hill, another male rider was coming down and crossed the yellow line into my lane. We came within inches of each other. He was probably going 30 mph, and I was only doing about 10 mph! Other riders around me gasped, and afterward I said "thank you Lord" about twenty times. I meant it! I was thankful that didn’t end my race and my season.

The rain slowed everything down, and I had enough issues of my own. I lost a bottle off the back of my bike at mile 30. In addition, the bottle in the cage must have leaked out a bit as the bike was turned sideways in the car leaving me with only about half the liquid to drink as I started the bike. My salt tablet dispenser wouldn’t work, despite all my efforts to get one of those dang things out! To combat all of these nutritional mishaps, I took gel religiously to make up for my lack of calories. I grabbed water from the aid stations and prayed my plan B nutrition strategy would work!

When the bike finally came to an end, I was soaked and covered with dirt. I had eaten quite a bit, too, from other people’s wheels and my own!

My running shoes were soaked and heavy but the clouds were overhead and I had a half marathon to think about. Coming out of T2, I felt fairly decent. I checked my mile 2-3 split and when it came at 6:53, I decided I was a bit overzealous and had better back off a tad. The flat course in the beginning served us some hills coming up and out of the park. I dug in and tried to concentrate on the two or three girls in my age group that I had seen go into T2 ahead of me. I felt fairly good until mile 6 and 7 started coming along. Everyone was so nice when I went by as we encouraged each other. We sure do have amazing people in the sport. I saw Charisa whiz by me as she came the other way after the turnaround. We cheered for each other, as did ELF and I. It picked me up a bit and I tried to get moving again. Between mile 8 and mile 10, I was really hurting. I started really feeling those earlier miles in my legs and I was struggling hard. I prayed and sang and talked to other athletes a bit. I thought of other half marathons I’d done and tried to picture myself running strong and smoothly. I’m pretty sure I didn’t look anything like that!!

Finally, miles 10-12 started to come. We headed back into the lake area and I just kept trying to keep my miles around a 7:30 pace. A women and I hooked up and tried to run together. I drafted off her for awhile, but then decided she needed some help more than I did, so I let her tuck in behind me. I caught a glimpse of a girl in front of me that looked about my age around mile 12. She just seemed so out of reach, but I put on the gas even though my legs were falling apart. I tried to make up some ground, but I’m sure she was pushing to get to that finish line too. I couldn’t see her age, but I was hoping I wouldn’t regret not going after her earlier.

As I crossed the finish line, I gave it everything and was just so happy to be done. I honestly don’t think I could have squeaked out another drop.

At the awards I found out there were two Kona slots in my age group. As the spots got close to rolling down, I started to have a small panic attack. I hadn’t really considered what I would do if it came my way. That decision never needed to take place though. When Mike Riley called the girl’s name in front of me, she took the second slot and even though my heart sank a bit, I knew it was probably for a reason and for the best. I’m not sure I can do Ironman this year. I’m going through so much, it probably wouldn’t be the smartest of ideas to go back to Hawaii right now.

I raised my hand for the Clearwater slot and I’ve never been there, so I think I might try it. We’ll see. I need to talk to my coaches.

The awards were great, and the best part was getting to see Gary go up and accept his age group win and his Kona slot. I was as proud as a parent as I went up to the front and took pictures from every angle. He really worked hard and beat the next 70-74 year old by over an hour with a total time of 7:01. Amazing, my friend, amazing. I’m your biggest fan!!

I met some great people and connected with some of my friends. To all those who raced – you never cease to amaze me. Thank you for encouraging me when I was down. So many people yelled “go Mark Allen Online!” It was wonderful.

Thank you to my sponsors for helping me to get to the race, and to all my family and friends who were watching online. I had calls immediately after, and I know I couldn’t do it without you all. I know God was protecting me that day and I know he was with me helping me to not be afraid and do my best. It was a great experience, and I’m not sure I could have asked for anything more!