My Week in Kona

I've always wanted to go to Hawaii...I mean who doesn't, for real?  In all honestly, I thought that might be where I would get married, or maybe go to for my honeymoon.  There is still time for that, but I found an even better reason to go there NOW...

Let's go back a few months.  It was sometime in April when I caught myself obsessing over the USAT website about their Level 1 Coaching Clinic/Certification.  This had been going on for awhile.  Anyone who knows me is well aware that when I decide I want to do something it's going to happen, simple as that.  Once I realized there was a Level 1 Clinic in Kona the SAME week as the Ironman World Championships...done.  This also gave me something to look forward to (or distract me) post Ironman Wisconsin - perfect - I didn't want to go through the post Ironman depression of 2011.

So how did the week go?

First of all, when I say week I actually mean closer to 5 days...this girl only gets so much time off from work every year SO I made the best of it.  Although I must say next time I visit Hawaii it will require a longer stay.

Once we got to Hawaii we quickly got settled into our "cottage."  It was about 15 minutes above the town of Kona and was gorgeous!!  Check this place out...

http://www.konaviewestate.com/kope-cottage/

It was also hilly, quite dark, and housed what seemed like several thousand roosters which we quickly found out during our early morning runs haha!!  Luckily we had headlamps and night gear...and boy did we get in some hill work.  I thought Kona was supposed to be windy ;)

Anyway...the first 2 days in Kona were full days at the USAT Clinic.  I LOVED every minute of them.  We had some really amazing presenters and I learned so much...both on coaching and how to personally be a better athlete.  Exactly what I wanted.  I met some awesome people in the clinic, and it solidified for me just how much I love this sport.  

This is where we got to each lunch on clinic days, I could get used to this.

While I loved the clinic, I was excited when we finished up...it was time to enjoy Kona!  It was raining a bit that afternoon, but it had cleared up just as we were leaving.  We saw a rainbow on the way out which I'll take as a good sign :)

It was off to a great dinner with Jeff and Maxine (we got to sit right on the ocean) to celebrate!  Friday started out with a run on Ali'i drive where we got to see all the athletes doing their pre-race workouts...it was awesome.  Everything I wanted it to be.  Everyone was so fit, and it was just fun to be around it.  Am I really here????  We spent most of Friday at the expo, did some shopping (obvi), and just had a great time hanging out in Kona.

These were unfortunately not one of my purchases.

Before we knew it Saturday came and it was race day.  After our last dark and hilly run we were down at the swim start just as the pros were taking off.  We were really excited to see the event, watch the pros, AND see our coach race as well.  After we had signed up for the clinic our coach Jen Harrison (www.jenharrison.com) qualified for Hawaii...frickin awesome.  So we spent our entire day spectating, cheering, and chasing around everyone we wanted to see.

I have always been inspired by Ironman events...volunteering, spectating, and racing them...but this was different.  I've always thought Kona would be an awesome race to do, but it's always scared me to admit how badly I want to race there.  Being there has only made me want it more.  That isn't a short term goal for me (I live in reality), it will take years and lots of hard and consistent effort...but I'm up for it.  It may be decades from now (seriously), but I will race there.  

This was one of the coolest experiences I've had in my life.  I feel beyond grateful that I had the opportunity to be a part of everything that Kona had to offer last week, life changing no doubt.  The Big Island is filled with some of the nicest people I've met, amazing terrain to train on, and an insane amount of inspiration.  

Mahalo :)

Summer Racing

I had really good intentions to recap each of my races this year...then that little thing called Ironman training vs. life kinda got in the way ;)  Oops...

I didn't race a ton this summer, that was by design.  I was coming off an injury early this year (actually 2), so Coach Jen and I decided best to focus on Ironman Wisconsin (being my A race) and take it easy on racing lots of hard/short stuff.  Instead I trained a TON which was a nice change up from last year.  Between Galena and Wisconsin I raced 3 times, all very different races.  Here goes the clif notes...

Lake in the Hills Sprint Tri - 6.16.13

This was my second year racing Lake in the Hills.  I fell in LOVE with it last year.  It's a small local event with a laid back feel.  No egos, no crazy rules...just a fun race.  This was also the first race that I qualified for the Elite wave from my results in 2012.  AWESOME!!!!  This meant that I was in the first wave = nobody in my way :)  There were roughly 30 athletes in the Elite wave...this also included men.  Crap.  They are SO aggressive.  I wanted to get out of the water the minute we started.  Luckily it didn't take long before they passed me, after that small chunk of time the race went GREAT!  This was a major confidence boost going into the summer.  I wasn't sure how I would do in the race since I still wasn't 100% healed, but I was able to PR by 5 minutes!!  I took a significant amount of time off my swim AND my run on such a short course.  All the work I was putting in at Smelts was paying off and somehow I was holding on to my run fitness even though I had taken off some time from running.  Overall, SUPER HAPPY with this race.

3rd Place Age Group, 8th Overall Female

Ironman Muncie 70.3 - 7.13.13

This was another repeat of 2012.  I had to do it, they cut the course short due to the extreme heat so I wanted to actually do the full race + they gave 2012 athletes a discount.  "Deal!"  This course is meant for me...it's hot, a flat bike course, and hilly run.  I'm in love.  In a nut shell this race was bomb.  Going in to the race I wanted to break 5:30, my best time at a 70.3 was 5:32.  I knew I was going to have to work hard.  I had the fitness, but could I mentally stay with it?

The swim went well, I was out of the water a few minutes ahead of schedule...sweet!  My goal was to break 2:50 on the bike...I came close but missed it by a few minutes, smh.  Why can't I get my sh** together on the bike?  Forget about it, time to do what I do best...RUN!!  That I did.  I zoned out, focused, and pulled out a run that smashed my time goal.  I ran a 1:42 half marathon...holy crap!  That beat my open half marathon PR from last year by a minute, and it was during a 70.3.  

Overall, I finished in 5:18...YEAH!!!!  Honestly, what I was most happy with was how much effort I was able to put out during the run.  Having the ability to push myself to suffer, work hard, and just go on auto pilot was such a big win for me.  Learning how to stay with it mentally at this distance was another big boost that I needed going in to my big training blocks for the summer.

5:18 with Bib #518

PRs for both of us :)

Sisters Lakes Olympic Tri - 7.20.13

Yep...second year in a row I raced Sisters Lakes ha!  I can't help it, I LOVE this race too!!  I love it for many reasons.  Just like Lake in the Hills, it has that small town, laid back feel and it's a short bike ride away from my family's lake house in Michigan.  I had to do it :)  I get to spend the weekend with my family hanging out on the lake, eating a ton of food, and racing.  Some of my favorite things in life.

Just like Muncie this is a hot, non-wetsuit race, flat bike course, and hilly run.  I had another amazing day...took time off my swim and my bike (finally!) and PR'd by 4 minutes!!!!  This one hurt, it was a week off of Muncie, but I expected it to feel that way.  What did I learn?  Again, I can race HARD.  This is something that I've been learning over the past two years from Coach Jen and it feel so good to be able to put out another strong effort with great results.  The last key race to help mentally get me ready for the Ironman Wisconsin build.

I have no pics from the race, but I do have one from the lake AFTER the race ;)

My way to recover!

So that's the short version of my summer racing.  I'm not done yet...one more to go for 2013!  This one is a little different for me though.  It's taking me out of my comfort zone in a big way.  Later this month I'll be heading down to Tucson, Arizona for Duathlon National Championships.  I'm beyond excited about it, but also really nervous.  It's the first time I'll be flying with my bike, putting it together, breaking it back down, etc.  

First things first...before Arizona comes Hawaii!!  Yep, I'm going to Kona...not to race...but to vacation and learn and watch really awesome athletes race :)  My week in Kona will start out with going through my USAT Level 1 Coaching Clinic and end with spectating Ironman World Championships. 

Love my life <3