Hard work pays off - Lake Stevens 70.3

Prior to the New Year kicking off I had sat down with my coach and chose Lake Stevens 70.3 as my targeted "A" race for the season. I didn't have a specific time goal in mind nor did I feel Vegas was in reach. That is the mindset I started the year off with, and as the training season progressed the seed of Vegas was planted in my head. This was after I started to see PR's in my running races coming back, swimming started to feel stronger, and then the conditioning from bike racing. I knew I would have my work cut out for me at Lake Stevens since I'm surrounded by a city full of super talented tri babes. Seriously think about all my bad ass friends...However, when looking at where I was last year compared to my recent race result I'd have to say I've come a VERY long ways. Lilia gave me that nice compliment the other day which reminds me that hard work does pay off!

3 weeks prior to Lake Stevens 70.3 I had dress rehearsal at the Pacific Crest Long Course race held in Bend, OR. Beautiful city to visit and race in; however, mother nature decided not to cooperate on race day and provided the most brutal race conditions - Mt. Bachelor was snowed out which resulted in the race starting an hour late and the bike course changing and reducing down to the Olympic distance (lame). The lake was cold, froze my butt off on the bike, and got to top that all off with a half-marathon run in the rain and eventually hail. The hardest thing about Pac-Crest was that my race started off with having 3 panic attacks in the water where I felt extremely claustrophobic and had to pop up to get myself settled down before I could start swimming again. Luckily I managed to calm down and got through the swim, but walked away from that weekend not pleased with my race splits on all of the legs and a dip in motivation for Lake Stevens. After Pac-crest my coach had me swimming OW vs. in the pool so I could focus on simulating the race environment and manage through those tough spots where I feel trapped by swimmers around me. I have some friends that were more than willing to help me with that too! Went over to Chelan with Syd and Cathleen for a mini training camp and them along with Gerry & Tom graciously offered to plow over me in the water to help provide the whirlpool effect which was more fun for them than me at the time! I quickly became a Gerry and Cathleen sandwich where at one point I was in Gerry's armpit while he's swimming right over me. That swim in Chelan; despite the water tackle, served as a great tune up. Thanks guys!

Pre Race
Race eve was hectic. I could have done a better job prepping earlier in the week, but time got away from me and as a result spent the day before the race stressing out over a mechanical issue with my bike. Luckily I got down to HSP and a fix was put in place to where I could get the bike racked up in Lake Stevens in time. I failed to get to bed early and finally got around to packing my race bag at 10:30pm!
Despite the challenges from the day prior one thing that kept me relaxed race day was the presence of the worlds greatest friend (Tara). Carson was away racing so she stepped in without even asking and was at my place by 4am to be the world's best race sherpa! She knew how important this race was to me, and was there for me to do whatever it took to keep me calm and to be supportive. The sweet pre-race note from Carson + Tara's presence was perfect. I definitely felt loved and was so appreciative of her thoughtfulness. Even though the commute up was at the awful hour of 4am our conversation was so entertaining that I drove 15 exits past the Lake Stevens one. Whoops! As a result we pulled into Lake Stevens later than I had hoped for but quickly moved into race mode knowing that I had limited time to get setup in transition and get over to the swim start. I had planned to meet Sydney for a warm-up jog, but time ran out so all I could get in with a quick 5 minute jog. Heart rate elevated since this was not the pre-race plan I had mapped out. I had wanted to warm-up jogging for 20 minutes and then get in the water for a 5 minute warm-up before the swim start. That didn't happen so compromised with the short jog and Tara helping me through myself together for the swim.

Swim – 35:04
Got over to the swim start and found Sydney and Carly which always feels nice to have friends starting next to you. I was looking around at the queue and debated how I could get in the water for a warm-up prior to our wave being called it. It wasn't going to happen so I just accepted that and focused on keeping myself calm and relaxed. Despite not having a proper warm-up Lake Stevens marked my first OW swim PR! It's hard to compare swim courses, but most of time you can come within reason of what you expect based on prior races and the swim course/type of water. Last year my races were consistently around 40 minutes and after winter and consistent masters swim practices I had hoped this year I'd see the swim time drop. Oceanside which was in the ocean and freezing was 41 minutes, Pacific Crest; despite the panic moments was 39 minutes, and Lake Stevens finally executed perfectly and I got out of the water in 35 minutes! Looking down at my watch and seeing the split instantly sent a shock of energy through my body as I was so stocked I just got through a swim with no issues and with a new PR!

The course was a counter clockwise out and back loop with the buoys on the left and depending on whether you were willing to go into the battle zone there was a white cable that ran below the buoys that could help with sighting. I started at the front but way over to the right intending to go wider around the first buoys to avoid the masses of people. On the way back I found the white cable and used that to help guide my sighting. I felt in control the entire swim and anytime I felt my mind drifting off into panic mode I got myself to narrow my focus down to just the buoys in my near distance and blur everything else out.

T1 – 2:30
Transition out of the swim was long but no big hiccups. I wouldn't say I'm super efficient at these... I take the time to put on socks since ultimately I'll want them on for the run so you spend the time in T1 or T2, and for this race we had to wear our race belts so that was an additional step in the mix. I could practice this area more, but then there are bigger fish to fry on the training plan than transitions so some day I'll come back to this area to finesse some more.

Bike – 3:00:18
I started out on the T1 with one hiccup...as I was attempting to clip in I realized my cleat covers were still on my bike shoes. Dumb! Nice little touch Carson recently added to my shoes to protect the cleats, but as I'm not used to having those on I completely overlooked checking when I setup transition. After I couldn't clip in and realized why I quickly tossed them over to the right where Tom Rosenberry was standing and I'm sure that provided some good laughs along with a souvenir :)

I rode the Lake Stevens bike course twice before this race so I was familiar with the course, hills, and descents. Once I got onto the bike weather took a turn and the misting turned to rain. I was on race wheels so I rode with precaution knowing my rear break setup was not ideal. However, caution wasn't what everyone else had in mind since I witnessed some "Fred" moves. Guys almost going off the side into the ditch and two riders crossing over into the other lane of traffic descending and onto a oncoming truck. I climbed the hills aggressively, but descended conservatively since I did not feel comfortable on some of those descents. I tried to remain as aero as I could, but a few of the girls I was rallying with would catch me when they descended and then I would move back ahead of them on the climbs. Towards the end there were 4 of us girls consistently rallying for the lead which helped keep my momentum going. I had two instances where I lost some time when my chain dropped which was frustrating. The first time I recovered quickly, but the second time was 3 miles prior to the finish and I fumbled. Lost time spent putting that back on plus the momentum, but still managed to catch back up to the back of those girls before we headed into transition. Two of them looked like they could be good runners so wanted to keep them close so I didn't create too large of a gap.

Nutrition plan on the bike was executed well and have it dialed down to a good program - thanks to my dear friend Lilia's guidance. Went through 2 bottles full of calories needed across 3 hours and 4 gels. Consistently took in what I had planned to drink and eat each hour which eventually becomes a game to distract your mind while riding (every 20 minutes do X…). Seemed to be just right and had no need for other bottles that the race offered. My new BMC came around for me and found it amusing how many times guys went by and gave me a compliment on my bike during the race. Never had that on the Cervelo before. The day prior to my race even I met a guy at the HSP shop that was visiting from Cali who just bought a BMC from them and he went by me during the race and yelled "Yeah B-M-C, go get them beautiful!". So not only does my bike look HOT but got to experience the BMC love on the course which was cool.

T2 – 1:49
Once I got off the bike I was ready to get onto my leg of strength - running! I kept the girls that just got off the bike in sight and I appeared to be moving faster through transition than two of them were. I headed out of transition with the PowerBar Elite girl I tagged as a potential fast runner. She looked like she would run fast.

Run - 1:32:45

Started out through the crowds and was energized by the tunnel of friends and teammates I had yelling for me. Perk about racing local. I heard my a shout out from my running coach Mark "this is your strength now go for it!" and that fueled me to drop the Powerbar girl who fortunately was not a fast runner. I wanted to keep moving knowing at any time other ladies could come up from behind and I started settling into my planned race pace. My first 2 miles were right on pace and then the next 2 miles were a few seconds over. I eventually accepted settling into a range - knowing my target but not freaking out if I was slightly over plan.

The run course is 2 loops so on the first loop you get to see everyone ahead of you on the way out. Carly went by and with her were 2 other girls following close by. The girls all looked like they were in my age group so those were spots I had to chase down. At that time they seemed so far ahead and it did not seem likely based on their passing pace that I would make up that much ground on them. I switched my focus to pace and just kept working to try and get that back on track. Wasn't feeling the power needed so I started taking in coke at the fluid stations. When you're needing a sugar boost that stuff is like magic -sugar straight to the veins! I took down 2 gels during the run (1 per loop) in addition to the coke which kept the calories coming in even though after awhile I wanted nothing that seemed to resemble race food or gels.

Once I was onto the second loop I caught up the spot where Sean was cheering for everyone who shouted Carly is 30 seconds ahead. Feels weird to be chasing down your friends in races since Carly and I had the same goal (Vegas), but I knew she had other girls with her that I needed to get ahead of. Caught up to Carly and as I was going by I gave her a booty smack not knowing she had crashed on the bike course. Luckily I hit the non-injured cheek but I guess it was a little more powerful booty smacking than I had intended. Sorry babe! After I went by Carly I then got ahead of two other girls in my age group. I had no clue where I was at for placing until I saw Deb and Tara. You two are the best cheerleaders! Deb was running alongside the road cheering and she yelled that I was in 6th position which then gave me to motivation to step on it. Just when I needed the push Rocky came by and he was clipping along at a great pace. Grabbed onto his heels and let his pace carry me to the turn around point. As we turned around his pace momentum slowed and I then exchanged a few encouraging words and went out in front to where we switched roles - I was pacing, he was on the heels. Regardless felt good to be suffering alongside with someone else. Had a good clip heading into the finish and seeing my friends at the end was emotional. I looked down at my watch and saw that my time was exceeding my expectations and the reality of being where I was for placement made me emotional. I ran into the finish and was greeted by a big hug from Tara and Mark and then started the post race chatter and chest bumping :) with all my triathlete friends from the community that were there. Grand day of racing. Love the course and being able to see all of my friends racing or on the side cheering. Our Seattle athletic community rocks and felt spoiled with the overwhelming amount of support. Thank you!


Overall I finished 19th for amateur women and 4th in my age group. Within my age group I was 18th on swim, 10th on bike, and 4th on run. Pleased across all legs although had planned for faster splits on both bike and run.

Lake Stevens Podium for my age group AND Vegas!

First time to be on podium for an Ironman 70.3 - very exciting! Never would have imagined I could be up there and definitely helps boost your confidence that if you put the work in you do see the fruits. After the awards ceremony wrapped up they started the process for the Vegas slots. My age group had 2 slots for Vegas and those slots were not taken so I got to top off the exciting day by securing a roll down slot! Next up will be Vegas 70.3 World Championships September 9th! Honestly never would have thought last year that I would be the one ending a blog entry writing that. #Happiness #Hardworkpaysoff

Tara, Carly, and I at the awards ceremony. I'm crossing fingers and toes that miss Carly unleashes the Vegas beast at Calgary in 2 weeks and joins Lilia and I for Vegas!!

2012 Triathlon Season opener - Oceanside 69.1

2012 tri seaon kicked off amongst the palm trees in the beach town of Oceanside, CA. Oceanside is a half-ironman distance and this girl got to rebel against the corporate branded distance and started season with my own customized tri distance - 69.1! You're probably confused on what this means so you'll have to read on for the adventures of Oceanside 2012...

Plans for this race started last year as the tri babes rallied a group of the Seattle ladies together to celebrate Tesia & Cathleen's irthdays. Tesh's birthday fell on race day, and Cathleen was going to be celebrating the big 3-0 milestone birthday a few days after. This is what occurs when you have friends who are equally passionate/crazy endurance athletes who find the best way to celebrate milestone birthdays or holidays is to go race a half ironman or jump in a pool and swim some crazy yardage. Love it!

Knowing little about the Oceanside race and caught up in the thought of a fun girls weekend I didn't realize that winter training in Seattle would not allow for open water swim training or how cold the water in Oceanside would be in March. Those two things are the only things I would say make training/racing Oceanside a little challenging. Keep that in mind if this race is on your radar and I've offered some tips below on things I would have done differently.

Winter training - That's what you'll be doing if you sign up for Oceanside. This past winter was the first base training season where I consistently put forth a solid and organized (thank you Michael) effort towards the swim-bike-run and started feeling the fitness gains. Normally training in the fall wears on me, but I came out of the fall season feeling strong and pump to start racing whether it was a running or bike race. Fall training rocked. Highlights include epic swim sessions up to 7000 yds, celebrating holidays in the pool with matching swim suits and amazing brunches, and outdoor riding with my bike team. The New Year started with a PR in the half-marathon which helped reassure me that running less and cross-training on the bike and swim was allowing me to run the same times with fewer miles. My heart is completely into this right now and feel passionate and excited about the continued growth in these sports I can aim to achieve. I'm spoiled with friends who are bad ass and continually keep me accountable and motivated to show up to workouts. Definitely can't do this all alone and having a strong community of positive friends is the icing on the cake.

Pre- Race
Took the Thursday evening flight down which put our crew into Oceanside pretty late (midnight).One of the more memorable flights down to a race (like grabbing another person's suitcase from baggage instead of my own!). Slept in on Friday without any alarms which felt luxurious! Although Friday was non-stop for me up to dinner time - unpacked bags, ocean swim with Sean and Dr. Jacob, shake out run, assembled the bike, Sean double checked bike, dropped run transition bag off, and checked out swim/bike transition. If I had to do it over again I would recommend heading down Weds evening and having Thursday and Friday to prep for the race since it's a lot to do in one day. A few girls with us did that and they seemed way more relaxed and organized for race day.

After the day of hustling around we all regrouped at the condo for a pasta dinner and salad followed by an early bedtime in prep for the early alarm scheduled at 4:15am!

Race Day
Alarm went off at 4:15am and shortly after we biked over to transition 1 (swim to bike) to have first dibs on the bike racks and setup everything up. Good tip that Sean pointed out the day before - if the racks do not have bib numbers designated on them it's best to arrive transition when it first opens get first dibs on the bike rack you're assigned to. I arrived early and got the first spot on the end which meant more transition area room for me :)

Same practice as last year with setting up the bike. Had prepped most of the things beforehand so setup included laying out all the normal things plus some warmer pieces (armwarmers, socks). Looking back now there are two things I want to improve on in the next race - position helmet in transition area better (stumbled over this a lot in T1), ensure both my Garmin and Cateye on the bike are reset/ready so I'm not spending time fumbling over them at the start.

After bike setup we walked back to the condo for breakfast. No big surprises on the pre-race fuel - coffee, steel cut oatmeal/honey, and nuun water. Normally a banana makes it in that mix, but we ran out so adapted. Shortly after taking breakfast in we headed back over to Transition 1 where the swim kicks off. Ran into our Pauole teamies, snapped a few quick photos, and started to suit up for the first race of 2012! Proceeded over to the starting area like a pack of cattle to wait in queue for the wave starts. Only thing crossing my mind was whether I was really ready for all of this to start. Once in the water it was going to be forward moving from there.

Swim - Calm, Relaxed and Tried to be focused
My coach Michael gave me mantras to focus on for each leg so you'll see that at the top of each one which I thought was easy for me to focus on. After talking with friends who had raced Oceanside before I knew the swim leg was going to be cold and a tough mental battle. The trial swim in the ocean the day prior was freezing on top of it being the first open water swim of 2012. My mantra for the swim was Calm, relaxed and focused. I did all of those except for I was far from focused on sighting. I could have improved the sighting and drafting off other swimmers, but the water conditions made it tough. Swimming in the salt water was new to me and there were some sweet swells on the exposed area of the bay where I felt like I was body surfing for parts of the swim. You're also taking in water occasionally so towards the end of the swim I was dying for a beverage of any sort to wash the salt/dry mouth feeling away with. During the swells my sighting really suffered and I ended up over by the kayaks a few times. Had planned to get out of the water faster than I did so walked away not impressed with the swim result and only thing to celebrate was surviving the swim given I had no training in the open water prior to this race.

T1 - Swim to Bike Transition
Longest transition ever. You run up from the water alongside the transition area which is a pretty good distance so expect longer transition times at this race. Given how cold the water was and with the temps down I took time to put on arm warmers and socks before heading out on the bike. Need to spend some more time practicing transition tactics , but overall managed to get out in an okay time with the right things on for the ride.

Bike - ease into it and work hard on the hills
Prior to Oceanside I sat down with Lilia to discuss my race plan and get some tips from her on goals to set, nutrition, etc... After looking at my initial plan she did suggest aiming for a more conservative bike time given the course was hilly and went off some times our friends posted last year. I walked away from that conversation thinking 3:10 might be the realistic goal, but if stars were aligned try to get close to 3 hours. Michael thought I would go faster and I really did not know how things would turn out given I hadn't been riding my TT bike as often as the road bike.

To my surprise I biked my butt off and that fueled me. The entire bike leg went really well - nutrition plan followed to a T (big thank you to Lilia for helping me with suggestions), prepared and did the due diligence with bike prep beforehand so the Murphy's law played out in my favor (thank you Carson!). I continue to fall for the sport of biking...This used to be the leg I viewed as "good cross training" and honestly never really looked forward to the training last year just did it because it was necessary to compete. Bikesale has helped change that view for me completely and team rides, races, and training are things I'm hungry for and look forward to which in returns feeds into the racing. You've got to love the sport to really embrace it!

Did not regret the arm warmers or socks since those served me well on the bike along with the embrocation cream Carson recommend (brilliant old school cycling tricks!). I felt comfortable the entire race (not too hot or cold) even though it was sprinkling and cooler temps. NW riders would not bat an eye at the conditions, but for some it may have been more uncomfortable if they don't ride outdoors much or use a few extra layers.

Michael gave me a specific plan on how to race the bike leg which was super helpful. I went in with a plan and stuck to it. As he warned everyone would come flying out of transition and my focus was to get acclimated to the bike, settle in, and take in some nutrition while letting them pass. After I got through a certain mileage point I picked it up and from then on I was passing riders which felt awesome! Last year this was definitely not the case and what motivated me to change things for this season. Each race I felt so defeated on the bike leg as people would fly by me on the bike. The week prior to Oceanside I had a really good tune at at IVRR road race which was 2 loops that included 2 tougher hills which served as the perfect simulation for Oceanside. I had the hill climbing lodged in my muscle memory and felt ready for hills .

I worked hard on the hills and was motivated by the pace I was going up vs. some of the other athletes who I would see zig zagging up the hill out of the saddles or some who literally chose to get off their bike and walk it up the hills! This past fall I got in a lot of practice with the bike team on hill riding and learned a lot of helpful tactics that served me well in this race.

Run: time to race hard, negative split, and oh damm I missed a U-turn!
The part you've been waiting for...What happened during the run leg? Pure confusion…

This is the part where I take responsibility for not studying the run map before the race. Honestly I never spend a lot of time looking at the run maps for races since it's just running and how complicated can that be!?! I knew from others who had raced the course that there were 2 loops along the beach and figured it would be easy navigation. Sigh...not the case.

That said, what happened is when you come out of the bike transition there was 1 guy (Yes 1 single volunteer for a bloody ironman event) standing in the middle of the road directing athletes that if they just came out of transition that they needed to do a U-turn and run out to a point and back before continuing forward along the race course. Missed this completely (maybe this is when he was taking a breath) as the cones separate the two lanes of runners and I ended up following the natural flow of runners causing me to cut off the first 1.2 miles that loop consisted of. I noticed my miles seemed off from the mile markers but after running races for years you get used to mile markers not always being right. I knew I had 2 loops to run and did just that and into the finish chute I ended after my second loop. After finishing the race ran into my friend Cathleen in the finish area who asked me what I ended up with overall and for the run time. After attempts to estimate on our own she was able to pull up on her mobile which had me at a 1:22 1/2 marathon time. I would have expected to run 1:28-1:30, but definitely not throwing down a 1:22 unless I'm Sam Mazer! After packing up my gear in transition I ran into Kainoa and Laurie on the way back to the condo and explained what happened and it started weighing on me more as they both suggested talking to a race director. An ironman official was nearby so grabbed him to talk to him about what occurred and he ended up being the Director of Operations for the race so was the perfect one to chat with about the situation. He helped me figure out the U-turn and mileage I missed, and at least acknowledged I wasn't the only person that got in that situation. This was a new change introduced on the run course so it's good feedback for them to hear.

That said, I'm not upset at the volunteer who was in charge of the U-turn. He had a tough job and I should have been more prepared (i.e. study the course map). I accepted the DQ and did not claim a time I didn't earn. This could happen to the best of us and the last thing you want is to have people judging you for it. I am not walking away down at this at all since I look back on the race and extremely pleased with the bike split and my run time would have been right where I had projected so all in all I executed well and don't need an official time to tell me how I did.

Overall Race Results - Celebratory Handstands the day after!

Swim (1.2 miles) - 41:21
T1 (Swim to Bike) - 4:20
Bike (56 miles) -2:51:24
T2 (Bike to Run) -2:11
Run (11.9 mile) -1:22:20 (estimated might have ended with a 1:30 half if I hadn't cut the course)

Rock ‘n’ Roll Arizona Half-Marathon

Race Goal
AZ Rock N' Roll 1/2 kicked off race season for me and my stars aligned goal heading into this race was to run a time at or faster than my current PR (1:28:06). I was a little unsure of what to expect with this race since the last time I pulled off a 1:28 half was when I was in the prime of marathon training last year. Now that I'm focused on triathlons I'm not running the mileage I was then and logging around 30 miles per week vs. the prior 70-80 per week. That made setting a race goal hard since I wasn't sure how to assess my current fitness based on the off season base training topped with the month of December being dedicated to holiday eating and drinking indulgence.

Pre- Race
In December I started working with a coach (Michael Vanderhyde) which is new to me but needed. I have a tendency to over do training so it's nice to have a well thought out plan focused on intensity with a rest day incorporated :) Prior to heading out for Arizona I chatted about the race with Michael who suggested to start out at a targeted pace I'm comfortable with and negative split the second half. The race plan seemed realistic since I could start at a pace I know I can hold and if I was feeling good I could pick it up otherwise just drop back and maintain the pace I started at.

I flew into Phoenix on Friday evening and met up with some of our Hood2Coast teamies for an indoor slumber party at my friend Cara's place. The chatter of race plans and being amongst their positive energy pumped me up for the race. We all hit the sack pretty early Sat evening and managed to get 7 hrs of sleep although for me it was pretty restless due to race jitters...

Race Day
Rise and shined to an early alarm (4:45am). Took down the typical pre-race breakfast - oatmeal,banana, and coffee/water. I'm a creature of habit so you won't see me sway on my race day meals. Rule of thumb on nutrition - if it works don't change it and don't let other people's noise on nutrition distract you.

After getting to the race and parked we had about an hour to spare. The walk over to the starting area through the crowds and lines ate up some time and we quickly found ourselves getting down to less than 30 min until the race start. For those of you who know me well I'm sure you can imagine how edgy I was getting since I usually like to have plenty of time and this was cutting it close! I didn't have time for my typical 2 mile warm-up so managed to get in 1 mile before I rushed to drop off my bag and towards the start line. On the way up towards our starting corral the race director announced they were delaying the start by 10 minutes since people were having delays with getting to the race. Whew! This allowed time for strides and stretching!

Race Time!
Prior to the race I chatted with my Hood2Coast teamie Drew Boom Shackta about pacing the first part of the race together since we were both unsure of how we would end up towards the end. After the gun went off we both got off to a good start, and I was trailing Drew trying to remain conservative on the first mile. My plan was to start out at 6:50 pace. Nailed mile 1 at 6:51, mile 2 at 6:45, and mile 3 at 6:42 where finally at mile 4 I connected back with Drew's heels where we started locking into pace together. A big thank you to Drew for pacing with me since the check-in's on our pace plan and working together throughout the race was a huge boost! A picture of us from the race is to the left :)

I felt comfortable as we picked up pace even though I did find myself questioning whether I was going to be able to carry the pace through the remaining miles. The thought of blowing up crossed my mind, but I didn't want to let up. I figured let this be the race where I try to go for it since it's only January after all! Most of racing is about staying mentally tough so I distracted myself by focusing on pre-race boosts friends offered about staying strong, make it count, and race like you want it! Finally reached mile 9 where I knew I needed to start putting some thought into how I wanted to handle the last 3-4 miles of this race. The talk with myself really came down to how bad are you willing to hurt since you could just accept running a time close to your current PR or actually go for it and try and get a faster time. At mile 9 Drew picked up the turnover and while I wasn't right on his heels having him ahead kept me focused on pace and pushig towards getting back on his heels again. Before mile 10 I got locked back in behind Drew again and when we hit Mile 10 I committed to giving those last 3 miles what I could. We dropped down to 6:21 pace and finished with 6:29 pace. Felt strong through up to Mile 12, but the last 1.1 miles was tough. Digging deep, pulling with arms, and Temper Trap "Sweet Disposition" was the finishing formula through that last 1.1 miles . I'm soooo happy that I pushed through those last 3 miles the way I did because I ended up snagging a PR to start off the new year and season with. Finishing races strong and a new PR feels great! I'm fueled to keep working towards my other race goals and energized for race season!!

Results - Chip Time: 01:27:55

Overall: 183 out of 15663
Division: 3 out of 1570
Gender: 23 out of 9505

Race Splits:
5 Km: 21:06
10 Km: 42:07
10 Mi: 1:07:48
Avg Pace: 6:43

Mile by Mile Splits:
Mile 1: 6:51:31
Mile 2: 6:44:68
Mile 3: 6:42:51
Mile 4: 6:41:51
Mile 5: 6:52:22
Mile 6: 6:39:71
Mile 7: 6:40:64
Mile 8: 6:46:78
Mile 9: 6:48:78
Mile 10: 6:34:30
Mile 11: 6:21:40
Mile 12: 6:29:79
Mile 13: 6:29: 56

*My watch read 13.21 for the course so I apparently did not run the angles the most efficiently or the course may not have been as certified as they claim.