48 hours later, 1 hour of sleep

After an arduous 2 - day drive with a locft 1 hour of sleep (which shouldn't count when you're curled up in the front seat parked on the side of a freeway), getting acquainted with our new house-mates: two active dogs (owners to be coming home soon!) ,and jumping in a few master swim programs, I’m finally settling into my new training base situated in Boulder, Colorado.

I joined up with Boulder Aquatic Masters (BAM) and Dave Scott at Flatirons Athletic Club for some grueling swim sessions. If you name a triathlete, they are all here…albeit swimming in a few lanes up and a lot faster me! It's been a huge eye-opener to watch Joanna Zeiger or Julie Dibens swim circles around me. I've got work to do! Thankfully, Dave Scott has already provided me with a few pointers to help my atrocious stroke.

Boulder is a very different place than anywhere I've been. It's surrounded by open-space filled with trails galore, mountain ranges to explore, and amazing shoulders on paved highways. No more do I have to hold my handle bars and grimace while riding down the road. In California, the roads were epic: potholes everywhere. But here, the roads are like slick ice and you ride like the wind. My wheels are spinning fast because of the low air resistance. Now my legs just have to keep up with them.

Everyone drives a Subaru with a bike rack two dogs, owns at least two bikes, and is active. You get the occasional smoker on the sidewalk but they are a dying breed (no pun intended)! Yesterday, while changing for my morning swim session with Dave, I overheard an elderly lady (that by all means would put me to shame while riding a bike. She had calves the size of baseballs) talking about her new Speedplay pedals with a fellow cyclist (whom also was as old as my grandma but looked as strong as an ox). I was taken aback to hear such a conversation and quickly put in my place. You have to love it when someone in their late sixties talks about pedals on a bike and climbing up the local hills at a fast clip. I smiled. You have to love it.

I'm looking to put in a solid training block, and then head back to Canada for a bit. I've changed a few things in my training so that I'm able to continue to build up my chassy with no injury. It's become an act of patience. I have to keep reminding myself, patience and consistency equals success.

My Wildflower 1/2 Rac-Repo-

Sorry I've been so behind in updating my blog. I'm packing once again to be on the move to Boulder and back home for a bit. But without further ado, here is my 2/3 Wildflower 1/2-Ironman Rac-Repo!

Wildflower is an amazing weekend and it was a race I was gunning for, for the first part of the season that is. Deciding half-way in the run to not finish was a hard decision, but a smart decision. The three weeks between Wildflower and Superfrog had my left calf feeling a bit mangled. I wasn't running all that much and was worried the epic run for Wildflower would leave me crawling. I'm happy I did 2/3 of the race and even more happy that I'm OK in the run department!

My swim was OK but unfortunately I had 3 dead-weights impeding my process: my left and right arm, and the big one, my head! I was hesitant to start this race and it showed up dramatically at the start-line. I'm still trying to hit myself in the head (to fix it and) to improve my open-water swimming (this is on the list of to-do's and scheduled as soon as I head to Boulder with the BAM Open Water Swim Practices). When the gun went off, I did what any competitor would do and started moving forward. 6 strokes in I start to site?! That was the start of my demise. Why do you need to site in a mass of chaos? (Chuck pondered this one after the race and waited for me to give a valid reason...)

I found my own groove and managed to swim (on my own) behind a 4-women pack. This is not the ideal situation but at least I didn't lose ground to them. Coming out of the water, I was 3-minutes behind the likes of Sam Mcglone and 5 down from the leader (and eventual winner), Julie Dibens. My work was cut out for me!

In T1- I was slow running up the boat launch but the leg, as it always works out, felt great! I slipped out of the wetsuit, snapped my helmet on and grabbed the bike. I was out fast and prepared to catch everyone ahead of me.

On the bike, I don't hesitate. I don't worry, I don't think! I'm 100% comfortable on two wheels and red-line without worry. In the first 2-miles (including the infamous 1-mile hill at the start of hte course), I passed 5 competitors. Between the 10-15-mile mark, I passed 4 more. By mile 25-30 I was in 4th place.

In this race, the actual start of the bike is just before nasty grade (a 1.2+ mile climb at 9%). at mile 40. I knew this is where I was going to make my mark. 5-miles before the climb, I caught up to third place and flew by before she could tell who I was. In the near distance was 2nd, Melanie Mcquaid at the time. I held back, took in the last of my fluids (made my bike light!) and waited for the climb. (In retrospect, I wish I gunned it here because I think I could have had that fastest bike split I wanted!). I punched it up Nasty Grade and that was the last I saw of any competitor...

And that's because Julie Dibens was out of sight, killing everyone behind her! I was pushing hard to make any gains I could on the last 16 miles of the bike.

I made it into T-2, 5-minutes down from Julie, and 3-minutes ahead of 3rd place. It was a great spot to be in. (I have to give credit for my bike time to the new race wheels I was riding, the TdF58 Carbon Race Wheels by Rolf Prima! I've never been on a fast set-up of wheels and it literally made me feel like I was flying. NO joke. I've used training wheels in every other race I've been in. I'm 100% confident I now have the fastest wheels going in this sport!) I got into my run shoes and headed out.

Hesitancy hit me again, I didn't want to hurt my calf. I kept telling myself, "I want a season this year!" After a mile or two I felt OK but it wasn't 100%. I wasn't in a groove but I was happy to be running. I saw Chuckie on course and he quickly waved me down. My day was done - As planned. I was hoping that these plans would change but a good pupil must listen to her body...and coach!

Looking back, now 7 days post-race, I think, what was I thinking?! My leg felt a bit gammy but it's fine! I keep going back and forth on the decision but have now just realized, I made a good choice because I can gear up toward the season - knowing full well what I have to work on. My shin/calf needed the rest. And more importantly the culprits I need to work on before the next race are blatantly hitting me in the eyes:

1) SWIM AGGRESSION
2) SWIM
3) SWIM
4) MY HEAD - hesitancy kills
5) RECOVERY
6) TAKING CARE OF MY WEAK CALVES
7) #$%^ SWIM!

Worth noting is how much fun the weekend was at race-site! I camped - which next year, I will not be doing! I didn't get much sleep the night before the race. but the atmosphere was a blast. Sleeping outside in a tent with ear-plugs doesn't quite do the job. Car horns, car lights and noisy campers make for a rough night. With that said, it was a great experience and the night after the race was worth it. For next year, I'll be in a room and in a bed for a full nights rest.

I met up with Brian Roddy, owner of Rolf Prima. I had a blast getting to know him and can't wait to head out his way (Eugene, Oregon) sometime. Brian, I hope you have a spare room and will want roommates for awhile! I've always wanted to head to Eugene ever since I heard about their amazing run trails.

AVIA did it well with their amazing after-race party - as always! We had great food, great company and a lot of laughs. Kevin Koresky and Joe Barrus from Finish-line Multisports joined us. Great things are in the works!

Meeting up with Paul from Sable Water Optics is always a great laugh. My goggles do the job better than any I've tried and I was able to grab a new pair just before the race start. Thanks Paul!

And of course, I want to say a huge thanks to all my sponsors not mentioned yet, especially TYR for putting me in a fast wetsuit! I promise, open water swimming is on the agenda and my lack-luster swim times will be improving! Rudy Project had me in stealth mode with my aero-helmet and shades on the bike. And Standard Process had me fueled and ready for the race. Thanks to Hammer Gels, Oval Concepts (fastest bar set-up on the bike!), the Right Stuff (hydrated all-day!), Beaker Concepts, Raw Revolutions and of course, Larabar. And a special shout out to Kryn Miner! Thanks for the support!

Boulder, CANADA, upcoming races....here I come!