That’s a wrap folks.
After the fun outing jogging at Kualoa Ranch this weekend, my season has come to a close. Well, maybe my body decided it came to a close more like a month ago but my brain pushed it a little and frankly, would push it more if my body would let it. I have never had so much motivation to race and fun with a season. Thank you all for being a part of it! It was also a pretty darn good season as well. I thought I would recap with a few pictures since they save me a lot of words.
The season started a bit slow with a 7th in Oceanside and an 11th in St George as I solved a niggle in my right foot.
The I finally started rolling with a 3rd place and fastest bike split at Honu 70.3 (won by Angela Naeth).
Then my season broke through with the win at Boise70.3 the following weekend. It was wire to wire with the fastest swim and bike splits and a solid run.
It was fun to share the podium on the day with my friend Brent McMahon.
Then I went on and won the Saskatoon 5150. Since it was a chase format and there was added money if the handicapped girls could hold off the men, I was first into transition. I also won the chase that day with a strong run.
Pretty special to be on the box with Brent McMahon and Jeff Symonds.
After that I won XTERRA Canada and while I was home managed to teach some mountainbike skills and build some stoke in a fun group of mountain biker/XTERRA/Ironman types.
Then I tested my resilience by stuffing in the Vineman half Ironman and took a fourth place (won by Meredith Kessler) which, although SLIGHTLY disappointing, just let me know when I reach the limit of my racing: training ratio.
Battling Rachel who had a very strong race.
I followed that event with another super solid win at the Lake Stevens 70.3 holding off super fast Liz Lyles with a run that was almost matching her for 9 miles. It was a breakthrough running race for me and another wire to wire win.
Then I crashed. So all the work for the 70.3 worlds kind of ended up not showing and I had a terrible day in Quebec. Oh well.
I turned around and tried mountainbiking again and got myself as high as 4th place at XTERRA World Championship in the race but finished in 8th. It was solid but a reminder that without specificity I will not achieve my goals in races. I need to stick to what I am focusing on.
So then I went off to Australia and despite having more illness in 30 days than I have in five years I won another race wire to wire. I took fastest swim, fastest bike and second fastest run at IM70.3 Ballarat and really gave myself some confidence that I might be good at Ironman racing.
So now it is time to relax, reflect and refocus again.
First thank you to Mike. He doesn’t want me to talk about him on the internet at all but he was a huge part of my success this year. xoxo
Thank you to Trek Bikes, Bontrager, and Shimano for keeping my wheels rolling. In addition, thank you to the Trek Race Shop, Trek Procity Victoria, Shimano Australia, Cycles Galleria, Cyclescape Ballarat, and Trek Store Santa Rosa for the fun times and the support this year. I love being part of the Trek family and Shimano, as my longest sponsor, you have been incredible as far as staying at the forefront of the industry forever and as the most amazing supporter of athlete’s dreams. Trek and Shimano = awesomeness.
My team in Melbourne 🙂
Thank you Champion System for creating competitive outfits that also help me to show my own personality. Personalization is so special but comfortable kits are essential
Thank you Rudy Project- for supplying me with helmets and glasses for lightning fast bike splits and sunnies to help me look cool and composed during interviews. I love the casual line very much and couldn’t find a better performing glass both on and off road from anywhere. Keep up the excellent design.
Thank you Powertap for the ability to measure my bike output and to train indoors with precision. I have been a Powertap fan for many years now and it is so great to see exactly where my training is at. Keep making awesome measuring devices! Thanks to Chris Till and Monza Imports for helping me to train while in Australia by making some equipment available. You guys are amazing.
Thank you to Blueseventy for helping provide me with a wetsuit that allowed me to swim to the front 3 times this year – the first time ever in my career! Blueseventy wetsuits, goggles and swimsuits have turned me into a fish.
Thank you to Powerbar for providing the nutrition I need to work towards full distance racing. Thank you USANA for keeping me (mostly) healthy (overdoing it just can’t be fixed with nutrition) .
Thank you to Nick at Frontrunners and the folks at Asics for sending me some sweet kicks that kept me healthy as I try to push the run volume up to what would make me competitive. I still have a long way to go but I think given I just started bumping into a decent volume range in August I would like to see what I can do now that I am honestly 100% healthy (that took until May!!).
Thanks to Jamie Grimes at Synergy Wellness for putting my body back together. I wouldn’t have a career right now without you. Also big appreciation goes to Markus Blumensaat for some excellent therapy and advice along the way. You two are my A team in Victoria- much love.
Thank you to SciCon for providing me with bike cases that kept my babies ready for race day despite more than 50,000 kilometers of travel.
Thanks to Triathlon Magazine Canada for helping me hone some media skills. I appreciate the opportunity and I plan to continue some professional development to further improve on my ability to contribute to the magazine. Thanks to my brother Shawn for helping me learn more about social media and online marketing – you are a wizard!
Thank you to Ironman and Ironman Asia Pacific for the invitations to compete and for putting on great races. Thanks to Lance and Paul for the invite to the Saskatoon 5150 and to XTERRA for continuing to invite me to compete while I have gone to the “dark side” J Thank you Monique for creating XTERRA Canada in Victoria and building such a fun event.
Thanks to the long list of homestays (mostly nicknames here to protect identities – they know who they are and I love them) – Rodsquad, Sueblips, Marcy and Bo, Tobinators, Mark, Dr Aaron, Wardo, and Pipes and Jared – what an incredible year of memories. Hugs to you all.
Thanks to Kelly Guest for being a phenomenal training partner and swim coach for the second half of my season. Thanks to Clint Lien for putting up with me for most of the season and to all the talented pros in the Tuesday Swim Squad for the comraderie. Thanks to Marilyn, Buttons and Danelle for the fun times training. Thanks Houshang Amiri for inviting me to train during the Pacific Cycling Center sessions and to all the strong cyclists in Victoria for helping me to prepare. There are loads of people I have done sessions with so I am sorry I am missing some of you but you know those days are what makes the quality of my life so great and I appreciate you all.
I don’t think I am done yet. I am not sure I am ready to fully announce plans yet because I want to take some time to think about what journey in 2015 would really make for an album of memories I would cherish. I still have so much desire to crush races but I also want to be healthy about this stuff. So soon I will talk about 2015 but it has to be a bit later.
Mahalo. I am sure we will have more to celebrate in the coming year.
