Early spring is for local racing! Happy that St. George puts on some great events and is just down the mountain from our house! Even better when your good friend makes the road trip into town to join you for a great weekend of racing and training. Thanks, Karen!

I lined myself up toward the front of the line – mostly because I want to stay out of trouble and have a relatively clear path on the bike. When I saw new-in-town young speedster, Andrea, way back there, I waved her to the front because – nothing like racing your competition head to head! She immediately dropped me on the swim and it was ON. Unfortunately, she had some shoe issues* at the beginning of the bike and I got a good gap on her which she was never able to close back up. But racing scared of her was just the push that I needed.

At the end of the run, I was trying to catch the lead guys which was hard but great fun! I ended up 1^st female and 3^rd overall in just under an hour. Happy with the shape I am coming into for the 2018 season! Karen and I topped off a great day of 70.3 prep with another bike ride, run, and recovery swim. And LOTS of good food!

Max (9) was signed up to race in the kids’ triathlon but broke his collar bone the weekend prior on his mountain bike, so – while super bummed – he made the best of it by doing the run portion with his friend. Sling and all. There is little that brings me more joy than watching kids having a blast in this sport!

*This is the second race in a row where the lead girl struggled getting her feet into her shoes while on the bike and lost a shoe. People have asked why I don’t do it that way. This is why. Not because I don’t know how. It’s too risky. Unless I am racing draft-legal where it is crucial to make the pack, I put my shoes on in transition and STILL do a flying mount onto the bike. When I enter T2, I leave my shoes clipped in and get off barefoot because – as long as you know what you’re doing – there is very little risk involved.