Hello friends and family,

It's official; my sister, bff and two other girlfriends are going to kona! We are all going for different total days, but essentially the 9th-21st of October. My incredible business partner and boss, Brian Smith is going to cover me as Team Leader while I'm away. I feel like the most loved, blessed person on the planet to have the unwaivering support and faith of these folks and tons of others both inside and outside my office. Wow, my cup runneth over!

I laced up the Newton's that will carry me across the finish line at Kona, today. They are my traditional fuchsia and yellow and I added red laces on behalf of Keller Williams. I thought about the race year I have ahead (Cambridge, MD in June, 70.3 Half Ironman and Louisville, KY in August, Full Ironman and Kona in October), and wondered how I could make it more meaningful and less about just me. So, I decided to donate my entire racing year to KW Cares, which is our charity arm that awards grant money to real estate agent's clients and their families in need when catastrophies strike. Last year alone, it awarded $3M in aid to Joplin, MO.

I will set up a web site that will take donations on things and parts of races/mileage that can be sponsored to raise the money. Also, an agent that I'm coaching in his first triathlon, David Stich and The Denver Tri in June, has agreed to do the same. I am also going to get KW red and white tri kits (racing outfits-shorts and top) for us to race in to show our support. Wondering if the goal of raising $20K is high enough. Thoughts???

This week's training was a recovery week (you can check out my daily training schedule on this very site) since I was in Las Vegas on business for two days. Next two weeks will be peak level and very focused and I'm ready!!! Chrissie got a new bike fit (seat was too low so we raised it) and a shorter crank which helps me go faster and more efficiently. Got the crank put on Tuesday and have been on 2 rides and so far everything seems to be getting dialed in. I was having a bit of knee pain during long rides, which is why I went for the bike fit. We also added a little "shim" to my right shoe/cleat to level out my foot, which no one can really explain how it works, but seems to. :-) 5 weeks to first race of the season!!!!

http://youtu.be/WwmbUo02pjE

I GOT INTO KONA TODAY!!!!  I remembered that the lottery spots are announced on April 15^th every year and put it on reminder list. I had been thinking a lot about how far ahead I am in training and how I’m ready for something big. Also felt more mature as an athlete and in the sport, which is not to say that I am any sort of veteran; just learned a lot, as I still am. I was also thinking about what it would feel like to go to Kona this year and that maybe I should have prayed more about it. But, I realized that God knows all about what I want, and would send me to Kona when the time was right.

When I went out for my run today, I didn’t feel like running much. But, I pushed myself out the door and did my warm up and was happy to be outside. Then the headwind and hail hit, but I was almost halfway and didn’t have enough time to go to the gym, so I pushed through. All the while, Kona and the lottery were in my mind. The good news was the headwind was at my back on the return trip and my muscles had finally warmed up and were excited now about running. I finished strong, and a faster pace than the first half (which is called a negative split) and felt good.

My sister had come over so we could go south to see our great aunt for her birthday, and I mentioned having to check the IM web site for the lottery results before we could go. (I had checked before my run, but the list wasn’t up yet) After pulling up the list, I began to scroll through looking for Colorado and then the athlete’s names. Two athletes had gotten in from our state and I was concerned there wouldn’t be a third. And then, I found another Colorado athlete and looked over to find my name and age! Of course I did a double and triple take and then screamed for my sister. She came running and looked at the screen and confirmed that it said my name. I jumped up and we hugged and I began to cry and shake and became overheated with emotion. This was my dream that I had started to pursue 18 months ago and all of my visualizing and faith and believing that I would be there had come to fruition. I was literally high and numb at the same time.

I called my coach, Kathy Alfino (Mile High Multisport owner and 3^rd ranked woman in the world at Kona), who had also just checked the list and saw my name and that I had called. We were elated together and she confirmed that I was the first athlete from their team to get into Kona this year! Then, I called my BFF, Crystal, who was in Florida on business and she immediately picked up. I started screaming that I was going to Kona and then she started screaming too. She is already going to my Cambridge, MD race and now she is going to Kona with me as well. We celebrated together on the phone and she was literally yelling out her car window as she was driving, my BFF’s going to Kona!!!! What incredible supportive friends and family I have! Then I proceeded to call and text everyone close to me that has been pulling for me to and basked in the rush of replies and well-wishes and energy. WOW, what a magical, phenomenal day. Thank you Lord, for this huge blessing. I will work hard to be worthy of competing in such a magical place and make you proud.

For reference, only 100 athletes are chosen through the lottery system, each year. Over 90,000 athletes pursue entry to Kona every year, for 1,900 racing spots. The 2012 Kona Ironman will take place on October 13, 2012. To claim my spot, I have to register and complete either a half IM or full by August 31^st. I am already signed up for the Eagleman race on June 10^th (half distance) in Cambridge, MD and the full Ironman in Louisville, KY on August 24^th. To watch coverage, you can log onto Ironman.com and televised coverage will be on sometime in November. Once my number is assigned, you can track my progress on the Ironman web site.

My coaches, Kathy and Pete Alfino, owners of Mile High Multisport, put together a week-long camp in Henderson, Nevada (just outside Las Vegas), for traithletes, cyclists and Ironman (Ironmen?). They put together daily biking in Lake Mead State Park, swimming with a master’s program 3 days and running 3-4 days. They rented a big house that was approx. 12 miles from the park entrance and close to the pool, and secured 13 athletes to share in cooking, cleaning and athletic training.

I had been looking at other bike camps, and knew I wanted to go to one and a soon as they said they were for sure on theirs, I put my money down. I had never been to one before, nor had I biked any of the big rides in Colorado: Ride the Rockies, MS150, Triple Bi-Pass, etc. So, I didn’t really know how the week would go for me, but I knew it would help my training, so I was excited. I also knew I was in great hands with Kathy and Pete and the top level athletes I have been around said how beneficial it was for them.

I booked my travel and got a friend to drive my bike out and looked forward to a week away in a warm climate with some high-level athletes. The day came and I was to share a car rental and room with a girl named Trish Jones. Kathy said that we were similar level riders, so it would be good for us to get to know each other. We made arrangements to meet up at the airport and rent the car together and make our way to the house. We got there with no problems and it was a nice warm day. My training called for a run, so I got ready and went out. It was like I could run forever! I had lungs the size of Texas! I love training at sea level. Wow. Fantastic.

The guys with our bikes arrived that night; John and Conor from Denver. John is a 30-ish racer from Texas who is pursuing Ironman and Conor is a 40-ish Irishman dad living with his family in the tech center who has done Olympic distance, trying to transition to half Ironman. By this time, many other athletes had arrived: Michelle and Bill, Kelly and Sydney from our tri club (very solid, fast athletes at the Ironman and marathon levels), Allen from San Francisco (an ultra-runner just breaking into triathlon), Michael (French cyclist training to be fit), Carrie from Gypsum Co (training for full distance Ironman).

Our coaches had put together a schedule of mileage and discipline per day (running, biking, swimming), along with meal prep and clean up. They also went to Costco and bought a massive amount of food for us for the week. Turns out, the house we rented was a six-bedroom, 3-bath, but with the smallest fridge known to man, so getting all of the food crammed in there was a miracle in itself.

The first full day, we went to the masters’ swim at 5:30am. It was still dark, when we arrived at this massive, beautiful, heated pool. There must have been 20-30 lanes! It was also a light saline concentration which was fabulous! Fast and easy to swim in. We got changed and got in and swam under the stars. During our workout the sun came up and was absolutely beautiful! What a great start!

Then we went home to a massive breakfast (every breakfast and dinner was massive and super-yummy and healthy) and got ready to ride. The mileage started at 40 and increased each day by 10 miles to a high of 80-100. Then, a recovery day of 30-40 and then a mini-triathlon the last day consisting of swimming in the morning, 60 mile bike and a 3-4 mile run. Once on our way, I got out in front with my coach, Kathy, as I had learned in the past not to get caught at the back of the pack (because it becomes hard to work your way back up front once this happens). I was pushing it, but was very fresh. It was windy, so that added a challenge, but I was up for it. We made our way to the park entrance and had to stop to pay for the week. I had been in my big chain ring as much as possible, but once we started going the distance, realized that I had overdone it. We got to the turn-a-round and 2 girls wanted me to take their picture, which I did, but everyone else took off and since I had to give them their cameras back, was now in dead last! Dang. On the way back, I pushed it but couldn’t catch back up and started having a bit of knee pain. I rode with Trish and Conor and after riding behind me, Trish said that I was angling my knees in on my pedal stroke, which was probably causing the pain. Also, we rode through part of the course in Lake Las Vegas for the World Championship 5150 (sort of a half Ironman distance that my coach competed in 2011) and Pete rode with me and educated me about having a smooth, efficient stroke that is powerful. He said to act as if you are jamming your toes into the front of your shoe and then on the downward part of the stroke act as if you are cleaning mud off the bottom of your shoe. Man did it work! When I concentrated on that, I was so much faster and powerful, especially up hills.

When we were finished riding, we went back to the house to gorge ourselves on food and recovery drinks and then jump into the pool! Yeehaw, now that’s what I’m talking about!

The rest of the week went pretty much the same, except that a few of the nights a top athlete named Jesse came over and joined us for dinner. He takes a month to come out to Vegas and train for the beginning of his season. I hit it off with him and he had some great advice for me about racing. He said to be honest with yourself on race day and identify how you are feeling on a scale from 1-10, 10 being high. He said women are much better at this than men because men’s egos get in the way…but, he said to identify how you are feeling and if it’s a 7, then race the best you possibly can for a 7. By trying to always race at a level 10, if you are not feeling a true 10, you will have a tendency to blow up and not finish the race. What a genius!

Amazing things happened during the week at bike camp. I found that I could ride day after day, increasing mileage and running and swimming and my muscles just continued to perform. Jesse also said this would happen if I just let my body do it. He also said that once the week was over, if I let my body recover adequately, I would be way faster than before the camp. So true again! I also found that I was leading our group most of the time (although Conor and Trish led me sometimes too) which felt great! I even remarked to Kathy that it felt like maybe I was peaking too early in the season, since my race isn’t until June. She assured me there would be more hard work to do!

In the end, we biked 311 miles, swam 3, and ran 17. And, I got to know 12 other people and had a great time with all of them! It was so wonderful to be around people looking to achieve things at a high level!  And, I realized that I could do far more than I ever thought. It was all about getting past my “mental governor” which is the mechanism in your brain that tries to protect you from doing things that can hurt your body. Once you identify something, your mental governor kicks in and says, “oh maybe you shouldn’t do that, it could be dangerous,” and tries to talk you out of it. It became obvious to me that this is what every Ironman has to deal with and get past, as well as those incredible souls I saw at the Leadville 100. And now, I have learned how to get past it!