FIT HAPPENS | LAS VEGAS           

What a race.  I really don't know how to describe the whole experience.  It was truly an inspirational day for me.  The course was deceivingly difficult but I still managed to finish top 15% of all athletes.

I'd like to thank Mom, Greg, Michelle, Hayden, Troy Boy, Ron, David and Steve for making the trip to Boise and supporting me.  You have no idea how much it meant and how it kept me going.

The swim was great.  Lucky Peak Resevoir was a beautiful swim venue.  The mountains blocked any and all winds from the water, it was absolutely calm water.  The amount of swimmers huddled into the staging areas was crazy!  The sheer amount of entrants was really impressive.  Even more impressive were all of the fans; the friends, family, and volunteers.  Overall I was pleased with my swim although I "tricked" myself into thinking I was a little faster than I actually was.  By the second bouy I caught a few of the swimmers from the wave in front of me.  As the 1.2 mile swim continued I kept swimmers from waved who left before me.  I slowed my swim just a bit thinking I may be over exerting myself and not noticing it due to the excitement of the race.  As it turned I should have maintained my original pace and finished the swim a bit faster.  Overal though, I was very pleased with my swim.

The bike course was  deceivingly difficult due to the wind.  After crossing the Luck Peak Dam and making my way down and through the canyon (which is an amazingly scenic ride next to the river).  After existing the "safety" of the canyon and entering the flat farm and dairyland of Idaho, we were greeted with a strong, steady, leg deadening head wind.  There were people cheering all along the 56 mile bike course.  The Boise community really embraced this race which made for a great race experience for those of us racing.  The bike ended in BoDo (Downtown Boise).

The run portion of this race was just as beautiful as the swim.  A two loop course along the Boise River "Green Belt" and then finishing right in BoDo.  The amount of people cheering and volunteers was really overwhelming and made for an emotional run.  They definitely mad the run easier.  Crossing the finish line made the pain of the run well worth it.  Overall one of my most memorable personal triumphs!

I learned a lot about myself and about racing in Boise.  The "myself" part will be part of another blog.  The racing part is simple.  I now know where I need to add training time to my schedule, what I need to focus on, how I need to structure my workouts, and nutrition.  Overall I am very pleased with my results- Top 15% isn't too bad for my first Ironman 70.3 series race.  I'm really looking forward to getting back to training!

I'm so excited for this race I can hardly stand it.  I feel like I am ready to burst with excite, pent up energy from not being able to race all year due to my schedule, and being able to race in front of my family.  Tomorrow morning we start the short half day road trip from Vegas to Boise.
This race is for bragging rights between my buddies and I, as well as a chance to qualify for the National Championships in Clearwater, Florida.  Not a bad goal considering this race wasn't on my radar at the beginning of the year!  I'll keep you all updated of my results

Okay, it's been a while since I've updated this blog!  My triathlon training, personal training business, and managing my son's T-Ball team have really taken up most of my time so I've neglected my blog a bit.. feat not though, I've kept my facebook page updated about once a week.  To see what's been happening you can click on the facebook tab up top and follow the link!

Summer is right around the corner!  This means it's time to get out the bikinis and swim trunks.  There is nothing more motivating to get back into the gym than wanting to look your best poolside.  For those of you who are still putting it off, don't delay! 

Over the weekend I received e-mails from two different people that live in different parts of the country that really inspired me and reminded my why I love training for a living.  Neither of these individuals are my clients but they both thanked me for motivating them to lose weight.

They follow my posts on Facebook and follow my training schedule and that has been what has motivated them to stick to their training schedules.  Their results have been remarkable with one person losing over 50 pounds and the other losing 27 pounds!

Just goes to show you never know whose life you are touching so make sure your touching everyone in a postive way!

Thanksgiving 2009 has come on gone.  I hope yours was as good as mine was.  It's great to spend time with family we normally don't have the opportunity to see and to indulge in some foods that we normally don't get to eat.  My personal weakness is Egg Nog!  Now is the best time to get back on track and start eating right and exercising and be ready to look great for New Years!  Don't make New Years your starting point, make it a part of your journey! 

This is the time of year that the cookies and pies and cakes and other waist busting foods grace our tables!  It is important to celebrate the holidays and enjoy ourselves, but it's also important not to get carrried away with our eating!

Many of us have been working extremely hard to lose weight, get in shape, lower our blood pressure, etc.  Don't give back all of your progress over the next couple of months!!  Make sure you control your portion sizes and only eat as much as you need, not as much as you want!! 

Thanksgiving is coming, be thankful for everything you have and be thankful after the holidays that you didn't gain as much weight as you did last year!

Fit Happens!

This past weekend marked the end of my triathlon racing season.  It was a picture perfect day, temperatures in the mid 80's and nothing but sunshine.  I ended up winning my age group and finishing 10th overall!  Not a bad showing at all!!