How did I get involved in Triathlon? – I ran in college (Division I) and succumbed to a lot of injuries my Junior and Senior years . As part of my rehab I would have to cross train A LOT so upon graduation I got this crazy idea in my head that I might as well do a triathlon since I had basically been training for one. I was hooked. I didn’t take up Ironman racing until over 10 years later…until then I thought the distance was absolutely BONKERS! In 2013 after a long break from Triathlon I decided to start with Half Ironmans then a full in 2014.
I qualified for Kona in Mont Tremblant.  It was my first full Ironman in 2014 and I DID qualify for Kona there but I didn’t take my slot.   I already knew my first go at the distance would take a lot out of me, but even more so because it was a stressful year moving from Wisconsin to Colorado for a new job. I know for some getting to Kona is the goal. For me, the goal is to compete against the best at my best. IF I qualify (and its always an IF because I know nothing is guaranteed), I want to be ready and able to truly compete. I know that my competitors at Kona either took first or second most likely in their age group at their respective qualifying event. As such, I have too much respect for the event and the people I will be competing against to not go in 100% ready to give my best. SO THIS WILL BE MY FIRST KONA!  I qualified for 2016 Kona at Chattanooga in 2015 – a race where I tore my plantar and hobbled a painfully slow marathon. I followed that up with racing on a torn peroneus brevis at Ironman Austria this year and hobbling through yet another painful marathon but still placing second in my age group. To say me and injury are arch enemies is an understatement 🙂
My WHY –  I lost my mother when I was just a little over 1 year old. I have always had a sense of urgency with life because of this event. It is a sense that moments cannot be wasted because you never know when you may have reached your last one. When I turned the age my mother was when she died I had a huge wake-up where I realized waiting to do all of the things I have wanted to do was not any way to live life. That is when I started racing again and setting my sights on events like Kona (I had been dedicating my life to running start-ups and not paying attention to goals I still had). At Chattanooga I gutted through the most painful race of my life because I was not about to waste one moment. I thought I had lost any chance at Kona but came to find by persisting I still won my age group and qualified for Kona. Not squandering moments and challenging myself to reach – that is what I strive for each day. Kona will be no different – I will race knowing that the day and the moments within it are something I am lucky to have.
I am a part of Vixxen racing. Very honored to be a part of the team in its inaugural year. My coach is Rachel Joyce. She is the absolute BEST 🙂
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