No matter how self confident you may be, how much you think your products rock the socks off everyone else, you always need reassurance from the outside world to let you know you aren’t crazy. Reassurance from someone who has seen many up and comers, been around the block a few times and can really spot success when they see it. I have had a few people reassure me all my hard work, tears, long hours and whopping $0 paychecks could potentially in the future bring the success I intend to achieve. It is that mere glimpse of hope that keeps me on track, pushing forward and working harder.
Thank you!

I competed in the 2009 USAT Age Group Nationals on Saturday, August 22nd in Tuscaloosa, AL. With my coach Ray by my side, we made the epic journey from PA to Tuscaloosa via my mom’s tiny commuter. The drive there and back was long, very, very long. Ray captained the voyage and I navigated… and slept and ate while he drove for a total of 35 hours round trip!!!
Now for the race… we previewed the course on Friday and me being my clumsy self tried to hop over a garden hose on my bike and ended up wiping out. My leg got stuck in my aero bars creating a nasty, painful bruise. Luckily the golf cart EMT came to my rescue, patched me up, and sent me on my merry way. I was not affected at all come race morning.
The swim in a nutshell was “ridiculous”. The water temp was 85 degrees. That is warmer than my shower! A tropical storm came through Wednesday through Friday causing massive flooding. There is a dam up river that the city promised to keep closed until after the race but had no choice with all the rain… they had to open it up… right before the race. Needless to say there was a strong current in which we had to swim AGAINST. I consider myself a good swimmer but this swim took me out of the race. Lots of work to do for next season!
The bike= super fast course. An advantage to myself since it is by far my weakest leg. It is a two loop, rolling course with some seriously fast down hills and not so hard up hills. It was over in a blink of an eye!
Off to the run… this is a strange course. It is pretty much dead flat with the exception of three really steep hills they make you run up and turn around as soon as you get to the top. They are real leg burners and shake up the field a bit. It was also hot, really hot with no shade and heat reflecting blacktop. I knew I would have to keep a nice relaxed pace through the whole thing if I wanted to finish strong. My run has been going really well this season and this race was no exception. I was very happy with my run leg and look forward to my half marathon on September 20th.
All in all it was a good race. I placed 16th in my age group… wanted to crack the top 10 but need to do a little more work. I want to give a HUGE thank you to Ray, my coach for joining me on this little adventure I signed us up for. I would have never made it without him!
That’s all folks… anyone else reading do the race?

The saying: “You don’t know what you have until its gone” is so true. My parents went to the Outer Banks for the past 7 days and left me to tend to the house and all business matters. Of course we had flash flooding the first two days they were gone and our basement flooded leaving me with a real smelly mess on my hands. I also had the brilliant idea of beginning my new part-time job as a hostess at the White Rose Bar and Grill during their vacation. So I was pulling 13 hour days all week. Needless to say by Friday night I had reached my limits. I was extatic to see them walk into the door last night at 11:00.

My mom and I often butt heads but I truly appreciate all of the little things she does to make my world run smoothly. I am glad they are back!