Two for the price of one!

I absolute hate when I go "MIA". The last time I blogged was post Hyvee Championships and alot has happened since then! I really hate being quiet and when I am its usually because things just arent going "right". I suffered a crash in a race about 5 weeks ago, which was intended to just be a fun thing and then lead into a full on swim focus. The crash triggered some lingering back pain I had been nursing all year and left my hips in a little bit of a bum. In the mean time I was getting dental work on a broken tooth, which turned into a painful sensation of a temporary crown, root canal and then finally permanent crown. The swim focus didnt go as well due to trying to recover from the injury and then the tooth pain was stressing my body to the max. I guess the timing couldnt have been more correct to take an " off-season"?? I even gave a presentation on "What to do in your offseason", and was caught in the act of enjoying a week or three of mild temptations:

After three weeks I was back to some structure. A little bit of volume and some building with a purpose in sight. It felt great to be back to some normalcy. After the first week back to training I was absolutely pooped! The second week things began to click and I saw that it would come back quickly. So going against all rules of the offseason, I decided to jump into a race. *Note, offseason means you dont race anymore*. And of course I didnt just decide to race once, I raced twice in the same day! I might be a little crazy but Coach assured it would be ok and probably even good for me. Since I just got back to training two weeks ago, there was no taper involved and I was ok with that. I accepted the fact that it would hurt and that would be all! 

Sunday morning I drove down to Sugarland, TX for the Try Andys Tri. Andy Stewart is a local race coordinator and I have done his race multiple times. Its kind of a tradition. The race is a super duper sprint and always brings some fast elites. Today, Amy Marsh, Grace Benes and Myself bested our past times and cleared the course almost 2 minutes faster than we usually do. We all exited the water within 4 seconds of each other (can I say that there was only 2 of the 15 guys in the race with us too! GIRL POWER!), hammered it on the bike, and then ran ourselves into oblivion to the finish line. It was REALLY exciting. I love a little stiff competition and couldnt of been happier with my results. I bested my bike and run times on this course and even set a little personal bike PR on the power side of things. I rode the second fastest female bike split of the day thanks to my Cobb Cycling saddle and Aussie Cycle Works custom fitted titanium bike. Comfort = fast! Heres a few pics: 

Pre-Race, getting game face on.

Custom fitted ACW

Running home.

Myself and ORR teammate Grace. Overall females #2 and 3!

The female podium-
Myself, Amy Marsh and Grace Benes.

This year  I am also coaching the Aggie Tri Team, so it was fun to get to see them all competing.

As soon as awards finished, I was in the car and off to the Snapping Tortugua OWS race, which is a swim race put on my by my swim coach, Mr. Magnolia Masters himself, Tim Flyod. Its a great event with a 500, 2.5km and 5km option to swim. This years turnout was great and it was fun to see so many HAPPY swimmers. Yes, swimming CAN BE FUN! I decided to do the 2.5km and I ended up second overall. I felt really comfortable and smooth.  I swam about the same time I have in the past but in the past I have worn a wetsuit, and today being a non-wetsuit swim, I consider that a huge success. I attribute the ability to learn about swim turnover, power, and open water swim skills to my coach Tim! Thanks Tim! This year we have come a long way.

It was a great day doing what I love and being with the community who is so supportive of each other. Its days like these where I realize that through all the hard times, there are even better good times.

Thanks to all my sponsors,friends, and teammates this year for your support and guidance! OutRival Racing, Magnolia Masters, Cobb Cycling, Aussie Cycle Works, Boundless Nutrition, Third Coast Training, SBR Sports Inc, Powerbar, Rudy Project, Blueseventy Swim, SROSM, Bay Area Schwinn, Coach David, Tim and Michelle.