The 2012 season was full of 1st’s and I grew as a triathlete in so many ways. Lets be brief and go like this:
1. I bought my 1st triathlon bike 🙂 a Trek Speed Concept 2.5…. she’s pretty and I love her
2. 1st race on my new bike was the early season Duck Bill Thrill Olympic Tri near Eugene. This day marked another first too, my 1st race as a Stevens 🙂
3. 1st 70.3 – Ironman 70.3 Lake Stevens. This was an all around awesome and challenging race. I will forever remember every bit of the long swim, cold/rainy/hilly gorgeous bike, and the up and down/sunny run. I finished 14/41 in my age group and snagged a qualifying spot with the roll down for the coveted Ironman 70.3 World Championship in Vegas, which was just 8 weeks away!
4. 1 year anniversary = race day, Folsom Olympic Tri – California trip 🙂 Danny rocked his first 70.3 the day before, this was a very special weekend, hopefully it’ll become an annual tradition!
5. 1st World Championship – Ironman 70.3 Worlds in Viva Las Vegas 🙂 This was the hardest thing I’ve ever done. I got crushed mentally and physically. As many said, the course will keep you honest and it was a true World Championship race. Although I wasn’t pleased with my performance, I learned a lot and will continue to use this race as fuel for my challenges ahead.
6. 1st marathon with my husband (and his first ever) – Portland Marathon. I easily met my goal and PR’ed by 38minutes with a 3:50. This race was 4 weeks after 70.3 Worlds, and with that time, I know I will some day qualify for Boston (yes that’s another goal :))
7. 1st triathlon team – Endurance Nation. I joined at the end of October to follow their off season training plan. In the last 5 weeks, I feel that the quality of my training has been significantly higher than all of training I did last season. I can’t wait to see where EN will take me next season!!
So many wonderful experiences. I know 2013 will be even more eventful!!
The joy of sport for sport's sake 