Finding Aloha in Off Season!

Ironman Arizona was last weekend and wrapped up the 2016 racing season in my household!  I love racing locally because there are so. many. people on course screaming for me all day long.  This year seemed even more amped than usual!

I got to hang out during the weekend with some of my teammates.  We see each other only a couple times a year if we are lucky so it is so nice to catch up!

TEAM HPB!!!

I also had several friends racing Ironman for the very first time.  I was fortunate to run into each of them prior to the start of the race.  And I saw most of them out on the run course- smiling and having fun!  I love seeing people step outside their comfort zone and achieve something that at one time seemed impossible.  This is what keeps me in the sport!

Heather getting ready to smash her first IM!

And probably the best part of the weekend was seeing 2 of my girlfriends who flew in unannounced and showed up to cheer on course.  I saw Dawn just as I was heading out for the final loop of the bike course.  I could hear my name where my peeps were cheering on the sidelines, and then suddenly there she was!  I made eye contact and screamed as I went by.  Here's the photo of me when I saw her:

OMG!  DAWN!!! All the way from TX!

And then on the run course, around mile 19 I am running past the base salt tent so there's a lot of people and activity.  I see a blur of pink tutu out of the corner of my eye, and then I see this sign on staked into the ground:

KJ with the #bff!  LOVE these two!!

And then in a whirl, she turns around and locks eyes with me and we both start screaming.  We screamed for like a full 30 seconds and hugged while running.  It was literally the best surprise ever.  At awards on Monday I hugged her for like 3 minutes and didn't want to let her go.  One of those friends you just never see often enough.

My girl.  We met at my 3rd Ironman.

So the race was.... fine.  (To borrow a phrase from my teammate, KO).  I felt fine on the swim.  I felt really good on the bike.  But my run was a little lackluster.  I kept running.  Just not as fast as I would have liked.  BUT, if I can have a bad day and finish in 10:29... well, there's just not a lot of room for complaint there!

And I did come away with the ROKA First out of the Water award for my age group.

ROKA FOTW.  *boom*

And just like that, Ironman #22 is finished.  2016 is in the books.  Part of me is sad that it's over.  A majority of me is so excited to start working on the big goal for 2017:  Ultraman!  The thought of taking on a new challenge, something outside of my comfort zone is very exciting.  For now I'm trying to get rested and recovered mentally and physically.  We have a bunch of holiday parties coming up and I'm looking forward to drinking some margaritas and staying out late with zero guilt.

Ironman #22.