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As I was driving to Morgan Hill at 4:45 (yes 4:45am) I reminded myself that I wanted to try and go HARD…that this was going to be one of my hard workouts for the week. It was just that the workout was REALLY early in the morning!

The morning was great, weather was awesome, we had been having a heat wave so it was expected to be 90 degrees (I say bring it on…and give me more please!) so it was all good. I had 3 goals: 1.) Not go into oxygen debt on the swim as I have not been able to swim much, but I am confident that will come with more time, 2.)

Ride the GURU Crono not pregnant to get a feel for SPEED…(I had only raced on in it twice last year and both times I was pregnant (unknowingly), and 3.) Use the run as a way to get my body to try and go to anaerobic threshold.

The gun went off at 7:35 and I started the swim feeling as if I was swimming slow but as soon as we got out about 100 meters or so, I lost the feet in front of me and goal number one went out the window…I was in serious oxygen debt. Oh well, I worked through it and moved on..(loved my ZOOT wetsuit!!)

The bike was amazing. My transitions are a little rusty but it made mounting the bike fun (I actually laughed as I was dong it) but when I started rolling I knew it was going to be a great ride. I usually don’t feel strong in the beginning of a race- usually my legs are on fire I swear you should see smoke from my thighs, but this time it was just a nice burn that I could push through. And that I did. My bike split was a Personal Best by TWO minutes and I just felt so awesome on the bike the whole time.

My bike is awesome, I have to say it is the first time I have ever felt so powerful-thanks GURU. Goal number 2…accomplished! Starting the run was a bit like getting those cob webs out but I built into it and just ran as hard as the body would let me go.

It was sort of like starting an old car but once it finally catches, then it is business as usual. I worked on different aeas of the run and did what I could to make my body go hard.

Goal number 3….accomplished! (loved my ZOOT race suit, ZOOT racing shoes and my KAENON Kore glasses). As I was finishing the race there were a few things going through my mind. One was, one of the things that made me rock that day was thinking of my family, my husband, my crazy 2.5 year old and my new little baby boy (3.5 months now). They empower me.

Another was that I completed the goals I set out to do that day-I was proud. So, you can imagine how FIRED up I was to see my overall finishing time within a few minutes of my Personal Best! To top that off, I won OVERALL! Those were the bonuses to my already very successful day.

I have a BIG goal for myself October 11, 2008 and that is what I always have in my head as I hit each workout, as I do each race. This race was a great stepping stone and shows me that I am right on track for where I want to be. Thank you to the TEAM for helping me reach the dream! We are doing it, baby steps at a time. Can’t wait to see you all in Kona!

Let it go,
Gina