We just returned from Kona late last night after a few days of rest with the kids.  I have so much I want to say I don’t even know where to start; so bare with me as I just free flow the thoughts I have been thinking about.

I specifically put in the title of my blog “raced” to let people know for the first time in my triathlon career I was in Kona to win.  Even though I did not get the place that I wanted, I raced that race all day long and had I not, I don’t know if I would have finished in the top 20!  I am proud of myself for doing so and what helped me stay in the game all day was the thought of my two kids.  I was looking forward all day to see my 3 year old because she was so excited to say “GO MOMMY!  I assumed my 8 month old would most likely be asleep when I would come by but it didn’t matter because all I could think about was that not more than 16 weeks earlier I was breastfeeding that little guy! I was loving just knowing he was on the island waiting for me to come home so he could give me a big smile!  My endorphins were up and down all day and on the bike to Hawi they were flying high at one point when a camera crew came up on me.  I held my fingers up and showed them the number 2 and told them the 2 was for 2 kids and that I was doing this for all the moms out there and for the women out there who think they can not stop being an athlete to have kids.  I was on a mission to show everyone you can come back better than before.  My mind was in a great place and I smiled all day long because of it. 

To give you a little history:

In 2006 I was 4th overall in this race after 2.5 years off due to injuries and having my first baby.  I was very fired up in 2007 to make the jump to first place and when I became pregnant in May of 07 I am not going to lie, I was bummed.  THAT WAS NOT IN MY PLAN.  But as I am continuing to learn, plans are meant to be changed and going with the flow (like water) is what is meant to happen.  I made my moto “let it go” after my 06 race because that is what I did a lot of that year and after I became pregnant I felt I was being given a test to see if I really believed it.  It took the entire 9 months to relearn my “let it go” philosophy and when mister Blaisen was born I was in full swing of letting go and not focusing on how I was going to get fit to race again or anything for that matter.  I took it day by day and by April first I still had not ridden my bike (the race was in 6 months and I had stopped riding since July 07).  I kept telling myself it will all come together when it needs to and I believed it; I mean, I really believed it, I felt it in my gut.  I balanced my training the best I could and when things got in the way I let it go.  Now, don’t get me wrong, I had many times where I thought I was crazy for doing what I was doing but I focused on getting those thoughts out of my head as fast as I could.  Each month I focused more and more on my thought process and as the race approached I honed in more and more on how I was thinking.  I knew I would be going into this race with less than optimal training but I knew my mind could take me where I wanted to go; so that is what I did, trained my mind.  My kids are a big part of keeping me in the moment and everytime I worked out I thought of them.  Ironman was just a big workout day with great aid and I did what I do in training.  I let my body do what it could and I stayed positive all day and I thought of being a mom and competing with the best in the world.   Again, 9th place is not where I wanted to be but in the end I was engaged all day, I felt I exceeded my fitness level and I have 2 great kids and an awesome husband to go home to; so in the end I would say I am a winner.

Let it go,

Gina

P.S. I will have a full race report in a few days