Last weekend my little sister, Hannah Kait, graduated from Hogwarts:

My sister and her friend (Harry?) with their new wands!

Or maybe it was Rice University. Either way, I’m sure Hedwig would have approved.

But one weekend of Chura family excitement in Houston just wasn’t enough. This weekend Hannah gets to put those post-grad skills to work as my official Ironman Texas sherpa!

When the gun goes off Saturday morning I’ll be swimming 2.4 miles in Lake Woodlands, biking 112 miles through the Texas countryside, and finishing it all off with a 26.2 mile run around one of the nation’s premier planned communities.

You can follow the action at IronmanLive.com, or likely through my sister’s always entertaining tweets!

My teammates’ amazing performaces these past couple weeks have given me a ridiculous amount of confidence. A weekend with my sister AND a race? How could I not have fun? Ironman Texas, here I come!

As Ironman Texas creeps closer and closer I’ve started building up my arsesnal of happy thoughts. This is the mental catalogue I keep just in case I slip into one of the inevitable “valleys” of endurance racing.

Here are a few of my latest additions:

1. My friend Mary (the one who lives in Japan) just did her first triathlon – three months after giving birth! Her goregous little girl, Maggie Joy, got to watch mom crush everyone on the swim and place first overall in her division! I can’t wait until Mary comes to race stateside!

Mar leading the swim!!

2. Speaking of babies, Coach Diablo and his awesome wife, Elizabeth, just had their third child. Little Cal Rose probably thought being born was pretty cool, but he has no idea that sitting on my kitchen table right now is the second or third best baby gift I’ve ever given. I’ve spent the past couple weeks admiring my wrapping job, but I think I might be about ready to part with it. Cal, you’re one lucky kid.

3. This weekend two of my all-time favorite people are tying the knot. I’m so excited for Michael Kidd and Andrea Smith! What do you think’s harder – planning a wedding or racing an Ironman? My guess is wedding!

4. And it must officially be wedding season because last weekend my friend Julia was in town for her brother’s wedding. Julia lives in San Francisco and her triathlon coach is actually my grand-coach (coach’s coach), Chris Hauth. Since we’re part of the same triathlon family, I made sure to invite Julia along to the pool for a swim. Hopefully she’ll go back to Cali and tell everyone how awesome ATL is!

5. This month is my five year anniversary at work. That means I’ve lived in Atlanta longer than I’ve lived in any one place my entire life – talk about commitment! To celebrate, I got this fancy-schmancy pen. Perfect timing too because my old autograph pen is almost out of ink.

6. Finally, the greatest happy thought this week is all of my teammates and friends racing this weekend. From Knoxville to Mountain Madness to St. George – I feel like I’m the only one NOT racing. But my time will come, and that makes me happy too. Good luck everyone!

Good luck at Ironman St. George, Drew! And thanks for leaving this self-portrait on my phone!

ME! That’s who! I LOVE swimming! I live for diving into the crisp cool water, I find joy in following the black line, and if it were socially acceptable, I’d probably use chlorine as perfume.

I love swimming so much that when I found out high winds had caused the race director at the New Orleans 70.3 to replace the traditional 1.2 mile swim with a 2 mile run, I reacted like this:

Ok, maybe it wasn’t quite that bad. But I wasn’t happy!

Luckily, my coach is a bit more even tempered than I am, and he convinced me to stop screaming obscenties and contemplating retirement from the sport and instead focus on how best to race my first ever duathlon.

The new race format was 2 mile run, 52 mile bike, and 13.1 mile run. I decided to run those first two miles like I would normally do the swim – HARD. My sister had traveled all the way from Houston to cheer me on. She’s a swimmer too, and I’d hoped seeing some fast swimming might inspire her to start doing tris. With the swim cancelled, I had to do a quick switch. Plan B: Show her some run speed!

Before I knew it, I was through the first run and out on the bike course. Yes, it was windy. Yes, it was crowded. But neither of those were much of a surprise. My start wave was at the very back of the pack, which just meant I always had someone to chase. And my friend Betty always says wind is your friends back home cheering you on, so I appreciated the breeze!

Plus, since Brent and Kyle were racing too, I enjoyed some on-course cheers and camera snaps from their official photog John David!

Once back in transition, I slipped on my trusty Mizunos and headed out on the 13.1 mile, two-loop run course. Between my sister and other ATL friends cheering me on, and glimpses of my teammates Gerry, Ryan, Kidd, Brent and Kyle looking good in their green and yellow Dynamo kits, my head was flooded with happy thoughts. I couldn’t help but run fast.

I enjoyed every mile. I think I even liked the .1. 

I finished the race with a 1:28 half marathon – my best off the bike effort to date. My performance was good enough for first in my age group,  second overall amateur female, and a qualifying spot at the Half Ironman World Championships. Now I’m looking forward to fast racing – including the SWIM - in Vegas in September!

Last weekend was the first Dynamo Open Water Swim of 2012! It was also the official debut of my TYR FREAK OF NATURE WETSUIT!

The wesuit was awesome. Just as fast and flexible as advertised. It fit like a glove and slipped off like butter! I see even faster swim and transition times in my future!

But it wasn’t just the wesuit that made the swim a ridiculous amount of fun. Even with water temps hoovering around a chilly 70 degrees a ton of people showed up. Coach Maria set up a 500 meter loop complete with buoys and jet ski support. It almost felt like a real race!

I got a special treat when I got to pull K-Peasey for a loop in his kayak. I’ve always wondered how Brent manages to run faster when he’s racing with his brother, but my fastest swim loop was defintely the one when I was pulling Kyle. It’s pretty cool how having my workout affect someone else made me want to go harder. Or maybe I just really wanted to show Kyle I’m a faster swimmer than his brother!

If the swim wasn’t enough, Maria set up a post-swim ride from the lake – complete with her parents as SAG support! Seriously, when is the Thrash family being canonized? Because those people are definitely saints!

Sunday I joined my buddy Ryan for a tour of the new Mountain Madness race course. I’m not doing the half Ironman distance race next month, but I’d heard good things, so I decided to tag along for the course recon.

I’m happy to report, the rumors are true! The Mountain Madness bike course is both beautiful and brutal! The six mile climb to the course turn-around on the top of Fort Mountain has just the right amount of kick and the views from the top are gorgeous!

The six mile descent was pretty fun too!

After seeing how cool the course is, I’m a little sad I can’t race Mountain Madness this year. But the good news is I’m headed to New Orleans for my own Half Ironman race this weekend! And if a trip to the Big Easy wasn’t special enough, my little sister Hannah is coming to cheer me on! It’s going to be a great weekend and I’m so excited to kick off my 2012 season!! I’m predicting Limits Will Fall!

The first race I ever did with Drew Marlar was a 40 mile trail run. The race course was about 80 miles south of Atlanta and Drew rode his bike to the start. And that was just two weeks after he’d posted a crazy fast 9:40 at Ironman Arizona.

Fast forward two years and Drew’s jumping off a ferry boat into a Norwegian fjord to start his day at Norseman – the toughest Ironman course on the planet. His race report was so incredible it was published in Lava Magazine (read it here, it starts on page 3).

Yes, my friend Drew’s a little crazy, and that’s why I try to spend as much time as possible with him.

Right now, Drew’s training for encore performances at both Ironman St. George and Norseman. Last weekend he was planning a big ride. I begged him to let me tag along and luckily he agreed. 

Drew mapped out a 100+ mile ride that landed us in Athens, Georgia – at the University of Georgia track, no less! Drew’s hubby Bryan, aka the nicest guy in the world, was running a race in Athens later that day and agreed to leave our running shoes and cooler at the track. All we had to do was ride.

Even though Athens is only a 60 mile drive from Atlanta, I don’t get to visit the Classic City nearly enough. It’s always nice to return to the delicious restaurants, cute shops, and small town charm of my college days.

The day was perfect, the ride was gorgeous, I kept Drew in sight for a surprisingly long time, and we ended at one of my favorite places in the world. AMAZING!

The University of Georgia Track - How could you not run fast here?!

After a couple miles on the track (Drew literally ran circles around me!), we packed up our gear and headed to Terrapin Brewery to cheer for Bryan.

The 4-miler was Bryan’s 17th race of 2012 and he KILLED it!

Bryan SPRINTING to the finish!!!

And I really appreciated watching a race at a brewery!

The aero bottle - not just for water!

All-in-all, it was a pretty awesome weekend full of training, friends, and a nice reminder to appreciate all the amazing places sports have taken me!

BONUS!

My friend Katy, a Stanford swim alum turned outstanding Ironman athlete, sent me a link the most amazing Saturday Night Live skit ever. It combines two of my favorite things – the Hunger Games and my favorite race day treat! Thanks Katy! Check it out everyone!

When I did my first half Ironman in 2008 I made a couple rookie mistakes: Forgot my socks, forgot my sunscreen, forgot to train for the bike and run. But amidst all that, my biggest faux pas was definitely my wardrobe.

Between my American flag swimsuit, baggy shorts, and shoes that actually came untied, I’m surprised I didn’t show up in Fashion Police pages of US Weekly!

Thankfully, after some friendly ribbing, my friend Betty came to the rescue. She convinced me to join the new Dynamo Multisport triathlon team and so began my triathlon fashion evolution.

2009 saw me in a real tri kit. The first year Dynamo Multisports kits were surprisingly tasteful – black shorts, white tops, some green accents – a big step up from my baggy shorts days!

But Coach decided we needed to be bolder. Much bolder. And in 2010 the GREEN Dynamo shorts were born:

Not only were those shorts bright green, they also came down to my knees. After watching me race, my friend Beth said I looked like I was wearing “really tight basketball shorts.” A fashion regression to say the least, but I did get a lot of cheers!

Things got a little better in 2011. Diablo decided to offer a mongoose-friendly option with shorter shorts and a slightly longer top. My lower back rejoiced!

And now, for 2012, I believe I’ve made a real triathlon fashion breakthrough. Check it out:

This year my Dynamo teammates and I will be sporting the super comfy, super flattering, and super fast TYR Carbon race kits – in the always bold GREEN and YELLOW! How sweet is that!

I’ll be accessorizing with my Mizuno race flats, super cool TYR visor, and shades that look like they came off the race track. It seems I’ve found the perfect combo of flash and fashion and I couldn’t be more excited. See you on the race course – you definitely won’t miss me!!

Yep, I beat Coach Diablo yet again.

Every year Coach and I bet on the Women’s NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships. I take Georgia, my beloved alma mater and perennial national championship contender. Diablo gets Stanford, a solid program who won their last swimming national championship when he was coaching there, and I was in middle school.

Loser wears the winner’s team’s apparel, and this morning Diablo sported Georgia Bulldog Red & Black at the Dynamo indoor cycling class. And secretly, he loved it.

Better mascot? Better colors? Better alumni with blogs of the triathlon variety? The list goes on and on.

And while the Dawgs fell just short of their fifth national title (they were second to Cal Berkely), I know they fought hard and I am very proud to call myself an alum! And to the Cardinal: No, you cannot have your old coach back!

This weekend I also returned to the starting line at the Publix Georgia Half Marathon. This is always one of my favorite races because the course winds through some of the coolest parts of Atlanta. For months afterwards I’ll drive through parts of the city and memories of the race will pop into my head. It’s definitely a must-do for anyone living in the Southeast.

Unfortunately, this year I found out what it’s like to hit the wall. In a half marathon. At mile 1.5. Endurance athlete? HAH! My legs had other plans.

But I struggled on, my legs came around a bit, and I finished in a respectable 1:27. Not my best, but better than hitching a ride home on the Civic Center Marta train (I seriously considered it).

One thing that kept me going was the Pease brothers. Kyle and Brent are one of my favorite blog topics because they seriously inspire me. Together they ran a personal record 1:40 half marathon last weekend - on a tough course in 80 degree weather! And just the day before they crushed the 5k race along with two children they sponsored through the Kyle Pease Foundation. Their story just keeps getting better.

And I quickly figured out that if I hung out around them post-race I could get in some famous John David Johnson paparazzi shots! Check it out – I look so candid!

There’s nothing I love more than being famous by association. But why was I wearing a sweatshirt when it was 85 degrees out? Maybe it was my brain that hit the wall! Congrats to the Pease brothers and everyone else who ran!

Warning: The following blog post may contain spoilers. It may also contain extreme creative liberties. I apologize for nothing. But if you haven’t read the Hunger Games trilogy, I highly recommend checking it out!

Last weekend I traveled to the North Georgia mountains for some bike riding with friends. It wasn’t my best showing, exercise-wise, so I had to make up for it with some good old fashioned imagination.

I decided to become Katniss Everdeen - heroine of the Hunger Games. If I wasn’t going to be fast, at least I could entertain myself by shooting things with my bow and arrow.

My teammates (at least the ones who sometimes admit to loving the Hunger Games) also took on new identities:

Just like the books, Finnick, complete with his trident and good looks, kept things classy:

And it was Haymitch to the rescue when things got really bad:

President Snow was the oppressive dictator of my triathlon life. And I blamed him for everything, even though my struggles weren’t really his fault.

But  in the end, just like Katniss, I survived. It wasn’t pretty, but miles are miles. And fingers crossed the odds will be more in my favor on race day!

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IMPORTANT AND VERY SERIOUS SIDE NOTE:

The Women’s NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships start tomorrow!!! The meet is in Auburn, Alabama, and my alma mater, the University of Georgia Lady Bulldogs, are set to have a great meet! I’m predicting National Championship #5. GO DAWGS!!!!

If you like to follow really fast swimming check out the meet results here.

This past weekend I took a break from racing and spent some quality time watching other people race! My friends Bryan and Ernie were racing in a local 10k so I rode my bike down to the finish line to cheer them on.

Drew, Ernie, and I at the finish line

Bryan is running 40 races this year to celebrate turning 40 years old! How cool is that?!

Race day also happened to be Ernie’s Birthday!  Being another year older meant Ernie was racing in a new age group for the first time, and he killed it! Ernie won not only his  age group, but also the overall masters crown as well! What great way to start a new year!

While I didn’t actually get to see my friend Kelly race the Double Top 100k, I was definitely rooting her on in spirit! Kelly swam for the University of Georgia a couple years before me. We both swam the 400IM and our coach actually used to tell me stories about the badass workouts she did while she was on the team! I was inspired then and I still am today!

It turns out Kelly’s rockstar endurance antics didn’t stop when she got out of the pool. She kicked butt and WON the 62 mile trail run! And I’m thinking Kelly’s well on her way to becoming the first former UGA swimmer to run a 100 miler! Coach Jack will be bragging about her for years to come!

And speaking of trail ultra running, I highly recommend the movie “Unbreakable” about the 2010 Western States 100 Mile Endurance Run. I stumbled across the video while looking for something to watch while I was riding the trainer (I like to watch other people working out while I work out, hah) and now I’m obsessed! I have no idea how those people run so fast for so long! The race is exciting, the scenery is breathtaking, and if you look close you’ll see my friend Alyssa on the sideline about 2 minutes in! Definitely worth checking out!

Have a great weekend folks! I’m headed to the Gaps! Woo hoo!

I’d signed up to race the Charles Harris 10k, but every fiber in my being was screaming at me to just stay in bed.

But since I’d spent the past week listening to Kelly Clarkson’s “Stronger” on repeat, it did not seem like an appropriate time to become a quitter. Plus, everyone is always talking about how flat and fast the course is, so I figured worst case I could just cartwheel my way to the finish line.

Once I got to the start at Tucker High School I immediately felt better. At least a dozen of my Dynamo Multisport teammates were racing too! I’d been working out of town for the past few weeks so it was really great to catch up with everyone.

I went hard from the gun – I knew there was no such thing as “easing into” a 6.2 mile race. I needed to get MOVING!

I got a little extra boost when I passed Kyle “K-Peasey” Pease cruising along with the help of his big brother Brent. Kyle has cerebal palsy, but with his brothers, Brent and Evan, pushing him in his racing chair, he’s tackled 10ks, triathlons, and even an ultramarathon. And K-Peasey doesn’t mess around – he and Brent hit the first mile marker in 6:30. Smokin’ fast!

This was my first time running Charles Harris, and even though I’d heard the course was mostly flat, I still secretly believed the road would make a right turn and I’d be face-to-face with a Hogpen-esq hill.

Thankfully, that did not happen. The course was as flat as a gluten-free pancake. But that doesn’t mean it was easy. It just meant I had to run faster!

Aided by my super sweet Mizuno racing flats, some friendly cheers on the course, and a good push from my triathlon buddy Tim on the final downhill, I managed to finish in a personal best 37:43. Good enough for second place female.

Ten kilometers may be a lot shorter than my typical races, but I learned a lot out on the Charles Harris race course. For years, I’ve heard coaches say it doesn’t matter how you feel on race day – if you’ve done the work you can still pull off a good race. This race was a nice reminder of that. It was also a good reminder of what it feels like to go fast. But one reminder I did not need was how delicious post-race coffee tastes! That’s a joy I could never forget!

Shanks, Me, Spk - Well deserved Starbucks!