So sorry it has been so long since my last post. I have been on vacation over the past couple of weeks and things have been crazy. My parents and sister were in town visiting the first week, we had a great time and I was sad to see them go. It is really tough being so far away from everyone but I do love it here. Then I was in New Hampshire with my girls last week, we had a blast!! I have really been blessed with an amazing group of friends. It was great to spend time with everyone! The highlight of the week was biking 67 miles around Lake Winnepasaukee with Nancy & Karen. It was such a beautiful ride, challenging at times but a lot of fun. What an accomplishment and we all did amazing.

In between all that I competed in the Cincinnati Triathlon. My first Olympic distance triathlon (1300 meter swim, 24 mile bike and 10K), it was great to put my training to the test and let me just say, I passed!! Wow, I couldn't believe how tough it was and there were a couple of times where I questioned my sanity for sure, especially jumping into the Ohio river to start the swim. I hope that gets easier over time, I really struggle with the mental part of swimming in open water. The course was beautiful and parts were super fast...The swim was down stream with the current, I loved the extra little push. The toughest part was the run, it was in the 90's, hot and humid. I took it slow, kept drinking water and gatorade at every water station and grabbed an extra cup of water to pour over my head. I finished the triathlon in 2 hours and 49 minutes, 3rd in my age group, 11th woman and 78th overall. I couldn't ask for much more from myself.

It was difficult to stay on track while travelling, but for the most part I got my workouts done, in between drinking and eating way too much. I should have taken advantage of being able to swim in the lake, but I really struggle with that. I got home on Wednesday and I'm still trying to straighten things out and get back into my routine. I have one last sprint triathlon this weekend and then the next event is the 1/2 Ironman...just 6 weeks to go!!

I promise to post more often, one good thing about endurance training is you have a lot of time to think while your out there biking & running, so I have a lot of great topics that I will writing about over the next few weeks. So Stay Tuned.....thanks for all your support, your encouragement really does make it easier to get out there and do this stuff.