I'm Ready to RAGE!

Rage is a race near and dear to my heart.

It's a tough, local race.

It always sells out.

It's next Saturday, April 21.

Rain or shine (we had rain here yesterday).

Wind or no wind.

Cold water or . . . oh who the hell am I kidding the water will be cold.

I'm ready to RAGE!

I first did Rage in 2008. My very first Olympic distance (1500 meter swim, 24.9 mile bike, 6.2 mile run). Took me 4:45 and change. I was DFL and finished surrounded by athletes doing the half iron course.

2009 was a wee bit faster. I completed Rage in 4:00:03. My goal in 2009 was to break four hours.

I could say, for drama's sake, that those 3 seconds have haunted me for the past three years. 
If that were true it would be pretty dramatic.

But all I can do as I look at that time is laugh. A lot!  Not at the three seconds, but at how far I went in one year and how far I've come overall.

To say I'm gunning for a PR next Saturday is an understatement. Not because I'm ashamed of a four hour time. I'm not!

Not because I feel like I have anything to prove. I don't!

Because I'm just so damn grateful! For my health. For my husband. For my friends. For these beautiful training grounds I live in. For my support system. For the fact that I am getting stronger and faster every day.

Because every time I think about the fact that I won an Ironman 70.3 World Championship Lottery Slot I cry a little. It's a chance of a lifetime. It means so much. And it's mine.

Rage has played a huge part in my triathlon growth and evolution. I want to take what I accomplished at the Las Vegas Tri Club season opener and continue to run with that, take it further. A new PR on the Rage Olympic distance course will be tangible evidence of that.

I'm ready.