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- AK-no words–all my love!
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- 4th of July in SF required DOWN jackets! With sweet JT!
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- Bocce time!
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- Sweet Bauer’s precious naps.
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- Chillaxing w Kels+Davo on the balcony before the 4th of July BBQ!
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- Htowns w/ JK and KL…perfect evening.
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- LOOK how excited they are about getting involved in this cake! LOVE IT.
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- Auntie Mer in heaven w/ Taylor and Ryan!
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- Charlotte and Sotes..so happy!
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- And at the Duffell’s for a fab dinner party with the kids in tow…sweet sweet Charlie!
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- Back home in SF at a fancy dinner with the Sterlings!
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- Congrats to all the ladies on the podium!
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- Family Shot!
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- Jazzy Jess too…so cool to have such awesome Sponsor support…Saucony!
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- Best in-laws around…Claire and Wendell are my lucky charms!
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- Loved having Kels and Davo there…
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- Sisterly Love.
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- Thank you so much for all the cheers and support CDA!
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- Kels and Davo…chilly but peppy!
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- Support crew fueling during the race..
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- The finish line is near!
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- Let’s start this thing!
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- Pre-swim chat time with Beth Schutt–congrats Beth on your top 5 performance!
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- LOVING you Adamo…
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- Ample thanks to the TriBike Transport Crew for getting my bike from Eagleman 70.3 in Maryland to Coeur D’Alene–it’s like magic.
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- Jeffy! Thank you for making sure the bike was T’d up and race ready–always appreciate this so so much.
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- Always great to meet HPB’s athlete’s..great race for Alyssa…who Q’d for Kona..again! Congrats AG!
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- Kels also loving the Ordu set up!
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- Thank you to my fantastic sponsors: Orbea, Reynolds Cycling, ISM saddle, CycleOps Power, Shimano, Challenge Tires!
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- Kels can bat….Davo can pitch…fun times at the house.
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- Sue-Amanda–Steph…great first dinner to start the trip.
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- Petey…another Hutter favorite!
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- Stopping in to see Chloe working away at Jimmy John’s..tasty!
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- Sue even comes at the crack to take fishing photos! Hard to snag a photo of her..good job Claire!
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- There he is…Mikey Hutter..THANK YOU for treating my family to such a fun morning on the water!
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- Fishing on CDA lake with Mikey!
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- Boating…
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- We loved our rental house in CDA! Thx Karen (Palace Property Management) for this great place in Mill River–worth every penny.
Our trip to Coeur D’Alene was dreamy. To have my sister and Dave there as well as Claire, Wendell, the Hutter Family, Jazzy Jess + AK meant so so much and I continue to think of more ways to say THANK YOU to everyone for all their love and support…as it really was such a great time that will be remembered forever.
I enjoyed starting Ironman CDA for the 6th time and was looking forward to a little personal redemption (as in St. George) from last year’s race since it ended up being my 2nd DNF in a row which was unfortunate—BUT—OF COURSE–many valuable things learned from both which has parlayed into my 2012 season thus far.
Matt and I had a very clear cut, but simple plan for this race, following a busy race schedule so far in 2012 and two weeks post Eagleman 70.3 . We also knew that the very consistent and always strong– Heather Wurtele– who has always impressed over the years… would be leading the charge. We decided to employ a rather defensive approach to the early parts of the race, banking on a battle on the run.
It was certainly a strong effort to maintain pace with Heather once she closed the gap from the swim but I was lucky enough to settle in a rhythm with her and was extra careful to stay legal and kosher with the rules and not over-lurk which I know can be annoying to some—but over time–I have come to realize that this is how racing goes after all–we’re in a race and all trying to keep up! I was really excited for a close race with Heather (amongst many other fantastic ladies in the field) and knew I would be pushed all the way to the finish by them all.
As mentioned many times, I always enjoy racing with Heather—she is such a quality competitor and especially strong on the bike—and at mile 40 when she caught me–I kept to my plan to take a controlled risk on the bike to keep her in sight as long as I could. We ended up riding about 60 miles together—and I was taking a huge risk for me to maintain pace with her incredible riding. Heather achieved a small gap, but almost as soon as she achieved a bit of breathing room, she was struck with a very unfortunate mechanical and I could see her pull off the road thinking/hoping it was just a quick delay for her. Truthfully, you never wish mechanicals (or anything negative to happen) on anyone during a race—we all know how much time and hard work goes into this business so to be sidelined for things out of your control is never easy.
I was oblivious to what was happening behind me until well after the race finish but I can imagine that it was not very fun for Heather and her family. We all just want to race our best race with no drama or misfortune so it was terrible to hear of Heather’s DQ and experience out there on the course. We wish Heather all the best in Frankfurt this weekend!
The run continued on as planned and I was glad to be able to maintain a really controlled and even effort on the marathon. As with every race, ample lessons learned and it is always helpful for future races to see where risks taken may be worth it in the end.
Massive congratulations to all of the lovely ladies on the podium: Haley, Whitney, Rachel, Beth, Stephanie, Trish and Amanda!
I’ll let the pictures paint the rest of the CDA journey and my gratitude….all experience and memories that will last a lifetime.
We’re off to Portland this weekend to catch up with some close friends there and to race Rev 3 Portland which is a fantastic race and venue with wonderful people!
Wishing everyone all the best and thank you so much for the support!
Love,
MBK