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Oh goodness.

It seems I've worried the general public with my last post. I woke up to an e-mail from my mother telling me I'm probably just PMS'ing and not to panic, and my best friend Kristy said I seem sad and she's worried. My blog post was even depressing enough for Australian pro-triathlete Sam Betten to send me a little "wishing you the best" twitter post. Oy (that is only to be said in an Australian accent - btw. Do your best.)
Lighten up people! I know that 99% of the time I'm showering the world with unnecessary amounts of smiles and have a tendency to annoy people with my unending amounts of positive energy and enthusiasm for the genuinely mundane aspects of life - but I'm allowed to be pensive and sad too, you know!
I had no idea that people took my blog posts to heart - I'm going to have to filter a bit more so no one scoops me up and throws me into rehab.

So, onto more positive things! Because it seems that my followers depend on it. Hey, we all need our little daily pick-me-ups. Mine is a ever-increasing-in-size cup of coffee in the morning. I don't even know why I bother with a cup anymore, I should really just save the dish and drink straight from the pot with a straw. Yes indeed it has become that desperate - I am my mother's daughter.

Anyway positive things. Nothing gets me more excited than planning my races. SO. Yesterday I started planning next year's race schedule. I'm aware it's a year away but if I want to do my first half ironman I have to start thinking of races now because they fill up faster than Walmart on Black Friday. The truth is I could probably wake up tomorrow and do a half ironman no problem, but I want to do it right  - for once. I always slide by long races with slim-to-none training. For my first marathon I ran maybe 4 times a week and only got up to 18 miles. For all of my olympic races I'd place top 3 in my age group without getting on a bike for weeks. I randomly signed up for my half marathon, and I decided to hop into my first ultra-marathon the night of when I took over someone's race number who dropped out. Sure, I only made it a few hours and was found curled up in a tent by 3 in the morning, but it was the ambition that counts.
But for my half-ironman I want to do it right. So I am officially taking suggestions for which one to do. There's one in St. George, Utah that looks pretty - I'm really rooting for Hawaii but I have sneaking suspicion that if I go there I'll never come back. And the people of Utah need a carefree girl like me to stick around for a while.

So here's some races I'm particularly into - I can't do all of them (obviously) because an offroad triathlon in Montana will not be done the day after a 50 mile race in Oregon. And I refuse to do a marathon a month for 3 months. Or do this many races in a summer. But I want a place to list them out for later. And what better place than my trusty blog? I'm thinking I'm going to go for a race in every state in the west over the next few years. Except maybe New Mexico. For some reason I have no desire to go to New Mexico.


June
Moab triathlon festival – off road and road

July
Schweitzer Mountain Trail Run (Idaho)
Wild Horse Creek Off road Tri (Montana)

Mt Hood 50 miler (Oregon)
Big Sky Tri – offroad triathlon (Montana)


August 
Skyline mountain trail marathon (Utah)
Triathlon Eugene (Oregon)
Bear Lake Brawl Triathlon (Utah)
Flume Trail Offroad Triathlon (Nevada)

September
Best in the West Triathlon series (Oregon)
San Diego Triathlon Classic (California)

I'd also like to dabble in winter triathlon a bit now that I have a mountain bike. The only thing I need are cross country skis...and to learn how to cross country ski fast, not just plow my way through the snow on a laugh and a prayer looking like an hour old baby giraffe with a cussing problem. Small, minor details. Nothing that can't be picked up on the trails the day before the race. A bit cocky, you say? Nah, just confident.

January
Powerhound Winter Triathlon (Montana)


My winter triathlon list is a bit bleak, I know. I'm working on it.



Thoughts? Comments? Points of concern? Look at me getting all giddy over races! I feel young again.


-Katie








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