Love the Life you Live, Live the Life you Love

My first mountain bike was named Rex. It was a piece of shit. I bought him when I lived in Logan, Utah getting my master's degree and became suddenly inspired by the surrounding mountains and all the people shredding in the hills while I ran - lame. I too wanted to shred mountains. I found my Gary Fisher Trek 29er on Craiglist for $500 that appeared to be my size and at least semi-functional. With an income of about $400/month, I pestered the poor man relentlessly for two weeks until he agreed to sell the bike for a whopping $225 - pedals, bike cage and extra tires included. My first ride out my chain dropped down between by chainring and frame, locked up my pedals and I went head over feet into a gravel ditch in front of some guys fishing in a lake. I cried the whole way home. Not shown: road rash all over my arm and side A few months later I attempted again, this time bringing Chris along. I was riding along in front on an open, winding path and out of nowhere-  my br...

It's been over a month since racing Kona, and I'm starting to wonder if it'll ever sink in that I qualified for and finished the ultimate Ironman race. It's been almost 4 months since I qualified at Santa Rosa and my head continues to go to, "oh wow Kona" whenever I hear the word - it's almost like it never happened at all. I think the big issue I have is that over the years I built it up so much in my head and imagined what it would be like, that when I was actually there and racing the race, I just realized it's just another town. Just another Ironman race. Still hard, still amazing. I've compared it almost to a wedding. Girls dream about their wedding for years. We watch movies and plan it out in our heads on what every last detail is going to be like. I thought I would literally turn into a princess on my wedding day and be perfect in every way. But the day came and I realized that I had tan lines from my sports bra that showed up in every...

Co: Eagle Bicycles What's Your Type? : Eagle T3 The Good Stuff: Di2 shifting, Shimano Ultegra components, Shimano 105 brakes, Apollo crank, Adamo road seat You See me Rollin': Eagle 60/88 Wheels with DT Swiss hubs Nice Bum, Where You From? :  https://eaglebicycles.com/shop/eagle-t3/ Picture Prove It: I have to admit, I was both nervous and hesitant about this bike. You know what I like when I invest in a product? Buzz words such as: Widely known. Super popular. "Everyone has this". And Eagle is frankly, none of those. (Yet.) I already knew I LOVE my Eagle 60/88 wheelset they sent me back in June for Ironman Santa Rosa. These wheels feel so awesome and look badass on my tri bike - even my husband is jealous of my setup. I look so pro rolling up to a race with a 60/88 wheel set and I loved those DT Swiss Hubs. They roll over potholes, that bumpy pavement that is the stuff of cyclists' nightmares and pretty much anything I threw at them. They fly down ...

I really hate race reports. And yet here I am, writing my race report. Usually when I write a race report I find starts with useless information that only pertains to myself and finishes with a bunch of excuses on why the race didn't go as planned, why my training was sub-par, why I didn't go faster, etc etc etc. But I mean....if you don't write a race report....can you REALLY call yourself a triathlete? An Ironman? A human being? Unconfirmed, but probably not. The day started at 3:32 when Chris' alarm buzzed me out of my deep slumber... Just kidding. I'm not wasting your time with the arbitrary details of my relatively boring morning. Here's the short and dirty: I woke up tired, ate bland food that I gagged on, got on a school bus, slept on the way to the start while trying to block out everyone's small talk. Best part of the morning? I walked out of a portapotty and bumped into my very best most wonderful friend in the world Julie, who surpris...