Cindy Present | Get Out Girl

Steve and I returned from 70.3 Worlds in Vegas on Setember 15. I jumped right back into coaching and teaching then long workouts two days later. Then four days later I offered to assist the kid's swim club by coaching 4-7pm Monday - Friday...starting that same day...Monday! Life was reeling by! Mid-week I received the 'offical' Athlete's Guide for Kona and when I opened up the link I saw the counter..."17 Days" (and blankety blank minutes and seconds) to race start in Kona. Now I was 'officially' nervous. Not about the event itself, per se, but the gazillion things I had to wrap up and put in place before even heading to the airport. I hadn't even made it to the grocery store since returning from Vegas! By fulfilling the coaching needs for youth swim I had now committed my coaching/teaching/client schedule to over 30 hours per week and that didn't include being a wife, mom, homeschool coach, OR getting my own training in! (Thank goodness that w...

It was 5:30 a.m. The fifth week out of six that I (well, "we", which includes my sherpa husband, by default) 'had to" get up on Saturday morning to ride our bikes for five hours or more. This was the ninth month that 'I had to' ride every Saturday and run every Sunday - in addition to the other five days that 'I had to' do a workout or two daily. It has always warmed my soul to wake up and walk in our living room and see the twinkling waters of Lake Austin dancing under the moon and lakeside lights. Just thinking about it I get that sensation in my bones of what it's like to be out on the water at this time, waiting for sunrise to get that first morning ski run or SUP ride in. The lake calls me this time of day. But on bike and run mornings like these have been, instead of turning right and heading to the dock, I'm turning left because 'I have to' go ride my bike, so i head down the hall, grab my gel flasks and water bottles and ventur...

As Steve and I were hustling and bustling while hauling three bags and a bike box through McCarran airport today I was was jolted to a slower pace when I realized that five days ago I was walking the opposite direction heading to one of the events that I thought was just a dream for me - one I had always aspired to do but I never thought I would be able to qualify for. Now, five days later it's over. I did it. I lived a dream. Walking through the airport following Steve as he zigged, sagged and jockeyed the rolling bike box around innocent toes, I remembered how excited I was the first time I got a spot to the 2010 70.3 World Championships. It was fall 2009 and Denise Ray and I sat in the bleachers at the Heritage Center HOURS after we had crossed the finish line and when my name was called out we whooped and hollered. I specifically remember Adam, who was announcing at that time, comment "Now that's the kind of excitement I'm looking for." I remember thinking it ...

The 70.3 World Championships brought the best of the best from around the world. There were some amazing pros, ex-pros and age grouper athletes. It was a beautiful day in Henderson, NV...if you had been training in 100 plus temperatures. It definitely wasn't as hot as we have been training in or as humid as The Woodlands IM so game on. The course had 5200 feet of climbing and was amazingly beautiful. Lake Mead was in the distance and we climbed into the mountains wrapping around it. The run was 3 loops basically 2.3 miles up and 2.3 miles down. Unfortunately the ups loaded up your legs so much that the downs took a long time to get rolling. Based on the course, terrain and the fact that I haven't been training for this distance, it was probably my best 70.3 to date...not based on time of completion but based on paces held in that terrain and rate of exertion to maintain them - not to mention I felt like I could keep going after with an adjustment to speed. Steve, Jami an...

A nice, sweet out and back.

Nope. Lake Mead National Park hosts 36 miles of the 70.3 World Championship bike course...and 5200 feet of climbing. Bring it!!!