First Post!

My invitation to the big leagues came this week, after five years racing as an Age Group triathlete. I received email confirmation from the USAT yesterday stating that my application to race as a professional triathlete has been accepted. Eeeeeeeeeeeep! And so the adventure begins. I'm excited and nervous for the coming challenges this year, but I also know that I'm going to work my tail off in training to be ready for all my races.

I’m working with Coach Jorge Martinez from E3 Training Solutions once again this year because I know that his evidence based training strategies will have me mentally and physically ready to test myself against the best triathletes in the world. He's helped me get to 70.3 and Ironman World Championships, pushing me toward personal bests along the way. Now it's time to step that level of intensity up even more.

Another piece to this year's personal challenge is balancing my work on a PhD in Neuroscience at UM while training hard and racing around the country. I'm a 5th year student now, which is when people start asking me straight up that stomach knotting question, "soooooooo, what are you going to do next?" To which I quickly change the subject with an awkward non-sequitor about my fuzzy nubbins Australian Shepherd dog named Cody. Like the time she rolled onto her back and slid down a snow covered hill like a slick otter. So cute. See how I did that?

I'm looking forward to an exciting and adventurous year of training, racing, and playing in the water, on the bike, and on the run.