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Ironman 70.3 Chattanooga Race Report May 21, 2017 Swim(1.2 miles shortened to .8 miles)- 17:14   Bike(56 miles)- 2:37:57   Run(13.1 miles)- 1:46:15 Total- 4:47:26     10th 25-29 Female

Chatty 70.3! My favorite Half Ironman! I love this course, I love this town, I love how close it is to Atlanta, and I especially love how so many Atlanta Tri Club peeps are there to race and cheer! Running through a tunnel of people wearing luau attire while cheering you on through the hardest part of the day is so rad! All the high fives and smiles for meeee! Alright, so let's get down to it:

Jason and I left for Chattanooga nice and early the morning before the race so we could meet up with my coach, Carrie, for the usual check in and pre race spin/run. So you guys may remember from my previous race reports that I've had some issues with my bike fit/ lower back problems. Well let me start by saying I'M A BIG DUMB DUMBASS…because I decided to try and wiggle my saddle down just a smidge, about a week before the race, in an attempt to ease some discomfort downstairs. Just a tiny bit! That's all! Well, naturally I ended up moving it way more than I intended. Then I couldn't tell if it was anywhere near where it had been before. Whoops! On our pre race spin I could tell things definitely weren't right, but at that point- the day before the race- I thought, f*ck it! Time to smile through it and just hope things don't fall apart!

That night we attended the annual ATC pre race dinner and had some pasta, laughs, and a beer just to calm the nerves. We headed back to the hotel (luckily coach hadn't cancelled her reservation when we offered for her to stay with us at our Air Bnb that ended up being a super weird situation that none of us wanted to stay in…) got all our things together and hit the hay just in time for the GNARLIEST storm to hit. I mean it was bananas out there. Raining like crazy, lightning, you name it. I suck at trying to sleep any earlier than midnight and I also hate storms sooooo let's just say I didn't get as much sleep as I had hoped. SMILE THROUGH IT! WOO!

One major difference between this race and Florida 70.3, which I blew up during in April, was that I was planning on giving it my all while smiling and having as much fun as I could. No pressure. No goals. Just fun. After weeks of post Florida bummed outness, I had a little "come to Jesus" with myself. I absolutely love triathlon. It's my happy place and I had totally lost sight of that. The pressure I put on myself had absolutely made me fall apart during Florida 70.3. Chattanooga was going to be my redemption. My return to racing for the love of it. Ok I had 1 goal: HAVE SOME DAMN FUN.

Shortly after Fla I decided to stop training with numbers and focus on feel. I still wore my Garmin and uploaded all the info for coach, but I didn't look at it while training. I would focus on how I felt and how happy I was while training…and my numbers IMPROVED. Since I had been training by feel, I was planning on racing by feel, but with little number checks here and there to make sure I wasn't over doing it. I was ready to race!

RACE DAY: Woke up earlier than any human should and choked down my peanut butter toast and crappy hotel coffee. Eating before race has gotten way easier for me. I used to only manage 1 or 2 bites, but now I can knock out 1 or 2 whole slices of pb toast with some Gatorade. Score! Finished breakfast, obsessively checked my gear about 600 times, paid the potty a visit (don't even play like pooping before a race isn't crucial..we're all humans here) and headed out!

Got to transition nice and early, set up our spots, and somehow managed to get our little crew together before hopping on the bus to the swim start. A few days before- myself, Coach, and a number of other wonderful gals all aiming for around 5 hours decided we would start together in the hopes we'd be able to cheer each other on out on the course. I LOVED THAT IDEA, of course. Racing with friends makes everything better! This was possible because Chatt 70.3 is a self seeded race with a point to point swim. This year they tried to divide the line into certain time estimates. We almost ended up in the 50 minute section before realizing we were waaaaaay further back than we wanted to be.We seeded ourselves kind of near the back of the "faster" section and got our wetsuits on.

Swim: The cannon went off as the male pro's started their day. We watched as they seemed to be taking their time getting to that first buoy upstream….uh oh…the storm the night before had made the current craaaazy strong. The lady pro's started next and it was the same situation where it seemed like it sure was taking them a long time to get to that first buoy…. The first age groupers are supposed to go in about 15 minutes after the male pro wave, but they hadn't started filing in. We were all anxiously waiting to see what the hold up was. After a bit more waiting, we heard the announcement that the upstream part of the swim had been cut. Instead of going up stream to turn right, go across stream for a bit, then make the right turn down stream- we would now hop in and make a diagonal dash across stream to the next closest buoy. We were told it was about .4 miles shorter than usual. I honestly wasn't even bummed. Even though the swim is my "strength", a shorter swim down a fast current sounded super fun! More energy for later!

I was walking down the dock with some of my best friends and favorite ladies around me, ecstatic to start my number 1 race. I turned and yelled "Love y'all! See ya at the end!" and hopped in the water! No time to mess around- shorter swim means harder pace so I got down to it. I love this swim because there are no waves and its cool swimming under the big bridges down stream. Nothing stands out about the swim this time. It wasn't crowded so I pretty much had open water the majority of the time and made my way down stream as fast as I could. I made it out of the water in 17:14 and sprinted towards the closest wetsuit stripper I could find. She yanked that bad boy right off. I ran up the ramp to see Jason cheering and taking photos and made my way past as many folks as I could while sprinting to my sweet lil Orbea- which thanks to the AWA section was in a way more convenient spot than last year!

Bike: So like I said…I'M A BIG DUMB DUMBASS…and hopping on the bike I could tell things weren't perfect, but I honestly didn't care! I was so happy to be at this race and to be racing with my heart.

Things were going as usual as I was taking in nutrition and hydrating on schedule for the first 25 miles or so. I was feeling pretty solid.  Then, like always…I started feeling my lower back getting angry. I was staying positive, though. I still felt good. Plus, it was overcast and not very hot! My back started getting angrier. STUPID BACK! I hit mile 30 and could tell I was losing power and had developed a pain shooting down my inner thigh into my knee. The pain wasn't as bad as it had been in the past, but I was also constantly having to shift my butt back on the saddle because of my genius adjustments. Things were uncomfortable, but I was still smiling. I was trucking along when some of my gals started speeding past! I don't mind if my friends pass me going at what seemed like the speed of light! Any and all smiles and cheers of encouragement help when the race pain starts setting in.

I settled in, put my head down, and just kept on going.  Despite my back pain, it was a crazy fast kind of day. I looked at my power average after the race and it was quite a bit lower than it should have been, but I ended up with an 8 minute PR! I mean I felt like I was trucking along like usual, but apparently I was zoomin' and so was everyone else! I'd heard the 2015 bike splits were way faster than 2016 for some reason. Well, apparently the stars had aligned, like in 2015, and it was a speedy day for all.

My run had improved a lot this season so I was looking forward to getting off that damn slip'n'slide of a saddle. I was ecstatic when I rolled into transition in the 2:30's! I had never even broken 2:45! I was chanting, "I'm getting off my bike! Yay! I'm getting of my bike! Yay!" in my head when I hopped off and sped through transition to snag my saucony's!!

Run: Yaaaay! Run time! I came off my bike ready to get my leggies movin'. Knocked out a speedy transition and was off! I've simplified my transition strategy this year so I was in and out. A number of ATC peeps were there to cheer us through transition and I just could not stop smiling. I made a point to try and actually smile as much as possible during the run. I had a guy come up to me after I finished and say, "did you know you smile while you run?" And I said, "I sure do! Gotta get through it somehow!"

I did a quick pace check within the first mile to make sure I wasn't hitting it too hard from the beginning and I was running a little hot. I decided to reel it in a bit, hoping I could hold a stronger steadier pace throughout instead of slowing down as the mileage increased. I got my tail up that big ass hill at about .8 miles and was welcomed by the ATC cheering crew and my amazing boyfriend. I LOVE THIS GROUP. I smiled even bigger and tried to high five as many people as I could without losing time. Things were good in my world and I was actually running some folks down. This is new to me, because my run had really kind of plateaued last season. So I was getting all kinds of pumped. I caught up to my lovely friend Deirdre and gave her a much expected smack on the tush before continuing on.

I came through the first aid station and got my usual swig of water, swig of gatorade, and some water over my head. It was still over cast-ish, but things were definitely heating up. Even though I wasn't feeling super hot, I wanted to avoid even coming close to overheating. I hit the next porta potty for my usual pee break and fell right back into stride. I mean, even though my back was a turd on the bike, this was pretty much my dream run. Oh, and I didn't forget my Base Salt in transition like I did last year…so that was a plus! No cramping for me!

So Chatt is a 2 loop course with a variety of surfaces and hill intensities. Mostly little rollers, but a couple of nasty climbs too. It's just challenging enough, I'm my opinion. I love the riverside wooden walkway. It's a nice change from pavement and it's just cool running by the river while totally shaded by big trees.

I was smiling, taking in nutrition and fluids right on schedule, so things were great! I caught my amazing friend, Meg, who literally destroys souls on the bike and she was looking strong as hell. We shared a quick little chit chat with lots of love. I love racing with my friends…have I said that enough times yet? Because it's dope.

I held my pace right around 8 minutes for both laps and came flying down that final hill to the finish with a BIG BIG grin. Crossing the finish like of a 70.3 feeling like I had conquered the world was such an awesome change from my last half. I was back. Honestly, I'm glad I raced Florida and had such a shitty day, because it was the wake up call I needed. I have raced so much harder and happier since then. When you have a crappy race-learn from it. Don't dwell on it and give up. Let it teach you something. It taught me that racing with your heart is so much more powerful than anything else in triathlon. Chattanooga 70.3 was my dream race and I have 0 complaints. I am beyond ecstatic with my time, my place in my age group, and my overall positive mentality throughout the race. SMILE Y'ALL! GET THROUGH THAT RACE BECAUSE YOU LOVE IT!

Cheers, friends! CJ

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Ironman 70.3 Florida Race Report April 9, 2017 Swim(1.2 miles)- 36:13   Bike(56 miles)- 2:45:48   Run(13.1 miles)- 1:48:38 Total- 5:15:44   11th 25-29 F

Oh boy. Not gonna enjoy writing this one. Hold on to your butts, because I'm about to get reeeaaalll whiney.

Alrighty! So this was my 2nd year participating in ol' Florida 70.3. Why did I decide to come back to this wretchedly hot and kind of annoying course (M shaped swim in small lake and massive hills on 3 loop run)? Shit, I don't know. I guess because it's at the very beginning of the season and I'm impatient/stupid! Plus, I actually did pretty well last year, so I had high hopes---which were crushed into smithereens around mile 25 of the bike... But let's start at the beginning!

Unlike last year, my friends and I decided driving 7 hours the day before the race then driving the same 7 hours back home immediately after the race, wasn't the ideal way to do this. So, we decided to drive down that Friday so we could take our time Saturday getting to transition and checking everything in. The ride down flew by, especially since I didn't have to drive…I hate driving…and we got to our Air Bnb around 9 o'clock, I believe. My car mates, Michelle the Incredible and Sondra the Magnificent, are the coolest people ever and after driving for 7 hours to get to our house, drove an extra 2 hours to go pick up our other housemate/ teammate/ friend flying in from Arizona at the Tampa airport. While they were gone I got good and creeped out being in a big house alone and locked myself in my bedroom until I eventually fell asleep. Fun!

The next morning my awesomely badass coach, Carrie, arrived and she and I headed to transition to check in and get our lil' prerace bike and run in. I had been having issues with my right hip and left shin leading up to the race, so I was anxious to see how things felt. Lots of run focus and some fast run races had left some spots a little ouchier than I had liked, but things felt ok during our little shake out. I was ready to get this thing done and see what I could do. Carrie and I had set some pretty big goals for this race. I was aiming for a 3 minute swim PR, a 4 minute bike PR, and a 6 minute run PR….spoiler alert….I met none of those goals on race day. HA! Moving on!

After we got all checked in we headed over to Bethany's (ATC founder/ amazing person and athlete!) parent's house right outside of Haines City for a big pasta dinner and some chill time. We scarfed down food, chatted about race day, then headed home for an early bed time. I was so excited to get things going!

RACE DAY: Woke up to my usual 3:30 AM race alarm, ready to get on it. I wasn't feeling crazy nervous, but I really couldn't stop thinking about my big goals. I really really wanted to have a good day. I was actually able to eat a whole bagel! I usually only manage about a 1/4 before I give up. My early morning tumtum normally consists of nausea and discomfort, but I actually felt fine. We headed down to transition nice and early and got there around 4:50 AM. Getting all my stuff set up was way less stressful than last year, so I was straight chillin’ and taking my time. This was my first year as an All World Athlete so I was soooo stoked about the rad bike rack location. It really is WAY better. Last year my transition rack was half way through the horseshoe shaped parking lot…so pretty much in the shittiest spot. This year I was right up close to bike out and in!

You guys know how transition goes so let's just skip to the part where I get all super-hero-wet-suited-up in my Orca Alpha and hop in the water for the start!

SWIM: As I mentioned before, this swim is ridiculous. It's shaped like a squared off "M", so it has 6 TURNS. I consider myself a "strong" swimmer so I wasn't super nervous for the swim especially since I had done it before. Things started off like normal with the washing machine of arms and legs and jostling for open water. I decided to settle in and let some of the other gals go on and blow it out, hoping I'd catch them later on. Side note: if you're looking for good open water goggles - the Orca Killa 180 goggles are the shiiiiiiit! Sighting has never been easier. For real. Alright, end side note: By the 3rd turn I had caught a few of them, but I started noticing someone touching my toes every few strokes. Someone was drafting off of me, which was totally fine until she decided to pass me at the 5th turn by cutting closer to the buoy and literally punching me in the face in the process. I was super annoyed! Number 1-because she just took it easy in my bubbles for the last 20 minutes and decided to thank me with a smack to the mouth. And number 2- that was smart of her (dammit) to draft and I've always considered it, but never managed to find the right person to pace with/I'm a control freak and what if they start going off course??….so, yeah, that was annoying too. I took a classy moment to stick my head out of the water and yell, "what the f*ck, lady?!" Yes, I know that was useless and she probably didn't hear me, but I was mad OK? My lip got a little swollen for a while from where she hit me and I was wondering if I had a busted lip. Luckily, there was no blood, because that lake is not the cleanest thing I've seen and the words "flesh eating bacteria" kept running through my crazy brain…anyway… I felt like my pace was just fine. I wasn't pushing extra hard because people kept telling me that I wasn't supposed to get super winded during Half Ironmans, because pacing or whatever. Well, I under paced and ended up doing a 2 minute slower swim than last year. I came out of the water, checked my watch and immediately got a little bummed and extra stressed. One goal missed…2 more to try and attain.

BIKE: Transition went just fine. Got my wetsuit off after some time stuck on my watch, then grabbed all my stuff and ran out. Hopped on and got down to business. Now…I've had lots of issues on the bike the last year or so. My lower back sucks…all the time…but especially on my bike. It has a tendency to tighten up and scream with pain after a while- and after getting re-fit on my bike, I’m still trying to figure it out. I had only done 2 long rides before this race and my back had felt fine. Well…it didn't feel fine this day. After about 20-25 miles I started feeling it. My lower back was tightening and my quads were joining in on the party. My goal had been the usual 80% of FTP for power. I kept checking my watch because things felt so hard and I had only been holding 50-60% this whole time- not just when my back tightened up…the whole time! And it felt SO HARD. I didn't understand and I definitely wasn't happy about it. I kept trying to make myself feel better about it by telling myself it was ok, because my run was way stronger than last year. It's cool, I got this. Well, you can only believe that for so long…that's when I started getting caught by more gals in my age group. At one point I re-caught one of them and as I was coming around her on the left…she literally spits a big blob and hits me on the leg…like who does that?? Who spits to the left? People pass on the left, ya ingrate! Anyway…she caught right back up after a few miles and left my ass. Not the best thing for my mental game when everything already felt like it was falling apart. THAT. Mental game. I definitely need to work on that. This race really proved that your mind really is a huge part of endurance racing. My mind went…and my body followed. The rest of the bike consisted of me huffing and puffing, praying for hills so I could get out of aero, getting left in the dust by my age group, and holding back tears as I watched another goal slip away. I rolled into transition (after only getting one foot out of my shoe soooo still had the other one on!) with a time 1 minute slower than last year. I know I know! That's not a whole lot slower and it's technically not slow…but it sure as hell wasn't the 4 minute PR I was hoping for. I was bummed, but hopeful that my run still had a chance.

RUN: Made my way out of transition after taking that other cycling shoe off and replacing it with my Saucony’s. My legs felt a little wobbly, like usual off of the bike, but the main thing was my quads. Holy crap, my quads were so mad at me. I felt reasonably ok on the run, though, and at the 1st mile I realized my pace was actually great! I was holding 10 seconds faster than my goal and it really didn't feel hard. My spirit was getting a little boost and I just kept trucking along. Now this run course is pure evil, in my opinion. 3 loops (which I hate) and 2 massive hills right smack in the middle of each one (which I extra hate). Those hills are cruel! The first loop, the hills went by fast and even though my quads were screaming, I was able to hold my pace. I was taking in water and gatorade at every aid station and trying to stay cool. It was heating up and I wasn't very acclimated to heat yet. Atlanta had only gotten up to the low 70's by then, so 80-85 felt really freakin' hot!

Heeere comes the whining again. Mile 5 comes around, my pace is slowing, but I'm trying to hold it together. Mile 7 hits and I'm freakin' miserable. I mean begging for the finish line kind of miserable. My legs had lost it. They felt like they literally had nothing left. Out of nowhere, I went from holding a great pace to getting slower each mile. I refused to walk, though. F*ck walking. That means it takes longer to get to the finish line and stop moving! I wasn't holding my goal pace anymore, but I was still going so that was good enough for me. My amazing friends, Michelle and Sondra, were dressed as cows and screaming their heads off when I made that final turn into the finishing chute. No matter how miserable I am, I've always been able to pick up the pace for the last 2 miles of any race I've done. My desire to be done can take over and push my little leggies a bit harder. I sprinted into the finish line and immediately started crying. Now I want to say that I was crying because I was proud for even finishing after such a not fun day….but that's not why I was crying. I was beyond disappointed. I had been dreaming of a sub 5 hour Half Ironman all winter and instead finished with an extra 2 minutes added to my 5:13 from last year. I was 2 minutes slower and finished 3 places further away from the podium than last year. I had gone from 8th in my AG to 11th, after a year of hard training and sacrifices for said training...and I felt so overwhelmed with crappyness.

This race was a true eye opener for me. I kind of lost sight of what I love most about triathlon and started putting all this pressure on myself to do well. Since my last season was pretty dang good, I felt very much like I had to top it. Of course, I still want to top it…who doesn't love a PR, right? But I also want to HAVE FUN. I want to smile and laugh and scream for my friends while racing. I want to set big goals and I want to meet those big goals, but I want to enjoy doing it. I want to be proud of any finish line I cross no matter the time or if I got a podium and to just have a good damn time. I love this sport so so so much and it has absolutely changed my life for the better in so many ways. I don't ever want that feeling of gratitude to slip away again. I now know that making your mind strong is equally as important as making your body strong. I let the pressure get to me and I choked. From now on, I'm going to do my best to truly enjoy every moment of triathlon I get and to remember IT DOESN'T GET EASIER-YOU JUST GET STRONGER! Love y'all. Thanks for reading!

Cheers! CJ

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✈️🌎 Traveling and Training 🌎✈️

Right now I’m sitting in a Sprinter van driving through Germany, next to my boyfriend and surrounded by the rest of his amazing band, Stonerider. I’m lucky enough to be tagging along as they tour throughout Europe! We are on day 8 of 30 and we’ve been to Switzerland, Germany, Poland, and now back to Germany. I’m pretty sure we’ve spent about %80 of our time sitting in this Sprinter van, then the other %20 eating food, drinking beer, and in their case: playing awesome rock n roll while I try and sling as much merch as I can. Honestly, before the trip I was starting to get really stressed out about that fact. Sitting? Like “sitting still and not moving” kind of sitting??? For HOW MANY hours a day? Our drives have already varied between 2 hours and 11 hours each day. Holy JAMOLY, that’s a tough thing for me to do especially if I want to stay fit! But this post isn’t a “10 New Workouts You Can Do In A Van!!!!” kind of post. This is actually about the fact that every now and then you need to prioritize your workouts in a way that allows you to take a step back and enjoy what’s happening around you.

I was REALLY stressed before we left on this trip. All I could think about was how much fitness I was going to lose and how much weight I was going to gain and how my next season will be spent catching up from this month of van time. That ED voice, that I can almost always push away, was scratching on a chalk board and telling me I was going to ruin what I had been working so hard towards- being an elite triathlete. I even considered only coming for half of the trip so I could get back home.

Y'all…….HELL NO. I eventually came to the realization that I’M GONNA BE TRAVELING ALL OVER EUROPE WITH SOME OF MY BEST FRIENDS AND THATS AMAZING. Yes, I have been doing some workouts while here, but that’s because my body loves and craves a good workout, not because I’m obsessing over my fitness level. I’ll sneak in a run if we don’t have a crazy early van call, or if there is a shower at the venue, I’ll run while the fellas do sound check. Training helps keep my anxiety in check and just makes me a happier person. I rationalized that my workouts were not a necessity, but a release from being cooped up for hours in a van. They’re my “me time” while traveling with 5 men! 😂

I am running and doing strength workouts when there is time and it is convenient. I am not going to let myself stress out over losing a tiny bit of fitness. I’m 26 years old and I’m get to see the world and meet all kinds of people. I will work my ass off when I get back home and have a new fire burning to gain more strength for next season. I’m eating all kinds of foods and drinking all kinds of beer and smiling and laughing and enjoying this trip. I encourage everyone to take time and pay attention to the moments when skipping a workout in order to experience something amazing is totally ok. The obsession of staying fit is something I struggle with, but I can’t let it consume me. LIVE. ENJOY LIVING. and be passionate about your sport when the time calls for it. Just don’t obsess.

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IRONMAN RALEIGH 70.3 RACE REPORT June 5, 2016 Swim(1.2 miles)- 39:30   Bike(56 miles)- 2:52:09   Run(13.1 miles)- 2:04:43 Total- 5:41:36          11th 25-29 F

Oh good Lord. Not my best day! Ha. So Raleigh was my 3rd Half Ironman of the season and was a convenient 2 weeks after my 2nd Half Ironman of the season.  I actually didn’t realize they were 2 weeks apart when I initially signed up. I just saw a race that was 2 days before my 26th birthday and thought, “Oooo! Fun! Bday race!” Haha! After realizing and thinking it over, I felt like that kind of challenge would be good! Never know til you give it a shot, right? Well, let’s just say I don't think that was quite enough recovery for me. I know there are plenty of people who can crush races of that distance, one right after the other- for instance my new friend, Justin Park, a professional triathlete, did Chatt and Raleigh and got 4th at both! What a beast!- but I don’t think my body was prepared. But first!! Time to back track and talk about the day leading up to the race!

Raleigh is about a 6.5-7 hour drive from Atlanta so I was stoked when my Mom, who was once again going to cheer for me (she’s amazing), offered to drive. I hate driving. For this race it was actually my Mom, Aunt, and Grandma comprising the cheer crew! A car full of women…I thought it’d take us at least 8 hours just from all the pee breaks, but we actually made great time! We left right at 6:30 am and made it right around 1 or 2, I believe. My fellow Atlanta Tri Club member, Carolina, and I had realized a couple of days before that we were both racing that weekend. Raleigh 70.3 isn’t a target race for the club, since it’s right after Chatt so less people participate. This was going to be Carolina’s first half so I decided to do my best to help her feel calm and comfy!

We made it to the race expo and met up with Carolina, who had already checked in. She and I started chatting about the race and I could tell she was nervous. She was crashing with a friend in town, but that friend wasn’t racing and I thought she might feel a bit stressed going alone. So! I offered for her to crash with us at our Airbnb! She accepted and we ending up spending the rest of the day getting everything ready together. I remember my first half and how nervous I was. I didn’t know anybody in the club yet so I pretty much flew solo, minus the help from my sweet and supportive fam/boyfriend. I would have loved to have someone to show me the ropes/ get prepared with, so I was so stoked to help her out.

Raleigh was my first point-to-point race. This means there are 2 transitions, which I was SO stressed about. I always forget something…and there’s no room for forgetting something when your running shoes are 50 miles away. The swim to bike transition was at Lake Jordan, about a 40 minute drive from the city, and the run transition was right downtown close to where the 2 loop course splits to the finish line. I checked and checked and checked again to make sure I had all my essentials, but I totally spaced on having 2 TriGlide bottles and 2 sunscreens. Glide before the swim to prevent chafing on the bike, glide before the run to prevent chafing on my freakin’ armpits. Y’all know I hate that. Sunscreen before the swim in an attempt to keep from burning on the bike, another application on the back of my neck before the run to try and survive the sun. (Tattoos are expensive and sunburn jacks them up so an extra 2 seconds spent on spraying sunscreen is cool with me) I decided I was just gonna have to rely a little bit more than usual on the stuff on-course. Whatever, at least I was getting my bike to bike transition. Good lord. So stressful. You have the option to set up your run transition the day before too, but we decided to wait til race morning in case of rain.

Once we drove all the way out to where the bike transition was we really started noticing how freakin’ dang HOT it really was. I mean 3 in the afternoon and it was in the mid 90′s. My sunglasses wouldn’t stay on my big ol’ schnoz because of all the sweat. I was contemplating pumping my tires so I wouldn't have to worry about my pump in the morning-2 transitions means whatever you bring to T1 has to fit in the little bag they provide so they can take it to the finish line- but I’m glad I didn’t. Someone next to Carolina told her it was a bad idea because the tire expands in the heat and could burst. People were also putting towels under their front wheel so it wouldn’t be sitting on the hot ass concrete. We heard a tire explode about 10 minutes later…SO HOT! My front tire was about an inch off the ground so I was good to go. We scoped out the swim course and headed back to downtown to get in a quick shake out run before dinner. Having Carolina around helped with my stress just as much as I think I helped with hers. Having a partner is so nice!

We barely survived (ok, maybe I barely survived…) our super hot 20 minute run and decided we would go to the local Whole Foods for some hot bar action for dinner. Definitely the healthiest thing I’ve had the night before a Half Ironman. Ha. We got back to the house just in time for a gnarly ass storm to roll in. Our Airbnb was super cute, but it was definitely an older house. We were all hanging out post-dinner watching how hard it was raining when, you guessed it…the power went out. And stayed out! I was hoping for that situation where the power goes out for 5 minutes, everybody giggles, then it comes back on. Nah. Not for us. I was feeling gross after all the sweating and just wanted to find some flashlights, get my shit together, and take a shower. And that’s exactly what I did. Haha. With a flashlight in the corner, I showered in peace. My Grandma and Aunt took the front room, Carolina took the couch, and my Mom and I took the back room. It was getting hot as hell in there. We laid down around 9 o'clock and had to open the windows for a breeze. I knew I wasn’t going to sleep well if the power didn’t come back on. Mainly because I was terrified my phone would die and my alarm wouldn’t go off and I’d miss the race…you know…the usual fears. :] I laid awake for a while when…TAH DAAAH! The power came back on! It was probably about 10 o'clock and it had been off since around 7. I was so pumped! We jacked up the AC and hit the hay! Now, I was ready to sleep!

RACE MORNING:

Woke up bright and early, I think at 3, since we decided we would drive ourselves from the run transition instead of taking the shuttle. I was so worried about my family not being able to join and, honestly, I really needed them to grab my transition bag and bike pump after setting up. I realized after the race that was totally unnecessary, but hey, I didn’t know. I woke up feeling my normal amount of nauseous, but thankfully nothing extra. I decided to go with a whole wheat bagel with peanut butter instead of my usual oatmeal. Had to try something other than slop this time. I managed about a quarter of the bagel before I gave up. It was worth a shot!

Not setting up our run transition the night before was obviously a good idea, with the nasty storm and all. I got to my spot on the rack and noticed a totally random bag with a number way lower than my own laying between some spots. Another girl noticed and we realized it had blown from the rack behind ours all the way over in the storm. It was full of water. Eek. Yeah…REALLY GOOD IDEA not setting up before. It felt weird setting up so quickly. Just shoes, socks, shot bloks, visor, and race bib. I decided to lay the provided run bag flat with my shoes and everything set up inside just like I would if it was normal. I just didn’t want it to get soaked if it ended up raining again, which is what my weather app was forewarning. Then we drove on out to the bike! Everybody was pretty sleepy but my amazing family was so happy to be there.  As you can see in the pictures, they had “TEAM CORI” shirts made! I had the best cheering squad around! My sweet aunt kept telling Carolina they’d have had her name put on them too if they had known! Ha! I have some amazing folks in my life!

Got to the bike transition and got everything all set up. Once again, I felt weird because it went so fast. This time it was just my helmet, shoes, and nutrition. The race required you to have your provided bike bag in your spot so you could put your swim stuff in it- no driving all the way back to transition. Pumped my tires, let like 4 people borrow it, then slipped away before anyone else could ask for it. I had people to see, alright? Haha. Carolina and I were in the 2nd and 3rd to last swim waves-that’s right, we had like 2 hours to kill. I hated waiting, but we snagged a spot on some grass near the lake and just hung out. I used the portapotty like 4 times…that’s a lot of time to wait! More time to get it done! Carolina went for a warm up swim, but I just didn’t feel like it. I just stayed in my spot til my wave was lining up. Then it was hugs and kisses for my amazing family before heading off! Time to see what my body could do 2 weeks later.

SWIM:

The swim was set up like a weird shaped triangle. Just 2 turns, which I like. It had been determined that morning that wetsuits weren't going to be allowed, but that didn't bother me. I love my wetsuit, but no wetsuit works to my advantage. I'm a "strong" swimmer and don't need to rely on the buoyancy. Plus, I was getting to test out my Orca Swim Skin for the first time! It was snug and I felt as sleek as a dolphin! I had talked to my friend Susie Kelly (total badass athlete that makes us all look bad) about this race, since she did the same 2 week deal last year and she warned me that the swim was choppy. As I was looking out at the water and I wondered if maybe she just got a windy day? Seemed pretty chill from my point of view…boy, was I wrong.

I waded into the water with my group of gals and got a nice spot right up front, to the very far right. The horn sounded and we took off. It wasn't that brutal of a swim start since I was so far over, so I settled in pretty quickly. I was feeling good! I was feeling strong, actually! Maybe I could do this whole 2 week thing! Maybe I could crush this shit! I made it to the first turn buoy and hit a little traffic, like usual, but squeaked around and got on my way. That's when the chop hit…hard. Holy hell, it was like a washing machine! No joke! I had never swam in these kinds of conditions, but I just imagined all the Kona Youtube videos I had watched. I kept my head low and tried to pay attention to when the chop was about to hit so I wouldn't choke on the wave. I kept surprisingly calm. I kept thinking, "I'm a strong swimmer so if this is hard for me, it's hard for them too. Right? Just gotta keep moving." I think I extended my time a little bit, though. I kept getting pushed inside the buoy line by all the waves. I'd have to cut back in to make sure I passed with the buoy on my right. I noticed it kept happening after 2 or 3 buoys and tried to compensate by keeping a bit more to the left, but the extra yardage had already happened. Oh well! The chop felt never ending and it kind of was never ending. Seriously, I don't think it stopped until about 100 yards from the swim exit! I swiveled around some folks from the earlier waves and made my way out! Time for the bike!

BIKE:

I could feel some tightness happening in my calf on my way out of the water, but it wasn't anything serious. I just needed to get my bike and not forget anything…"damn my calf is tight"…"don't forget anything"…”I wonder how I’m going to feel out there”…”don’t forget anything”...that's when I noticed I was still wearing my swim skin! Crap!! I was coming up on my bike, fast, and I needed to get that bad boy off! I yanked it down to my waist just in time. Phew! Glad I didn't keep that on! With the heat that I knew was accompanying the sunrise,I knew I would have been in big trouble! I threw my swim skin, my goggles, and my cap in my bag after grabbing my EFS. Time to go.

I saw volunteers applying sunscreen near the bike exit, but I passed since I would get that treatment at the run exit. (That would bite me in the ass later…of course.) I looked over and saw my mom running down the fence screaming. God, I love that woman! I hopped on my bike and started out strong. I came out of the water 16th in my age group and made it to 10th within the first few miles, I believe. I was feeling so good! My legs felt strong. My power was steady. I was in the zone.

I still had my watch set to beep with every 5 mile slpit, so I wouldn't forget nutrition. I was taking EFS and hydrating while loving the course. There was one part right outside of the park that was so flat with smoooooooth, brand new asphalt- a cyclist's dream. I was pushing my goal power and I was feeling good! I couldn't believe it. However, it was already SO HOT. I've never really had an issue with sweating a whole lot on the bike, simply because the wind has always kept me cool enough. That was not the case here. I had to push the face shield back on my helmet to let in more air. I had to reach up and stop the sweat collecting under my helmet from dripping in my eyes. "Gotta stay hydrated." I was hot, but I felt good…at first.

UGH!! Ok, so this is where I start whining about how my race went sour. Ha. Over the last couple of months, I've noticed my lower back tends to get tight and a bit painful during long rides. Nothing crazy. It gets angrier during races, but it's nothing I can't handle and it never affects my run. Just makes me pretty uncomfortable near the end of the bike. In Chattanooga I definitely noticed it getting pretty damn tight near the end. It makes me want to get off my bike and pop my lower back to relieve the pressure and pain…which is pretty much what happens, naturally, as soon as I get off for the run. Well, in Raleigh…it was about 15 times worse. I was approaching mile 20 when I really started feeling it. It didn't take long to get worse, though. It was such a sharp pain. I was trying to keep my power and stay in aero, but the pain would keep me from staying down long. I was losing power. I have a high pain threshold-I feel like that's pretty obvious with the amount of tattoos I have- but it hurt so bad. It actually caused me to let out sad/angry groaning sounds…like a buffalo that just had a lion grab ahold of its rump. It hurt. It was getting in my head. It hurt more. I wasn't taking in water. I was distracted. Nutrition? What's that? FML.

The last 20 miles or so are pretty rolling and for the first time ever, I was happy to see hills. I needed hills because that meant I didn't need to be in aero and neither did anybody else. I was getting so bummed, but I just needed to get to the end of the ride so i could get off that sucker and relieve the pain. I don't remember a whole lot once my back tightened up. It was all I could focus on. Dammit! Stupid back! Why?? Oh, and did I mention it was REALLY FREAKIN' HOT?

Honestly, I'm still proud of myself for pushing through the bike. There were seriously a number of times I considered pulling over and saying, "screw it." I'm glad I didn't. I'm not saying my run was any better, but quitting would have haunted me. 

I did my flying dismount and luckily continued my current trend of not eating shit in the process. Hit the ground…and my legs were so dead.

RUN:

Oh yeah, they felt like steal. My head was not ready for this. Mentally, I was screwed. I was bummed my legs weren't there, but I was even more bummed when I immediately realized I was dehydrated too. Oh well, just gotta run then I'm done, right? I missed my number on the bike rack AGAIN then back tracked and got my bike in place. I slipped on my shoes, grabbed all my stuff, threw some Vaseline (the only other option since my TriGlide was back at the swim) on my armpits and started looking for sunscreen volunteers…there were none. Dammit, again! Time to accept sunburn. The forecast had predicted an afternoon shower around that time, noon, but it had totally lied. It was a liar and I hated it. There were sporadic clouds, but over all there wasn't a whole lot of shade and it was in the mid-90's. I was melting. I knew my run was going to suck, but I wasn't willing to completely give up. I saw my Mom, Aunt, and Grandma around mile 2 and seeing them definitely helped. I wanted to cry, but I didn't want to freak my Mom out. I knew she'd get super worried, so I forced and smile and kept on running.

I hit the first aid station and just HAD to walk. My normal aid station routine is: while running grab a sip of water, a sip of gatorade, throw some water on my head, throw some ice down my bra, and keep moving. That day I walked every single aid station and drank a whole cup of water, a whole cup of gatorade, then another cup of water, and never stopped feeling thirsty. I put ice in my bra and even shifted some down to my lower back. Did I mention it was hot out?? Gah, I was bummed. So bummed. I don't do well in the heat no matter what, but the course was actually pretty mellow. No crazy hills or anything. Just 2 out and back loops. Even with the heat, I knew I could have done so much better and the completive part of me was giving me the finger.

I was in survival mode. I had to continuously remind myself that if I just kept running, I could take a nice little break at the aid station. #goals. Near the end of the first loop (which felt like an eternity), I was coming back towards the square where I saw my family. There they were: yelling, smiling, cheering, being awesome. I had to stop this time. I started walking towards my Mom, half-crying, and just wanted a hug. A hug from Mom is always uplifting. She immediately started asking if finishing was a good idea. Ok…….so I may or may not have been saying, "I'm dying," while walking towards her…but that didn't mean I wanted to quit. My whole Don't-Freak-Out-Mom plan had melted in that damn heat. Sorry Mom!! I gave her one more hug and kept trudging on.

Honestly, the 2nd loop was pretty much the same as the first, until I got to about mile 10. I was ready to pick up the pace just so I could get it done and stop moving. I was really tired of being out in the sun! I picked it up and tried going back to my usual aid station routine. I still walked, but less. I just wanted to be done. My shoes were full of water due to all the ice I had shoved throughout my kit, but I didn’t care. I turned the corner towards the finishing chute and was greeted by the shade of the buildings and a nice breeze. Time to get it done.

 I was able to smile the whole way down the finish chute this time. No grimace accompanying a PR. I was bummed, yes, but I was about to cross the finish line of a 70.3 just 2 weeks after crossing the finish line of another. I had my amazing family there screaming their heads off, because they were proud of me and they supported me so much. I had a lot to smile about, honestly. I hadn't had the ideal race, but I was still proud to be there. I mean, hey, we're all bound to have a bad race at some point right? I was due mine and I eventually accepted it and smiled through to the end. Number 5 in the books!

I paid a visit to the med tent shortly after finishing. I got pretty dizzy and just needed to lay down. The docs put me in a reclining beach chair and threw some ice on my chest while I chugged a gatorade. I was feeling alright after about 10 minutes of that so they released me. I got to sit and laugh with my family while sharing some pizza with my Grandma. I was in high spirits after such a rough day. Carolina had actually finished right behind me! She had a rough day too and ended up hanging out in the med tent with some major cramps. I was so proud of her and so happy we got to spend the weekend racing together even though we barely knew each other beforehand. It wasn't my best race, but I'm still so glad I celebrated my 26th birthday doing something I love and learning more about my ability to push even when it sucks. What a day!

Thanks for reading, y’all!

“Life’s a garden, dig it.”- Joe Dirt

[colorfultrichild-blog]

LADIES CELEBRATING LADIES Since I'm in the car for another 3 and 1/2 hours on our way to Raleigh 70.3, I figured this would be a good time to talk about something extremely important to me. I've struggled with being jealous of other girls my entire life. I remember being a kid and being jealous of that girl's hair, that girl's house, that girl's boobs, that girl's tiny waste, that girl's flip flops, that girl's scrunchie...everything. I was constantly comparing myself to the girls around me and all it did was make me even more self conscious than I already was. I started hating my body in early middle school. I was in 6th grade and the other girls were getting boobs, needing bras, getting curves....I, however, continued to be shaped like a small boy. Seriously...I wore the SAME hoodie every single day for all of 6th and 7th grade-rain or shine-cold or hot as hell-which it definitely got hot as hell in Middle Georgia-because I was ashamed and embarrassed of my body. Because my body didn't look like the girls around me. I started hating them for being "better" than me. I started hating me for not being "better." In my late teens and early 20's, when my eating disorder was really taking hold, my insecurities strengthened my jealousy and distaste of "prettier" girls. I would constantly try and recreate an outfit or hairstyle because I had no idea who I was and I just wanted to be like them. Some times I wouldn't even give a girl a chance simply because I was jealous of her looks. I would even hate on girls who posted a lot of selfies because I thought they were vein. (Insecurity turns you into a butthole.) Ladies, society tells us we're in constant competition with each other. We're told that the smaller your waste is, the bigger your boobs are, the more value you have. This is so unbelievably UNtrue. Once I decided to end my girl-on-girl hate, my whole mind set changed-and that includes how I felt about myself. The day I saw a girl and instead of internally saying something shitty, I walked up to her and complimented her, I felt a weight lift. Do you know how good that felt??? To make someone's day by telling them how cute they look instead of giving them the side eye and judging the crap out of them? But wait...this doesn't just mean girls who are considered one of society's ideal beauties. If you are walking down the street and a girl is wearing some jacked ass outfit, but is working the hell out of it because she feels fierce...give her some love! If you feel good-take a picture, you goddess! Post them suckers all day every day! These positive vibes will be reciprocated by your own self love! When you stop comparing and competing with the women around you, you will find a new love for yourself that is deeper than you've ever known and you will open a whole new world for potential friendships. Ladies celebrating ladies is so important. We need to work together. We need to uplift each other. No more hating a woman because of "the competition". (Now I'm not saying you have to like every single woman in the world. If you're a dick...you're a dick and your gender is irrelevant. 😄) I can't express how much this changed my life and helped me escape the grips of my eating disorder and self hate. Accept your fellow gals and lift them up! MAKE LESLIE KNOPE PROUD! Thanks for your time. 😘 Cori

[colorfultrichild-blog]

IRONMAN CHATTANOOGA 70.3 RACE REPORT

May 22, 2016

Swim(1.2 miles)- 28:50   Bike(56 miles)- 2:45:15   Run(13.1 miles)-1:50:48

Total- 5:11:07          9th 25-29 F

My 2nd 70.3 of the season! Chattanooga is a whole different story than Florida 70.3, I tell yew what! In a good way, though! The environment at this race is electric. It’s a pretty popular race for the South East both for it’s location/course and for the fact that you get to race along side (waaaaaayyyy behind) some of the top pro’s in the world. Chatt was the first race I’ve done with a pro field and it really is kind of cool. Just seeing Heather Jackson and Rinny meandering about transition got my fangirl face going in full affect. You know…standing…staring…mouth slightly open with a little bit of a grin and bug eyes? Not weird at all. Totally not awkward.

So yeah, Chattanooga is a rad city and I’ve been there a few times. Really clean, good food, nice folks. All around a cool place and only 1 1/2 to 2 hours from Atlanta. This time my Mom, Dad, and Jason(amazing boyfriend) came to cheer me on and obviously take about a billion pictures. I love having my family there. It was the first time my Dad had made it to a race and he seemed super stoked to use his fancy cameras to get some action shots. We got a teeny tiny Airbnb cottage literally across the street from the entrance to Rock City (doofy tourist attraction with a decent lookout point and cheesy black light gnome cave…don’t ask) which was about 15 minutes from transition. Perfect location, in my opinion. I don’t need to be in a hotel a block from transition, personally. Luckily there was a huge parking deck on the block of T1 so transportation and parking wasn’t a huge pain.

This is another target race for Atlanta Tri Club so we had like 60 people racing! The same weekend, last year, I did my first half ever at Challenge Knoxville because I missed the sign up for Chattanooga. I was super happy to be at this race with the group because I knew the cheering squad was going to be epic. I needed epic. (#ATCLOVE) We all went to dinner at some local grill that I can’t think of the name and ate yummy pasta. I decided it was time to break my 2 week detox from alcohol and have a beer to calm my nerves. It was a good beer and idea. I chatted with my fam and some of my favorite athletes. Feeling full and happy it was time to dip out. Then it was off to the house to try and catch some Z’s as early as possible.

RACE MORNING:

So in my last couple of race reports I’ve talked about my early morning tummy issues. This morning did not disappoint…I woke up at 3:30 AM like always. I got the coffee going and started cooking my oatmeal. I expected the usual nausea, but this time it was met with a pretty intense dizzy feeling too. I’ve been having dizzy spells lately…still trying to figure that out. I put my head down on the counter and started breathing pretty deeply…potentially too deep- leading to hyperventilation? and feeling like I was going to either puke or pass out…or both. I felt the color leave my face and the sweat collecting on the back of my neck so I took off for the bathroom and pretty much curled up on the floor.

That's it! My day was over…I was going to get my first DNF. I was going to get my first DNS…DID NOT START!--was all that was running through my head. I eventually left the bathroom and my mom was getting out of bed. She looked at me and made some comment about being “white as a ghost” so I decided to lay down completely. WHAT A MORNING RIGHT? Well, I laid there, talked to my folks about how I was feeling and pretty much just had to laugh. Not the ideal way to start race day, but hey…you can’t control everything. Just laugh and hope for the best. I laid there for a good 30 or 45 minutes and everything seemed to start equalizing. I wasn’t feeling dizzy anymore and the nausea was subsiding. Plus, the color had returned to my face. I started sipping coffee and taking tiny bites of my oatmeal and eventually got my shit together and started prepping. NOT TODAY SATAN! No DNF’s for this gal! --Sidenote: I think I’m going to have to change up my race morning food…warm slop-aka oatmeal-plus nausea-not best combo. --Oh and another side note: I’m not prego. Yes, I’m sure. The dizziness and nausea is not because of that. Thanks! :]

Moving on! I was ready! I had only managed about 4 bites of oatmeal, but hey…I’ll make it work. I had a Bonk Breaker in my bag to be snacked on while waiting for the swim so I was good to go. We got to transition and I was feeling alright. I started prepping my bike and getting my transition area all set up. Just my luck, the girl beside me hadn't shown up! My luck was changing! I had a little extra breathing room which would come in handy off the bike later. I looked up and saw my boyfriend standing outside of the fence waving his arms and pointing. He was standing directly behind Mirinda Carfrae and was trying to convince me to run over and meet her. I declined, not only because I needed to finish setting up, but because she did too! Ha. My friend and fellow ATC’er, Celia, was setting up just a few bikes down so we decided to hang tight and keep each other company to the swim start. We went and talked to my family for a second then got in line for the buses to head us over to the start. We got over there and immediately got in line for the porta-potties. Gotta do work, y’all. The business was done, Jason had arrived, and we were ready to find a spot in line to get our wetsuits on.

SWIM: Chattanooga 70.3 has a rolling swim start, which I was skeptical of, but honestly ended up loving. We got in line probably a couple of hundred people deep….which was actually pretty close to the front. The line was about a mile long and you’re supposed to seed yourself in relation to how good of a swimmer you are. I didn’t want to start in the very very front, but I damn sure didn’t want to start in the back and get stuck either. This seemed like a decent spot. The pro’s had started so everyone was waiting for the AG start. We heard the cannon and the line started moving pretty quickly. We stayed calm and get our suits on while kind of getting in the way…my b. Jason was there helping us and taking awesome pictures! (That first pic, right? Super rad!) Celia was pretty nervous since it was only her 2nd half and the first one she’d be doing on her kick ass tri bike. I was nervous as hell too because this was my A Race and i really wanted to throw down. Having company really does help with the anxiety.

Rolling starts are RAD. I knew I would be racing against myself the whole race since there were no waves and I was looking forward to that. If a girl my age passes me on the bike…who knows…they could have started the swim 10 minutes before me! So the real reason I dug the start so much was the fact that you didn’t have to fight for open water like in a wave start. I walked down the dock, crossed the timing mat, started my watch, hopped in, and started my race. I LOVED IT. I was so happy with how well the swim was going- no crazy elbowing or fighting for air-just in my pace, breathing on the right, sighting every few strokes, and passing who needed to be passed. It was great! I honestly think my swim could have been faster…but I got caught up daydreaming about how happy I was with the rolling start, I think I slacked off a little bit. Haha! Still I was really happy with my time and felt strong the whole time. I do remember hitting some waves and wondering if a boat had passed, which would have been odd unless there was an emergency. Sadly, there had been one-obviously I had no idea at the time- but a swimmer had some major issues and actually passed away shortly after entering the water. My heart goes out to his family and friends. :[

I could see that I was crossing under the 3rd and final bridge before the swim exit, so I started kicking a bit more and just overall picked up the pace. I think this is also the bridge where my dad got a rad shot of me swimming. That’s right. Even in a rolling start, thanks to the help of my Orca Alpha’s blue arms, my folks were still able to pick me out of the crowd! Crazy right? That suit is such a beast. I never feel restricted or claustrophobic. I just feel sleek and fast. I got a little stuck coming around the last buoy because people were obviously getting tired, but I did some maneuvering and hit the stairs. Some sweet volunteer helped me get my footing so I yelled “Thanks so much!” and headed to the wetsuit strippers. I made eye contact with a larger fella and yelled “YOU!” while pointing at him. Something I learned from my bad ass coach, Bethany. The wetsuit was off in a jiffy and I was headed towards my beautiful Orbea waiting in transition!

BIKE: T1 was freakin’ huuuuuuge. So many bikes! A sea of bikes! Luckily, I made an entrance plan that morning and counted how many rows and where to turn blah blah blah. I found my sweet baby Orbea and went to work. I threw my wetsuit down, shoved my 2 EFS bottles down my top (there are no pockets on the RS1 Orca Race Suit), threw on my shoes and helmet and headed for the exit. Overall, I think it was a relatively smooth T1.

The Chatt bike course is pretty chill with some rolling hills here and there. I thought it was a pretty great course, minus some pot holes and shitty roads. I had a new plan for my nutrition this go around. Every 5 miles when my watched beeped I was going to take a gulp of EFS and every 10 miles I would take a salt pill too. This worked perfectly. I don’t know why, but I had been relying on just remembering to do those things every 15 and 30 minutes…which I never consistently did. It made a huge difference in my ride too. I didn’t have that same lag in the last 20 miles. I mean, yeah, they hurt, but I wasn’t constantly thinking ,“I’m tired. Can I get off this thing now?”

I don’t remember a whole lot of specifics about this ride. I was really just trying to stay focussed and maintain the right power while taking in the proper nutrition and hydration. I definitely witnessed a lot of out right drafting, though. I mean straight up wheel sucking. It was frustrating and I get it’s a crowded course, but c’mon…we all know that’s not legal and you’re a turd bag for doing it. At one point a gal with a bright helmet and 33 on her leg (yeah girl, I remember you) yelled at a lady near me who was blatantly drafting. She screamed, “ya know if you were going to draft the whole race, you should have brought your road bike! At least that’s safer!” I saw the lady blush and look embarrassed while trying to make an excuse about it being crowded….then she dropped back and I didn’t see her again. Burn, lady. Burrrrrrrrrrn.

Anywho, I was feeling good and was keeping track of my splits and thought I was totally on point to hit my goal of 2:40. I mean everything was going right but somehow I rolled in at 2:45. I don’t know if it was all the rail road tracks and turns in the last 10 miles or if I just can’t do math properly. Honestly…it’s probably the latter. Oh well! I flew into T2…literally cuz I did a flying dismount and luckily didn’t fall on my face! Phew. My legs hit the ground and they actually felt great!

RUN:  As soon as I came around the corner heading into T2 all I could see was my mom screaming her head off jumping up and down! Such a rad way to come off the bike! I was smiling and laughing when I went to try and find the row where my bike was meant to go. I turned at the one that said my number…but I turned too soon. I was on the wrong side of the damn bike rack! I was getting confused, of course, because I couldn’t find my number. Well, dummy, that’s because it’s facing the other direction. I figured it out eventually and definitely didn’t want to back track…so i just threw my bike in back wards (luckily none of the other gals around me were back yet) and I ducked my ass under the rack and climbed to the side where my shoes were. Whoops!

I dumped my helmet and empty EFS bottles, did a quick spray of sunscreen on the back of my neck, a quick spray of Tri Slide under my arms (armpit chafe is my undoing) and snagged my shoes, visor, race number and Clif Shot Bloks. I could have sworn I read on the website that there would be shot bloks and salt pills on course (and they did have salt at my last 70.3 in Florida). Well…luckily Jason convinced me to take the bloks just in case but I didn’t have anything to put my salt pills in anyway so I skipped those. I started heading for the run exit and all I could hear was my mom cheering from the other side of transition. I couldn’t stop smiling! Which is kind of the norm on the run for me. Especially when I have so many friends out there cheering! My buddy Ed was waiting near the exit for his run leg of his relay and some other ATC’ers were just outside screaming like crazy! My heart was so happy and my legs actually were too! I felt awesome! I came around a corner and there was Jason taking pictures (picture #6) then I turned the next corner and there was my Dad standing on a bridge taking pictures too (picture #7)!

This run course is awesome in my opinion. Yeah, there’s a super gnarly hill within the first mile to get you out on the 2 loop course, but you only have to go up it once. I was coming up the hill when I saw some ITL friends and their cheers were already making me feel great when I crested the hill and there was THE LUAU THEMED ATC CHEER SECTION. I WAS OVERWHELMED WITH HOW AWESOME THESE PEOPLE ARE! I remember being so stoked to see everybody that I even had to cover my face I was smiling so big! They were all cheering and had big foam hands for hive 5′s. It was so rad! My girl, Michelle, was there with her hula skirt and lei’s yelling that I was 10th off the bike and already passed a girl for 9th. TIGHT!!

After all that amazingness, I was flying high! I came up to the first aid station and just got a water for my head, a water for my mouth, and some Gatorade to keep it going. I felt like my pace was pretty damn good even though I was hoping for a bit faster, but I was happy. I came up to the second aid station and ate a Blok then chased it with a water and started asking for salt…..no one had salt….Ok….No big deal….there are more aid stations. Maybe the next one? I can't remember which mile but there’s a section that goes through a really shady foresty area on these wooden walk ways. Bethany was hiding in a corner at one point calling out that I was still in 9th! There was an aid station in this part where you run past, get all your goods…which didn’t include salt….then run about a half mile, then turn around and head right back past the same aid station, which I thought was a little weird.  I didn’t want to pass up more water but I also didn’t want to make things all sloshy inside so I just took another sip and dumped the rest on my head.

This is where my AMAZING ANGEL of a friend Amy Stanton came flying by me, chit chatting and wonder how my race was going. She’s a beast and makes it look easy as she’s crushing souls and smiling through it! Ha! She was about to take off when I asked her….”hey I know this is weird but do you have any salt on you that I could steal??” She turned, smiled, and said “Sure! Take some!” and handed me her little tube of Base Salt. I still can’t thank her enough because I think that tiny bit of salt kept me from blowing up on the run.

I wasn’t that freaked when I found out the aid stations didn’t have salt, though. Amy’s little bit definitely helped, but I just decided I was going to drink more Gatorade than I normally would. I knew I was running the risk of barfing, with all that sugar, but I’d rather barf than walk. After the shady fun part (also where I was getting passed by amazing female pro’s! How cool!) there is a gnarly ass hill. It isn’t long, but damn it is steep. I even saw the pro in front of me walk. I topped the hill….slowly….and my legs still felt ok! Time to head in for lap number 2. I crossed the 2 big bridges on the course and then came across the part where you either head to the finish or turn for lap 2. I turned and didn’t realize it was going to spit me out right back at the ATC cheer section until I was right up on it! Hooray!! More friends!!

Lap 2 was pretty similar to lap 1 for the most part. I came across that 3rd aid station with the quick turn around and decided, last minute, on my second pass that I would dump one more cup of water on my head…I dumped one more cup of water…into my shoes...Yay me! Even with heavy shoes full of water I was still in high spirits. I was ready to finish that bad boy off with some negative splits. At mile 10 or 11 there is a quick turn around that sends you downhill and that’s where I decided to really pick up the pace. There was a gal right beside me with 27 are her leg and I didn’t want to risk hanging around her anymore! I had been averaging a little under 8:30 per mile so I wanted these last few to be sub 8. The pedestrian bridge is the last real incline before the split between finish line and lap 2 and I was truckin’ right along! I wasn’t exactly smiling anymore at this point. It was leaning more towards a grimace…or what is known as “race face.” I had all my ATC’ers there to give me one more push before the down hill to the finish chute! I ran past my amazing parents and Jason and made the gnarliest face to try and finish the race on a high note! I crossed the line at 5:11:07 with a new PR!

I enjoyed every second of this race and I will absolutely be back next year! Big thanks to ORBEA ORCA, ATLANTA TRI CLUB, PODIUM MULTISPORT, and MY AMAZING FAMILY AND BOYFRIEND. I am so so thankful for the support I have in my life! Happy as can be, y’all!

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JOHN TANNER SPRINT RACE REPORT 

4/30/16

Swim(600m)- 10:54   Bike(13.8 miles)- 40:03   Run(5k)- 22:42   

Total- 1:15:39      7th OAF  1st 25-29 F

  There are a ton of pictures form this one because it’s one of Atlanta Tri Club’s target races! So there are tons of ATC folks snapping pictures! I absolutely love this race. It was my first tri ever last year! In that one I had a panic attack during the swim, like most first-timers, and ended up doing breast stroke for a minute or 2, contemplating whether or not I could even finish. I actually did this race for a second time last season too. They have an April John Tanner then another one in August. So this was my 3rd time doing JT and , boy, did it feel good having experience with the course. It helps so much with my confidence going into a race. Just knowing where transition is in relation to where I parked helps my confidence. No joke. Plus, I knew so many people racing! Which meant I also knew my competition. 

  I went into the race hoping for an overall podium, but I knew what I was up against and that would require a crazy perfect race on my end. Overall would be the coolest, but I wanted that age group gold so bad. When I raced JT last year I got second in my AG, which I was so proud of, but I had also been beaten by like 5 minutes. It was time to see if I could take my now friend, Katie, down. Haha. She races a lot of draft legal sprints and crushes them, especially on the run, so I knew I what I had to do. Get out fast on the swim, crush the bike, and hold on for dear life on the run!

That morning: I woke up with my usual upset stomach, because 5am… I did your standard 1 cup of oatmeal with vanilla almond milk, blueberries, and a huge scoop of almond butter. I think I actually managed to eat all of it that morning, which is strange for me. It’s an hour drive to John Tanner State Park so I left around 6 am hoping to get there right after gates opened. Last year there was a horrible thunder storm that morning with torrential rains and all the works. Thank gawd that was not the case this year. It was freakin’ beautiful out! I rocked my favorite pre-race album, Hologram by Stonerider, and the last song ended right as a pulled into the park. FREAKIN’ PERFECT. I was pumped. I headed over to the pavilion for sign in, got my chip, PUT IT ON IMMEDIATELY, and started getting my transition area all ready to go! Sprints are rad just because you don't have to worry about quite as much shit. “I won’t lose my nutrition, because I won’t have it!” Got everything set up, slipped on my orca wetsuit, ate about half of an almond butter Bonk Breaker (I always do that…) and headed to the beach to get aaaaLLllll warmed up.

SWIM: The swim for this race is a nice loop around a small lake in the center of the park. I was so ready to see if I could come out of the water close to the front of my wave, which consisted of all females under the age of 40. That meant my wave consisted of some of my closest homies! This race is so rad. Warming up with my pals, chit chatting, all feeling excited together…THE BEST. My coach, Bethany, and my awesome friend, Carrie, kept joking about how I should start slow on the swim then settle in so they could draft off my toes the whole way! They are total badasses and crush it….but they were the ones that deemed me a “swimmer” and they expected me to go fast…so I was damn sure going to try my hardest to go fast!

 I seeded myself right up front and started my watch about 3 seconds before the whistle just so I wouldn’t have to worry about it any more. Then it was time to go! I went out blazing. Trying to keep my form strong and pull as much water as I could until I found open water. The JT swim start is always rough, though. It’s a small lake so the waves before us were already causing some chop and its a pretty tight group start which is always a little scary. I barreled ahead and kept my eyes peeled for fellow pink swim caps. I kept to my usual routine of only breathing on the right and sighting every 2-3 strokes in a sprint.  Turned the first buoy to head up about 100m to the second turn buoy, targeting us back towards the start. Took the second turn and went to sight and couldn’t see a thing! I don’t know if it was because of the direction of the sun? Or if my goggles suddenly fogged? But I could barely see in front of me. Through the fog I was able to see a  girl a little ahead of me stop and clear her goggles so she obviously had the same issue. I don’t know if you’ve seen this meme but… “Ain’t nobody got time fo dat.” I definitely wasn't going to break my stroke so I just sighted every now and then and hoped to see a pink-capped-blur close by. It worked, cuz I made it to the last turn buoy about 150m from the exit and from there I could figure it out, whether I could really see or not.

BIKE: I have developed a very serious case of “race face” coming out of the water. But hey…I take this shit seriously. Ha. If I recall correctly, I think my friend, Michelle, yelled that I was 6th out of the water as I was running up the hill to transition? Or I dreamed that? Not sure. Anyway, I really gotta figure out how to take off my wetsuit faster, for real. I think I only managed to get it off my arms and to my waste about 10 feet from my bike. Oh well! My bike rack was still pretty damn full so I was feeling confident! Bethany and I had kind of practiced flying mounts and dismounts a few days before…but I just wasn’t ready for that yet…especially since the mounting line is at the bottom of a small incline and there is a speed bump not too far ahead. I threw my helmet and shoes on then took off. 

I have a naturally high heart rate so one thing I struggle with during sprints is getting my heart rate down a bit once I get on the bike. I wanted to hammer it though. No messin’ around. I was passed by some of the gals in the age groups above mine, including my beast of a friend, Carrie, and my Orbea sister, Jaclyn, but I hadn’t seen any one in my age group for the first few miles. I had a feeling there was at least one ahead of me, so it was time to go. I found Kelsey, a collegiate swimmer I believe, around 5 miles and we started playing leap frog for a while. I’d pass her and stay for a few minutes, then she’d pass me, then I’d pass her…you get the point. Around mile 9 I thought…”there’s only about 5 miles left”…it was time to experiment and see what happened if I really picked up the pace and dealt with the pain. I wanted to get away from Kelsey and hopefully stay far enough ahead of Katie to hold on, so I put the pedal to the metal and amped up my wattage. It hurt, but it felt good. I actually had a little bit of a strategy to win my age group so I was mentally patting myself on the back for being prepared. Ha! 

I knew the course, so once I took the turn back towards the park I sped up my cadence and started preparing to take my feet out of my shoes. It was time for me to try my first flying dismount during a race…surrounded by a shit load of people I knew…with cameras. Now please reference photo #3…does that tell you anything? HA! I hopped off, my shoe hit the ground, and sent my rear wheel flying! Luckily, I was already on the ground and managed to stay upright! I’m not known for being graceful…but I am known for somehow managing to keep my shit together!

RUN: I knew my legs weren’t going to feel like spring chickens after those last 5 miles, so I wasn’t surprised when they felt like lead. At least I was mentally prepared! I felt pretty nauseous as soon as I headed out of transition, though. I think I tried to chug a good bit of my Base Amino mix a couple of miles from transition…and it may have been too much too fast. I just had to keep it down for just over 20 minutes! That’s all! This run is pretty cool. Its a nice semi-loop around the lake, over some gravel, up a few gnarly hills to a turnaround, then back down to the finish. I like the part around the lake…it’s flat and gives you this happy feeling like triathlons don’t hurt that bad. Then you get to the first hill and it punches you in the face. My watch beeped and said my first mile was in the 7:30′s so my lead legs were doing better than I thought! Only 2 more miles, hot damn! 

The 2 biggest hills are on the straighter part of the course where the turn around is. They aren’t long, but they hurt. I got a chance to see who was ahead around mile 2, thanks to the nice out and back stretch. I wasn’t doing half bad! I hit the turn around and saw Bethany crushing right behind me and little ways down I saw Katie! Bethany had been dealing with feeling rough over the last few weeks, but I was still super surprised she was behind me. I just assumed she hadn’t felt well on the bike and had dropped out, because she is an absolute beast and won this race both times last season! Even on a bad day she kicks my ass! She came up behind me and grunted, “C’mon.” So I did! I picked up my pace and it actually didn’t suck. I didn’t think I had it in me, but I was able to stay about 5-10 paces behind her for the last mile. Thanks Bethany! I needed that grunt, because I’m pretty sure Katie would have caught me if I hadn’t picked it up. 

The finish line! So many ATC’ers! So many people cheering my name! How cool is that?? That will make anyone move faster! I feel so lucky to have such an amazing triathlon community! I was feeling that nausea rrrrrrrrreal hard at this point, but it was almost over! There were people cheering! I forced a strange grimace/smile combo and sprinted across the finish line 5 seconds after Bethany. Feel free to reference photo #4. We were spent…and I was about to barf. I always feel that sensation of “uh…uh oh...yeah I’m gonna puke…wait no I’m not…or am I?” at the end of races, but I can usually look straight up at the sky and force it all back down. Not that day! I headed for the closest bushes and threw up a little bit of the Base Aminos that had been sloshing closest to the top of my stomach, I suppose. After that I felt fine though! Woo!! I actually felt really proud of myself for pushing to the point of puking. Haha. I have a mantra during my track workouts, where I imagine I’m in a race and I repeat: “You either puke and win- or you don’t puke and lose. Which is worse??” 

I had won my age group! :]:]:]:]:]

I’ve gotten first in my age group once before, but not against that kind of competition! I hope I’m not coming off as braggy, but I was so proud of myself!  I PR’ed the course by almost 5 minutes! I love this sport so so much. I was worried my second season of triathlon might not be as exciting as last year because I’m more experienced. I know what’s coming. But holy jamoly, getting to see the results of all the hard work I’ve put into it is even better than the adrenaline of being a “first timer.” I was flying high after this race for daaaays. 

 After the race we all went to the ATC Cookout and ate a bunch of food and drank some beer. I was happy all over! What a day!!!!

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Florida 70.3 Swim Exit

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Florida 70.3 2016 Race Report

Date: April 10, 2016

Swim: 34:00  Bike:2:44:42  Run:1:49:43  Finish: 5:13:33

8th 25-29 Female

This is belated, but I’m a busy gal!

  This race was unique for me simply because I got to crash with other athletes participating in the race for the first time. My friends-Michelle, Carrie, and Brad- and I got a nice Air Bnb about 30 minutes from transition. Being a little ways away from the start really isn't that bad if you just plan ahead. It was super cool waking up with other folks feeling the same excitement and nervousness as me.  Ya know, instead of having to fumble around trying to make coffee and get your shit together as quietly as possible, so you don’t wake up your sideline support crew trying so desperately to catch just a few more minutes of z’s. 

  When I wake up that early its always super hard for me to eat not just because of nerves, but 3 am wake up calls always make my tummy super bummed. I managed to choke down about half of my oatmeal before I gave up and just finished off my coffee-then headed to the bathroom for the pre-race MUST that we all know….I’m talking about pooping guys. Pooping. It was weird feeling prepared this go around! I almost questioned my “calmness” and just assumed I was forgetting something--which, of course, I was. Since it was my 3rd Half Ironman, I didn’t have the same amount of anxiety and fear of not finishing. I was surprisingly calm…..until we got to transition and I realized I had left my timing chip back at the house! Wooooo! Way to go “Calm Cori”. 

Now fast forward- we were pretty much running late from the start, but I’m used to that. I’m late to everything. Seriously. I had about 25 minutes to set up my transition, trade out the batteries in my pedal sensors (I realized the day before that my power meter was saying 0 watts on uphill climbs..) and find out where the hell I could get a new timing chip. My amazing friend, Carrie, changed out the batteries in my pedals while I threw all my crap together and sprayed triglide on every inch of my body exposed to a seam. Oh yeah! Because I was wearing my new Orca race suit for the first time ever! AND it was my first race on my amazing new Orbea Ordu! 

We found the chip dude at the swim start- I threw it around my ankle- and shimmied into my incredible Orca Alpha wetsuit just in time to run into the water as my wave was going in. This wetsuit tho! Like wearing a silk shirt! It’s not restrictive at all yet its snug as a bug. I did some arm swings to warm up in the shallow part of the lake then I made my way up to the front of my group. I wanted to be front row, but got stuck behind at least 2 ladies. I had a couple minutes to get my head, then it was GO TIME.

SWIM: I’ve been deemed a “swimmer” lately (I swam in middle school so maybe some of that stuck?) so the swim isn’t as scary as it was last season- my first, but that doesn’t mean it’s easy. I started out fast and honestly bowled over some gals to get some open water. I found a nice opening and settled in. During a race I strictly breathe on my right side simply because sighting doesn’t work on my left side…don’t ask why. No clue. The swim in this race is quite the nightmare though. It’s in the shape of a squareish “M” and has 6 freakin’ turns. I just put my head down, sighted every 3-4 strokes and tried to stay focused on my form. That’s definitely something I struggled with last year. My form would go to shit once I got going just because my head would be on...ya know…not drowning. I definitely swallowed a good amount of lake water, but hey, its bound to happen. As long as I’m not choking/coughing I’m good to go. I kept tight to the buoys, dodged the slower moving folks, and managed to exit the water 9th in my AG!

BIKE:  The bike is still pretty intimidating for me. It’s the part I’m least experienced in and the part I’m constantly working to improve. I was feeling pretty confident though! I worked my tail off all winter so I wanted to see what I was capable of. Plus, I got a major bike upgrade! Ooo wee! Going from an 8 year old Quintana Roo from Craigslist with rust in places it totally shouldn't have rust- to a brand spankin’ new Orbea?? Holy crap what a difference! Such a speedy bike! Being an Orbea Orca brand ambassador is easy because their stuff is AWESOME.  Moving on...I honestly don’t remember a whole lot of the first half of the bike. I was just focused on staying in aero, staying hydrated, and taking in my EFS regularly. There were a number of waves before mine so I was able to slingshot around any slower riders which wasn’t half bad. I do remember, however, a tall and speedy girl in my AG passing me around 20 miles. Ha! How could I forget that? I’m sure my heart rate sky rocketed. 

I tossed one of my bottles and grabbed a newbie at the first aid station then kept trucking along. I keep 2 bottles on my bike - one with water, one with Base Amino and Skratch hydration. Then it was back to the pain train and trying to keep my power steady. It was super windy so my power averaged a little low, but I was still keeping a good pace and averred 20.38 mph which was faster than my 19 mph in Augusta last season! I remember at the 2nd aid station I dumped a bottle and grabbed a new one, but the lid had been ripped off. I have a bottle cage between my aero bars so when I put it there it just kept spitting water. I had about 2 seconds to make a decision…so I grabbed that sucker, tossed it (hopefully missing the volunteers…sorry if I got ya…) and snagged a new one that thankfully had a lid. Phew. Back to business. 

 Now the last 18 miles…I was pretty damn ready to get off my bike at that point. My legs were feeling alright, but I was getting and I think it was from trying to stabilize with all the wind. It took a little bit extra out of me. That’s when I noticed it was starting to get pretty hot out. My water had a new priority and started going on the back of my neck before going into my mouth, at that point. 5 miles left…”Get this done then you don’t have to ride your bike any more today! 5 MORE MILES!” That’s my brain yelling at me.  About 2 miles out I started picking up my cadence preparing to hop off and move on. I was looking forward to the run and was hoping to see a rad pace right off the bat. I dismounted and BOOM my legs felt like lead….”Well I guess that’ll have to work!”

RUN: I don’t wear socks on the bike, but i definitely do for the run. I put on my wonderfully squishy balega socks, threw on my shoes, sprayed MORE tri glide on my armpits- I HATE CHAFING- and dipped the hello out! Now my legs were moving…I knew that because I was moving…but good God it felt like a snail’s pace!  Later I realized I put my socks on too quickly--the right one got all bunched up under the front of my foot and ended up causing some tiny painful blisters, but screw it- not stopping for a blister! 

That run course is rough!! 3 laps around the lake with 2 of the biggest and probably only hills in all of freakin’ Florida. I almost walked on the first one, but yelled at myself, internally, to keep the momentum…then I remembered I had to do it 2 more freakin’ times. FML. I had my amazing homie Michelle waiting near 2nd mile of the loop with a smiling face and some encouraging screams! What a angel! At least I knew I had something to look forward to on each lap!  

I was NOT feelin’ that run though. I had it in my head that I would hold around an 8 minute pace but I was at 8:30 from the beginning. Which is still such a rad pace! But we all want to make our goals so you have to understand why I was a little bummed. I kept on plopping away (thats what it sounded like my feet were doing…*plop*plop*plop*) and poured ice down my race suit and water on my head at every aid station. The amazing folks of Haines City were out in front of their houses with water hoses spraying us all down and that absolutely saved me! It wasn’t even that hot, but I do not do well in the heat and tend to melt pretty fast. I even sent some ice down the back of my race suit…which wasn’t the best idea since its a one piece and all of the ice cumulated in my butt crack HA!…and that was just too much concentrated cold! *Note to self: Ice only goes down the front.*

Every lap Michelle was there to tell me I was still holding 8th off the bike and if I kept up that pace I should be good. I didn’t even know I had passed someone on the bike so I was puuuuumped. That 3rd lap was a doozy. That’s the point where every exhalation started resembling a strange whimper/groan combo. It felt like I was crawling up those 2 big hills! Mile 12…1 more mile then I get a beer! I picked up my pace as much as I could- increasing the volume of my “whimper breathing”. I started through the stretch where the crowd picks up and the Tri Club tents are set up, so naturally I couldn’t help smiling. I absolutely love racing and I try and smile…even through the whimpering…because this stuff makes me so so so so happy. I catch myself smiling a lot throughout races, because I’m so thankful to even be out there competing! Even when it hurts, if you smile you really will feel better. 

Even though it was my 3rd 70.3, I still got emotional. I get emotional at the end of a lot of my races. I could feel the tears welling up, because I had come so far. 3 years ago I was slowly killing myself with my eating disorder and here I was finishing another half IRONMAN in the top 10 of my age group. I’ll never get tired of that feeling. I’ll never take that finish line for granted because I worked so hard for it in so many ways. 

I rounded the corner and smiled my way all the way to the finish line crossing in 5:13. What a day! What a day! What a day! Number 3 in the book…now to break 5 hours in Chattanooga. :]

Thanks for taking the time to read! 

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What this blog is really about: my past with an eating disorder and what I do to fight it every day. I'm NEVER going to post about what I ate then or what I eat now. I'm NEVER going to post about the methods I used to hold off hunger just a little bit longer. Why? Because it's actually through some of the "recovery" blogs I found here on tumblr that I learned those methods. I would read their stories and the only part that would stick would be the parts about what they were eating or weren't eating (which was NOT enough-but their eating disorder told them they were doing a great job for eating at all) and I would compare my struggle with theirs. If I felt mine wasn't as bad, then my ways were just fine and I wasn't even "that" sick. An eating disorder is not all about food. It's about the voice inside of you telling you you're fat and ugly and useless and pathetic and weak and selfish and self centered and SO MANY THINGS. It's a mental illness and nothing less. Now to the picture! On the left- that's me finishing my 1st half marathon at the Atlanta Thanksgiving Half in 2011 or 12. I was so proud of myself because I was running and being "healthy"! Obviously, I was in denial. I had trained for months without taking in nutrition during any of my runs. How could I take in calories during such a huge calorie burn? No fucking way. Running had simply become a means to burn calories and be alone in my head. I was slowly retreating into myself, both mentally and physically. This is just the beginning of my story. I'll continue that down the road. On the right! That's me headed down the finisher's chute of my 2nd half ironman at Augusta 70.3 just last year (2015)! I feel so lucky to have made it out of my eating disorder and to now be able to cover 70.3 miles in one day! I never could have done that when I was sick. No way could my body have taken me that far. I had gained all of my weight back and that included a whole lot of muscle too! Thanks to all the amazing people I have in my life to show me love, I was able to see the light and find a love for myself that I never knew was possible. Learning to love myself has changed every aspect of my life. That's not an exaggeration. I feel more fulfilled than I ever have simply because I give my body the love and care it needs and deserves. My heart is so full and now my stomach always is too! Love yourself people. This is the only body and the only life we're ever going to get (unless you believe otherwise! That's cool too! But still...) and you shouldn't waste a single second hating it. It's an absolute waste of time! BE LOVE.

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Some of the coolest Tri babes around!

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My Parents' Colorful Child

Hello Internet!

My name is Cori James and this is my first blog! I’m excited to have a space where I can really tell my story and post about my journey battling an eating disorder and how the sport of triathlon helped me overcome. I’ll start by saying a little bit about myself. I’m a 25 year old tattoo artist living and working in Atlanta, GA. I absolutely love my job and I love being a heavily tattooed woman. I definitely have the tendency to stand out at triathlon events by not only being the most tattooed female, but also the most tattooed PERSON in the room/ at the race. When I first started triathlon I was actually very nervous about how people would take my appearance. It seemed like the majority of people I saw participating were wealthy caucasian men with very nice and expensive bikes! I was racing on a Quintana Roo I found on craigslist and talked the price down an extra hundred bucks when I met the gal selling it. Let’s just say I was a little intimidated. I was welcomed into the triathlon community with open and loving arms, of course. The Atlanta Triathlon Club has played such a huge part in my experience and has made me feel so welcomed. But honestly, people still give me the “side eye” and the “up down” stare at races. I’m ok with that. I chose to be heavily tattooed knowing there would still be judgey people in the world to cast me snotty looks. I like proving to those people that being tattooed doesn’t make you who you are. There are a lot of heavily tattooed people who like to stay out late binge drinking, doing drugs, acting like rockstars..or being actual rockstars, but that doesn’t mean we’re all that way.You can’t lump any group of people into a category and say they’re all the same, though. It’s 2016…we should all know this. I know tattooers and heavily tattooed people with happy families and stable careers. I don’t really drink (I DO LOVE BEER THOUGH) and I tend to be asleep by 11 (only because I don’t get off work until 9). The thing is- I’m a fierce competitor and I only know how to dive head first into the things I love. I am a dedicated triathlete who happens to have a not-so-average career. I love standing out and I hope that other heavily tattooed and well…not rich dudes (no offense to you guys at all-you just happen to be the majority and I think triathlon could use some diversity) feel inspired and decide to give triathlon a shot. I’ll start with this and continue my story in the next post!! If anyone actually reads this!