This is my 29th year as a triathlete, and Ironman Wisconsin was my 28th Ironman event. It might just be one of my favorite venues too! I have struggled with my performances at Ironman since hitting menopause ~7 years ago, as my metabolism changed dramatically and my body no longer runs efficiently on fat-burning for fuel. Thank you Fuelin app and Precision for fixing that problem!!
My lead-up was not perfect…broken elbow and injured wrist 12-weeks pre-race from a mountain bike crash that healed beautifully and only limited my swimming for about a month. That, and my not so stellar knees with a non-displaced patellar fracture matching the one I had surgery for in my other knee 2 years ago that I was hoping would hold up through race day…and it did! I am fortunate to be in partial retirement, so was able to mostly follow my training program taking advantage of the long efforts on the bike while being a bit more conservative with the running (longest run – 19 miles and no other runs longer than ~12 miles).
The lead-up to the race using the Fuelin app was great. I for once did not overeat all week leading into the race and just overate when I was supposed to (the last 48 hours). I don’t think my body has ever felt so prepared on race day from a glycogen standpoint! The swim was awesome…I just found some feet and relaxed and was out of the water in 1:07 with limited effort…goal #1 accomplished! The bike has always been my strong suit and the work with Purple Patch crew in the Velocity sessions along with the nutrition piece (e.g. loads of carbs during big training) took me to a new level this year. The Ironman Wisconsin bike course is 100% a terrain management course, so that was my focus. I limited my efforts up the hills while carrying lots of speed into them and took advantage of getting back up to speed quickly after cresting each hill. I must have changed my gears hundreds of times on that bike course. The 3 “bitches” (e.g. hills) were awesome (even the second time around) with all of the great spectators and the nice change in terrain. I consumed my 100+ grams of carbs an hour along with 3g of sodium in fluids. My “perfect” day changed a bit around mile 100 of the bike as I started to feel some cramping in the legs. Fortunately, I had packed some salt on the bike and that carried me back to T2. My hopes for the bike were to start lap 1 of “the loop” conservatively, average at least 19mph (ended up with 19.2 avg), and get in my fueling as planned…goal #2 accomplished!! Outside of another hamstring seizure at the dismount line, my cramping issues were under control as I had plenty of salt with me in my run belt, most of which was gone by the finish line. Just starting the run, my husband let me know I was leading my age group, but there was someone in my age group just 1 minute behind out of T2. In my mind, I was hoping for a 20+ minute lead off the bike as my confidence in my run was low due to the unknowns of whether my knees would behave and my limited running mileage leading into the race. That said, I actually felt pretty good starting the run (again…the fueling was key!). I cruised along and with walking every single aid station to fuel and hydrate properly, I was holding a sub-9 minute pace. This really surprised me as I had not been running that fast in training and I was ecstatic to continue that pace through mile 9 of the run (outside of the pee break!). As I was starting to slow at mile 10, I heard the good news….the person 1 minute back was actually a guy, and the error was corrected on the tracker soon enough. I had a 50-minute lead on 2nd place and was running faster too! Whew! I could then relax, slow the pace a bit and ensure I could get to the finish injury free and with less body trauma from an all-out marathon effort. My reason for doing this race was to get that 2027 Kona slot as I will age aging up to the 60-64 age group next year and it will be my best opportunity for a 3rd Ironman World Championship age group win! I know my knees will limit me to 70.3 events in the future, so I’m hoping to go out with a bang in 2027! Final goal #3 (the Kona slot)…accomplished!! Grateful for my husband (who killed it the day before with a 3rd place AG podium at the Wisconsin 70.3!!) for his unwavering support and for the amazing people and volunteers of the city of Madison (and all of the visitors and 70.3 athletes out there cheering)! Also grateful to the Slowtwitch Goodlife Racing Team for their support and cool kits!
A Near Perfect Day at Ironman Wisconsin!!
Boulder 70.3 Race Report 2026
Leading into Boulder 70.3, my first triathlon of 2026, I’d been super consistent with training despite intermittent knee pain that I manage with PT exercises. I felt fit and ready on race day. A big change for 2026 was integrating the Fuelin app into my daily nutrition, big training days, and race day. I was able to bump my carb intake to about 100 g/hr on the bike and ~80 g/hr on the run, and I was excited to see how that would affect performance.
Swim The race used a rolling start and I seeded myself toward the front in the 30–33 minute group. I hadn’t touched my wetsuit since last fall and hadn’t done any open-water swims either—lesson #1: get in at least one or two OW swims before race day. The wind had picked up early, and the water was choppy, so I spent some of the swim getting water in my mouth and struggling to get comfortable. I wasn’t feeling great at the start and had to focus on strong exhales to manage my breathing. Once I settled, I found some non-challenging feet to follow and held a comfortable rhythm through the middle of the swim, then pushed harder in the last stretch. I exited the water in 33:52, 3rd in my AG.
The pavement in transition in Boulder is always painful…rough chip seal and sharp little pebbles to torture wimpy feet like mine, but T1 went smoothly and I even figured out my helmet strap clip pretty quickly (if you have a Rudy Project WingDream helmet…make sure to practice as the clip is NOT intuitive : ).
The 2-loop bike course in Boulder is very familiar for me as I have done this race 15ish times in the past and sometimes will train on these roads. It’s basically a solid subtle climb for the first 5 ish miles and then the fun begins with some rollers and usually tailwind followed by a faster downhill section into the flats (yesterday, with a nice tailwind). I felt really good on the bike and the fueling helped me feel strong right to the end of the bike. The winds felt favorable, but it turns out they weren’t, as my bike split was a bit slower than last year, despite putting out more watts and being a bit more aerodynamic. As the bike is my strong suit, I always go quite hard and let my competition chase me down on the run : ). Lesson #2…you are getting too old (59) to go that hard on the bike and still have a good run off! Bike 2:37:04 (2nd AG [by 4 sec]).
Coming into T2, I had some subtle signs of cramping in my legs…an unusual thing for me! I did have some salt in my run pouch, so reached for that early on and sadly, dropped a few of the salt pills while trying to get one out…more on that later. I had to pee but decided to start running anyway and hit a porta potty later if I needed to, which I didn’t. I only made it about ¼ mile when both legs completely seized up in cramps…mostly my vastus medialis muscles, but a little of the calves and rest of my quads too! It literally stopped me in my tracks! I grabbed more salt tabs and chewed them up and let them sit in my mouth and under my tongue while I stretched and attempted to walk a few steps forward. After about 2 minutes of seizing legs…all of my muscles magically relaxed and I went right back to running! Whew! I kept the salt tabs going every 2-3 miles just as a preventative, but was running low half way through the run. I remembered where I dropped some of my salt when starting my 2nd lap and found one of my salt tabs! I grabbed it from the pavement and popped it into my mouth (entertaining for spectators no doubt as I randomly grabbed a pill on the ground and ate it!). I had 2 left to get me through the last lap, which was perfect…cramp free running the rest of the way. I actually felt considerably better starting lap 2 and was able to pick up the pace a bit from miles 6-11. The wheels started to come off by mile 11 so I slowed down a bit and made my way to the finish line. Run 2:00:50. Finish time 5:19:57: Good for 2nd place in my AG!
Finish and takeaways Crossing the line felt great—fit, fueled, and grateful. The big takeaways for me:
Fueling matters: the Fuelin plan and practicing 100 g/hr on the bike, ~80 g/hr on the run made a tangible difference in how I felt across the day. No mid-race bonk, steady energy, and better run legs in the 2nd half of the run. Don’t get behind on electrolytes in your fueling plan too!
Swim prep: don’t skip open-water and wetsuit practice. Even if you’ve raced before, a couple sessions before race day make a huge difference in comfort and confidence.
Knee management works: consistent PT exercises and smart pacing/effort management kept my knee under control. Still worth keeping the strength work non-negotiable.
Race execution > sticking to practiced nutrition and pacing plans, especially on big days, keeps you in control even when conditions are rough.
Overall, a very solid day. This was my slowest Boulder 70.3, but I think that was more due to the chop in the water and wind on the bike than anything else. There is not much I would change outside of bumping up electrolyte intake on the bike. Volunteers were awesome as always….don’t forget to greet them always with a smile and a “thank you!”
New Zealand 70.3 Worlds Mini-Race Report
It all begins with an idea.
After perhaps one of the all-time best post-race vacations, it's time for a race report! First, thank you to everyone for the kind words and to my husband for his amazing support throughout this event (even though he should have also been racing - still recovering from shoulder surgery). The quick summary is....absolutely beautiful venue and course, fantastic crystal clear water with some great swimming feet to follow, gorgeous bike course where I went a bit harder than I should have purely out of enjoyment and feeling good, and a solid run that I am happy with considering my limitations this year with the patellar fracture (scheduled for surgery Jan 14th!). It was as good a race as my body had in me for the day, so I am very happy, even though I missed the podium by a few spots (7th AG of 167). The competition was fierce and was dominated by none other than my own fantastic coach, Michellie Jones!
Boulder 70.3 RR 2026
It all begins with an idea.
Leading into Boulder 70.3, my first triathlon of 2026, I’d been super consistent with training despite intermittent knee pain that I manage with PT exercises. I felt fit and ready on race day. A big change for 2026 was integrating the Fuelin app into my daily nutrition, big training days, and race day. I was able to bump my carb intake to about 100 g/hr on the bike and ~80 g/hr on the run, and I was excited to see how that would affect performance.
Swim The race used a rolling start and I seeded myself toward the front in the 30–33 minute group. I hadn’t touched my wetsuit since last fall and hadn’t done any open-water swims either—lesson #1: get in at least one or two OW swims before race day. The wind had picked up early, and the water was choppy, so I spent some of the swim getting water in my mouth and struggling to get comfortable. I wasn’t feeling great at the start and had to focus on strong exhales to manage my breathing. Once I settled, I found some non-challenging feet to follow and held a comfortable rhythm through the middle of the swim, then pushed harder in the last stretch. I exited the water in 33:52, 3rd in my AG.
The pavement in transition in Boulder is always painful…rough chip seal and sharp little pebbles to torture wimpy feet like mine, but T1 went smoothly and I even figured out my helmet strap clip pretty quickly (if you have a Rudy Project WingDream helmet…make sure to practice as the clip is NOT intuitive : ).
The 2-loop bike course in Boulder is very familiar for me as I have done this race 15ish times in the past and sometimes will train on these roads. It’s basically a solid subtle climb for the first 5 ish miles and then the fun begins with some rollers and usually tailwind followed by a faster downhill section into the flats (yesterday, with a nice tailwind). I felt really good on the bike and the fueling helped me feel strong right to the end of the bike. The winds felt favorable, but it turns out they weren’t, as my bike split was a bit slower than last year, despite putting out more watts and being a bit more aerodynamic. As the bike is my strong suit, I always go quite hard and let my competition chase me down on the run : ). Lesson #2…you are getting too old (59) to go that hard on the bike and still have a good run off! Bike 2:37:04 (2nd AG [by 4 sec]).
Coming into T2, I had some subtle signs of cramping in my legs…an unusual thing for me! I did have some salt in my run pouch, so reached for that early on and sadly, dropped a few of the salt pills while trying to get one out…more on that later. I had to pee but decided to start running anyway and hit a porta potty later if I needed to, which I didn’t. I only made it about ¼ mile when both legs completely seized up in cramps…mostly my vastus medialis muscles, but a little of the calves and rest of my quads too! It literally stopped me in my tracks! I grabbed more salt tabs and chewed them up and let them sit in my mouth and under my tongue while I stretched and attempted to walk a few steps forward. After about 2 minutes of seizing legs…all of my muscles magically relaxed and I went right back to running! Whew! I kept the salt tabs going every 2-3 miles just as a preventative, but was running low half way through the run. I remembered where I dropped some of my salt when starting my 2nd lap and found one of my salt tabs! I grabbed it from the pavement and popped it into my mouth (entertaining for spectators no doubt as I randomly grabbed a pill on the ground and ate it!). I had 2 left to get me through the last lap, which was perfect…cramp free running the rest of the way. I actually felt considerably better starting lap 2 and was able to pick up the pace a bit from miles 6-11. The wheels started to come off by mile 11 so I slowed down a bit and made my way to the finish line. Run 2:00:50. Finish time 5:19:57: Good for 2nd place in my AG!
Finish and takeaways Crossing the line felt great—fit, fueled, and grateful. The big takeaways for me:
Fueling matters: the Fuelin plan and practicing 100 g/hr on the bike, ~80 g/hr on the run made a tangible difference in how I felt across the day. No mid-race bonk, steady energy, and better run legs in the 2nd half of the run. Don’t get behind on electrolytes in your fueling plan too!
Swim prep: don’t skip open-water and wetsuit practice. Even if you’ve raced before, a couple sessions before race day make a huge difference in comfort and confidence.
Knee management works: consistent PT exercises and smart pacing/effort management kept my knee under control. Still worth keeping the strength work non-negotiable.
Race execution > sticking to practiced nutrition and pacing plans, especially on big days, keeps you in control even when conditions are rough.
Overall, a very solid day. This was my slowest Boulder 70.3, but I think that was more due to the chop in the water and wind on the bike than anything else. There is not much I would change outside of bumping up electrolyte intake on the bike. Volunteers were awesome as always….don’t forget to greet them always with a smile and a “thank you!”
Blog Post Title Four
It all begins with an idea.
It all begins with an idea. Maybe you want to launch a business. Maybe you want to turn a hobby into something more. Or maybe you have a creative project to share with the world. Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.
Don’t worry about sounding professional. Sound like you. There are over 1.5 billion websites out there, but your story is what’s going to separate this one from the rest. If you read the words back and don’t hear your own voice in your head, that’s a good sign you still have more work to do.
Be clear, be confident and don’t overthink it. The beauty of your story is that it’s going to continue to evolve and your site can evolve with it. Your goal should be to make it feel right for right now. Later will take care of itself. It always does.