On Saturday, I won my final Armed Forces Triathlon Championship (AFTC), for the third year in a row.  To go out victorious in my final year of competing at AFTC--after not making the US Air Force Triathlon Team in 2007, after flatting at this race in 2008 and 2009--gives me goosebumps.  Believe in what you want to achieve, then work hard for it.  Anything is possible!  Results are HERE...I finished in 1:59:54!!  The Air Force women swept the podium for the second year in a row, and our men held their own as well, finishing second to the Navy!  I have a gut feeling the team will carry on just fine without me next year, keeping the winning streak alive!

The 2012 United States Air Force Triathlon Team

     Three weeks ago I severely depleted the nutrients in my body and passed out 150 meters from the finish line at the Dallas ITU Pan American Cup event.  As a result, I cancelled Escape from Alcatraz, and training between Dallas and AFTC presented many challenges.  Swims were the worst, runs were slightly better, and the cycling was okay.  Last Monday I could not swim 200 meters at a hard effort.  I was routinely unable to complete swim workouts and often had to scoot over a lane to swim slower.  On runs, if Siri and I didn’t carefully monitor the effort, I would begin having shortness of breath, breathing would become difficult, and it felt like I was suffocating.  This resulted in loud breathing as I gasped for air, until I could relax enough to resume normal breathing.

     Friday morning Siri and I talked.  She reassured me of a few things, and I let go of the concerns in my head.  I had no firm pre-race strategy.  I needed to see how my body would handle a hard effort, compare this to other athletes’ fitness, and race smartly from that point forward.  It took a while for everything to get sorted out after the swim start.  But, mid-way through the first lap (of 2), I found myself in a better position than expected--I expected to be with a group of other swimmers.  Instead, I was ahead of the main field, with only 1 person to chase down.  A Marine had 12 seconds on me after the first lap.  Normally, I would have made an aggressive move to bridge up to her.  But, I decided to be patient and race smartly.  So, I maintained my current effort level, and came out of the water in second place.  Thanks to a quick transition, I was first onto the bike course.

     2 miles into the bike I looked back to see if the Marine was close because it would have been awesome to work together, especially with the wind on the course.  However, she was nowhere in sight, so I pressed on with my race.  I decided to bike as hard as my body would let me.  This would give me a larger buffer on the run incase I pushed to the point where I needed to stop running to regain regular breathing, like what had happened in training.  I knew from training that it would take at least 1 minute of no running to resume normal breathing.  On the bike, I began passing guys and knew from splits that I was making time up on the other women, creating the exact buffer I may have needed.

     I arrived at the second transition and headed off for the 10k run with a convincing lead.  The absolute highlight of the run was seeing my roommate, Jolene Wilkinson, and fellow 2007 USAFA grad, Stephanie (Hirst) Mitchell, in 2nd and 3rd, respectively.  The Air Force was having a great day!  My body (mainly my lungs) wouldn’t let me push much more than 90% effort on the run.  Mentally, I could have forced a harder pace, but I knew not to do this because I have a massive training block ahead of me after I take some time off to fully recover from Dallas. 

Thanks to the support crew who came from Los Angeles (Richard, Elisa, Siri, Coach Calvin) and to my parents!  I couldn’t do this without all of you!

     I’ll miss competing at this event and racing for the Air Force and the US Military!  However, I’ve prayed and thought a lot about my decision to focus on the Olympics.  This is where my heart lies at this point in my life, and I’m ready for the journey ahead!!  I qualified for the World Military Championships in Switzerland in August.  However, due to the timing of my separation from the Air Force, I will be unable to go.  I felt so happy to know my spot would go to a Marine.  From my own 6-week experience of Marine Corps OCS in Quantico, Virginia, I know Marines work super hard, and she deserves to go!!

     All smiles here as I officially end my time in the military and continue on the quest to represent the USA in a different capacity!!  A HUGE thanks to my family, friends, sponsors, and all who have genuinely taken an interest in making a dream come true!