Winter/Spring 2014 season wrap up for Jen

With my first Iron distance race 5 weeks away in Atlantic City, I wanted to get down on paper a few of the bigger things I have been up to in this early season training block. Originally I was going to do IM Cabo but when we could not commit to the trip in early February due to work conflicts, the decision was made to work on early season speed with a lot of shorter races.
In addition to a new race schedule, I got a new bike and DI2 shifters thanks in part to Open Road Jax Beach

Somehow I always ride/ train with men that are a lot stronger then me on the bike which has forced me to get a lot better in the past 2 years. Although I did not learn to ride a bike until I was 26, I am now accustom to and EXPECT to have one of the top amateur female bike splits. With my new Specialized  this has been a constant this season.

Lane and I have also been working on computrainers for 90% of our rides and I am sure that is why we were able to go from Jacksonville to Ashville to ride no problem with 6,000 plus feet of climb in 70 miles.

I started my tri season at the Florida Challenge Half Iron coming in 3rd place. This was an extremely disappointing race for me as I had a lot of family issues going on and could care less about racing. I had no fight in me and cruised in at a fairly under preforming 5 hours.

I spent the next week trying to get my head right, just staring at the black line at the bottom of the pool for what seemed like a million yards. By HITS Ocala  6 days later, I was not ready to dive back into a half so I opted for the Olympic distance. I had never raced an Olympic but a last minute switch was just what my brain and body needed. I came in 3rd overall again but this time clocking my best ever 10k time of 40:08

2 weeks later found me at the start of Haines City 70.3. This time I had zero race nerves going in and felt great all of the swim and bike. I had been doing a lot of work on my swim so I was expecting better results then 16 or so down out of the water but most of us were all with in a minute or so of each other. There were a  lot of the girls in my AG that I had raced before so it was comical that once again I found myself chasing them down. It is to a point now that I know what most of them look like from behind on a bike from a long way away. As much fun and as hard as I pushed on the bike, I paid for it on the run. I had to walk all the aid stations but still came out on top with an AG win in a Ironman brand 70.3 and a PR of 4:47:40. This was the first race that Lane and Scott were not yelling splits at me on each run loop so I knew I was winning or I was so far behind that I did not have a shot. Luckily it was the former.

From there, I took a much needed recovery week before getting onto the build for Challenge Atlantic City. I made a last minute decision to race at Gulf Coast 1/2 Iron May 10th to test out my open water swim abilities. Unfortunately for the first time in the race's 20 year history, the swim was cancelled due to rip currents. That left me with the goal of seeing how well I could bike if I was completely alone.  Normally female riders can pace off of the males in most races. Due to the wave start of this one, I knew I would be completely on my own and was interested to see how I could do  against the less then ideal weather and winds. Although it was not my fastest 56 mile ride, it was pretty close and was the best power file I ever produced in a race. I biked my way to 2nd over all. 1st was to far ahead to catch and 3rd was a ways off so I was able to cruise very comfortably to a podium spot.

So that is my early 2014 season in a quick recap. While it looks like only a few months, in reality it is the culmination of YEARS of hard work and never giving up on dreams. Add to that a little luck, people who believe in me, a community that always wants me to succeed and my own high expectations. I am looking forward to Challenge next month and Kona in Oct!