Moving on and moving UP!

Hello Kitty #Tri_ingWithHK watching the start and finish of the
professional women at the IRONMAN World Championships in Kona, Hawaii.

It has been nearly three weeks since I participated in IRONMAN 70.3 Augusta. There has not been any frustration about not finishing. Definitely disappointment, but no frustration. As the saying goes, "The show must go on!"

What does it mean for me to have the show go on? Well, I took about a week off from doing anything training related. There may have been a very short swim in the pool and a short run, but not much else. After that, I started adding more to the schedule.

The first thing I did...signup for a super sprint triathlon, TriSumter, in Sumter, South Carolina for this weekend, Oct. 21. It is a 300 yard pool swim, 16 mile bike ride and 3.1 mile run. Why did I sign up? It is something that I can finish and I need that. Well, I needed it more at the time I signed up than I do now, but it will be good. I will be driving two hours to race for less than two hours. This time math will make sense to runners, triathletes and anyone else who participates in races.

This is an easy part of the Hartness Half-Marathon.

The second thing we (yes, we) did was sign up for a new half-marathon relay. Merrill and I had been looking at a new half-marathon in Greenville, South Carolina. Hmm, there is a South Carolina theme going on. We have never done a relay and neither one of us was wanting to do a half-marathon. The description of the race said, "Cross-country style run." If running through fields, on double track and single track trails is the meaning of cross-country style then it lived up to its description. The Hartness Half was two loops of that "fun". Merrill and I were exhausted afterwards, but it was really a lot of fun to get out there and do something like this together. I did not take Hello Kitty with me and this will probably be the only time I will say, "THANK GOODNESS!"

What else have I been up to? It is ambassador application time. That means companies are accepting applications to be ambassadors for their products and even some companies have racing teams that you can apply to join. While this can be a disappointing time of year, it can also be a fun time of the year. That happened to me last week. I was accepted to be a member of the Team Revinylize for Bicycle Makeover. This is the first time they are having a team and it would be truly exciting to be a part of this! It is a really cool company that will completely redo the look of your bike. It's not a paint job as Triathlete Magazine tried saying, but a vinyl wrap. It is similar to what is done to race car. I could get a custom wrap that would promote Tri-ing by 50 in the most cool way! Check them out! I will also be applying to be a member of Team INFINIT Nutrition. They are creating their first age-group team. INFINIT is a product I use and believe in for hydration and nutrition on the course. The powder, which is added to water for a drink, is customized for each athlete. So, for me with Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia I can have enough sodium and electrolytes to get me through a race.

Unfortunately, there is a cost to being a part of these teams. It is generally to cover the cost of the team uniform. These costs range between $200-300. After that there are discounts for products and the overall camaraderie and teamwork that comes from being a part of a team. That makes it all worth it. As a low-budget, independent person who is working to bring awareness and hope about CAH these cost are very prohibitive.

If there is any way that you could help with this, I would truly appreciate it. Throughout the year I will be needing some help with training, equipment, race entries and travel. I am expanding my request to explain that doing this is not just for triathlons, but to expand my ability to bring Tri-ing By 50 to people in a variety of forms: visiting conventions and conferences; motivational speaking; website, and any other way that brings hope, advocates and builds awareness for CAH.

To help, please visit my Go Fund Me page at gofundme.com/help-triing-by-50-spread-the-word. Please share this with anyone that may have the opportunity to help. Any amount would be appreciated.

Thank you, as always, for reading!