A 'Where do I Start' Update

Flagstaff, Phoenix, Frankfurt, Louisiana, Austin, Calgary. But I'll get to it.

I was 5th at IM Frankfurt, the European IM Championships. Next to Kona, the three regional champships are the highest ranking IM events on the circuit. The men pro, women pro, and age group mass start has been beat to death. But, it's an important one since it undoubtedly changed the outcome of the race. Kona, whether or not I am there, will likely show that.

What, you say? 5th at a regional and no Kona? Yes. It is a blog for another time. I set my season up with the goal of qualifying for Kona with 1 Ironman distance race after Kona 2013. I had an 11th at 70.3 Worlds 2013 and a less than stellar 17th at Kona 2013 going in to the start of the season 2014 season. A calf injury took me out of Galveston and hampered my St. George finish. I 'rallied' with a win in Raleigh. I knew a 5th or better and Frankfurt would put me close to qualifying. And, 5th I was in a solid field upping my KPR to 29th just 'safe' depending on what the other girls did.

Once I painstakingly combed through the KPR list, race starts, etc. I figured that I would NOT make the first cut of Kona if some of the girls lined up for their 3rd or even 4th IM of the season in the last 3 weeks of qualifying. Not feeling like racing another IM within 3 weeks of Frankfurt Paulo and I decided that I HAD to take a risk at Calgary. A good race, I just might make it. Good = win. Average race and I would likely not. I had an average at best race and finished 5th.

So, it is July 31. I am NOT racing Kona at this point. 35 women qualify, and after the first round of qualifiers I sit about 4 spots out of making it (there are some auto-qualifiers that I am not counting). My goal was to qualify for Kona not 'just' to get there but to race for a top finish and have my 'best' race at the World Championships. I have been 10th, 11th, and 17th as a professional at Kona. I set my season up for that and did almost what we thought it would take. I have an option with IM Mont Tremblant, for which I have registered, to make it in the 2nd round of qualifiers, but I am not sure I am going to exercise that option. Kona will have to wait if I do NOT race IM Mont Tremblant. Between now and the end of August the remaining 7 of 35 women slots are allocated. The men have 50 total, 40 being allocated now and the remaining 10 being allocated at the end of August.

Stay tuned!