After that weekend, mentally, I knew I could do the St. Armand had planned our mini-bike camp and I am forever grateful to him. But I did it! Just kept chugging along until I reached the top shocked that I had made it up. I never dreamed I’d be able to bike 5/6 miles straight up at a steady incline of 10%+ grades without tipping over. Alicia, our friend Armand, and I spent two days just climbing mountains on our tri bikes. My biggest breakthrough came with a weekend trip back to Chattanooga, TN. The summer was a rollercoaster of emotions for me- one minute I’d be excited about the race and the next I’d be nervous and scared and so tired. So many early mornings with dew points already hovering in the 70%s and so many hills. We got down to business and started training in the heat and humidity of a Tennessee summer. I was so excited! Not only did I now have a training partner, but it was one of my very best friends. I never really gave a thought to the swim course, but little did I know what was to come (cue ominous music…)Ī couple weeks after I found out that I qualified for Worlds my friend Alicia qualified. From miles 38-46 on a 56 mile ride, I was going to have to climb 1200+ feet with some pretty steep grades the final 5k or so up the mountain. There was a total of 3442 ft of elevation gain along the course which is a lot, but it was Snow Canyon State Park that really had me worried. It was bike course, though, that scared me the most. ![]() Not to mention the insanely steep downhill sections that leave your quads and toenails crying. The run course was a double loop with a 1293 foot elevation gain, most of it being in the first 3.5 miles which you had to do twice. Then I looked at the course… Ironman 70.3 Chattanooga But I decided that you never know, this might be my only chance to race in Worlds, so I signed up for the Ironman 70.3 World Championship in St. I was shocked and excited, but not quite sure if I should do it because I had another race, an Ironman 70.3 in Memphis, less than two weeks after Worlds. A couple days after completing the 70.3 in Chattanooga in May I received an email that I had qualified (they didn’t do anything in person due to COVID). ![]() A goal of mine has been to qualify for the Ironman 70.3 World Championship and this year it happened.
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