Week 12...what a week!

As I think about the most exciting weeks I've had in the sport of triathlon including earning my pro license in 2009 by winning the Longhorn 70.3 amateur race, a 6th place finish at Racine 70.3 in 2011, Ironman Arizona in 2011, and winning Beach 2 Battleship full Ironman distance last fall...this past week falls right into that category...and I didn't even race.  It had nothing to do with the 47 miles running, 140 miles biking, or 2,400 yards swimming.  I was pretty excited about a 5x3 minute bike interval workout I did this week averaging 340 watts on the hard periods after hitting 298, 305, and 307 earlier in the month.  I was surprised by the big jump in power although I could tell I had really good legs when I began the workout.  The thing that made this week so exciting was the record-setting week of iHope Foundation contributions.  I met this week with the iHope Foundation board and we are going to be able to award 2 more iPads and $1,000.00 scholarships this week!  We are up to 10 iHope business sponsorships thanks to the following businesses helping with the foundation this past week.

Wallaces Garden Center located in Bettendorf and Davenport is a Platinum level supporter

Green Buick GMC located in Davenport, IA is a Platinum level supporter for the 2nd year in a row!

Online Freight Services is a Bronze level supporter and a 2 year supporter of the iHope Foundation

Tri-City Blacktop is a 1st year iHope Foundation supporter with a Silver level support so I'm thrilled to have them on my jersey in 2014!

UnityPoint Clinic surgeon Dr. Andrew Stevenson is a 2nd year iHope supporter and very thankful to have Silver level support!

First Central State Bank located in Eldridge, DeWitt, Le Claire, and Long Grove is a 2 year iHope Bronze level supporter!

Schebler Co. is a 2 year iHope supporter and I am thrilled to add them to my race jersey as a Silver level supporter!

I have included more on these businesses under the iHope business sponsorship page.  I am grateful for their support of this foundation as well as proud and excited to represent them this year while I race!  I will be sending the jersey off to be created in the Kiwami Triathlon lab in 1 week.  Silver and Gold level sponsorship will include business logo on the 2014 jersey.  I have had business sticker logos made for bronze level sponsorships and up.  I hope to fill the helmet up this year and have room on the disc wheel.  Also, outside of businesses we had very generous support from Nick and Jessica Ludwig (2 years in a row!) and Creston Fenn this week.  Thank you all so much for the support of this foundation.  I cannot express how excited I am about the great things we are able to do through this foundation.  With 10 business sponsorships we are not just 5 away from the goal I set out to hit this year for the iHope Foundation regarding business sponsorships.  My own goal is to earn $2,000.00 for the foundation through racing.  If you would like to make a tax-deductible contribtuion you can click here 

This upcoming weekend I will begin my season with the first of three races that make up the Scheels Duathlon series.  Jen is also racing the series this year so it excites me that we will be able to race together.  Fitness-wise I'm where I would have hoped going into the first race although I had hoped to be a few pounds lighter.  I'm working hard to reach that goal by June when I will race 4 times in 16 days. I'd also like to announce I'll be putting on a free triathlon transition clinic again this year hosted by Healthy Habits on the morning of May 31st.  I just confirmed this today and we have not set a time yet but I would expect around 8:00 AM with a bike ride to follow for anyone interested.  The clinic will focus on transitions but will also include tips and experiences I can share.  Last year we had 37 brave people in attendance...I say brave because it rained the entire time and we did not have a big enough tent to keep everyone dry.  There will be GU Energy products for all who attend as well as some door prizes to be given away.  I'll have more details and nail down a time in the coming weeks.  Thanks for reading.  Check back next week to see how the 2014 race debut went.  Last year I raced the 2.5 mile run, 18 mile bike, and 5k run in 1:18:26.  My goal is to be 2 minutes faster this year.  Thanks for reading.  DREAM BIG!!