Chattanooga 70.3 2022 Bike & Run

Bike 

56 miles, 2:53:59, 26/106^th AG
 
I’ve spent a lot more of this training cycle riding based on feel. I haven’t done a power test in a long time, but I had a good idea of what my FTP was and would do intervals around that number while taking into account perceived effort and heart rate. I took the same approach for race day. I had a general power range I wanted to start in and a cap I didn’t want to go over with the exception of a few hills and passing people. Otherwise, I wanted to ride fairly steady, check in with myself often, keep an eye on heart rate and ride using my best asset, my brain. Years of racing and coaching would tell me more than numbers on my bike computer.

The first few (and last) miles of the bike course are the least appealing going through town. My legs felt snappy but I kept the cork in the bottle and didn’t make the mistake so many people make of starting out too hard. I was worried with so many athletes that the course would feel congested. It was during those early and later miles, but majority of the course wasn’t as bad as I was expecting. I was happy I didn’t see any blatant drafting.
 
Once we got out of town, I settled in to a steady effort. Steady being the theme of this race. I waited about 5-10 minutes before drinking OSMO to make sure my stomach was in good shape from the swim. About 15-20 minutes into the ride, I started eating bars. I’m a fan of hydration in my bottle, fuel in my pockets. I tried to time my eating and drinking with uphills as much as possible since I would already be sitting up. I find I swallow more air when I’m in aero position. Any time I felt like I had to burp, which was often, I immediately sat up for a few seconds then got back into aero. I took a Gas-X half way into the ride as a precaution to break up any air in my system. Aside from swallowing air, I can handle a lot of calories and fluid. However, I decided to stop eating earlier in the ride than I normally would since I didn’t want to push it. I also knew with it being a warmer day that my stomach would have a harder time digesting, especially once I got to the run. I still managed to eat about 850 calories. Unfortunately, I did not do as good of a job staying on top of hydration. For a warmer day, I normally drink at a minimum 1 bottle an hour, pressing up to 32oz an hour if it’s really hot. While racing I drank a little over 2.5 bottles. Not horrible, but I should have drank more.

Normally I try to increase power during the second half of the ride. However, it didn’t seem like the smart decision. My legs felt good but I knew I had a hard run ahead of me and I could tell it was starting to warm up. Instead, I held strong with the steady game and was conservative with my effort. There have been races where I’ve chased times or placements but that was not what I was looking for that day.
 
To me it was a fast course. There were some head and cross winds but nothing bad. It has 2,200ft elevation gain but it was mostly rollers, nothing too difficult. There was one punchy, but short hill halfway through on Andrews. Unfortunately, I saw some people on the side of the road and people walking their bike. People tend to not downshift in preparation of the hill and end up dropping their chain. I saw a ton of bottles on the course that were ejected from bikes on bumps or simply dropped. One dropped right in front of me which I missed by probably an inch from riding over.

The back half of the ride had some smooth downhills and a fast return into town on the highway. This is when I could tell people were starting to fade, while I still felt good and was passing more people. The last few miles got congested again and there was a lot of soft pedaling trying not to draft and get around people. Even though I didn’t feel like I had to, I made myself pee a bit so I wouldn’t have to stop on the run.
 
Since I didn’t have a time goal, I told my family 3 hours +/- 20 minutes and if it’s closer to +20 minutes, something went wrong. I happily rolled in under 3 hours feeling strong and ready to run! More importantly, my stomach felt great!
 

T2 

3:35
 
I had my running shoes and socks inside a bag, easy to pull out, in case it rained. Which it did not. I quickly transitioned my gear and a few steps in the run I looked down at my shoes to make sure they were on the right feet since they felt weird. Which they were.
 
Run 

13.1 miles, 2:04:51, 33^rd/106^th AG
 
The run started with an awkward little out and back, down to the river, back up, then continuing up the highway for the two loops. It gave me the opportunity to see my family twice before heading out. Every time I saw my family I wanted to be smiling, actually running and looking strong. I did not want a repeat of the last Ironman they spectated where I was falling apart on the run. Luckily for them, unlike that Ironman and the 70.3 before that, it didn’t rain on them at all. The rain forecast got pushed out until late afternoon. Good for them, not so much for me.

 
This run had the three H’s: hills, heat and humidity. None of which my body enjoys. I enjoy running hills but if I run them too much it gives me lower leg issues from being on the balls of my feet so much and then knee issues from the downhills. Oh my special, skeletally twisted body. Although it wasn’t HOT, it was very warm and humid. You’d think after living in South Carolina for over a decade I’d be used to warmer weather and a lifetime of humidity, but sadly my body still doesn’t handle it well.
 
I felt good in the beginning of the run and I kept telling myself to hold back. But the first two miles came at 9:12 and I knew I was going a bit too fast for the conditions and terrain. My plan was to walk aid stations when I needed fluids and use some of the hills as resets when my form started deteriorating. I carried a throw away bottle of OSMO (thanks to my husband’s duct tape skills to create a handle) and chews. I started slowly sipping on my bottle which took me almost 9 miles to finish. I ate half a bag of chews starting around 15 minutes into the run and every 30 minutes afterwards.

 
My main focus was trying to keep myself cool. I overheat very easily and am a heavy sweater. At aid stations I would maybe take a sip of water and then dump the rest on my hat. A few times, I tried to dump ice in my hat but it mostly ended up on the ground or stuck between my face and sunglasses. Then I resorted to the typical ice down the shirt approach. Occasionally I would unzip my top a bit to grab some ice to chew on or hold in my hands. A skipped the first aid station but pretty much every other time I passed one I grabbed at least one cup of water and/or ice.
 
With the exception of brief walks at aid stations to grab cups, I didn’t walk until I hit a steep hill around mile 5 which I always assumed I’d walk a portion of. It was around the only part of town I walked during the end of my half marathon last year. It didn’t seem worth the extra energy expenditure to slow jog myself up it rather than try to recover my form a bit. That mile was 10:16 but then I got back to work and my miles all were in the 9s again. I took advantage of the downhills running in the 8s and said sorry to my knees.

 
We ran over Veterans Bridge then back across on Walnut bridge which is for pedestrians only. I knew I’d see my family so I decided to walk a tiny bit of the uphill so I’d look fresher running when I passed them. Mentally I was in a good place and just so happy to be racing again. My family spread out across different points on the bridge so I got a few mental bumps of energy. I heard someone yell my name at one point but had no idea where it came from. Afterwards I found out it was my sister and her family who were able to spectate for a short bit. I was bummed I didn’t see them but appreciated them coming.
 

Then it was back out for loop two. On two loop courses I normally look at the arrow pointing towards the finish with longing while I begrudgingly drag myself towards the 2^nd lap arrow. I didn’t feel that way this time. Sure, I was starting to really feel it and was fading but I was ready to take on the last part of the race. At this point it had been a few miles with almost no shade so I was looking forward to eventually getting to the path where I could get a short break from the sun. I was really starting to warm up. The ice was melting quickly but nothing was evaporating. My shoes were soaked and my feet were not happy about it. The water dumped on my head would always feel amazing but that feeling was fleeting. More and more people were starting to walk and I could tell I was spending a bit longer walking at each aid station.
 

 
By the time I hit the biggest hill on the second lap I was really starting to feel the fatigue in my legs. I walked that hill for longer than intended which made for my slowest mile by far at 11:05. It’s easy to give into walking, it feels so good after all. But I had a race to finish so I pulled my pace back into the 9s and then into the 8s by the end. By the last two aid stations I decided, having finished my bottle of OSMO, that it was time for Coke. And I forgot how absolutely amazing cold Coke tastes towards the end of a race. I wanted to chug the whole cup and mostly did.

 
When I hit Walnut bridge again, I told myself one last little walk so I could finish strong. I started thinking of when I ran on that bridge a few months ago with my group of friends, the last time we were all together. I thought about my mom and wondered if she would have been proud of me and if she ever would have done that sprint triathlon we talked about. I thought about how thankful I was to be able to race again and have a loving, supportive family cheering me on. All those positive feeling gave me a little bump of energy all the way to the finish line.

 
Overall – 70.3 miles, 5:39:30, 21/106^th AG
 
It was a happy race. It was everything I wanted out of the day. I’d like to think I have a new perspective on training and racing, that I’ve grown as an athlete. I didn’t try to race hard or to the best of my abilities. I raced in a way that kept me happy the entire time. I dug in when I needed to and I made mostly smart decisions. And I genuinely smiled often.

While the time on the clock wasn’t my primary focus, of course it did play a part in the day. This is my first season back to racing while being self-coached. It was my first big race after a less than ideal time frame to train for it. Yet it was PR for overall time, swim and bike, with a second fastest run time for a 70.3. I am proud of how I raced. Some might look at my times and expect more out of me, especially as a coach. I am not genetically gifted in any way. I was gifted with some body issues I’ve had to learn to work around. I did not grow up swimming competitively or running on the track team. I am your average person who had no endurance background and fell in love with this sport. I’ve worked my ass off for many years to get to where I am and I know there is more in me, as long as I continue to train smart. Maybe one day I’ll want to get back to chasing numbers, but for now I’m happy with my approach to racing.
 

A huge thank you to everyone who supported me on the day and through this journey. My in-laws who have seen me race almost as often as my husband, who take lots of photos and deal with my crazy dog. My dad who had always told me how proud he is of me. My dog who developed anxiety issues from COVID lockdowns (I’m not joking) and is a ball of annoying stress while I race. And especially my husband who supports me in every way possible, who makes all of this possible and who puts up with my triathlete lifestyle. If you or your spouse is a triathlete, you know what I mean. I hope everyone else had a wonderful race and that there are many more to come!

 

Chattanooga 70.3 2022 Pre-Race & Swim

I primarily signed up for Chattanooga 70.3 since some of my family recently moved to the area. I’ll take free housing and race support whenever I can get it! This enabled me to travel to Tennessee on Thursday and spend a few days nestled on Signal Mountain, away from the hustle and bustle of thousands of triathletes getting ready to race.
 

My husband and dog (the most stressed family member on race day) traveled with me and my in-laws joined on Friday, all staying at my dad’s house. On Friday I got to spend some time with my sister and get in some training before they arrived. I was thankful for my mother-in-law who made herself at home in the kitchen and cooked us dinner (along with other meals over the weekend) so I could enjoy a rare day off from cooking. The rest of the evening we enjoyed time outside at the new pool, taking in the views and warm weather.
 
Saturday morning, I hopped on the trainer first thing. It might seem strange to do a trainer ride right before I race but I have my reasons. One, I’d ridden the entire bike course a few weeks earlier so I didn’t need to scope out the course again. Two, my dads house is almost at the top of a mountain but not on the top. Meaning the beginning of my rides from his house are often the highest heart rate of the entire ride and I didn’t want to ride that hard the day before a race. Three, I still have PTSD from my bike crash four days before Ironman New Zealand which resulted in a pelvic stress fracture and torn muscles (unknown at the time) and a race DNF. So, trainer it was. I made the mistake of thinking it would be nice to set up the trainer on the back deck and watch the sunrise. I couldn’t figure out how to get the fan working so instead sweated it out. This was not ideal the day before a race where I’d be sweating buckets.

 

 
I decided the best way to quickly cool down was to jump into the pool. What better way to jump into a pool than a cannonball?! Except I jumped into the middle of the pool. Which was not the deep end. The outside of my foot hit the bottom, ankle twisted, then knee hit the bottom, resulting in my knee bleeding. My husband and dad shook their heads in the this-is-so-typical-of-you-pre-race way. Luckily my knee hit below the patella so I wasn’t too worried about it.
 
After breakfast, I went to the community pool and swam in as straight of a line as I could for a non-lap swimming pool. Then I cleaned up and headed to downtown Chattanooga to wait in a long line for athlete check in. I thought since we had to sign up for a check-in time that it wouldn’t be too crowded but Athlete Village was very busy. After baking in the line for a while, I got checked in and was able to check in my bike immediately. I bought my usual shirt with the finishers names on the back and was informed that I needed to look for the correct shirt since they had to make two different shirts (A-K and L-Z) to fit all the participant names. Over 4000 people signed up, although not everyone did the race.

 

I spent the remainder of the day trying to relax, finish prepping for the race and cooking potato, white rice, and tofu with tomatoes for dinner (low fiber). I drank some Pre-Load in preparation for the warm weather and humidity. The two big topics among racers were about the possible water temperature and weather conditions on race day. Leading up to the race, it had been hot with no rain so the river water was warm with a slower flow. People were concerned it wouldn’t be wetsuit legal but I’m a strong enough swimmer that I didn’t care either way. The weather forecast all week had changed multiple times, showing 90s, then 70s, then 80s, rain, no rain, thunderstorms. As it does for EVERY race which is why I tell athletes not to stress about it 10 days out from a race. Or even 5 days or 2 days. I went to bed Saturday night with the weather app showing 50%+ chance of thunderstorms all day and really was not worried about it at all. Sure enough, I woke up race morning and the chance of rain had pushed out to the afternoon, around when I’d be running.
 
I woke up at 3:30 since I wanted to be out of the house by 5 and don’t like to be rushed. I wanted time to drink some coffee, poop, eat oats with some peanut butter and banana, poop again and do some mobility work. I also take quick showers before big races which seems odd but I like to start the day feeling fresh. I also have not developed the skill to braid my own hair (despite it being a joke New Year’s resolution from probably 2019) so my hair cooperates best when it’s wet and in a low bun. I saw a sign on the kitchen table from my sister and her daughters. I was informed it was made from all my mom’s old craft supplies which then made me slightly emotional the rest of the morning. As I told my dad later in the morning, I always think about my mom while racing.
 
Then it was off to the race! Except a few minutes into the drive, I realized I forgot all the bottles in the fridge so after a quick backtrack, THEN it was off to the race! Following the usual race setup and activities, I said goodbye to my family and loaded a bus to swim start. I kept sipping on my bottle of OSMO and eventually ate a few chews. I started lathering on sunscreen in hopes it wouldn’t all wash off inside my wetsuit. I got into my wetsuit too early which led to me spending almost 40 minutes sweating in it but I wanted it all zipped up and ready to go before trying to make me way through the herd of people. I ran into a bunch of people I knew along the way and it was nice seeing so many familiar faces at such a large race. Unfortunately, I waited too long to make my way there and I could only wiggle my way so far into the crowd before I accepted my place. It took over 30 minutes before I made it through the rowing house and onto the floating dock. They had us quickly get into lines and jump off, four at a time every five seconds. Ready, steady, go.
 
Swim 

1.4 miles, 32:07, 16/106 AG
 
I had a few simple goals for this race. I generally do not have time goals since it doesn’t help me on race day. My time will be whatever it will be and all I can do is focus on my effort and my plan. My primary goal: be happy and have fun! This was my first big race back and that’s all I really wanted out of the day.
 
Goal two: avoid stomach issues. In a few races, including my last Ironman, I’ve had stomach issues. Not from the usual eating/drinking too much/too little and I’ve never thrown up or had diarrhea. No, my issue is when I do eat and drink, I swallow a lot of air. Seriously, I feel like I don’t even know how to drink water sitting down without burping any more. I’m not really sure what basic human function I forgot but it can be a real problem on race day, especially since I’m eating/drinking while breathing heavier and in awkward body positions. It causes a lot of air to be trapped in my stomach and then I can’t digest anything. My stomach literally bulges out and it causes a lot of pain. Sometimes to the point where I can barely stand upright, let alone walk or run. I also seem to swallow air when I swim really hard (I’m sorry to anyone who has heard me trying to discreetly burp at the pool wall) and when I’m really hungry (maybe I think air will make me feel full?). So, I really wanted to avoid any of those issues during this race. Those were the only two things I wanted out of the race. By happy and no stomach issues. I went in with no expectations.

 

My plan was to swim a steady moderate-to-strong effort and not fade. I tend to fade towards the end of 70.3 and Ironman swims so pacing was the name of the game. I also didn’t want to swim too hard and risk swallowing air while breathing heavy.  I had no idea what time to tell my family to start looking for me. The swim was point-to-point, downstream, but not a strong current, wetsuit legal and 1.4 miles instead of the normal 1.2 miles. I told them maybe 35 minutes but I really didn’t know. Based on most people’s swim times, the longer swim minus the water current helped balanced out the times compared to “normal” 70.3s. The swim was pretty much a straight line which made sighting easy. Given people lined up however they wanted to, it was a mixture of abilities around me but generally I felt like I was moving through the crowd. I never pushed the pace. I only picked up my effort a few times here or there to not get pinched between two swimmers I was passing. The water temperature was a bit warm for a wetsuit so I took the time to pull it away from my neck twice to let cold water in, especially after sweating in it beforehand.

 

The swim overall was pretty uneventful. I felt like I was back in the racing game, and it made me happy. I decided to wear a watch out of curiosity and since I knew I wouldn’t cast any judgement based on the times. I took a peek underwater every time I felt the buzz of 500y and was holding very steady splits. I didn’t feel like the water was too crowded other than near the bridge pillars and at the end. I got to the steps, fumbled a little to find the bottom step and hauled myself back onto land. I started peeling off my wetsuit and took advantage of the wetsuit strippers. For some reason I find it fun throwing myself onto the ground and having the wetsuit ripped off me in one fast yank versus trying to get it off myself. Then I was off, running up ramps and all around trying to make my way to the transition area and to my bike. 

 

T1 

5:01 

The transition area was large and I was very fortunate that my bike was racked close to the bike in and bike out. As always, I know I have room to improve on transition but the two sprint races recently refreshed me on transitioning. Generally, I felt I moved through the transition phases of the races well. I noticed while putting my cycling shoes on that my ankle was bleeding a bit and still have no idea where I got that small cut.

Ready, Steady, Go

As I sit here, looking down the mountain at Chattanooga where I’ll be racing in two days, I can’t help but reflect how fortunate I am. I have many things to be thankful for which I will not list out. But since this is primarily a triathlon blog, I will say how lucky I am that soon I get to toe the line of a 70.3.
 
Many people don’t understand triathletes, especially those of us who do longer distance races. We are an interesting bunch to say the least. We spend hours every day pushing our bodies, trying to find our limits, all so we can spend a bunch of money for one day to see what we are made of. Racing is pain. Racing is happiness, nervousness, excitement and fear all wrapped in one. Racing is challenging yourself in so many ways you never get to experience in day-to-day life. And it is one of the most incredible experiences you can have. As they say, if you know, you know.
 

I stepped back from the sport for a while. I had to figure out issues with my body and with my mind. I was still working out but not “training”. I stopped riding for a while because every time I did my body would throw a wrench at me. I experimented with adding in other training to mix it up like rowing, kickboxing and got back into a little yoga. Triathlon training has seemingly endless lessons about your body but trying out different modalities of moving my body taught me even more. I worked on my brain and determined life changes I needed to make outside of the world of triathlons. As I got myself to a better place overall, I naturally found myself back to the world of triathlons. My home. My soul.
 
This is my first season really back into normal triathlon racing. Last year I did running races and slowly got back into riding, although almost exclusively on my road bike. I had to take several weeks off from all training at the beginning of the year (no, I was not injured) which was immediately followed by a week off from COVID. After four weeks off, I was itching to get into real training and finally for a race.
 
Training during the past four months has been steady and I’ve been patient with where my fitness level is (or is lacking I should say). I was telling my husband the other day that I am probably 5-10 seconds slower for swimming pace, 10-15W lower for riding and who the hell knows with running. He told me not to compare. But I wasn’t, not in the judgmental type of way where I could be putting myself down for not being as fit as I once was. I am totally fine and even happy with my current fitness level given the training time I’ve had leading up to now.

Here’s the thing: no one cares how fast or fit you are. Only you do. Your friends and family do not care what your race time is or what your functional threshold power is. Only you do. (And hopefully your coach if you have one.) Anyone who is important to you in your life should only care about one thing: that you are happy. You decide what makes you happy. If you decide to be unhappy and mentally destroyed because you didn’t PR in a race or get on the podium, that’s on you. You are choosing to wrap your happiness in a number on the clock or placement against other random people. There was a time I cared too much about the numbers but I finally realized it doesn’t actually matter. All that matters is that I get to do what I love, to the best of my ability. What I love, is toeing the line happy and healthy, getting to swim, ride and run with hundreds or thousands of other crazy strangers who are also looking to push their body and find a better version of themselves. That’s my true joy. And I am so thankful I get to do it again in two days.
 
While this is my first big race of the season, I did dip my toes back into the triathlon waters with two sprints earlier this spring. In the past I put too much emphasis on the big races and didn’t do as many local races. I’m looking forward to spending more time racing in my local community this year and getting back to the roots that got me into the sport.
 

In April, I raced Andy’s Race which I haven’t raced in several years. I’ve done cold races but this was a new level for me for a triathlon. It was around 34F which is fine when you are dry and properly layered. A very different story when you have to get out of the pool and ride wet. Pool swims are always interesting since people never properly provide estimated swim times that determine the order you start. As always, I was behind someone swimming slower than I wanted. I debated a few times about really hammering it to try and get around him but, in the end, I decided I didn’t care enough. I was just happy to be back into racing!
 
I might have mumbled a few swear words when I ran outside wet into the cold air. I took the time to dry off as best as I could, put on socks, a headband for my ears, a shirt and a cycling jacket, all of which I would normally never do. It made for the slowest transition time I’ve ever had in a sprint triathlon but it was worth it. Unfortunately, my big mistake of the race was setting my gloves on top of my running shoes. I didn’t see them and was about 10 seconds into the ride when I realized I forgot them. Which lead to more mumbled swear words. I always say these early season races are to break the rust off the triathlon racing chain and remember how to do the whole swim-bike-run thing. These are the races to make the mistakes. However, that was a really bad mistake for me to make given I have Raynauds. My hands (and feet even with socks and toe warmers) went numb pretty quickly. I tried to warm my hands on my neck but I honestly couldn’t even feel if my hands were touching my neck since they had no feeling in them. It made it a bit difficult to operate the shifters, brakes and water bottle. I felt like I was riding like I had little experience on the bike. But I just rolled with it and tried not to be too miserable. As always, I thanked every police officer helping on the course and gave words of encouragement to the females I saw.
 

I was happy to get off the bike primarily so I could put gloves on and I ditched the jacket. My feet weren’t fully functional which made me a little worried I would trip and bite it on the trail part of the run. Eventually I started to get feeling back and was comfortable with the weather. Cold weather running is my jam. The run was uneventful otherwise. Running has always been the weakest of the three which, as my mom would say, it is what it is. My body structure is more suited for swimming and riding. Despite being a freezing race, it was a fun challenge to get back into the racing groove. Normally at local races I get on the podium so was a little bummed to see I got 4^th in my age group. But my age group that day had a lot of speedy females so I was 7^th overall. It was my first race back and I had no expectations other than to have a fun day and I did just that.
 
Two weeks later, I did another sprint at Lake Murray and we were back to normal weather conditions. The problem with being a female is generally we start the swim in the waves after the men. As a decent swimmer, this means I have to swim through a lot of the men. It didn’t take me long to start working my way through the other color caps and it was a blast doing it. It almost didn’t seem worth the effort of wearing a wetsuit for the short swim but I mostly wanted the practice of wearing one and taking it off.
 

While I was alone for large parts of the previous race’s ride, this time it was back to the game of trying to settle into a steady effort while not drafting. Lots of passing back and forth and trying not to get frustrated. I reminded myself to get my attitude in check though and told myself it will be way worse for 70.3s with thousands of people. There were times I could have pushed hard to pass and put some distance between people, but most of the time I choose to reserve the energy.
 

This run course was a bit hillier than most sprints. It was good practice running on a hillier course off the bike. It was also a good course for seeing where other people were during the run. As for most of these races, I was predominantly surrounded by the men (story of my engineering life). The run felt good, I held a strong effort and did the best I could with my fitness. Overall, I was very happy with how I paced myself throughout the race and the effort I put forth.
 

When I got the text message with results, I saw my name at the top of the female list and was honestly confused. I thought maybe I was looking at the wrong screen or maybe the other female results hadn’t been populated yet for some reason. Turns out, I got 1^st place overall age group female. It really shocked me. My only goal out of the day was to race a bit better and harder than two weeks earlier. Which I did, but not by much when you compare bike power and run pace. However, I really treated the ride like a race this time. I only road 1W higher but over 3mph faster (yes, I realize it was a different course on, on a different day). I felt like myself on the bike again. While I am happy with my performance outcome, I know that who shows up on race day can make all the difference on where you place. I even thanked my friend Sarah for not showing up and taking 1^st place away from me. Even if she had though, I still would have been happy with my execution of the race. What I did on that day is what mattered, not how it compared to how other people performed.
 

So now I’m nearing the end of the countdown to Chattanooga 70.3. It feels like a big race but also it doesn’t. Many people have asked me if I’m ready or if I’m getting excited. Yes and yes. I know I’m not the athlete I used to be fitness wise, but I have grown in so many other ways that are more important than being fast. I've grown as an athlete even through coaching. Like any race, I don’t know what the day will bring and that is what makes it so exciting. Facing the unknown, putting your best foot forward, again and again. That feeling is truly living. That feeling is what I am thankful for. Am I ready? Let’s go.