A fantastic February!

February is usually one month where I think "Gah, is it over yet?!" but despite a few cold, dreary days, February felt more like spring than winter, training went very well, and a few nice surprises made it a really good month!

Swim 17.9 miles

Bike 74.5 miles + about 11 hours on the trainer

Run 111.6 miles

Total time 48:02:43

Calories 29,864

The biggest and best surprise of the month came on February 6, when I opened my inbox to find a message titled "You're invited to the 2017 Ironman 70.3 World Championship!"  Anyone who knows me or has seen any of my posts on social media, knows that my biggest goal for 2016 was to qualify for the IM 70.3 Championship, which will be held in Chattanooga in September.  Unfortunately I fell just short of this goal, finishing 4th at IM 70.3 NC with only 3 slots available in my age group.  Though I was mostly pleased with the season, failing to meet that goal kind of cast a shadow of disappointment over it.  So when I opened the email and read "As one of the top-ranked female Ironman 70.3 athletes in your age group in the word, you are one of 200 women who will race as part of the Women for Tri Initiative" I almost fell off my chair!

With my two 6th place finishes in Raleigh and Augusta and the 4th in Wilmington, I earned enough points to place 37th out of 5,461 in the world in the IM 70.3 female 35-39 standings. Several of the women ahead of me have already qualified (including the 6 who accepted spots in my two fall races), and the cumulative performance garnered me a spot in this new Women for Tri initiative.  It's a new program, so I had no idea it was a possibility, and I was SO EXCITED!  I had decided that even if I qualified at my race in May, I was not going to take the slot because the goal was to qualify in 2016, not 2017, so the feeling of gratification just wouldn't be the same.  But it turns out that my 2016 performances were enough to get me in after all, so I will be making a second trip to Chattanooga this year to race at Ironman 70.3 Worlds!  Did I mention how excited I am?

The rest of the month continued along with consistent training, spring-like weather, and even more good news and happy surprises!

Took over a second off my 100 PR

Made the most of a beautiful 70+ degree day
with a bike ride out to the lake

More outdoor cross training:
Hiking the New Hope Overlook trail

Good News, Part 2:
Moved up to 3rd in my age group in the USAT rankings for NC,
and earned All American status for the second year in a row

Good News, Part 3:
Was selected to continue my ambassadorship with Salming for 2017!

I absolutely LOVE the apparel, and the shoes got me to big PRs in 2016,
so I am thrilled to represent Salming again this year
Pictured above: Salming Race 5, EnRoute, and Speed 5

Good news, part 4:
Selected as a PowerTap Grassroots Athlete

Using a power meter has made a HUGE difference in my cycling,
and PowerTap is the best in the business so I am excited to share
my passion for this with the local cycling community

Good news, part 5:
Selected as an ambassador for the California International Marathon

This will be my first open marathon since Berlin in 2014
and I'm looking forward to sharing this experience with friends!
If you're interested in joining us, leave a note in the comments
and I will share a promo code for $10 off the registration fee

Good news, part 6:
Won this awesome prize pack from Team HotShot and Trisports.com

Hopefully this will set the tone for the rest of the year!