welcome & intro

Hamming it up for my #1 fan aka the race photographer

Oh hey there!

Thanks for joining me on this inaugural blogging journey. For the record, I'm not counting that time I had a Xanga account in 2004. But because it's been mentioned, let us pour one out for my former corner of the internet --xanga.com/bluejeanbaby817, where a combination of teenage feelings and listening to too many Dashboard Confessional songs led to an online journal I'm glad is no longer available to the public.

Now for the who/what/where/whys that will give a nice little intro to this page:

Who: I'm Madi, or MK.

What: I am ... a twenty-something public health practitioner, Tarheel, pizza aficionado, and age-grouper triathlete that is starting a blog... 85% about triathlon ... 10% about pizza ... and 5% about the other things in my life.

Where: I recently relocated from Washington, DC to San Francisco, California

Me nomming on a slice at 9:30am post race. Thanks
goes to VTS/MTS series for knowing it is never too
early for pizza and for supplying it at most of their races.

Why: Why this blog? Great question! My recent move to the west coast and a bit o free time on my hands were the impetus to start this site. I know there are those that will want to keep up with my (triathlon and non-tri) adventures and I've always wanted a space to write race reports and other training stories.

Pizza for brekky on my 5th b-day,
aka carb loading since 1995

Why the part about pizza? This gurl luvs her 'za. So much that when her mother woke her up on her fifth birthday and told her she could have anything in the world for breakfast, little Madeline marched to the freezer and pulled out a Red Baron Deep Dish Personal Frozen Pizza (Deb snapped a pic because she knew I'd want to Instagram it 21 years later). Also because I needed a theme/blog title that was more entertaining than swim, bike, run and I strive to stay on-brand.

A bit longer who/what/where/when/why:

My first race! Philly Oly in 2:52. Note the look of WTF-ery on my face.

Back in December 2012, my best friend Samantha and I jumped feet first into the crazy world of triathlon by signing up for TriRock Philly. We threw together a training plan, bought bikes off of Craigslist, borrowed too-small wetsuits and overall had no idea what we were doing. It was certainly the hardest thing I'd ever done, but I knew right away I was hooked and that this sport would be something that'd be near and dear to my heart (and mind, body, and wallet) for a long, long time.

In subsequent seasons I joined a baller team (#speedsherpanation), snagged some podiums, upgraded my bike, and put quite a few races under my belt.

above: Samantha & I post Timberman 70.3
below: post hitting the pavement .08 mi away
from T2 in the first race of the season -___-

In August 2015 I completed my first 70.3 distance event -- Timberman 70.3 -- with Samantha (how #blessed am I to have a best friend who doubles as a training partner?!). While I love the speed of shorter races and the chance of getting on the podium in smaller and local ones, the larger, longer distance races are what give me the focus to push through training and leave me with all the warm fuzzies of accomplishing a monster task. That led me to a somewhat last minute decision to check my second half ironman off the list at Atlantic City 70.3 in September 2016 (race report coming soon!).

Some of my Speed Sherpa teammates at IMAC 70.3

I've had some ups (damn you Savageman bike course) and downs (damn you road rash), but my journey over the past few years with this sport has been nothing short of an adventure. Although this is an "individual" sport, I have met some dear friends and incredible people through triathlon. I've also pushed myself beyond what I thought I was capable of, become a more focused, driven person, and gotten to eat a lot more pizza thanks to 6 hour training rides. And for allllll of that (especially the pizza part), I am thankful. Stay tuned for some life updates, training updates, #GOALZ, and general ramblings!