I guess number 4 is my favorite number. That’s the place in Ironman where I finished most. Let see: Ironman Arizona 2005 and 2008, Ironman Austria 2008, Ironman Florida 2006 and now Ironman Lake Placid 2009 again 4th place. But in my case I am pretty happy with my results. I wasn’t sure if will able to go through marathon. The problem was, that I got injured 10 days before the Ironman. It was a foot injury, which caused a knee pain. I’ve tried to get well before the race, but there was not enough time. Thanks Trigger point and Cassidy, who took care of my injured leg two days before the Ironman, it really helped a lot.
The swim and bike passe very well, I felt very confident on the bike, although I didn’t expect such a hilly course. Finally I learned how to use a Power Tap and download to my computer. I had 178 W. average and 86 cadence and 50.33 ml/h on the dissent hill :)

I still wasn’t sure about my run, but the first loop felt surprisingly good. I guess it was adrenalin I got from running behind the mountain bike with a sign on it “3d woman”.
By the time Caitlin Snow passed me I was a bit broken. Then I got some other problems except keeling pain from knee and the foot, like diarrhea and dehydration at the end. So, I spent a few hours in the medical tent after my finish. In spite my troubles during a marathon run, 4th place is good, right??? :) I want to say spacial thank you to Cassidy (Trigger Point Therapy), to Tristan (team Timex manager), to Larry ( photographer) to the guys, who helped me out at the medical tent for all your help and support.

Finally,one of my dreams came true, I went to Japan. After Ironman Florida last year I was invited to Japan to do the race, Strongman. I heard about this event from our team mate in past, Andrey Yastrebov several years ago and since when I wanted to do this race one year. So, I was really excited about this coming opurtunity.

A first race of the season always makes me nervous. 3 months of winter preparation are back and I went to Japan, still couldn’t beleive in it. But I was there and I’ve done the first race of my 2009 season. It was a wonderful week on a beautiful Island, Miyako, which reminded me a bit of Kona with it’s green plants and tropical climate. Even with a rainy and windy, most of the time, weather I’ve got just warm memories about nice and welcome people, unbeleivably tasty Japanese food and of course about an atmosphere of the this, very importent for Miyako people event.

I think Strongman triathlon is in my Top 5 best organised triathlons. That just describes one more time how well Japanese people work.

The weather at the race morning was windy and worm with some clouds, but the water was flat. It was one loop swim course, one and a half loop bike course around Miyako (Miyako is a small Island) and one loop for marathon run, not really a loop, just the way out and back. The swim came out as I planed, time wise, I plan to do it around 45 min (it’s 3 km), I felt pretty good on the bike, espacially first 40 km with a tail wind;) But at the beginning of marathon I felt that wind took some energy from me on the bike. I was confused in bike-run transition area about my place, so I thought I have to catch girls ahead of me: 5 and 10 min (it’s a big gap).
But I was ready to chase them. I didn’t know that I am already leading after 70th km on the bike and I have a gap on them 5 and 10 min. I have to learn some Japanese words if I want to come back again :)
All way out on the run was a head wind and first 10 km I thought that I am not going to make it, but I started feel better after turn around and I save my lead till the finish line. Even with all attention to me and inteviews after finish I still wasn’t sure that I won, so I kept asking a translator: What place am I? They thought it’s a joke. :)

It was a good beginning of 2009 season. Hope to continue as I started.

After a last race at November 1st I took one month off. For the first time I’ve decided to stay in US for couple months in staid of going home to a cold Ukrainian winter straight after an end of a season. I use to stay in Clermont, Florida, a great place for winter training, but nothing else to do there except of training. And an idea to travel for a little bit wasn’t the bad one. A first trip I took was the trip to Atlanta, GA to see my Ukrainian friends. For four days I have so much fun with a girl friend (I miss girls company sometime), we’d done so much: we took two classes of Bikram Yoga, that was new for me and I really liked it, although not every pose came out well during my first class; next thing we did was a shopping, you can’t find as good person as my friend Roksolana for a girl’s shopping; then we went to visit other friends and went to a park with them kids.

After that I spent another week in Clermont, before I’ve planned my next trip. I went to Arizona to watch a last Ironman race in 2008 and to visit my home stay family-friends from 2007 year. Next flight I took was the flight to Las Vegas, I never been there before. I don’t think I would go to Vegas by myself, I don’t think it would be fun. But my friend, Oliver from Germany stayed in Vegas for couple days. It’s hard to imaging better time than I had for those 3 days in Las Vegas: a helicopter flight, a Great Canyon trip, driving around city and walking around old down town.

After those trips it was time to start training again, get my fitness back at, then build some running and swimming mileage. And to my opinion a good place to start doing it is Los Alamos, NM, one of my top places in US. And now I am almost one week of training, still feel unshaped, but I keep it easy I have time.

It was a such long season, which started at the beginning of April and finished at the beginning of November. But I am really happy with my results during the all season. Of course there was couple of not very satisfied races and maybe sometimes I had a bad luck, but overall it wasn’t bad at all :)
About last event in Florida, where I finished with 2d place and with 9.14. I am pretty happy with my results and with my place. And it was very nice to know how many people supported me inside and outside the race; inside and outside the state; and even inside and outside of country. I hope I didn’t disappoint them.
I felt very good during the race day, although I still had made a few mistakes. I picked the wrong socks for a marathon,so I got bad blisters on the both feet and lost the toe nail (again), which slowed me down at the last part of run. Everything else worked really well for me that day. At the end of run I thought: “Thanks God I don’t need to do any other Ironman next season to qualify for the World Championship”. I guess that’s how much I was tired to get thoughts like these :).
Anyway it was a great time in Panama City, it’s one of my favorite places: I love sunsets, a flat ocean water, friends around and “it’s a good weather for november”, like for a person from Ukraine.

I had done first two Half Ironman races in Europe this season after I had come back from States. I completed those races during two weekends in row. That wasn’t an easy experiment. The first triathlon took part in a beautiful city Linz in nice old Austria. I was happy to visit that country, especially after all troubles I have had with a visa,which I need to get for a visit to any country in Europe, as a Ukrainian person. I got the visa one day before the race and somehow I should to get to Linz from Lvov, Ukraine during 24 hours. I wouldn’t be able to do it without my Slovakian friend, Marek and with his help I had very comfortable and rested trip to Austria and back. The race came out very well for me, I felt confident and strong . Unusually for me I was leading from the first part of the bike course and I save my lead till the finish line. After the event when I got back home at Tuesday I realized that I have just 2 days to prepare for the next trip to Switzerland and as usually my visa wasn’t ready yet :) Even I knew I can’t do anything about it, I already done everything to prepare all documents, the situation still stresses me out. Maybe that’s why I also couldn’t recover very well between competition, or maybe it’s just an excuse ;)
I got my passport with visa two hours before my flight to Zurich and after I got to my final destination I felt exhausted. Although I slept next nights a lot and very well it’s still wasn’t enough time to recover and at the race day I felt still tired. I suffered from the second loop on the bike and all the time during the run course. I am really angry with myself that I let two girls behind me pass me right before the finish, but honestly, nothing I could do about it, I had no power left. Anyway I completed two half Iron distances in two weekends with a pretty good time: 4h.29′……; 4h.33′……
And now I am looking forward to the training camp with my friends in St. Moritz; no races for the next six weeks before the big one: Ironman Austria.