Thank You

So I've had tremendous feedback from the new website/blog and I appreciate all of your kind words and support. You never know what kind of response you may get when your audience is a bunch of Type A triathletes. There are a few things I want everyone to know. First is, I am not getting paid from Lava Magazine. Why would I spend so much time and not get paid? Well a few things...I've chosen not to "monetize" this site and have a bunch of Google ad's plastered everywhere. Instead I set up a donate page if you so desire to help me alongside my journey. And I'm also going to open up the site to sponsors that want to get in front of the Lava audience (only sponsors that don't conflict with Wattie's). I'm being realistic when I say I may need more than just Coeur d'Alene for a shot at Kona next year. There are some 70.3's out there that give Kona slots too but I can't get to them without any type of support system.

However, the real core reason why I am doing this is - I want to give back to the sport in some way and I'm hoping that I can open the eyes of some people (including myself...ha) of what it takes to get to Kona if you don't have the 20+ hours/week to train. My coach really has the answers, I'm just here to tell the world what I'm doing in every single training session, diet, recovery, how I'm feeling and be REAL about other life stressors that everyone has and how I balance them alongside family and career. I'm going to blog each week and then at the end of each month I'll do a recap from which Lava Magazine will publish on their site starting in January of 2014. Until then, I plan on blogging every Tuesday leading up about my "off season" plans, my final race of the season (more on that in a bit) and all the fun family activities, craft beer and events that go along with the holiday season.

About four hours after crossing the line at the Ironman 70.3 World Championships I had a beer in hand and was discussing with my coach that I think I wanted to race another 70.3 to end the season. Maybe it was the one beer; the alcohol quickly working through my system after a race that made me forget how much I just suffered - but I still had a bit of hunger to race fast. Vegas by no means was a course to PR on. I haven't gone faster than I did after IM Oceanside in March all year and even though I always harp about how times don't matter in long course, no matter how hard us triathletes try - chasing times is fun. So I'm about 1.5 weeks from packing my bags to head out to Soma 70.3 in Tempe, AZ for the third year in a row. I don't know what it is about this course but I struggle with it. This year I plan on conquering it and stealing a PR from it. Then I'll have something to chew on all winter. Whether it be bitter or sweet - the race will give me a reason to wake up early, run or ride an extra mile or swim 500 more yards. I left WC's still hungry and I'm hoping this satisfies me for the long lonely winter that awaits me where I set the foundation for my 2014 season, My Kona Journey.

Thanks again for reading and I love all of your feedback/comments and questions! Feel free to "share" "like" "thumbs up" etc below. Trying to get this site exposed as much as possible leading up to January!

If you're at Kona right now, don't miss this party! Even more reason to qualify next year!