Kona-Then and Now

In 2010, Amber competed at Kona as an age-grouper, having qualified at Ironman Lake Placid. She will be racing again at Kona in a couple weeks as a professional having had to race four Ironman races in a ten month time span(with the last two in a 3 WEEK time span!). So Kona will be her fifth Ironman in 11 months! Pretty crazy. What's more crazy is just how far Amber has come since the last time she raced Kona.

In 2010:

• Amber was still getting off of her bike at railroad crossings. Yes DURING races.

Now:

• Amber doesn't slow down for anything! She inadvertently ran over a opossum the other day and almost got clotheslined by a moose while descending Mount Kearsarge.

In 2010:

• Amber ran a 3:03:51 open marathon at the super fast Mardi Gras Marathon in New Orleans. Her second fastest time that year was a 3:14:27 at Marine Corps marathon. That's an average of a 3:09 average.

Now:

• Amber ran a 3:09 at IM Florida and a 3:08 at IM Lake Placid! That's a 3:08:xx average OFF THE BIKE!

In 2010:

• Amber's best Ironman was Lake Placid with a time of 10:11

Now:

• Amber's best 2014 Ironman was Texas with a time of 9:11

In 2010:

• Amber won the US Snowshoe Championships.

Now:

• Amber won the US Snowshoe Championships.

In 2010:

• Amber flew out the same week as the race and did not have much time to acclimate to the heat and humidity of Kona.

Now:

• Thanks to her friends and supporters, Amber is going to be able to get out there a couple weeks early so she can train in the heat and let her body adjust to the 40-50 degree temperature difference from the cool weather we have in NH. Hopefully she can teach her central governor a new norm.

In 2010:

• Amber always smiled during the entire race.

Now:

• Amber still smiles during the entire race.

In 2010:

• Amber had, how you say, baby fat.

Now:

• Amber does not have fat of any variety-no less baby. In fact, the only baby around here will be me when she sees I posted that 2010 picture;)

The amazing thing is that she did not do any miraculous workout or take any performance enhancing drug to improve as she got older. Instead what she did was work. Day in and day out she put in hard efforts with consistency and drive. She just keeps getting better and better. And so can you! That's the beauty of endurance sports. Consistency and effort will allow you to get stronger, faster and fitter. It just takes time. As I mentioned, it wasn't one workout or even one mesocycle of workouts that got her here. It took her four years, but she's healthier and stronger because of it. And only getting better.

Watch her compete in the Ironman World Championships on October 11th.