My Coach Joanna Zeiger and her end of season recap

I just want to give everyone a great big THANK YOU for your continued support. My 2008 season officially ended yesterday with Ironman Arizona. This year has been my most successful with numerous IM 70.3 wins, the Ironman 70.3 World Championship win and a new world record in the 70.3 distance. While I always knew from the very beginning that the 70.3 distance was my very best (and also my favorite), this year showed it unequivocally. When I started the season aiming for the Beijing Olympics, I had no notion that it would end up running down the finish chute first in Clearwater. It is amazing to me that after 10 years of racing professionally that I am still improving, winning and loving it all as much as my first year.

After winning Clearwater I made the decision to race IM Arizona, despite already collecting a spot for Kona. I have had a love/hate relationship with Ironman from the beginning, mainly due to the fact that I have had extreme nutritional difficulties at that distance. I have conferred with the top experts in the field, and wanted to test out what I thought was the panacea. After getting off to a record breaking swim and an 11 minute PR on the bike, I succumbed to extreme GI distress, dizziness and nausea on the run. I made the decision that I am going to keep my focus next year on what I do best and what I enjoy the most – 70.3 races with some Olympic distance non-drafting races to maintain my speed.

Again, thanks for everything. Without you, the finish line would be much further!

JZ