What's going on...

I've been meaning to get back on here for some time, life has just been crazy recently. Lots has happened since I last posted, but I'll try not too make this too long. In February I attended a USATriathlon coaches clinic, passed a test and became a Level 1 triathlon coach. It's something that I've wanted to do for a long time, so when the opportunity was presented, I jumped at the chance. I am now officially a coach with Team MPI. I've been coached by them for quite a while and I've been involved with a lot of their camps, clinics, etc and their isn't a better company that I'd want to be a part of so I was pretty excited when they approached me about working with them.

Isaac

Last weekend we held an Ironman Texas camp in the Woodlands, TX. It was a jam packed couple of days, but we had a great time. Me and Matt drove over a day early so that we could stop and see my sister Devon and the kids. It was a few hours out of our way, but well worth it!

View from out hotel window

We checked into our hotel in The Woodlands on Friday afternoon and not long after met most everyone for a run. The hotel we stayed at was beautiful, it's a very ritzy area and we had a view of the waterway from our room. That evening we all had dinner together and got the plan together for the next day. We had 6 athletes attend the camp and IMTX will be the first ironman for all but one of them. Over the weekend, we had a chance to run the whole run course, ride most of the bike course, and see the swim course. We also enjoyed a great dinner at one of our sponsor's house, Keven Barr the founder of Energy Lab Nutrition.

IMTX camp

Me and mom after a wet ride

I've competed a few times over the last month. Me and my parents went over to Fairhope for the Tour de LADR at the end of March. It was a small fundraiser bike race. When we woke up the morning of the race, it was pouring. We weren't sure if they would still do it, but drove over to the venue to check it out. The rain slowed a little and we were able to race. I stayed with the front pack for the whole ride and ended up being outsprinted at the end by one other girl who i'm sure i could've beat. I couldn't read my computer screen because of the rain and I thought we still had about another 1/3 mile or so to go and so I wasn't in the position I need to be, but I had fun anyways.
Then, two weeks ago, me and Matt traveled over to Tallahassee for my first tri of the season, the Red Hills Triathlon. The thing I enjoyed most about it was the chance to run again. For those of you who hadn't heard, I was diagnosed with a calcaneal stress fracture in the middle of February, was in a walking cast for a month, and had to keep from running for another month. It was killer, though thankfully I was still able to ride and swim pain free. I was a little apprehensive going into the race without having run for 8 weeks, but it ended up going fine and I wasn't too slow :-).

Pensacola was well represented at Red Hills

The newest addition to the Stevens family

The most exciting thing that has happened in the last few months was the birth of my nephew Parker Allen to my sister Lindsey and her husband. He was a week late, must've been comfortable in his mommy's tummy. Lindsey was induced on the morning of Friday the 13th (good thing we aren't superstitious) and he finally made his entrance to the world around 8:30 that night. His big brother Eli (2yrs) wasn't crazy about the idea of sharing his mommy, I think the first thing he said to him was no, get away, but he's starting to warm up to him. I'm sure they'll soon be best buds.
One last thing, Team MPI just started our series of super sprint races out at the Portofino Resort. We had our first race last Thursday and our next race is this Thursday (26th). They are short, fun, laid back races on Thursday evenings throughout the summer, a great chance for beginners to see what it's like to do a race and some good competition for more experienced athletes. If you get a chance you should come join us one evening!