Surprisingly my hip was feeling a little better so I decided to race the day before I left to go to Florida for hip arthroscopic surgery.  It was short: 450 m swim, 15 mile bike, and 5 mile run.  The race, Steamboat Classic was only an hour away from my home.  I was first in the swim and bike and held on in the run to finish first overall.  Why not go out with a bang?

I received my pro/elite card in January 2011 and had been working extremely hard to compete with some of the best female endurance athletes in the world!  I have been battling a hip issue off and on for quite a while. It would become irritated, I would back off, it would feel better, and then it would come again!  An athlete’s worst nightmare, most annoying thing ever and nobody ever really knew what was going on.  Previously, I was told just not to run—WHATEVER!  Recently, I thought it was just hip flexor tendonitis.  I had the issue before the World Championships in Clearwater and I saw my friends husband who is a phenomenal orthopedic, sports medicine doctor in Illinois, Dr. JT Davis.  He took a conservative approach and made me rest, which I hate! It got a little better, but it was still there.  My hip felt pretty darn good through this winter. I was pushing it and I felt awesome!