Back in Blog World

So, I'm back.

I deleted my previous blog "Fatty to Ironmom" and took a hiatus from social networking. I kept my Facebook page as I know almost every one of my Facebook friends in person. It may have seemed as if I disappeared off the face of the planet, but I was still around, on the road and in the pool training. Racing often as I love racing.

In January I had a health setback, while running a 50k an ulcer I had perforated, but my body didn't let me know until five days later. For five days all sorts of junk was spewing into my body from the hole in my intestines. The resulting sepsis almost killed me. I had emergency surgery to repair the hole and started the road to recovery. In my recovery process I realized there has been so much more to my journey than being a former morbidly obese woman, which was the premise of "Fatty to Ironmom" and at the time of my emergency surgery, I had finished two Ironmans.

I decided to start blogging again because I truly enjoy writing about my races and race experiences. Now, I am writing under the premise of just being Jillian. The weird, nerdy, eccentric person I am, the person I am because of all my life experiences thus far.

Let my give a brief recap of my race year so far:

In March, 10 weeks after my emergency gastro-intestinal surgery, I did the first triathlon of the year at Fort Gordon, GA. I ended up placing 3rd female overall



In April, we took a trip to the historic and famed University of Georgia for the Early Bird Sprint Triathlon in Athens, GA. I ended up placing 1st in age group



In May I raced every weekend. The first weekend I did a 10k and got my PR (47:52). The second weekend I did the Ride on Ryan Sprint Triathlon in Savannah,GA with my hubby, and I ended up placing 1st in age group.

The third weekend we took the trip to beautiful Jekyll Island, GA for the Turtle Crawl Sprint Triathlon. The rough seas made for a rough swim for all participants. I ended placing 1st in age group.



The fourth weekend Joel and I ran the Savannah all-out mile. It was fun to see how fast we could run a mile. This is the only race Joel has ever beat me at. I ran a 6:35, Joel ran a 6:22.

June brought the annual Trybee Island Sprint Triathlon on Tybee Island, GA. Mentally the race was tough for me. Joel was away at a service school and had told me two days before the race that we were moving to Kansas in early September. I was already registered for this year's Augusta 70.3 so I immediately panicked. Having to race with moving on my mind was tough. I ended up placing 1st in age group. Shortly after that, I decided to withdraw from Augusta 70.3, as having to move halfway across the country three weeks before race day is too big of an obstacle to overcome.



July I made the trip to Columbus, GA for the Chattahoochee Challenge Sprint Triathlon. Bad weather made for an interesting race. I ended up placing 2nd in age group.



This month started off with Joel and I racing the Skidaway Island Sprint Triathlon in Savannah, GA. Was a fun day racing with my hubby. I ended up placing 1st in age group.

Last weekend I race the Jacksonville Triathlon Series Race #3 at Fernandina Beach, FL. I did the olympic this time, I had raced the sprint four times previously. Olympic is my least favorite distance, but I raced hard and placed 4th in my age. PR for me (2:41). The podium was 5 deep so I got to take home a sweet medal.



Now that we are all caught up. Yes, I'm moving from Coastal Georgia to Northeast Kansas within the next few weeks. We came here from Kansas, so in a way it feels like we are going back home. I'm already registered for races up there and looking forward to new Midwest adventures.

Looking forward to once again sharing my racing and training adventures, thanks for reading!