Sarah Borst Jarvis

... and someone just sent me  a link to it ! Well, Endurance Sports Wire* isn't quoting all of my random babbling, of course. They are just paraphrasing what I said in a somewhat delirious state right after  my win at the HITS Lake Havasu Full Triathlon . After reading it I thought:  I SAID THAT?  REALLY? Lake Havasu City, AZ - After modest participant numbers  in 2012, HITS Triathlon Series welcomed close to 1,000  athletes to Lake Havasu City, Arizona this weekend,  more than doubling their attendance in just one year.  While records stood as Brian Folts continued his HITS Full  distance reign after clinching the inaugural race last year,  first-time HITS athletes found their way to the podium,  including Sarah Jarvis of Flagstaff.  "It's nice to see smaller races growing like this," said Jarvis.  "There is nothing wrong with having options in the sport."  She chased down Folts in a 140.6 battle of the sexes and  finished second

race morning I love racing in the desert . Beautiful sunrise, clear blue sky, minimal chance of rain, dry heat. Similar to my home in Flagstaff except that we have been waking up to temperatures in the low 20s or less and, fortunately, most races don't take place at 7,000ft. So to wake up to air that was about 52 degrees with lots of oxygen in it felt pretty amazing!  part of the beautiful swim course The campground (i.e. RV park) we stayed at was anything but great and in order to cut cost we all shared one spot. Karl and the boys in a tent, Audrey under the stars, Karen and I in her VW van. Nice and cozy! The good news: We only needed to ride our bikes in the dark for about a mile and - voila - we were at the race site. Plus, the run course went through the campground and right by our site. Twice for the Half and four times for the Full. If I got to tired, I could just sneak into the van and take a little nap! view from T1/2 It seemed like there was

ready to roll... My first and only long-distance* race was in 2007 in Germany. Challenge Roth. It was an amazing experience and I am so glad I got to be a part of it! You can read my race report here . But I was kind of done with long distance racing after that. We had another kid and things got busy and crazy. Plus, while the race went well and I was pleased with the result, truth is - it wasn't as much fun as I had hoped it would be. Toward the end of each discipline things got kinda boring . Apparently I had a hard time keeping the adrenaline and excitement going for 11 hours. Even in the race with the most spectators ever! So I focused on the middle distance for the next 6 years. And had a blast!  *I have issues with the naming of the different distances in triathlon. Because if your race consists of 2.4 mi swimming, 112 mi biking, and 26.2 mi running but it's not put on by WTC, you cannot call it an Ironman . (In my opinion.) But unless you do, people don&

Coachie and (some of) his girls I need to be brave enough  to give myself a chance to surprise myself.   - Liz Waterstraat*  enjoying myself! What I did not do in preparation for this marathon:  Train properly . Here is my list of EXCUSES:  * I just finished my most important race of the year and I needed a break.  * I was sick for 3 weeks before the race.  * It's really not smart to ramp up your mileage too fast...  Here is the TRUTH:  * Marathon training scares the crap out of me. (Figuratively. Not sure about literally. In order to know I would have to actually train for one.) Taper .  We all know how I feel about this one. And since it was my birthday week (end), there was no way I was going to miss out on anything that sounded even remotely fun. Like a track workout on Tuesday, or a century ride on Wednesday, or 7 miles on Friday morning to make it 33. (I turned 33 on Saturday, the day of the marathon.) I know it wasn't

PS: Now that I am out of commission for a couple of days (and hopefully no longer...) due to a bad head and chest cold, it looks like I have no more excuses not to write my race report. I mean, it's been like 10 days! And I am not apologizing for its length (or content) this time. Happy reading! PPS: Ok. Update: I have had this cold for two weeks now and it must've been killing my brain cells as well or at least my desire to write anything semi-coherent. But better late than never!  my favorite bike course! The Outcome (For those who only care about numbers...)  It looks like I had the 19th fastest* swim, the 5th fastest bike, and the 7th fastest run in my age group. Which got me to the finish line in 4th place and as the 6th female amateur ! So, on paper that looks like a fantastic result! And it is. I am stoked to have made it on the podium (which is Top 5 here)  in this race for the 3rd year in a row. But I am not so pleased about what happene