"So many of our dreams at first seem impossible, then they seem improbable, and then when we summon the will, they soon become inevitable." -- Christopher Reeve
Blue Devil Triathlon
October 16, 2004
This race wasn’t on my schedule, but then again, neither were about half of the races and training excursions I found myself doing this year. I signed up for this race just about a month ago after spending a few weeks following Ironman Lake Placid trying to re-group and see what kind of training my body could handle. After Lake Placid I knew a few things for sure.
1- I would do another Ironman someday
2- It wouldn’t be an Ironman North America race
3- I needed a race with a cause.
The Blue Devil, a small Iron-distance race in North Carolina, which benefits the Duke Cancer Center, was perfect. In between Lake Placid and the Blue Devil, I did several long bike rides and really focused on the running mileage which was a big mistake, but more on that later. I can count on one hand the number of times I made it to the pool, but that wasn’t a huge concern for me. I didn’t have a training schedule, I just did what my mind and body could handle. I had a pretty good idea of what I needed to do to prepare.
If you've read my Ironman Lake Placid race report, you know that I’m very much a goal-oriented person, as many of us are, so I wrote out my goals. This wasn’t as easy as it was for Lake Placid. I really had no idea what to expect myself to be able to do just two and a half months after the best race of my life in Lake Placid. I thought that best case it would be really great to break 12 hours, which a good swim, 6:15 on the bike and a 4:40 marathon would have gotten me.
The goals were as follows…
1- 11:59
2- 12:35 (my Lake Placid time)
3- 13:20 (my original LP stretch goal)
4- 13:59 (my original LP realistic goal)
5- Finish before midnight
Unless a major disaster happened, I was confident that I could finish this race and went into it knowing that I would be happy no matter what the outcome was.
Race Weekend: Stacey Long, my sherpa/cheerleader, and I drove down to Durham on Thursday night. Friday we met up with Michael Ecker, who was also racing, at the transition area to check in, go to the athletes meeting, do a short workout and drive the bike course. I was a little nervous going into this race without having biked the course beforehand, but the elevation chart combined with what I had heard about the course, made me feel confident that it wouldn’t be as tough as Lake Placid. Michael had biked the course before so he was able to offer insight as we drove.
There were several strange things that I noticed during the drive, none of with had to do with the hills. First, as we got to the top of the largest hill on the course, there were about 5 or 6 dogs just hanging out in the road looking like they were up to no good. As we drove up to them, they stayed in the road barking, growling and even chased the car. It was downright frightening. Then, as we approached an intersection, there was a man herding his chickens and geese across the road. I didn’t mind the chickens, but went to bed on Friday night praying that the dogs would be gone on race day.
Race Day: 4:30 am…the alarm goes off to Bohemian Rhapsody. I had an english muffin with peanut butter. We went across the street to the BP to get coffee for me and a diet coke for Stacey. As I’m pouring my coffee, I run in to another athlete. Both of us were so bundled up because it was so cold outside that I didn’t realize at first that it was Brady Dehoust, one of the guys who helped me talk myself into this race and the eventual 2nd place finisher. Stacey and I went back to the hotel to eat more breakfast, get all of my gear, load up the car, and then were off to the race. It was about a half-hour drive to the race site.
As we got onto the highway, traffic was not moving at all. After waiting about ten minutes, it finally started moving and we were on our way. I’m still not sure how I managed to not get stressed about this but somehow I was very calm. We arrive at the race site, I checked in all of my transition bags and special needs bags and got ready to race. Did I mention it was cold? As I was putting on my wetsuit, Stacey and Michael Smith convinced me that it probably wasn’t so smart to swim with my race jersey on so I took it off and Stacey ran it over to my transition bag. Starting the bike with wet tri shorts and sports bra top was bad enough! I’m glad they were around to think for me!
At 6:50 am, we wondered down to the beach for the swim start. It was still dark out and very cold. I got the wet suit all the way on and jumped in the lake. It was really cold, but not completely unbearable. After a short warm up, they asked us all to come back on to the beach for the National Anthem and last minute USAT rules reminders. I tried not to waste all of my energy shivering, but it was freezing.
Swim: Finally about 7:10 am the race was about to get started. I lined up right next to Mike Guzek, David Glover and Brady. As the gun went off, I dove into the water keeping an eye on Guzek. The plan was to stay with him for the swim. As I looked to my right, I saw him do several dolphin dives and then he was gone out in front. Darn! At that point, I knew I would burn myself out trying to stay with the lead pack, so I hung back and swam my own race. I had a great pack to swim with so I just tried to stay at a comfortable pace.
The swim was two loops and after the first we had to get out and run about 50 yards on the beach before diving back in. I spotted Stacey and Michael Smith, smiled, waved and ran to the start of loop two. I decided not to look at my watch because I didn’t want to know what my split was. I knew I was slower than Lake Placid just based on feel so it was better not to know. I had a great second loop and before I knew it I was approaching the exit. I ran up to the top of the hill, got my wet suit stripped off and was on my way to the change tent.
Swim- 1:00:16 (1st woman, 12th overall)
T1: I ran in to the tent and plopped myself right in a chair. I was the only female in there and there weren’t any other wet footprints on the ground so I knew I was in 1st! I asked the volunteer just to confirm. I was freezing cold so I put on my DRY jersey and arm warmers. I exited the change tent and made my way to my bike.
T1- 3:28
Bike: Once on the bike, we had to go on a short out and back through the park. I almost immediately saw David followed closely by Mike Guzek. I screamed "Great job" to them and smiled, knowing that I had just gotten pummeled by them on the swim. I’m giving up trash talking for a while. So now, I’m on my bike just waiting for the parade of people to pass me. The first woman to pass me was Hope, who won the race. She passed me about 20 minutes into the ride. We chatted for a second, I told her she was in 1st and watched her take off knowing that I wouldn’t see her again anytime soon!
I tried to stick to my nutrition plan so I had 2 Gu packets at 20 minutes into the ride. Then at an hour, I had two more. After that, I started having major stomach cramps. I stopped at the first aid station to get off my bike. The pain in my stomach was terrible. Standing up made it feel much better so I took a minute and then got back on my bike and kept going. I had a few more Gu’s but did at this point I had to do some math and figure out the bare minimum I would have to eat to get through the 112 miles and still have energy to run a marathon. I had 2 bottles of Accelerade on my bike and two more in my special needs bag, which I took at mile 50. I had a Gu here and there but not on the schedule that I had set for myself. I got through special needs, got the extra bottles and that was it.
At mile 55 we started the second loop. I saw Stacey, well, she saw me and screamed and I was pumped for loop 2. My split for the first 56 miles was 3:20 (10 minutes slower than Lake Placid). I was happy with that! A few miles later, I was passed for about the 4th time by this guy who was doing a relay. We traded places and chatted each time for the rest of the bike. Around mile 70, he was ahead of me and I pulled into the aid station. He was getting into the port-a-john and he saw me and I said "You beat me to the john!" He held the door for me and said that I could go and he ran over to the woods with the rest of the boys who were stopped. That was probably the nicest thing anyone did for me all day!
At mile 90, the wind really picked up and we had a terrible headwind the rest of the way back to transition. I hadn’t gotten passed by any other women since Hope so I knew I was probably in 2nd place. I rolled into transition and I heard all of the volunteers and the race announcer scream "Here comes our 2nd woman!" This is definitely a new experience for me. I’ve never been doing this well after the bike in any race! At this moment I had an overwhelming feeling of relief that the training and hard work had paid off.
Bike- 6:43:44 (3rd best woman’s split)
T2- I grabbed my bag off the rack and went into the tent. The volunteers helped me change jerseys and confirmed that I was in second. They did say that the 1st woman was very far ahead, which I figured.
T2- 3:05
Run- The run is a 5-loop course with a lot of hills. This is where my day got very interesting. The stomach problems returned and it took everything I had to get through the first mile. I almost couldn’t stand up straight. I came to a complete stop dead in my tracks and almost turned around to go back to transition. Then I thought about Darylanne and how I had set out to finish this race for her. I kept putting one foot in front of the other and made it to mile 1 in about 15 minutes. There was a downhill there so I started running. I started to feel better and ran that entire first loop. Towards the end of my first loop, David Glover passed me on his 4th loop, we chatted for a minute and he took off on his way to win the race for the third year. As I ran through the grandstand area, I heard my name announced! I smiled and felt awesome. I ran the second loop a lot faster than the first. At about mile 8 I heard Mike Guzek’s voice behind me. He was on his 4th loop and Steve was with him on his 3rd loop I think. We all ran together for a little while before they took off. I saw Stacey at the end of this loop and told her that I wanted a Chipotle burrito and a coke slurpee.
As I started loop 3, the wheels started to come off. I had a lot of pain in my hips. I walked a lot of this loop and was constantly revising my goals and expectations. At the pace I was walking, it was going to be a long marathon. I shuffled through the loop, saw Stacey again and my order had changed to 2 burritos, 2 slurpees, a massage, and ice bath and Waffle House.
As I began loop 4, I the pain in my hips went away. Ironman is strange like that. You can feel fine one minute, bad the next and then go back to feeling fine. I ran a lot of the 4th loop, ran through the grandstands, heard my name, smiled again and took off knowing that I had to just make it through 5.2 more miles. I ended up walking about a mile of this loop, but once I got to mile 24.8, which was near the final turnaround on the course, I decided to run no matter what. I approached the mile marker and it said 23.8…wait a minute, the last one said 23.8! Either the sign was wrong, or I read it wrong because it should have said 24.8, and this really messed with my head. As I got closer to the finish line, I got a little emotional. I ran through the people cheering, gave high 5’s to Stacey, Mike, Brady and David and ran down the finish chute. I heard the announcer say my name and that I was in the top 10 for the women. I was thrilled!
The marathon was about an hour slower than Lake Placid, but I have already put my finger on the problem and won’t be making the same mistake again. I definitely trained too much for the run, not having let myself recover from Lake Placid.
Run- 5:55:18
Finish- 13:45:44 (9th woman, 2nd in my age group)
What I will remember about this race:
1- The sunrise during the swim. When we started, it was dark out. They had lights on the buoys. As we got about half way around the first loop, the sun came up. It was beautiful.
2- The kindness and encouragement of the other athletes. Just about every single person who passed me on the bike has something nice to say.
3- The volunteers. They were amazing! At about mile 19 on the run I couldn’t even talk to let them know what I wanted and a volunteer recognized this so she grabbed just about every single cup on the table telling me what it was until I took a cup of chicken broth. The next time I came around, she had a cup of broth waiting for me and even remembered my name.
4- The sunset. I mentioned Darylanne above. She was my aunt and passed away from cancer about 4 years ago. I spent the last two weeks of her life with her and was there when she lost her battle. She passed away at sunset and I will never forget the sky that night. The sky on Saturday night at the race was very similar and reminded me that she was there, cheering me on somewhere. This race was for her. Everytime I felt the pain in my hips and feet, all I had to do was think of how painful her treatment and the last days of her life must have been and that gave me ever motivation I needed to keep putting one foot in front of the other.
Post-Race: I’m completely satisfied with my race. It was a tough marathon both mentally and physically, but I finished with a huge smile and overwhelming feeling of satisfaction! Looking back, I wouldn’t change a thing about my training. Yes, I trained too much for the run, but I went into this race with the exact amount of confidence that I needed to get to the start line. Today I feel sore, my feet hurt and I’m really tired, but I know that I put everything I had into this race and left it all out there somewhere on the course. Breaking 14 hours was my original goal for 2004 and now I have done it twice. I accomplished all of the goals that I set for myself this year, and then some. I think I still need a few weeks to really let it all sink in, but I feel very happy knowing that I had an amazing year.
I’m not sure what’s next for me. At least for the first half of next year I have set a self-imposed 3-hour time limit on working out and racing. For the second half, who knows. Maybe I’ll find myself back at the start line of the Blue Devil next fall. I really did enjoy this race and wouldn’t hesitate to do it again!
The awards brunch was very exciting. I didn't realize that there were so many people from Northern, VA racing, but I think every single one of us brought home hardware. Nice work! It was exciting to see David, Brady and Mike Guzek take the top 1st, 2nd and 6th places, Michael Ecker taking the award for 3rd place in the Military division, and Steve, who I met during the run taking 1st in his age group in his first Iron distance race. There are a lot of great athletes in our area, but more important, they are all great people and it was a pleasure racing with them!
Thanks for reading yet another one of my long race reports. I hope you were able to find this either insightful or inspiring, or both. I've said it before and I will say it again- Set a goal. This is a great time to start thinking about next year. Write down your goals and develop a plan to get there. You will be amazed at what you are capable of when you set yout mind to it, put in a little hard work and have confidence in yourself!
Blue Devil Triathlon
October 16, 2004
This race wasn’t on my schedule, but then again, neither were about half of the races and training excursions I found myself doing this year. I signed up for this race just about a month ago after spending a few weeks following Ironman Lake Placid trying to re-group and see what kind of training my body could handle. After Lake Placid I knew a few things for sure.
1- I would do another Ironman someday
2- It wouldn’t be an Ironman North America race
3- I needed a race with a cause.
The Blue Devil, a small Iron-distance race in North Carolina, which benefits the Duke Cancer Center, was perfect. In between Lake Placid and the Blue Devil, I did several long bike rides and really focused on the running mileage which was a big mistake, but more on that later. I can count on one hand the number of times I made it to the pool, but that wasn’t a huge concern for me. I didn’t have a training schedule, I just did what my mind and body could handle. I had a pretty good idea of what I needed to do to prepare.
If you've read my Ironman Lake Placid race report, you know that I’m very much a goal-oriented person, as many of us are, so I wrote out my goals. This wasn’t as easy as it was for Lake Placid. I really had no idea what to expect myself to be able to do just two and a half months after the best race of my life in Lake Placid. I thought that best case it would be really great to break 12 hours, which a good swim, 6:15 on the bike and a 4:40 marathon would have gotten me.
The goals were as follows…
1- 11:59
2- 12:35 (my Lake Placid time)
3- 13:20 (my original LP stretch goal)
4- 13:59 (my original LP realistic goal)
5- Finish before midnight
Unless a major disaster happened, I was confident that I could finish this race and went into it knowing that I would be happy no matter what the outcome was.
Race Weekend: Stacey Long, my sherpa/cheerleader, and I drove down to Durham on Thursday night. Friday we met up with Michael Ecker, who was also racing, at the transition area to check in, go to the athletes meeting, do a short workout and drive the bike course. I was a little nervous going into this race without having biked the course beforehand, but the elevation chart combined with what I had heard about the course, made me feel confident that it wouldn’t be as tough as Lake Placid. Michael had biked the course before so he was able to offer insight as we drove.
There were several strange things that I noticed during the drive, none of with had to do with the hills. First, as we got to the top of the largest hill on the course, there were about 5 or 6 dogs just hanging out in the road looking like they were up to no good. As we drove up to them, they stayed in the road barking, growling and even chased the car. It was downright frightening. Then, as we approached an intersection, there was a man herding his chickens and geese across the road. I didn’t mind the chickens, but went to bed on Friday night praying that the dogs would be gone on race day.
Race Day: 4:30 am…the alarm goes off to Bohemian Rhapsody. I had an english muffin with peanut butter. We went across the street to the BP to get coffee for me and a diet coke for Stacey. As I’m pouring my coffee, I run in to another athlete. Both of us were so bundled up because it was so cold outside that I didn’t realize at first that it was Brady Dehoust, one of the guys who helped me talk myself into this race and the eventual 2nd place finisher. Stacey and I went back to the hotel to eat more breakfast, get all of my gear, load up the car, and then were off to the race. It was about a half-hour drive to the race site.
As we got onto the highway, traffic was not moving at all. After waiting about ten minutes, it finally started moving and we were on our way. I’m still not sure how I managed to not get stressed about this but somehow I was very calm. We arrive at the race site, I checked in all of my transition bags and special needs bags and got ready to race. Did I mention it was cold? As I was putting on my wetsuit, Stacey and Michael Smith convinced me that it probably wasn’t so smart to swim with my race jersey on so I took it off and Stacey ran it over to my transition bag. Starting the bike with wet tri shorts and sports bra top was bad enough! I’m glad they were around to think for me!
At 6:50 am, we wondered down to the beach for the swim start. It was still dark out and very cold. I got the wet suit all the way on and jumped in the lake. It was really cold, but not completely unbearable. After a short warm up, they asked us all to come back on to the beach for the National Anthem and last minute USAT rules reminders. I tried not to waste all of my energy shivering, but it was freezing.
Swim: Finally about 7:10 am the race was about to get started. I lined up right next to Mike Guzek, David Glover and Brady. As the gun went off, I dove into the water keeping an eye on Guzek. The plan was to stay with him for the swim. As I looked to my right, I saw him do several dolphin dives and then he was gone out in front. Darn! At that point, I knew I would burn myself out trying to stay with the lead pack, so I hung back and swam my own race. I had a great pack to swim with so I just tried to stay at a comfortable pace.
The swim was two loops and after the first we had to get out and run about 50 yards on the beach before diving back in. I spotted Stacey and Michael Smith, smiled, waved and ran to the start of loop two. I decided not to look at my watch because I didn’t want to know what my split was. I knew I was slower than Lake Placid just based on feel so it was better not to know. I had a great second loop and before I knew it I was approaching the exit. I ran up to the top of the hill, got my wet suit stripped off and was on my way to the change tent.
Swim- 1:00:16 (1st woman, 12th overall)
T1: I ran in to the tent and plopped myself right in a chair. I was the only female in there and there weren’t any other wet footprints on the ground so I knew I was in 1st! I asked the volunteer just to confirm. I was freezing cold so I put on my DRY jersey and arm warmers. I exited the change tent and made my way to my bike.
T1- 3:28
Bike: Once on the bike, we had to go on a short out and back through the park. I almost immediately saw David followed closely by Mike Guzek. I screamed "Great job" to them and smiled, knowing that I had just gotten pummeled by them on the swim. I’m giving up trash talking for a while. So now, I’m on my bike just waiting for the parade of people to pass me. The first woman to pass me was Hope, who won the race. She passed me about 20 minutes into the ride. We chatted for a second, I told her she was in 1st and watched her take off knowing that I wouldn’t see her again anytime soon!
I tried to stick to my nutrition plan so I had 2 Gu packets at 20 minutes into the ride. Then at an hour, I had two more. After that, I started having major stomach cramps. I stopped at the first aid station to get off my bike. The pain in my stomach was terrible. Standing up made it feel much better so I took a minute and then got back on my bike and kept going. I had a few more Gu’s but did at this point I had to do some math and figure out the bare minimum I would have to eat to get through the 112 miles and still have energy to run a marathon. I had 2 bottles of Accelerade on my bike and two more in my special needs bag, which I took at mile 50. I had a Gu here and there but not on the schedule that I had set for myself. I got through special needs, got the extra bottles and that was it.
At mile 55 we started the second loop. I saw Stacey, well, she saw me and screamed and I was pumped for loop 2. My split for the first 56 miles was 3:20 (10 minutes slower than Lake Placid). I was happy with that! A few miles later, I was passed for about the 4th time by this guy who was doing a relay. We traded places and chatted each time for the rest of the bike. Around mile 70, he was ahead of me and I pulled into the aid station. He was getting into the port-a-john and he saw me and I said "You beat me to the john!" He held the door for me and said that I could go and he ran over to the woods with the rest of the boys who were stopped. That was probably the nicest thing anyone did for me all day!
At mile 90, the wind really picked up and we had a terrible headwind the rest of the way back to transition. I hadn’t gotten passed by any other women since Hope so I knew I was probably in 2nd place. I rolled into transition and I heard all of the volunteers and the race announcer scream "Here comes our 2nd woman!" This is definitely a new experience for me. I’ve never been doing this well after the bike in any race! At this moment I had an overwhelming feeling of relief that the training and hard work had paid off.
Bike- 6:43:44 (3rd best woman’s split)
T2- I grabbed my bag off the rack and went into the tent. The volunteers helped me change jerseys and confirmed that I was in second. They did say that the 1st woman was very far ahead, which I figured.
T2- 3:05
Run- The run is a 5-loop course with a lot of hills. This is where my day got very interesting. The stomach problems returned and it took everything I had to get through the first mile. I almost couldn’t stand up straight. I came to a complete stop dead in my tracks and almost turned around to go back to transition. Then I thought about Darylanne and how I had set out to finish this race for her. I kept putting one foot in front of the other and made it to mile 1 in about 15 minutes. There was a downhill there so I started running. I started to feel better and ran that entire first loop. Towards the end of my first loop, David Glover passed me on his 4th loop, we chatted for a minute and he took off on his way to win the race for the third year. As I ran through the grandstand area, I heard my name announced! I smiled and felt awesome. I ran the second loop a lot faster than the first. At about mile 8 I heard Mike Guzek’s voice behind me. He was on his 4th loop and Steve was with him on his 3rd loop I think. We all ran together for a little while before they took off. I saw Stacey at the end of this loop and told her that I wanted a Chipotle burrito and a coke slurpee.
As I started loop 3, the wheels started to come off. I had a lot of pain in my hips. I walked a lot of this loop and was constantly revising my goals and expectations. At the pace I was walking, it was going to be a long marathon. I shuffled through the loop, saw Stacey again and my order had changed to 2 burritos, 2 slurpees, a massage, and ice bath and Waffle House.
As I began loop 4, I the pain in my hips went away. Ironman is strange like that. You can feel fine one minute, bad the next and then go back to feeling fine. I ran a lot of the 4th loop, ran through the grandstands, heard my name, smiled again and took off knowing that I had to just make it through 5.2 more miles. I ended up walking about a mile of this loop, but once I got to mile 24.8, which was near the final turnaround on the course, I decided to run no matter what. I approached the mile marker and it said 23.8…wait a minute, the last one said 23.8! Either the sign was wrong, or I read it wrong because it should have said 24.8, and this really messed with my head. As I got closer to the finish line, I got a little emotional. I ran through the people cheering, gave high 5’s to Stacey, Mike, Brady and David and ran down the finish chute. I heard the announcer say my name and that I was in the top 10 for the women. I was thrilled!
The marathon was about an hour slower than Lake Placid, but I have already put my finger on the problem and won’t be making the same mistake again. I definitely trained too much for the run, not having let myself recover from Lake Placid.
Run- 5:55:18
Finish- 13:45:44 (9th woman, 2nd in my age group)
What I will remember about this race:
1- The sunrise during the swim. When we started, it was dark out. They had lights on the buoys. As we got about half way around the first loop, the sun came up. It was beautiful.
2- The kindness and encouragement of the other athletes. Just about every single person who passed me on the bike has something nice to say.
3- The volunteers. They were amazing! At about mile 19 on the run I couldn’t even talk to let them know what I wanted and a volunteer recognized this so she grabbed just about every single cup on the table telling me what it was until I took a cup of chicken broth. The next time I came around, she had a cup of broth waiting for me and even remembered my name.
4- The sunset. I mentioned Darylanne above. She was my aunt and passed away from cancer about 4 years ago. I spent the last two weeks of her life with her and was there when she lost her battle. She passed away at sunset and I will never forget the sky that night. The sky on Saturday night at the race was very similar and reminded me that she was there, cheering me on somewhere. This race was for her. Everytime I felt the pain in my hips and feet, all I had to do was think of how painful her treatment and the last days of her life must have been and that gave me ever motivation I needed to keep putting one foot in front of the other.
Post-Race: I’m completely satisfied with my race. It was a tough marathon both mentally and physically, but I finished with a huge smile and overwhelming feeling of satisfaction! Looking back, I wouldn’t change a thing about my training. Yes, I trained too much for the run, but I went into this race with the exact amount of confidence that I needed to get to the start line. Today I feel sore, my feet hurt and I’m really tired, but I know that I put everything I had into this race and left it all out there somewhere on the course. Breaking 14 hours was my original goal for 2004 and now I have done it twice. I accomplished all of the goals that I set for myself this year, and then some. I think I still need a few weeks to really let it all sink in, but I feel very happy knowing that I had an amazing year.
I’m not sure what’s next for me. At least for the first half of next year I have set a self-imposed 3-hour time limit on working out and racing. For the second half, who knows. Maybe I’ll find myself back at the start line of the Blue Devil next fall. I really did enjoy this race and wouldn’t hesitate to do it again!
The awards brunch was very exciting. I didn't realize that there were so many people from Northern, VA racing, but I think every single one of us brought home hardware. Nice work! It was exciting to see David, Brady and Mike Guzek take the top 1st, 2nd and 6th places, Michael Ecker taking the award for 3rd place in the Military division, and Steve, who I met during the run taking 1st in his age group in his first Iron distance race. There are a lot of great athletes in our area, but more important, they are all great people and it was a pleasure racing with them!
Thanks for reading yet another one of my long race reports. I hope you were able to find this either insightful or inspiring, or both. I've said it before and I will say it again- Set a goal. This is a great time to start thinking about next year. Write down your goals and develop a plan to get there. You will be amazed at what you are capable of when you set yout mind to it, put in a little hard work and have confidence in yourself!
