Hey there,

Well, it is finally the end of a long season.  It was an exciting year - I think of it as a "Tale of Two Cities" year : it was the best of times and the worst of times.  In moving to Colorado Springs this year I learned some things about how I respond to altitude and as a result had some awesome races and some not-so-awesome results.  In all I think it was a great year, capped off of course, with the 70.3 World Championship and a win in Laguna Phuket a few weeks ago.  It is always nice to end the season on a high note!

There is some big changes for the 2007 season.  It may come as no surprise to some, but I am officially switching my focus to long (er) course and non-drafting races.  I am still keeping the Olympics in mind for 2008, but next year my main goal will be the Hawaii Ironman in Kona in October - the "Big One".  It was a tough decision to decline my place on the Canadian National team for 07, but I feel that with the Olympics coming up, it is only fair to step aside and let the other ITU girls take advantage of all the resourses and funding available while I persue other goals.

I am very excited about next season - it is not so much a change in direction as a logical progression, albeit a little sooner than I would have thought.  I think it is the right time for me to make the jump to Ironman and I still look forward to competing at the 70.3 and Olympic distance races for the early part of 2007 and then focusing on Hawaii in the late summer/fall.

In all, 2006 has been a great year for me with 6 major wins including Chicago, Wildflower, Florida 70.3 and a World 70.3 title.  I couldn't be happier with the way things have worked out, after all it takes a little adversity to make you stronger.  I am looking forward to many more years in a new arena of the sport.  And of course, I couldn't have done with out my amazing sponsors and supporters.  Thank you all so much.

Happy holidays - time to relax, rejuvenate and pig out on turkey and too much chocolate.  Enjoy!

Sam