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Gina Kehr posted her best ever finish at Kona, crossing the finish line in a 
very solid 7th place.  While Gina's previous best was 8th place, last Saturday's 
performance was by far her strongest.

It bears noting that Gina was the 1st American, just as she was at the US Ironman
Championships at Lake Placid.

Hawaii is very challenging environment, both in terms of the stacked field that
assembles, and the daunting conditions that exacerbate the distance's inherent 
challenge.  In short, the order of the universe is defined in Kona.

Gina's race began well with a 50' + change swim, on the heels of Vineman winner
Moneka Kaplan and Gina's training partner Linda.  The bike saw Gina maintain
a strong position in the field where she rode much stronger in the early miles
than has been her pattern, and eventually got off of the bike in 4th-7th place, by 
far her best T2 result.

Unfortunately, the race dynamics this year saw vaunted runners like Bowden, Bentley,
and Fuhr all have great swims and bikes.  Instead of Gina trying to hold off these
greats on the run while moving through other athletes, they all began the run 
simultaneously.  Polished competitors and great athletes, none of them cracked
and Gina was able to run without pressure to maintain her 7th overall.

Thus, a very successful season for this classy competitor.  A so-close 2nd to Heather
Fuhr at IMUSA, an ITU win, and 7th overall in the Big Dance.  

The biggest change in Gina 2003 was her mental focus.  Triathlon at the elite level, or
any competitive level, is really swim + bike + run + mental focus.  A more relaxed
work schedule which did not have Gina rushing frantically to and fro was one thing
that helped this year.  

Less working hours did not translate into more training hours, Gina typically trains
15-20hr per week, but allowed for more stretching, more recovery time, and in general 
a more healthful training environment.  

Having begun our joint project together in 1999, it has been extremely satisfying to see 
Gina's evolution into one of the sport's elite.