It can only get better from here... Right?

I can't believe it has been almost 3 weeks since my last post... Ok, I can... Not exactly the most regular blogger around here.

A couple of challenging weeks can throw even the best of us for a loop. At a time when I am supposed to be settling into a rhythm with training and such, I find myself struggling to get it done. It is not because I do not want to train, but because of everything else that has been going on.

Between work, parenting (the one that has been the most challenging of all), outpatient surgery, and wifely duties... I find myself busy, stressed and extremely tired!

About 2 weeks ago I had surgery to remove a mass from my side/back, as it had grown quite big and it had become uncomfortable. Surgery went very well, lasted all of 28 minutes and about 4 hours after I left my house to head to the hospital, I was back home already recuperating. I got the pathology from it and it came negative (woohoo!) Of course, having this little surgery meant no strenuous activity for a while and definitely no swimming for 2 weeks. I thought I'd never say this... But I missed the pool!

The scar.

The "thing" I got removed

The inactivity drove me crazy! I could only wait 3 days before I got on my trainer to spin the legs for a little while. I managed 30 minutes the first day back, as I did not want to "pull" anything. Slowly but surely I got my biking legs under me and I spent a lot of quality time with my bike on the trainer. High power intervals, slow recovery spins; you name it.. I did it!

Running... well, that is another story. I have not run a step since December 30th. After the surgery the jostling movement hurt my side, so running was put on hold until the doctor assured me that I would not hurt myself if I went out for some liberating miles. I got the all clear 2 days ago... and I still have not been able to run a single step! WTF?!?!

Friday was a very busy day at work. I am a business analyst for one of the software products my employer utilizes internally, and this weekend we had a release to "production" (meaning... we went live with our changes). A lot of last minute testing, fine tuning, etc; combined with parenting.. and I was stuck without a workout.

The weekend came around and here I sit; with a heating pad placed on my lower back. I can barely move without wincing in pain. I'll spare you the details, but I will say.. my 3 year old is strong, and "fighting" him (for his own good) is not an easy thing to do. The whole situation has made me cry more than I am willing to admit; the feelings of helplessness as you realize he is the reason why he is so uncomfortable and the fact that there isn't much you can do to help him... As a mother, it breaks my heart...

I think it is safe to say, January has not been the poster child for a "great year" start; but I still have high hopes for 2014. I am not defeated yet.. and it can only get better from here.. right?

Did that just happen? Thoughts on becoming a brand ambassador

OK, just go ahead and pinch me.. Did this really happen? Did I really get selected to be a part of an ambassador team?? How did this happen? I mean, yes, I sent the application; but I thought FOR SURE I would not get selected. I do not lead an exciting lifestyle, I am not a top speed athlete, and honestly last season was one of my worst in my whole triathlon "career". As you could have probably guessed by reading the above lines, I am my worst critic and usually struggle with my own self acceptance and self worth (not to mention my social interactions). So, to say I was SHOCKED when I got the email from the company's founder/owner welcoming me to the Ambassador team; is a severe understatement.

But then something magical happened. Receiving that email, made me realize/believe, that I am indeed worthy. Despite hearing from my family members how awesome they think I am and how proud they are of me, having someone from the "outside" put this kind of trust in you... is well, just empowering; and i n my case can be the catalyst of change. I know it might sound silly, or even sad; but that email sparked a whole new level of commitment to myself, to the sport and the brand I will be representing. 

A commitment to try my hardest at being the best I can be. A commitment to not being so harsh on myself. A commitment to stop trying to be perfect. A desire to open myself up and connect. It is time to stop being fearful and start being a little more daring. 

What brand will I be proudly representing? Coeur Sports. "What is Coeur Sports?" you might ask. Well let me tell you! It was founded by Kebby Holden, who after being in endurance sports for 10 years could not find a race kit that was actually cute or that fit well. So she set out to design the best looking, best fitting, most comfortable and most functional line of clothing for the female endurance athlete. Their kits are absolutely gorgeous! They come in a variety of patterns and colors.. the red one being my most favorite ;-)

But what struck me the most about the brand, is the message behind the name. 

"Coeur is French for heart & the root of the word courage. And that’s what we put into our collections and our sport. As an athlete, you know that athletic performance is about so much more than genetic talent. Its also about heart. Heart is about digging deep and being mentally tough. Heart is what gets you to the finish line when all the body wants to do is lay down.  Heart is at the center of the community and the friendships you find in sport. Heart is what makes you give back to the community that has given you so much. the  Everything we do at Coeur - from our designs to how we play a role in our community - should reflect our values and how we aim to conduct ourselves. This is one of driving factors that led us to our decision to give 1% of each of our sales to the Challenged Athletes Foundation."

I am so excited to have the opportunity to be a part of the 2014 Coeur Ambassador team. 2014 will be a great year, I can already feel it. Bring it!

Rekindling the fire

Last weekend I drove to Wilmington, NC to spectate Beach to Battleship. A lot of my masters swim mates were either competing or spectating and I thought it was a great opportunity to mingle in a non pool setting as well as spectate a race… something I must admit I do not do very often.
I got in the car on Friday evening, after I fed the family some dinner and made my way to the city on a very dark and deserted road. My only company were the tunes I was playing… and yes, singing at the top of my lungs. Hey when there is no one in the car.. who cares how out of tune I am!

I arrived a little after 10 pm and met my friend Jen, her son and boyfriend. Jen's boyfriend was competing on his first half IM; and Jen had never spectated a triathlon before. I had not seen Jen for at least a month, and even though I wanted to catch up and do some talking; I knew we needed to go to sleep in order for her boyfriend ( R ) to get some rest before the race. I challenged Jen's son to a "fall asleep race"… and I think I won unintentionally… That's what happens when you wake up at 5 am, work all day, drive a boring 4 hours and stay up WAY past your normal 9 pm bedtime.

When the next day rolled in, we got ready, ate some breakfast and headed out to the race course to try to catch R on his swim to bike transition. We got to the race site, got situated in a nice spot and then we waited.. and then waited some more… Turns out that R had a much faster swim split than anticipated and we completely missed him. Ooops.
Determined to not miss his next transition we got in the car to head to T2… The joys of a point to point race.

We made it to T2 with time to spare and even had time to go get some warm coffee… it was a COLD morning. We positioned ourselves along the IN section towards transition and we could see, not only the bikes come in, but also the runners on the first out and back portion of their run.
Triathletes started rolling in soon after we found our spot (in the sun!) and the fun spectating began. I tried to give Jen as much information as possible about everything and what to expect when R rolled in. I pointed out different running forms and how to tell if a runner was evidently hurting or not based on how stiff their stride looked. And then it hit me…. I LOVE this sport; and I wanted to be racing!

R rolled in and he looked AWESOME! He had crushed his swim time, but gave us a pretty good estimate of what his bike split would be.. He nailed that one. We yelled super loud for him and he finally saw us when he first started running. He looked GOOD! Light on his feet and ready to throw down on the run. I knew right there he would come well under his run estimate. After collecting his things out of transition we made our way to the finish line about half a mile away.

At this point I was bummed I had not seen any of my masters friends. Not really knowing what splits they were expecting I had no idea where to look for them. Come to find out, one of them had actually passed right in front of me when headed out for the run… Oops again.

Luckily I was able to connect with them at the finish line and we spent a little bit of time spectating together with Jen and son. About 25 minutes after we had made it to our desired position close to the finish chute; R came along… Completely CRUSHING his expected run time by almost 20 minutes!!!! He was running the half marathon at my 5k Pace. Ha! One of these days I will be able to run that fast too for longer than 3 miles.
He finished the race with an awesome sub 5:15. His first half IM! Way to go R!

I had a pretty bad season in 2013 as evidenced by my previous post, I got burnt out and lost the sense of fun in the whole triathlon world. Spectating this race was exactly what I needed to light that fire back up and remind me how much fun this is. I am ready to tackle 2014. Let the fun begin!