Right in the Middle of Things!!

Well, here I am, right where I said I wanted to be.  I am in the middle of my training season!!  Yahoo!!  For 2012, I have participated in my first marathon, first sprint triathlon, first Olympic triathlon, and in just a couple of days, my first Mud Run (aka. Warrior Dash).  Since I am in the middle of my training, I guess that puts me in the middle of my race season too!  I have one more Olympic distance triathlon left and then I will be training for a marathon sometime in October.

I will be either running the Chicago Marathon or the Columbus, OH Marathon.  I have been contacted by a non-profit group located in Chicago to run in the Chicago Marathon.  They are called Chicago Run and they promote health and wellness in communities throughout Chicago through running programs.  They offer free running programs in the "high-need" communities throughout Chicago. Check out their website:  http://chicagorun.org/home

I was contacted by one of their staff after they read my interest in running the Chicago Marathon.  Well, there are a few logistics to work out, but it looks like I may have a chance to run in the marathon!!

Also, two Sunday's ago, I attempted my second official triathlon and first Olympic distance triathlon.  An Olympic distance triathlon consists of a 1.5km (~.9 miles), a 40km (~24 mile) bike, and a 10km (6.2 mile) run.  Well, I will tell you one thing, I think I was physically prepared for the race, but I had no idea how unprepared I was for the mental aspect of the race.

It started off with a nice refreshing (sarcasm) swim in the Ohio River.  I had practiced and trained for the swim in both 25 and 50 meter distance pools, but never in the open water. In the pool , the water is nice and clear and you lane lines and wave dampeners for each lane.  In the Ohio River, you can't see anything in the water and it is probably for the best because after an empty sour cream container and bucket lid hit me while in the water and sink into muck up to my knees, I didn't want to know what was around me.  I just knew I wasn't even close to prepared for what was about to happen.  We started in different waves, Sprint Distance Women, Sprint Distance Men, Olympic Distance Women, and finally, my group, Olympic Distance Men. 

As we treaded water waiting to be signaled to start I looked around at the people I was in the water with.  I was surrounded by all types of athletes, younger and older men. It was amazing to see and wonder what kind of stories these people had.  Why did they chose doing triathlons? Where they doing this for a charity, or other purpose.  One thing I have learned in the sport is that everyone has a reason for doing it. Whether it be for overcoming cancer, weight loss, in memory of a friend, or something else, there is something that is driving these people.

Well, they started us off and I proceeded to experience my first open water swim.  By this I mean I got kicked in the chest, and hit in my shoulder as soon as we were allowed to go.  I had heard that the start is very unique and new people should try to stay toward the back just to avoid the "washing machine" effect. Well, I must admit, I wasn't ready for what happened.  I tried to keep my composure, but had to instantly swim to a nearby boat dock just to regain my breath.  I was freaking out.  I was swimming upstream and trying to do a freestyle stroke, but every time I lifted my head to get a breath, water would splash in my face and not allow me to get a full breath.  The water was choppy and definitely not something I had practiced in my training.  The turn around buoy seemed to be miles away, but somehow, I made it there.  I had to swim the breast stroke to get there, but I made it and that signified I was only a third of the way done.  I thought about that and said to myself, "OK, you have two choices, swim to nearest boat and tell them you quit and are too much of a wimp to finish a swim, or just suck it up, grow-up, and push yourself just as you did everyday you trained." 

I chose to just suck it up and give it everything I had.  I pushed myself to do freestyle and I figured out how to breath between the waves splashing up in my face.  I finished the swim feeling relieved but also a little disappointed that I even thought "quitting" was an option that day.  I hopped on the bike and proceeded to push myself even harder because I knew I had been in the water so long.  I rode very hard and made my $300.00 craigslist road bike go as fast as it could.  I finished the bike in 1 hour and 12 minutes just six minutes from the top ten in bike times.  I felt good about the bike but the run stopped me dead in my tracks.  The run has always been a strong part of the triathlon for me (at least I thought).  After pushing that hard on the bike to try to make up some time from my swim, I pushed so hard, that my legs took over four miles of running until I quit feeling "dead legged."  And on a six mile run, four miles into it is just too late.  Anyway, I finished strong but mentally fatigued in 3 hours and 4 minutes. But I will tell you, it was an absolutely great feeling to finish knowing that just two hours earlier, the thought of quitting briefly passed through my mind.  I am so glad that I didn't quit and knew deep down, that I had it in me the whole time, I just had to "dig deep" to find it - and I'm glad I did find it!



I knew triathlons were both mental and physically demanding, but I had no idea just how mentally unprepared I would be.  Fortunately, you can't get mentally prepared unless you experience it so I felt I took a lot of knowledge and maybe a little experience with me that day.  My next triathlon is on July 15th, and it happens to be the same location of the first Olympic triathlon.  I will do better and hopefully, will be a little more prepared physically and mentally.

So, I learned a great lesson that day.  You can train as much as you want and as long as you can handle, but like most things, experience and first hand knowledge may just be the best preparation. So I am hungry to do better, and am excited to see just what I have in me to finish it again.



So, I am in the middle of my training, humbled by my experiences in this sport, but getting stronger and of course, running...

My ADHD and the Power of People...What???

Just in case you didn't know, I was diagnosed in high school as a kid with ADHD. And diagnosed again 10 years ago, and once again less than a year ago. So basically, there is no way around it, I am one of those ADHD kids. Haha, and that's exaclty it, I am a kid and just about anyone that knows me can tell you that too. 

The woman I train with regularly even has an ongoing joke that while she is focused on training and getting properly prepared for races and events, I am off running and chasing bunnies and squirrels on a moments notice. All I have to say is if I see a squirrel or rabbit while I am running or biking, I may break my neck trying to chase one down.

In other words, I get excited about things very easily, lose focus constantly, and am basically all over the place.  I believe excercise and training has allowed me to learn how to gain focus and maybe even "let out" all the excitement!  However, sometimes, it just increases my excitement and energy!  My family says that I act like I am twelve years old. If thats the case, I am fine with acting twelve because I really feel much younger since this weight loss. 

I am happy I get a chance to do and experience the things that I have this past year and a half, but most of all, I am happy that I have changed my life to become healthier and most of all, probably increased my life so I can drive my family and friends crazy even longer!! Haha
Seriously though, I am so fortunate to be able to have lost the weight and also have family and friends that care about me.  I am also very fortunate to have parents that are strong enough to fight and beat cancer multiple times.  I can't imagine how tough it is to fight something like that, but I know it can be done because I have seen it with my own eyes. 

We all know that life is busy and never stops for anyone to wait and catch up.  I guess the trick is to just keep running and get the most that we can while we are on this planet. I am very fortunate to have been able to lose this weight and even learn a thing or two about the power of the human spirit and whether they show it on the outside, just how strong people can be!!

So as I get back to my busy life and my training, I look back and realize how fortunate I am. 

I have also posted this video/slideshow because people have said that I need to post it, so for those of you hecklers, give me your best shot, because I can take it, but for those of you who are interested, check out the video below.

My First Weight Loss Video!! Tell Me What You Think!!


Back to training, humbled by the power of people, and happy to be alive...

Have I Trained Enough? Am I Ready for This? Let's Find out!!

These last 2-3 weeks have been difficult to say the least.  I have, once again, had my share of ups and downs during my training.  I have had good training days and also some bad, actually very bad.  However, things always seem to look up as I get closer to an event.  For some reason, the closer I get to the event, the better the training gets.  Maybe it’s because I am more focused and realize that time is a valuable asset as the event date nears. Not too sure, but maybe that’s it. 

I have been trying to run during daylight hours so I can try to get accustomed to the type of heat that I will probably face during my events this summer.  I have been putting in more time on the bike/spinning to give myself more endurance during my ride.  And lastly, I have been trying to get into the pool more often to get more endurance during my swim.  All of these methodologies have seemed to pay off in some way.  I feel strong and confident when I run; I feel more comfortable on the bike, and as far as the swim is concerned, I am just trying not to drown during the open water swim.

Not only has my training been tough, so has the non-training part of my life.  My mother was recently diagnosed with breast cancer and went into surgery to remove the cancer, but while in surgery, the doctors found more cancer in her lymph nodes near the breast cancer and had to remove that too. Basically, it was pretty tough to have to tell my mother what happened later that day.  But this is my mother’s fourth bout with cancer and she has gotten pretty tough since her first diagnoses many years ago.  She has beaten cancer three times and I am sure this time will be number four.  She was out of the hospital in two days and was at the YMCA five days after her surgery riding three miles on a stationary bike.  Like I have said, she is a tough woman all the way through.  Shewill be going through some aggressive chemotherapy and I hope that she gets rid of the cancer once and for all!

Anyway, so while I train, I think about my mother and other people who everyday, have bigger struggles to deal with than just bad day of triathlon training and it makes me "shut up" and just work as hard as I can.

Also, I attended a 10K run that my daughter participated in two weeks ago and cheered her on to the finish.  She ended up placing second in her age group!  She has done two races and the first 10K, she placed first in her age group, and in the second 10K, she placed second.  That is just amazing. It was nice to sit on the sidelines and cheer for another person to succeed.  I really liked that. 

I also volunteered for an Kid’s Triathlon on Sunday June 3^rd.  It’s the first time a Kid’s Triathlon has been coordinated this early in the season in Lexington and it SOLD OUT at 150 kids with ages ranging from 8-14!  It was a blast and I had a great time!  There was just something to seeing these kids cross the finish line as they heard their names called out.  They were competitive, but more than anything, they were filled with "pure and innocent" joy!  Its great to watch these kids have fun because they have no worries about training, work stresses or schedules, car payments, house payments, or anything. They are just kids having fun and that, I think was awesome to watch.

Anyway, the nerves are starting to set in.  I only have 3 days until my first open water swim and my first Olympic distance triathlon. Shouldn’t I be used to these nervous feelings right?  Well, I don’t know about that, but I think part of the excitement is the nervousness and anxiety that comes building up to an event.  Because during the event, it seems like a whirlwind and there is not really any nervousness once the event starts.  At that point, I will find out if I did enough training or not. Hopefully I have, because I am starting to taper and at this point there is nothing more I can do about my training. 

Just three more days to push myself and do a little tapering before toeing the starting line, but a lifetime to remember the outcome - time to train, time to endure, time to be ALIVE…