Weekend Check-In

I haven't had much to put on the blog- no one wants to hear about work, and that is all that seems to be going on around here during the week.  But, hello!  The weekend is here!  Yay!!!!

Friday night at the Humane Society was wonderful.  I spent some good time with Mel, one of my new favorite love bugs (next to Shelby Angel, of course).  She was a rescue that was chained up, completely starved, ears cut off and bloody, etc.  But, of course she is so, so, so sweet!  What a great dog!  Not a mean or aggressive bone in her body, even though she was treated so poorly in her former life.  Amazing resilience! 

There is a sweet little video below of her loving a tummy rub (not my video, but one online).  So, if you think you want a pit mix, but worry about temperment, check this awesome dog out.  She is so stinking friendly and great! I could hang with her all night!

I swear I think about rescuing dogs every single day.  (Even today on a bike ride I stopped for a dog, then Brandon and Ward threatened to leave me if I didn't start riding).  It is somehow linked to my person....who I am supposed to be.  I just haven't found the exact connection yet, but I am trying to stay open to finding the path.  

On to training, although there is not much to report.  I so badly want to be training hard right now, but I have been fighting an awful respiratory infection for 3 weeks that has been kicking my butt.  I am dragging myself through some easy workouts when I can, and when I can't get out of bed, I just stay in bed!  Unfortunately I have been in bed more often than not.  Hopefully this will be resolved soon, as the first round of treatment did not work (another doc apt on Tues). 

I am not going to tell you how hot it is here.  Cooley will tell you with this post-ride picture. 

I attempted to ride today.  It is hard to know when to try to train when you are sick.  I decided that if I could get out of bed, I should try.  I always find it hard to know when I am hurting myself by training through being sick and when I am just being a weenie.  I guess I would rather err on the side of the former. 

Tonight I got to celebrate at a fundraiser for my high school friend Elizabeth (in the middle) as she battles cancer.  The tumor is now gone, but she still has 6 more months of chemo.  Being with her tonight was inspiring- her strength as a wife, mother, and friend has been amazing. 

Happy weekend, health, and good friends to all.

Back To Work!

I am back from the beach and once again working for a living.  I have been 90 to nothing since I got back....busting my butt at work and diving back into training head first.  But, last week I did no work and no training...just tanning, drinking, and reading.  (which, by the way...anyone else read the 50 Shades of Grey Trilogy?  Am I the only person that was behind in my sex education?  Holy Cow!!!!!)

Our annual beach prom picture- Navarre 2012. 

Thank you Aunt Kathy for making me some headbands to match my bikinis! :)

My awesome sister-in-law and her husband. 

Too lazy to get up.....

Teaching "Tebowing" to the women.

We drove back Saturday night, and I had this wild idea to do the Arkansas State Time trial the next morning.  On 3 hours of sleep, I woke up at 3:30 am and drove to the race.  What an awesome idea!  (??????)  I had the slowest 40k ever in my life= PW.  (That is personal worst, for my friends that keep congratulating me on a PR....not the same thing!).  But, I had such a good time anyways, and I was happy to start working off the weeks worth of alcohol and chocolate from my thighs, which, incidentally, 3 people have been kind enough to point out are bigger these days from some weight gain.  Guess I won't be racing in the Splish anytime soon!

 I met up with my Arkansas friend Emily for the race.  I can't think of many things I like more than racing with friends. 

Interestingly, since no one raced in Cat 4 except for one other rider that was just there to have fun, I accidentally won the Cat 4 race.  I probably should put an asterisk by that result. 

So, I am still on the plan to force my body back into shape, even if I have to show up to races slow and sluggish.  I jumped back on the Peddler train this morning to get my legs moving again, and I will probably enter a few more sprints and try to make some distinction between my SLT, lactate threshold, and VO2max.  Right now, I think they are all the same. 

Off to bed.  Lots of big days at work and cramming in the training early morning and late nights.  I am going to push till I crash.  xo

Playing in the midfield

I will one day write a book on how the game of soccer replicates life.  There is a reason it is the best game in the world.  If you are not watching the Euros right now, then you might have no clue what I am talking about.  But, you just might.  If you are not a soccer fan, you might just skip this post.  But, if you get how sport mimics life and personality, read on!

Dave and I were doing some reflection on our life (not lives, because like he says, he doesn't want to be a co-star in my show.  What can I say?  I am a first born, after all....wasn't everyone created for my enjoyment?).  We fortunately always come back to the same conclusion after these heartfelt discussions.

We want to live our lives like a center midfielder or defender.  For the sake of this post, I will leave it at center midfield. 

This has nothing to do with the soccer field, although all of our life lessons might have been learned on the pitch.

- You were a person that didn't pass the ball?  You are probably selfish off of the field too. 
- You don't hustle?  We wouldn't hire you to work with us at the office.  You make it harder on everyone else. 
- You blame others for your bad pass?  You can't own your mistakes.
- You think you are better than your teammates?  You are the worst kind with poor self-reflection.

So, in theory,  a center mid-fielder does much of the hard work with little glory.  They are never satisfied with flashy plays with no substance.  They are willing to run more, hit harder, and do the little things over and over again to have a good TEAM result in the end.  Most people never see their good plays or give them credit for the game- that all goes to the wings, forwards, and the goal scorers.  The good midfielders and defenders that hold the game together rarely get "player of the game" or "MVP."

You know these players in life and in your chosen sport.  They are the people that are sometimes overlooked.  Maybe they constantly get 2nd or 3rd to the superstar.  The might receive little extrinsic reward, but you know that they are the ones that appreciate the occasional taste of success because they have worked so hard.

Dave and I want to live our "life" where we work harder and find happiness intrinsically.  Because we aren't the kind of people that are satisfied with extrinsic awards.  We don't want to be the kind of player that plays terribly but still scores a goal and feels satisfaction with the result.  We want the process to be a labor of love...of hard work and relentless practice to become better.  This applies to our lives, our families, our marriage, our work, and our athletics.  

I find myself being extremely judgmental when it comes to social media.  I see so many athletes needing external praise and validation through facebook, and I feel so frustrated.  It is the typical "forward" syndrome in soccer.  "Look at the goal I just scored!  Aren't I good?" "I just ran 10 miles at 5:30am at world record pace before you even got out of bed.  Look at my trophy.  Please press like."

The best part of being married to a non-triathlete is that Dave calls me out when I start grasping for external validation.  After all, I am as guilty as the next person.   

But, isn't that what social media is?  It encourages self-promotion.  I am not sure if this is making us better athletes.  

Who am I to say a word?  I have a blog- is there anything more narcissistic than your own website?  I try to justify it by saying that no one has to read my blog and I use this as a way to make friends and share my journey.  I try to make up for it by not posting every single workout and award and "look at me!" moment on my facebook feed.  But, justifications are just what they are, and I can be the worst offender.  

And, yes, we should be proud of our accomplishments.  We should not feel bad when we improve or hit a home run.

Balance.  It all comes back to that word.  

So, how to balance this all?  How to be a center midfielder in my life and in triathlon?  That is what Dave and I have been discussing this week.  He reminded me to continue to choose races that I want to do, whether I will be good at them or provide a "good" result.  He encouraged me to keep traveling and enjoy my racing with friends, aka, my "team."   He encouraged me to be proud of the good race, not the good result.  He encouraged me to keep finding the races where I come in last and learn something.  

This is the same lesson I learned from Hillary.  Be a small fish in a big pond.  That is the center midfielder/ defender way.  

Don't look for external validation.  Pick the challenges that will invoke true accomplishment, not a facebook compliment.  Look inside more, outside less.  Develop in a way that you are always strengthening your character.  These are the things that Dave and I reaffirmed as wanting in our lives.   
On my race list is Norseman (Dave said no) and Lanzarote (Dave said no).  I finally stuck a bargain with Leadman 250 in Bend, OR.  Dave said I could sell the Volvo and take the money for the trip, which is impossible because then I couldn't get to work without a car.  So, the schedule for the remainder of the year is still on the table, but I am certain it will include some travel (Dave approved a trip to Kari...actually, I have a 500 mile radius- no flying-, so if you have a race for me, send it my way!).  It will definitely include some friends.  And it will hopefully include a lot of hard work representative of a good center mid-field player. 

 And for Angelina, may England step it up and get out of this first round!

Sluggish!!!

My recovery is still ongoing- combined with fun and a little training.  Italian Fest weekend has come and gone.  I can't really say I contributed much to the LaFondatores Team besides eat and drink, but they keep letting me on the team and I keep showing up.  I think I paid my dues back in the 1990s when child-labor was smiled upon and my mom made me help prepare the festival food for "service hours."

Thurs night, close down the joint....

Friday night, close down the joint....

Saturday night...didn't make it.  Drove up to St. Louis instead to see my old college roomie/ soccer teammate/ bridesmaid Tara and her 3 gorgeous blonde girls.  (and her husband Tim, too, but it was really about seeing the girls :)

After our night at the Mexican restaurant, the girls served us their own homemade popsicles for dessert.  Someone forgot to mix the koolaid, with the sugar, with the water....so the result was a very interesting sour version of a popsicle, which I of course ate with delight. 

 

Tara is going to kill me for posting these pictures on my blog because we both look so exhausted, which we were.  

I woke up Sunday and drove another 2 hours for a road race.  I am quasi-recovered from IMTX, which means I am not sore, but I am not fresh.  Normally I would never sign up for a race only 2 weeks out form an ironman, but I wanted to shake out the sluggishness and move some.  

My new "friend" Lynne.  LOL!  She parked next to me and by default had to become my friend for the day since I didn't know a soul at this race.  Come to find out, she is a bada$$, x-ironman chick from the 1990s that used to place in her AG at Kona.  Love it!

The race was a 52 mile road race with a really small open field.  I seemed to be the only beginner, which was fine with me.  Everyone warned me the course was extremely hilly, and my first clue should have been the "king of the mountain" points on the event bible.  

It happened exactly how it probably should have happened for a tired race.  I felt super flat from the get go.  The pace wasn't hard, but I felt tired.  The King of the Mountain sprint blew the whole field up and I was left all by myself in 3rd place...chasing down 1st and 2nd (working together) and trying not to get swallowed back up by the girls behind me.

I stayed within striking range for about 10 miles, lost 1st and 2nd place, felt miserable with an empty gas tank, and got picked up by two girls at about mile 42 that had worked together.  Lucky for them, my back was killing me because I forgot to lower my seat back to my setting before the race, and I was just plain tired.  I mean, super duper tired. You don't realize how into the well you go for ironman until your next race.  Then you really feel it!  So, while they might have thought I was being smart and sitting up for the sprint, I was actually just hoping they would tow me in so I could go home!

Obviously I wasn't much competition for the sprint for 3rd.  I kept thinking I would find one last surge of energy at the end, but nope!  They sprinted, and I was left standing still.  I mean, I really didn't have a single ounce of energy left in my body...not even to compete for the podium.  I think I got 5th...maybe 4th, but I didn't stay for the finish results.

But the race was a good training day, although at the time I thought..."why in the heck am I doing this?  This is awful!!!!!"  and "how in the world do the pros do back to back racing and ironman all year long?  how do their bodies recover their snap so quickly?"  

So, I am still a little sluggy but will keep battling it out over the next few weeks.  Next up?  Navarre Beach Vacay!!! :))))