Spark

I am swimming again.  I have never actually stopped swimming, but I am REALLY swimming again.  with Gil Stovall, my most favorite swim coach.  (Thank you thank you thank you Gil for coaching again!  I have been hounding, texting, and begging him to start up another program.  He is so tolerant of me- I am super grateful.)

If you are in Memphis and not swimming with us, I don't understand.  Come!  What an amazing coaching resource for us.  

  

So this is week two of 4:20am wake-ups, and I am still pumped.

Some thoughts the team environment and how it really brings me a spark of joy and enthusiasm:

It really hit me today how much I thrive in a team environment.  I have been excited to wake up, I love seeing my friends, I am focused during my workouts, and I am appreciative of my coach.  I was able to reflect on the fact that I have spent almost every day of the majority of my life in an athletic team environment.  Practice with friends is just what I did!  I am an intrinsically motivated athlete.  I can train on my own, race on my own, and do the work on my own.  But I find it interesting that as my opportunities to train with others have dwindled over the past few years due to losing our Master's Swim program and my schedule as a mom, my spark was a little dull as well.

But I feel like even in the past two weeks, that spark has really started to brighten!  My training has more purpose to it, I am working harder, and I am loving it.

And it makes sense.  When I started doing some of my running with my running group (the GeneralOWLS... lol!) this fall, my running spark was ignited again.

And the bike?  I can't remember the last time I rode with friends.  Maybe 3 x in the past 3 months?  Dull spark.

So, it is not that I can't train by myself, as I am certainly comfortable doing that quite a bit.  It is more that a team environment is a very familiar and fun thing for me, and has been for a long time, and I seem to enjoy it, so I am just in a happy spot and need to make sure I keep taking advantage of these group opportunities, because being with a team isn't a given as an adult.

And those were some thoughts that I had, as I left swim class super chipper this morning.  

And Isla and I are watching Nemo right now, so "just keep swimming" is certainly a good thought on which to finish the day.

Thank You, 2015

Thank you for a whole bunch of post baby running PRs, a course PR, and a real PR!  So there is hope after all!

My first post baby PR of the year at the Little Rock Half Marathon.

Thank you for inspiring me to run a marathon after a 7 year lay-off, and rewarding me with a Boston Qualifier.

Ah.  Thank you for letting me cross this goal off of my list.  

Thank you for allowing me to serve on some wonderful teams as an athlete and ambassador:  Wattie Ink, Los Locos Racing, and Enell.  Thank you for so many amazing sponsors:  Breakaway Running, Outdoors Inc, Blue Seventy, Powerbar, MarcPro, ISM Saddles, and Herbalife24.  I have no right to any of this as a random age group athlete, but I sure am appreciative.

Thank you for bringing me new training partners that get up with the moon.

Thank you for new racing adventures.

A little Spartan Race to break from the norm.

Thank you for the health of my family.

Thank you for making this guy a part of my life for 19 years now.

Our 10 year wedding anniversary March 2015

Thank you for an accidental swim PR.  Sometimes I need things like that to keep me going.

I have no clue how I set a mile swim PR on this morning.  

Thank you for the hard races, and they were all hard.  It taught me that even when I am out of shape, miserable, and hurting beyond what feels healthy, that I am still not doing that poorly, and I just have to gut out the tough years.

Oh, Nola 70.3  This was such a miserable race for me.  Little did I know every race in 2015 would follow suit.  

Thank you for giving me the opportunity to travel a little bit this year.

The beautiful Elk Lake in Bend, Oregon.

Thank you for giving me opportunities to share so many things with Isla.  My heart is filled with joy when Isla reads books, talks about runners, spouts off the golden rules of kindness to animals, asks to help pick up trash at races, etc...  I treasure every single minute I get to spend with her.

Big plans for 2016!

Christmas 2015

The holiday season is over, and I need Dave to take the malt balls to work and get them out of the house!  I have had a seriously true off season (almost 3 months!) complete with weight gain, loss of fitness, and increased time spent with friends :). I seriously did not plan such a long off season and did not want to get so out of shape, but here I am and all I can do is go forward!  I am already looking forward to 2016 with some big plans and dreams.  Everything kind of snapped into place for me last week, and I am seriously getting excited about the upcoming year with a few goals in mind.   

(and I got a VERY unexpected Garmin 920xt for Christmas!!!!  Just when I think my family doesn't give a $hit, and I am pretty sure they really don't still, they do give me a little something to support my "hobby." )

But, the past week was a blast...

My favorite party of the season- with my GenerOWLs running group to celebrate Charles' BQ.  I don't even remember how many attempts he has had at a BQ over the years.  It was super inspirational.  But this is just an amazing group of people in and out of running.  I am the "nobody-just a PT" of the group.  Seriously.  These folks are just amazing individuals.  I am a better person for starting my day at o'dark thirty with them.

 And, how do you know when someone is a runner?  When they have reflective clothing on at a Christmas party?  LOL!  I have known 2 of these girls since we were 6, and another since high school.  I consider them my "good" and "smart" friends from high school.  (and yes, I have many friends that "didn't apply themselves" and "got into trouble."  I love them all equally.  And I wonder which category I belong....

 Somebody was excited to be Elsa on Christmas morning!

 At first Isla wanted dinosaurs for Christmas.  She then changed her mind to a baby doll.  (as if she doesn't have 5 already).  Looks like the baby doll did the trick! :)

 My Christmas girl :)

 We took Isla to the zoo lights with her godparents Sean and Jenny, along with their family from New Orleans.  Isla didn't want to ride the animals that go up and down at first and asked to sit on the bench.  That was followed up by a huge meltdown because she didn't get to ride an animal.  Oh my.  Of course we rode the merry go round, again, and this time on a Panda.  Life with a 2-year-old!

Isla's cousin Virginia (and the rest of the crew) came through Memphis on their way to see their family.  We got to have a wonderful breakfast with them during their pit stop- it was such a treat!  

Happy holidays to everyone-  thank you for all of the great Christmas cards, thoughtful gifts, and happy vibes.  With each passing year, it becomes more apparent to me that intentional kindness, goodwill, and positivity make a great life possible.  And I am certainly surrounded by some very awesome friends, so thank you!  

And I swear posting will get back to training and racing.  But I could hardly make it through this post without getting another malt ball.  Help!  LOL!!!!  Happy Holidays!!!!!!!