Who writes a blog post once a year, or maybe once every other year? No one. Except me. This is my public commitment to make it more of a habit!
This weekend I will be participating in my first triathlon since September of 2013 in Skaneatles. It is a sprint (750 yard swim, 17.3 mile bike and a 3.1 run) My goal? a refresher before LP 70.3 in September. (If I can get there!) The swim is short so no wetsuit. I am actually a bit nervous about it based on my two ows experiences two weeks ago. Not at all a relaxing swim. My head was up every 100 yards, trying to catch my breath and relax. My second attempt was better with a different wetsuit, but still not what it should be. So, Sunday - no wetsuit. I had built up my running
Someone told me I should read David Goggin's book, and then I read Atomic Habit, and 5 second Rule, and Endure, the Alchemist, and Soar. Wow I've been missing a lot by not making reading a priority. Some things have not changed at all since I last posted: we are still in Colorado, I am still looking for my next career move. Some things have changed 360 degrees. Let me focus on that for a minute. I got a coach. I lost some more weight and gained some more strength.
This is my day, everyday....
My alarm clock is now on the other side of the room. No more snooze. No more turning it off and sleeping another hour. I am up by 6, usually by 5. While my coffee is brewing, the dishwasher gets emptied, and I start any laundry that needs to be done.
I have an accountability mirror- it is a whole new ball game. The idea came from Goggin's book, but I took it a bit further. Every month I choose 10 things that have to happen every day. I always start with making the bed (also a new thing!) I do not get back in bed (the hardest item every. single. day.) I do my workout, spend at least 3 hour on the job search, and 1 hr reading ( I have read 14 books since April - more than I have read in a long time!) I have a to-do list that changes every month and i pick something off that for the day (you know - all those tedious things you've been meaning to do forever but never get to like closing the NY bank accounts!)
For the first three months I spent an hour everyday purging or organizing paper, clothes, art supplies, emails, photos, books, old school work, a box of my father's keepsakes, items from the 1990 house fire that I had not been able to part with and unloading many, many unused and unnecessary material objects. That's 90 hours of cleaning up life. It is an amazing feeling. Last week I found a letter from 1978 that my sister wrote to me when I was away visiting family. She was 6.
You know what I have learned - its hard! And I mean really hard. Its a constant struggle to stay focused, to not say "oh the hell with the schedule today," or spend the whole day reading the really good book, or throw in the towel because...why bother? In the words of Steve Jobs "remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose."
Someone said to me last week that my whole idea of Ironman was the dance of the finish line. It was never about being an athlete. That was right. It was about doing triathlons not about being a triathlete. It's different training because it doesn't feel like it is training anymore, it feels like being who I am and every event of the past two years has brought me here; epic parallels. From pain and exhaustion, to thinking you'll never be able to do it, pushing through, and maybe somethings puking; epic parallels. It all happens for a reason and I am grateful that I had a wake up call!
Next month is LP 70.3. I am struggling with how to get there since we thought we'd be home by now. And of course I am nervous - not a lot of bike climbing here believe it or not. But this is what I am hanging onto - I passed people on the bike leg of that sprint. Uphill, downhill and on the flats. No big deal to many, but to me it was proof of so many things!
Big shout out to my friend Maura for completing her first Ironman this past weekend - epic parallels!
