Back in Action

Last year I broke up the winter training with the indoor triathlon series. This year, I haven't broken up the training at all because frankly...I just got back into it a month ago. After a few really rough weeks of getting my fitness back, I'm coming back stronger than ever and I'm really excited for this year. A few weeks ago, I did the Bop to the Top Stair Climb in Indianapolis. I was thrown on a team because they needed another girl and we ended up winning the coed division. It didn't hurt that we had a pro-cyclist on our team and another Ironwoman. I took home the award for fourth place female. Not gonna lie...that was probably the worst I've ever felt in my life. It was 36 flights of stairs. Not too bad...nothing like the Hustle up the Hancock or the Empire State Building. I figured I'd run the whole way up. Uh...not so much. I started out running and made it to floor 6 and thought my legs were going to burn off. Seriously, I thought that there was no way that I was going to make it up all the way to floor 36. The only thing that kept me going was hoping that Whitney didn't pass me and I was hoping to not embarrass myself with a crappy race. After realizing I couldn't run up the stairs, I opted to pull myself up with the railings, walk the stairs two at a time and eventually I would make it to the top. I think I blacked out from floor 6 to 20. I had my legs again, but my heart rate was probably red-lined and I think my lungs were going to burst. At about floor 30, I told a girl that was at the doorway that this was the stupidest thing I've ever done. She said, "I know!" I was so focused on wanting the race over that I didn't focus on how short it actually was. It only took 5 minutes and :34 seconds. That's not even a mile on the track for me. I wish that I took my stair climbing friend, Dave's advice and looked at it this way from the beginning. None the less, I made it to the top and in less than 2 minutes from finishing, I started having a massive coughing attack. I didn't stop coughing all day long. I would rather do another Ironman, than race up stairs like that ever again. Yikes! Props to all of you who did this race and any other stair-climb for that matter. Dave Shafron, I give you major kudos for winning those stair climbs. Those quads are clearly meant for climbing!!! Man-o-man that was tough! All of it was worth it though. A group of some new friends did this race together and then we went out for breakfast. We all talked about how miserable the race was over omelettes, granola, peanut butter toast and coffee. I was in athlete heaven. Afterwards it was time to go running at Eagle Creek - a really nice park. I ran with my friend Whitney. It's been so long since I've run with someone. It was such a nice treat, beautiful scenery, great conversation...I love having a training buddy.

Fast forward a week later, back to Indianapolis and this time there was an indoor time-trial at Marian College. I wasn't planning on doing this race, and I didn't even tell my coach until afterwards because I was scared she was going to tell me, "Adrienne...you just got over being sick, and you are in a recovery week, don't do it." So, I waited to tell her that I won until after it was over. Hahaha.

So how this race works - Imagine the carnival game that you shoot a water-filled gun into a hole and watch a little horse go across a board. This is pretty much what an indoor cycling time-trial is...except you, the cyclist, are the gun that makes the little horse move across a computer screen and you race against other cyclists. Yes, people seriously do this for fun. This was a short, 6.20 mile ride and I didn't really know how to pace myself. Jason gave me some good advice and I surprised myself with how well it went...for both of us actually.

Then it was time to eat. Do you notice a trend here? Train then eat. Race then eat. Sleep then eat...then train...then eat. That is pretty much what I do all the time...and those are two of my favorite things...eating and training...oh, music and yoga. In January, I had a bootcamp at my studio

and a special concert with my dear friend Kellie Lin Knott.

In my spare time, I've been having some other fun too. Last week, I went to Chicago to take some pictures for a Headsweats catalog. It was good fun to see how pictures are taken for a catalog, check out a few stores, training centers, stores, parks and and to meet some really awesome people. We took some pictures at a few really cool training facilitys in Chicago....Vision Quest and Elements Multisport. Vision Quest is an indoor training center with a ton of computrainers, an area for functional fitness and an endless pool for swim stroke analysis and training. Elements is a relatively new multisport store and training facility that has a bunch of computrainers and all the best in triathlon nutrition and gear.

Bryce Walsh (who has the world record for riding on a velodrome)

and me hamming it up for the camera with our kickin Headsweats hats

Elements also have a really cute dog named Dexter that roams around the store.

We also went to REI and Fleet Feet in Chicago and this place has, by far, the best selection of training gear. The clothes are awesome (but quite expensive), but when you spend so much time in them...they are worth every penny! While we were there, some guys from Newton Running were there. They gave me a pair of Newton's to wear while I ran on the treadmill...and then I got to take them home with me. Major score! I've been wearing them the last two weeks and am in love! These shoes are like Cinderella's slippers! A perfect fit, super comfy, and I feel like a new runner. I started my own photo shoot with a cowboy hat at REI...just for fun.

Maybe I'll use the hat for my next bull riding adventure...oh wait, I didn't buy it. Hahaha...

We visited the Garfield Park Observatory in Chicago. Definitely recommend heading there to feel like you are in the tropics during the cold, Chicago winters.

I'm also working on getting a road bike. Yes, I don't have one. I have one bike...my faithful QR. And I definitely am going to need a road bike with some of the cycling trips and races I'm doing this year. So, my good friends at the Glen Ellyn Bike Shop are helping me out. Here is a glimpse at my future new friend.

The last few weeks have been a lot of fun...taking some trips, doing some new things and experiencing training in a new way...with someone that I like more than training and who enjoys training more than I do.

With how my training started on Christmas with my heart rate at 192 at a slow pace, I thought that it was going to take much longer than a month to get my fitness back. So much more has come back to life in the last month - not the vegetation in Chicago, but everything else is in bloom!

A New Start

Training for the 2010 season has officially begun and I'm extremely excited. Last year was a long year, and I gave myself a treat by taking an entire month and a half off. That's right...between November 14th and December 25th, I only ran 5 miles, I only biked for 2 hours, and I think I might have swam once. I was out of town every weekend in November and December and taking some time off of training was just what I needed to focus on some other things in my life, answer some tough questions, and make some major changes. Life has been a little crazy, well...more than a little crazy, a lot crazy. My life has flipped upside down in the last month and I'm off to a new start with everything. It's not a New Years resolution kind of new start, but a sense that my whole life is off to a new start.

"The easy road often becomes hard, and the hard road often becomes easy." Robert T. Kiyosaki

At the end of last season, I was unconsciously choosing to make my life hard. Training was physically hard, emotionally hard, and mentally exhausting. So was my life. I spent hours upon hours thinking too much and spending so much time being unproductive. My emotions were on a roller coaster ride and I chose to keep all of this stuff inside instead of sharing it outwardly. I thought that I could play the role of having everything under control, looking all put together, organized - cool, calm, and collected. I was only fooling myself. I spent so much time faking things that I was exhausted. It's hard to train when you are exhausted, so a month off in December couldn't have been more ideal for me. I have to admit, I didn't like triathlon at all at the end of the season. I didn't even really like it until about 2 weeks ago. I let life consume me and I lost my passion for training and racing. If I didn't have my yoga practice, my yoga studio, and my good friends, I think I would be curled up on a couch all bummed out.

This is life though, we always have ups and downs. Some ups take us way up, some downs take us way down. We have to learn to live amidst all the chaos though because the chaos will be there, but how we react and respond to it is what can change. There is that age-old serenity prayer that says,

"Lord, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference."

I've read this a million times but I often forget it. A friend recently sent it to me and told me to put it up somewhere that I can see it everyday. So, it is now the screensaver on my computer. I have been thinking of this quote a lot lately because there is a lot of stuff that I don't understand but I accept anyway. There is a lot of stuff many of us don't understand and therefore, we do not accept. Bottom line is...We can't understand everything. I don't understand a lot. I don't understand the stories in The Bible. I don't understand how a single person can part the red sea or get so many animals on one boat. I don't understand e=mc2. I don't understand how microwaves eat up food. I don't understand how satellites work to take pictures of the earth. I don't understand why people smoke. I don't understand why people buy SUVs and then drive super slow when there is only an inch of snow on the ground...oh my gosh, there is a lot I don't understand. I don't understand why my coach doesn't give me more rest days for all the hard work I put in. On the flip side, I don't know why my coach doesn't drive me into the ground everyday. I don't understand how we can live our lives for so long missing out on things - I don't understand how I didn't find triathlon until a few years ago or how I spent so much time working in a corporate job that was just ho-hum, why I wasn't a Sports Science or Kineseology major and instead went into business in college. I don't understand why of all the women at the Spirit of Racine 70.3, I was the only one that got accused of drafting. And why, for the entire racing season last year, my lowest point was for my "A" race at the end of the season.

While I don't understand why all this has happened. I could psychoanlalyze all of this stuff and try to figure out "why" it's happened, I won't. That has already drained enough of my energy. I am moving forward in my life in ways that so many people will never understand. I can remember it starting when I did my first marathon....Why would you want to do that to yourself? Because finishing is possible. Why does any person in their right mind do an Ironman? Because completing it is possible. Why would anyone leave a job making great money to open a business where the risk of making no money is so possible? Because making a living this way is possible.

The road that I've taken to all of these things hasn't been what everyone would call "right," or "ideal," or "perfect," or "something an honest person would do." You know what....this is exactly what an honest person would do because I've been openly honest about it all and I've been as true as possible as I can to myself, standing up for myself, being myself....and that is all that I can be.

This year, I'm taking on some new adventures - I'm both excited and anxious. I have a new coach and I am setting goals in a new way. I haven't put together my race schedule for 2010 yet, but I have committed myself to racing in every Elite wave that I can. I am going to race Olympic distance races, not what I would consider my best distance, so that I can put myself out of my comfort zone. I am going to try my hands at a foreign sport this year - bike racing. I know nothing. Until last year, I didn't know what made a time trial a time trial, and I still don't know how they work. Hahaha. I am loosening the reigns on my studio and opening the door to new teachers to explore their passion and share this fire with others.

Why did I get a new coach? Why would I want to race Elite and risk not placing at the top like I would if I raced age-group, why would I do bike races where I can get hurt, why race Olympic if I'm better at something else, why have new teachers when I can handle the studio solo..and on and on the questions can roll in. Why have I made some of these decisions and other decisions? Because I'm challenging myself to live my best life, to keep moving forward. No understanding required....just acceptance.

"Life is like riding a bicycle, to keep your balance you must keep moving." ~Albert Einstein

Hola Mexico!

In less than 12 hours I will be in the air with my good friends on my way to a bad-ass power yoga bootcamp in Tulum, Mexico with Baron Baptiste. The comment I received today was, "You never stop, do you?" My answer, "No Was Jose!" For me, this is seriously my dream vacation. This isn't like going to a race, having to prepare, setting expectations, getting all nervous, racing your butt off, being triumphant, being disappointed, being sore as all get up and then coming home to start training again and feeling bummed that it was all over. Well, you do get sore as all get up, and you do wish that you could stay there forever, but that is the ONLY similarity. This is bootcamp at it's finest. About 100, like-minded people get together for a 7-day, life transforming week. We spend loads of time practicing yoga, eating wonderful food, breaking down our outer layers and getting to the deeper stuff that holds us back from reaching our fullest potential. When we leave, we are new people ready to shine our lights and rock out the real world. It's not just the physical practice of yoga on your mat, but the introspection that takes place on and off your mat. When I was training for Ironman last year, I had attended two Baptiste bootcamps. I think it was a huge component to my mental state while giving it my all for that race. I broke out of my shell last year emotionally and physically and I owe it to these bootcamps, to the teachers at these bootcamps, and to the friends from these bootcamps. You have all made a huge impact on my life and I'm so ready to get rocked next week!!!

I'm not pissed that this bootcamp is in Mexico when it is just starting to snow in Chicago. I wish you could all come with me and share this awesome experience, share the sunshine, and see what I talk about in my classes. For my dear friends Robin, Steve, and Mary...you are in for one of the greatest rides of your life.

To Karen and Jen...millions of thanks for covering ALL of my classes when I'm gone. I love you girls.

See everyone in a week! Adios Amigos.

Why not play big?

It's officially the off season. After Clearwater, it took me about two days until I started to get the post-Ironman blues. Basically, the realization that the season is over, I don't have to train for anything anymore, I'm a little unmotivated to do other things, and I'm wondering what in the world I'm going to do with all of my time. I have a very flexible schedule to say the least. I teach 3 yoga classes each day, I run my business, and I have the rest of the time to do whatever I feel like. When I'm in season, I'm either eating, sleeping or training during my downtime.

Now that I don't need to take naps because I'm not wiped out at all, and I also don't need to eat as much as I was eating (though I'm still working on grasping that concept, to be honest), and I'm not training, I have a lot more free time. I joined a masters swimming group through the park district and they swim 4 times each week. I decided that I wanted two full weeks off of swimming, biking, and running so I will join them again beginning next week. In the mean time, I've been doing a lot of yoga and let me tell you... WOW!!!! Since I'm not kicking the crap out of my body with all the workouts, my body is responding quite well to the additional yoga that I've been practicing. While I haven't lost any physical weight, because like I said I'm still eating like I'm training for an Ironman, I have found lightness and freedom in my body that I haven't felt in so long. I feel amazing.

With the additional downtime, I have also decided to focus on setting some goals for myself. Now, I like to write down goals that I know I will achieve but my friends have called me out on this and so I'm committed to creating goals that I will likely fail to achieve. Talk about a blow to the ego. This is a hard task to complete because I don't want to fail, none of us do. It's important, however, to fail at 50% of the things that we set out to do. The failure is then truly all about perspective.

One of my goals for 2009 was to complete the Ironman World Championships. Now, I say that my goal was to finish, but realistically my goal was to the break the amateur world record in my age group. Quite a lofty goal, but I put it out there because it was a stretch. As you are well aware, that did not happen. Did I fail to achieve this goal? Sure. Am I embarrassed that I put this out there. Definitely yes. But in failing to reach this goal, I pushed myself more than I thought was possible during my training this year. As a result of that, I found confidence in all aspects of triathlon that I didn't have last year and I got faster and experienced all different sorts of workouts that I never even knew of. My running pace increased, my bike pace increased, and my swim stroke improved. If my goal was "just to finish" that wouldn't have been pushing myself hard enough. For some, finishing an Ironman is a stretch goal. For me, it's not and I know this. It's so important that we know the difference and we set our goals for ourselves. We need to break through what we thought was impossible because most of the times it's just "I" that is holding us back from achieving what is truly possible.

Is it embarassing to declare our goals and fail? Heck yeah! But what is more embarassing is to not set the goal at all and live within our comfort zone for the rest of our lives. My friend Debbie posted an awesome quote on facebook that said, "The question is not, will we survive outside of our comfort zone. The question is, will we survive our comfort zone?"

Think about it!!! God willing, we will all live until we are 100+. And many of us will live that long, get old and wrinkly and look back and say, "what did I do over the last 100 years?" Those years will be filled with memories, most definitely. But, how many of us will have 100 years filled with events where we fell on our face, looked foolish, scared the crap out of ourselves, got hurt, screwed up, took chances and failed, took chances and succeeded....you get the point. I have realized that when I get to be 100, I want to look back and laugh at all the risks that I took for the sake of living. I don't want to have any regrets. I never want to say, "I wish I did that." So as 2009 comes to an end and we all start planning our resolutions for 2010, I'm going to play big. I'm not having the old school resolution of, I'm going to read more, lose 5 lbs, visit a new state, smile more. I'm going to go for some things that others think are impossible, that I used to think were impossible. I'm going to sign up for things that scare me and I'm going to take chances in my life that I never would have before. And, I'm going to aim so high that I fail but in the reaching, I'm going to be able to say, "Yeah! That happened. So what?!" I challenge you to do the same!

Clearwater Race Report

This was a fun way to end the season!

When I arrived in Clearwater on Thursday, it was cloudy, chilly and super windy due to the leftovers from Hurricane Ida. As always, the first task at hand when I arrive for a race is to put my bike together. I turned on some tunes and started unpacking. Everything was in my bike box, but a little screw was missing from my seat post. Uh oh. I looked all around the bike box and couldn't find it. I looked all over the floor of the hotel room but got nothing. I always have one little thing that comes up when I put my bike together so I almost expect it to take a little longer than it should. So, I put together everything else that I could and ventured out to find something that would keep my seat on. There are tons of bike shops in Clearwater so I was bound to find something. I hit up the first shop and they sent me off to a place that actually carries QR bikes. They found a screw that fit for my bike, it didn't look pretty, but it worked. Problem solved and the sun was starting to come out. I headed down to the pier to pick up my packet and check out the expo. After picking up the packets they were using these new scales, of course to get you to buy them, and weighed us and took our body fat and hydration levels. I was well hydrated and clearly have been eating a few too many chocolate covered almonds in the last few weeks. Now, I knew I didn't have six-pack abs and so did the computer. Hahaha. Oh well.

I spent the day down by the water, enjoying the ocean breeze and a little sunshine and hoped that the wind was going to die down a bit. I watched a fellow swimmer as tried his hands in the ocean. He went out about 20 feet, and turned back around. There were some serious white caps in the water and it looked crazy to swim out there. On Friday morning, I ventured down to the swim start and took a dive into the water. It was crazy wavy. I swam out about 10 minutes and got some serious air on the top of some of the waves, ingested quite a bit of salt water and just laughed every time I flew out of the water. I turned around and headed back and it took all of maybe four minutes to get back to shore. I was going to swim until my hand reached the sand and then all of a sudden a huge wave came and pelted me, taking me under and I just stood up and cracked up. That was a fun little swim.

It was a lot wavier than it looks. And seriously wet suit pictures are ugly. Ugh!

It was then time to take the bike out for a little shake down ride. I went for a 30 minute ride and got a chance to experience the big bridge that we had to cross for the race. The way out wasn't bad, and the way back wasn't too bad either. Nothing ever compares to the hills in Connecticut, Bloomington or Madison, but it was nice to give them a whirl.

I spent the rest of the day on the beach getting pelted by sand because it was so windy. Yesterday, I was still chewing sand every once and awhile and yes I do brush my teeth. Anyway, I headed to the expo and turned my bike and bags in. They handle this race the same way they handle a full Ironman. Nothing but your bike is on the bike racks and all of your transition stuff is put in bags on the ground. After checking everything twice, all was set up for the next day. It was then time to have some grub. I made a yummy salmon and pasta dinner in my hotel room. I stayed at the Residence Inn about 2 miles from the pier and it was perfect! A huge room, plenty of space, full kitchen - it was like a little apartment. I was in bed by 10:00 and super excited for the next day.

I woke up at 4:30a.m. rip-roaring to go. I put on some music and did a little dance in my bed, changed into my race gear, ate some breakfast, and got all my stuff together to head to the start. I walked outside and it was as calm as could be. No wind, perfect temperature, clear skies. YEAH!!!! It was going to be an awesome day. The swim was changed to the harbor because the current was so strong the last few days. And because there isn't much room to get in the water, the swim was a time trial start. This means that your time started the moment you walked over the mat (you have a chip on your ankle to identify you with the computer system). They let about three people go every few seconds and there is a constant stream of people going in the water which means it's not crowded at all. This was a non-swimmers dream.

I seated myself in my wave and talked to one of my racing buddies Sonja. We met back in June at Rev 3 and she is one of the coolest girls I've ever met on the road. We chit chatted a bit, and danced a little at the start while Black Eyed Peas played on the loud speaker - "Let's Get it Started."

The one bummer about not being able to get into the water before the swim is that I had to pee. So, what do you do but pee standing up in your wetsuit. Gross, I know...but it's either that or visit the port-o-potty during the race. That wasn't going to happen. Sorry Elizabeth for peeing in your wetsuit! It was really kinda funny. As you walked through the starting area the asphalt was getting more and more wet because people peed on the ground. Haha. I have to go into detail on this because it was the first time I've ever peed on myself with clothes on, standing up, with people around me since I was probably 3 years old. So, the thing with wearing a wetsuit is that when you start peeing, it doesn't go anywhere. And then all of a sudden, the pee starts coming out the bottom of one of the legs of my wetsuit. I turned around as I was laughing outloud and apologized to the girl behind me. I'm giggling now just thinking about it. At least I got my business done with. Yeah!

Into the water I went...it was a great swim. There were some weeds, it was a little murky and it smelled like gasoline every once and awhile, but it was a nice swim. I tried to catch a draft whenever I could. I was excited when I started passing a few purple swim caps because they were two waves in front of me. I got to the turn around point and thought to myself, "I'm already half way! This is awesome!!!" A 1.2 mile swim is so much more pleasant than a 2.4 mile swim. As we headed toward the final buoys, there was not a lot of room to get out of the water and it was time to be a little aggressive. I wasn't in my usual "excuse me sir" mode. It was more like, "get the heck out of my way buddy" mode. And then up the ramp I went. I ran through and for the first time didn't feel like I was all loopy and discombobulated like I normally feel getting out of the water. I looked at my watch...it was a sub 33 minute swim. Major excitement filled my body as this was my best 1/2 Ironman swim yet. Yeah!!!!

Onto the bike...my glasses were all fogged up and had to ask a volunteer if I could wipe them on his shirt. He obliged and then I was off. In the first pedal stroke on my bike, I felt a weird pain in my left knee/quad. I thought, "Uh Oh! What's that?" It went away immediately, thankfully. Now it was time to hammer. My goal for this bike was to stay clean and give it my all. I knew that it was going to be a tight course and rumor on the street is that it's a draft fest. Well, that was definitely the truth. I had a girl riding my wheel for about 10 miles and I kept screaming at her to get off my wheel. Then I'd be riding on the right, minding my own business and there would be a huge stream of riders flying by. They'd get hung up with each other and I saw two people almost crash a few bike lengths in front of me. It was scary. As I passed the girl that almost crashed, I asked her if she was okay. She smiled, laughed and said she was fine. She was riding clean and almost got leveled. You have to be careful out there in these cases. I yelled at a few girls for drafting but because this is an International race, some don't speak English and they either don't care that they are drafting or they don't understand. I realized at one point that I was wasting too much time caring about other people's races and reminded myself to ride my own race. I played a little cat and mouse with a woman that was significantly older than me who had a mirror on her helmet. She was a stud rider and she kept passing me on the hills. Totally humbling! I told her she was a stud and then she said, "No-you are a stud!" It was so funny.

With about 5 miles left, a girl passes me in a pack and asks me, "Are you the Adrienne from Racine?" I said, "Yes, but notice I'm not drafting." She laughed and said, "yeah, I know." Not sure what that was all about but I caught back up to her and passed her. With about 2 miles left, I saw a guy riding a regular bike with one leg. Yes, ONE LEG!!!! He didn't have a prosthetic on his other leg. This motivated me the remainder of the race. He just rode 56 miles pretty darn fast with significantly less leg power than anyone else out there. What a stud!

Back into town and onto the run. That little shooting pain I felt in my knee/quad when I got on the bike came back when I got into my running shoes. It was worse though and I was just hoping that it would shake out. It was dull but it was there for the first 4 miles or so. Those bridges did not help, but they weren't awful. I only had to go up and down four times. Yikes! Fortunately, my foot was feeling okay but I didn't feel that peppiness in my legs. They felt heavy and I just didn't feel like I could go any faster...even after my legs started coming around. I just told myself to hold on and do my best. I saw a few friends on the course, cheered for them, they cheered for me, and before I knew it, the first loop was over. 6 miles to go. No problem. I saw Elizabeth on the course cheering and she told me to just bite down and leave it out on the course. I kept telling myself that. I also reminded myself of the guy with one leg riding his bike. No feeling sorry for myself at this point. I tried to pick it up a bit and I made my way back up that final bridge and I gave myself the "I love hills" pep talk that I used to say when I trained for Boston back in 2007. I kept looking at my watch, wondering what my finishing time would be. I realized that a 4:40 was within reach and so I pushed the last mile the best I could. I finished, I met all my goals and I was so elated!

This is how I felt at the end of the race

Off to the massage tent, I was beaming from ear to ear. Excited because of a successful season and excited that I get to rest a while, figure out what I want to do next...and I'm so not in a rush to do that!

I always try to find some sort of nugget out of each race. Sometimes it comes during the race, sometimes it comes after the race. It was a great race, I felt great, I was happy, I smiled as much as I could, I was in my element, and I felt like I was back to myself. I couldn't crank it out in the run like I have at past races, but I met my goal of doing my best for that day. When I was in Hawaii, I didn't feel like myself. I didn't want to put one foot in front of the other from the first step that I took on the marathon. I felt like I lost myself. I felt like I lost the warrior that I've always been and that was really defeating for me. That's why Kona was so hard for me. I didn't like triathlons that day and I thought that I lost that love for triathlons forever. When I started training again a week after the race, I wasn't as motivated to swim, bike or run. Then before Clearwater, I felt my pep come back again. At Clearwater, I was happy to be there. I was happy to do my pre-race swim and bike. I was happy to wake up early and race again, and I enjoyed every moment of the race - even the swim.

Now, I am taking some much needed time off from training and formal training plans and I can tell that I'm starting to get the post Ironman blues - no race to train for, no race even on the schedule. I'm heading to Mexico in two weeks for a week of yoga. I need it more now than ever. I am going to take that time to rejuvenate my mind, body and soul. When I return, I'm going to plan next season and then I'll start training come the new year. In the meantime, I'm spending some time on the rest of LIFE - doing more yoga, working on my business and figuring myself out. When next season starts, I'm going to be ready to make it even better than this year!

The Final Frontier

The secret of health for both mind and body is not to mourn for the past, worry about the future, or anticipate troubles, but to live in the present moment wisely and earnestly. ~Buddha

It's that time again...time to pack my bags, assemble all my gear, tune up my bike, put on the race wheels and head down to another race. I am so freaking psyched, I cannot put it into words. It's weird to me that the half Ironman World Championships are after the full Ironman World Championships. It seems like it would make more sense to have them before because it's easier to recover from 70.3 miles versus 140.6, but I didn't make the Ironman schedule and I'm sure there is a reason for it. With that said, many people have asked me if I am recovered from Ironman and ready to race again. Well, that's a quadruple barreled question. Am I recovered from Ironman has two parts - recovered mentally, and recovered physically. It's kinda crazy, Ironman seemed like 5 months ago in my mind. There was so much hype to get down to Hawaii, so much build up, anticipation, excitement, planning, and talk about the race that I was consumed with that race for basically an entire year. Each big race is like that. The several smaller races that I did this year were really anticlimactic in comparison and not nearly as taxing on my body or mind.

To be honest, I sometimes think I'm invincible. I think that I can do a race, like an Ironman, and be fully recovered in just a few days. Well, that's far from the truth. The first time I got back on my bike after Hawaii (about 8 days after), my legs did not feel like my legs. They were heavy (I thought it was from all the m&m's that I ate over the course of the week), and they were slow. Um, okay...so 140.6 miles of an Ironman really wears me out for a while. I guess I'm not invincible. I realized it was going to take more than a 30 minute warm-up on my bike before my legs came back around - More like 3 weeks:) Last week was an awesome training week for me. I exceeded all my goals on my bike and while my foot isn't 100%, I can run comfortably and fast and not feel like I'm going to self combust. I finally feel the confidence coming back in my body. Mentally, it's been about the same. Thank goodness! It took me about 2 weeks to come down from Ironman and it's taken me about a month to really get my mental "race cap" back on. I am feeling that same level of mental clarity I had before some of my smaller races this year. I was in a fog before Hawaii and I finally feel like that fog has lifted.

I did my last workout on Sunday and it was fabulous. It didn't suck that it was 71 degrees outside, I rode in a tank top and it is November. That being said, I was so excited to get out on my bike that I forgot to put on my helmet and had to come back to get it, and then wiped out in my driveway. It was a graceful fall and I hopped up super fast, brushed myself off and, of course, checked to see if anyone witnessed that. Of course, my neighbors did and all the kids down the street but I just laughed. I'm laughing aloud at the moment because it was just funny. Okay, so two questions answered - am I recovered mentally and physically? The answers yes and yes.

Next order of business, am I ready for Clearwater 70.3 - physically and mentally? Well, right now yes, and yes. I am more excited to race this race than Hawaii because I just love this distance. The swim is just long enough that I don't get bored, the bike is long enough that I can catch people that kick my butt in the swim, and the run isn't SO mentally tough and I can see what I've done in training actually manifest into similar speeds in a race. Ironman is a long way to go. It's physically and mentally brutal. I'm glad I can say that I'm an Ironman, but other than fulfilling my personal ego to do it faster next time, I'm just not interested in putting myself through that again for awhile. Going half the distance after Kona is like doing this for fun. And that's what it's all about for me...that's why I started racing and that's how I want to end my season - for fun, for the challenge, and for the adventure. I am excited to have fun!! I'm not saying it's going to be easy physically or mentally. This is the creme de la creme of this distance. I'm not going to be whizzing by first timers like at other races. I'm hoping to keep up with this field and be competitive. That being said, I'm excited to put my toes back in the sand, and run out into the water with only 80 other women in my wave, push it as hard as I can on the flat bike ride course, and then see what I have left over for the run. This is fun for me! I'm an endurance athlete. I can do sprints but they aren't my favorites - going anaerobic for an hour is pretty intense. I absolutely hate Olympic distance, and Ironman is just too much for my body. The 70.3 race is the fastest growing distance in triathlon so that leaves me with a lot of races to do over the course of my lifetime. Hip-Hip-Hooray!!!

I have all my necessities packed for Florida, and some fun too! I'm excited to see so

me familiar faces down in Clearwater, and have some time to chill. They say to visualize the race before you go, but I'm taking this weekend as a weekend for ME! I've visualized my ideal weeke

nd and of course, the race. I am going to be an animal in the water for the swim. I'm not going to have the "oh excuse me" attitude in the swim. What's a tough animal? - a Badger!

Small and feisty, but I will cut my nails. I'm going to sing my favorite pump up songs in my head as I bike, and hopefully real people in that passed me in the water. Finally, I'm going to ease into my run and then turn it up to take as much as I can to leave it all on the course as I finish. As far as the rest of the time there, I am going to sanitize the hotel bathtub and take a hot bath at some point in time. I brought my toe covers for a cold ice bath after the race. I am bringing my yoga mat to salute the rising sun with the waves crashing against the pier on Friday morning. I created my playlist for race morning and I'm going to have a dance party in my room

on Friday night, and then a mini dance party on Saturday morning with the tunes blasting as loud as I want since I don't have to worry about waking anyone up. YEAH!!! I'm going to have a few frosty beverages on Saturday night to celebrate the season coming to an end and there will be dancing for sure, I'd love a little karaoke too. Maybe I'll get to see my brother drunk and dancing. That would be awesome! (My brother and his fiance are coming to vacation and watch me race).

While I've visualized everything in a multitude of different ways this weekend, it's been quite consuming. So, I decided yesterday that I've done all I can do now. I've put in a solid year of training, I've struggled, I've triumphed, I've broken down, I've broken through and everything has happened how it's supposed to. Now I leave the rest to the universe and will allow everything to manifest this weekend however it is supposed to.

As I board that plane on Thursday morning, I'm leaving all of my expectations in the terminal and leaving the rest up to God.

All the Small Things

There are a lot of things that I cannot believe and the first of them is that tomorrow is my last long training day of the year, and long is not nearly anywhere near as long as it was just four short weeks ago. The second thing I cannot believe is that a 2 hour training workout is short. Hahahaha. I cannot believe that I used to think 30 minutes was ever a reasonable amount of time to exercise. Wow how things have changed. I can't imagine spending less than an hour on any sort of workout - from running, to swimming, to biking, to yoga. Weird. The last thing I cannot believe is that it's going to be 71 degrees out tomorrow. Yippee!!! I won't even have to wear long sleeves on my bike. That being said, I'm excited when it gets cold outside again because I bought some super cute pink arm warmers from Lululemon today that have super long sleeves that go over your hands like mittens when it's chilly - but not chilly enough for gloves.

Okay, so clearly this is a rambling blog. Next week, I will turn into a little bit of a stress ball so I thought I would take this as an opportunity to write about all the little things that make me happy because life is really all about the little things. So hear goes.

1. I like silence - especially in yoga. Some people ask me if I'll ever play music in yoga and I do, but only on Friday nights. The silence is good for us. Our mind's are always crazy busy and we need the silence to find some space in between our thoughts. If you are anything like me, your mind fires off in 7,000 different directions in a matter of 60 seconds. Silence is golden.

2. While I love silence, I also love rocking out to music. If you ever see me driving down the street in the Om mobile, definitely take a look in the car. I am usually singing at the top of my lungs and playing the drums on the steering wheel or dancing in my seat. There is nothing better than singing in the car or the shower. Oh wait, I do love wailing while I'm rocking out on my bike.

3. While I love signing, that means I love music. I have the worlds most random playlist on my iPod. Right now these are my top ten songs I listen to at all times. Contrary to popular belief, I don't subscribe to Teen Beat.

Do you Remember - Jay Sean, Sean Paul, Lil Jon

Jump then Fall - Taylor Swift

Otto's Journey - Mylo

One Less Lonely Girl - Justin Bieber

Chances - Five for Fighting

We Are So Last Year - Hawthorne Heights

Vanilla Twilight - Owl City

Good Morning - Chamillionaire

Hallelujah - Paramore

Two is Better than One - Boys like Girls

4. While winter sucks, it is fun to buy new winter gear. Marshalls is awesome for cold weather running gear so that you don't have to do laundry all the time. I bought some long sleeve, dry fit shirts for super cheap. Never pay full price. If you do, you are getting ripped off.

5. I never thought that opening a yoga studio would expand my life in so many ways. Not only am I living my dream, but creating this community within my studio has been one of the best gifts that I could give while also receive more than I ever thought possible. The friends that I have from my studio truly light up my life in ways that I never thought I would experience.

6. I'm super pumped to travel to a race next week solo. I've never done this before and it will be weird not to have my paparazzi there taking pictures of me, driving me everywhere, helping me with my bike when I put it together wrong, making sure I have everything I need, etc. I'm very excited to see my triathlon friends and also not have to entertain anyone but myself before I race.

7. I love girlie movies and I love the Red Box. Since opening my studio, I spend a lot of nights on my computer and I promised that I wouldn't do this every night anymore. So, when I have some time after class and after dinner, I hit up the Red Box and pick out the cheesiest girlie movies I can. I'm currently watching "Monster In Law." Not gonna lie - this one is kinda lame.

8. I love Whole Foods for lunch. They have the best salad bar ever and it's an awesome place to get some healthy eats. I'm doing my best to avoid the bulk food section where they have dark chocolate almonds, but I'm really not good at it.

9. I'm living by the "enjoy it while it lasts" mentality with my coffee intake right now. Ever since Hawaii, I've been doing this afternoon coffee thing. I don't think this is too healthy but I'm going to enjoy it for now because I know that I'll have to cut out the caffeine before yoga bootcamp in Mexico in less than one month - which I'm way excited for.

10. I love all my yogi friends. I cannot wait to go to Mexico with some of my students as well as catch up with my friends that started this journey with me back in February of last year.

11. I love all my A-town girl friends that I have stayed in touch with. I'm so inspired by your journeys - some of you with new babies, others moving across the country for new jobs, getting engaged and starting to plan your futures. I'm glad to be a part of all of this and am blessed to have such wonderful girl friends.

12. Pizza and beer. I went to the city today with my sister and my mom. We shopped on Michigan Avenue and then met my dad and my sister's boyfriend for dinner at a place called "Piece." They have awesome beer with funny names - Full Frontal and Cameltoe to name a few. Their pizza is amazing and their dessert pizza is even better. We wore Ernie birthday hats for my sister's birthday. So fun.

13. New bike shoes and ebay. I've had the same bike shoes for three years and they are really smelly and the velcro doesn't stick anymore. So, I found some new shoes at a local store, tried them on and bought them for way cheaper on ebay. Bonus! I'm excited to try them out tomorrow.

14. Daylight savings really isn't so bad. I like seeing the sunrise on the days that I don't teach at 6am and on the other days, I enjoy starting my classes in the dark and people walking out into the light of day after an hour long sweat session. Thankfully, it's been sunny the last few days and I missed most of the rainy days while I was in Hawaii.

15. Lastly and probably one of my most favorite things are the notes and the emails I get from my yoga students, and the personal conversations I have with my yoga students. I love hearing about your life - your highs, your lows, your struggles, your successes, your triumphs, and all of your life experiences. Thank you for sharing these things with me. You are all such amazing lights of love and peace. Keep shining that out to the world!

Okay....I could go on forever, but I'm getting sleepy. Tomorrow is an early morning yoga day with some friends, a bike and a run, and an event in the city with Lululemon. I'll write again next week when I'm all nervous for my last race of the year, but I'll remind myself of these fun little things when I start to get stressed because really, all the worrying doesn't help at all.

Happy Summer in November!