Nuun ALL female, ALL blogger Hood to Coast Relay Team

Nuun is putting together a relay team for the famed (and very hard to get into) Hood To Coast Relay Team and I WANT IN! IWANNARUN!!!!!

You have to be female, you have to have a blog and you have to apply! I AM ALL OVER THAT!

Why? Why should I be chosen? Well, let me just tell you.

1. I am FEMALE

2. I have a BLOG

That really is enough to fulfill the requirement, but wait there is more!

3. I tried to get into the HTC relay years ago and didn't make the cut.

4. Through much soul searching I have found that I have both a strong desire and need to spend copious amounts of time with lady friends.. which, unfortunately, are not lining up at my door here in good ol' CT. I'm lonely and bored and would LOVE LOVE LOVE nothing more than a weekend running in the woods w/ a group of strong wonderful athletic ladies!

5. My main goal with this blog is to inspire women to take charge of their life and health by showing them that I am just a normal woman gettin it done and THEY CAN TOO! What a better way to show them than to join a group of like minded women for a romp in the woods?

6. Though I am not originally FROM the PNW I lived their for many years and consider it to be HOME! I am in major withdrawals and would totally dig the opportunity to make a trip back there!

7. I am new to Nuun, but I LOVE it! Slight carbonation, slight flavor, long lasting results!

8. My parents will be here for the summer so I've already got coverage for my kids and no conflicts that weekend!

9. I totally rock!

10. and darn it people like me!

11. I NEVER EVER win anything!

12. I need a good excuse to purchase a pair of trail running shoes!

13. There are a lot of woods around these parts (CT) for me to train on, but I never seem to manage to get there... this would MAKE ME!

14. I've been running around like a chicken with my head cut off and I need a break from all that is 'life'... a weekend in the woods sounds PERFECT for that! And running too.. wow talk about icing on the cake!

15. I have a great sense of humor and when I'm tired I get even funnier... or maybe I'm just tired so I think I'm funnier.

16. I talk enough, but not too much!

17. I'm a mother by nature so I like to help.. carry people's stuff, apply band aids and ice packs, fill water bottles w/ nuun tablets and water for the others in my van, fluff pillows and the like!

So PICK ME, PICK ME, PICK ME!!!! Please, Oh, Please pick me!

Don't worry oh blog fans .. I won't ask you to place votes for me. Nuun will choose, but if you wanted to post a comment about how awesome I am and any other reasons why you think I should be chosen that sure would be sweet of you!!!

Athlete.. ? Are you sure!?

Not feeling like much of an athlete these days.. the rhythm will return right? As will my motivation and positive attitude!

Ever since the knee thing and the new york/uncle thing my head has been spinning and I've just really been tired and unmotivated to stick to my program. Such is life, eh? Some days the Wife and or Mother (or Grand Niece in this case) take precedence over the ATHLETE. I've been working out here and there and eating fairly well (yes, even at Disney - though I suffered some Serious digestive issues that I thought were behind me), but I have lacked focus and determination. Every time I fall into this frame of mind or part of life I start to seriously doubt if I really am an athlete at all.. if triathlon is really what I'm into. I always come back to it so there must be something to it right?

Rev3 Quassy is coming up next weekend ... WE STILL NEED VOLUNTEERS!!! If you are local or know anyone local get your happy butt out there and volunteer or call on your local friends/family to help us out! PLEASE! Here's the link: http://www.rev3tri.com/!/volunteer/quassysignup.htm

THEN ... drum roll mom and dad show up on JUNE 13th!!! The calvary is on it's way! THEN I can get my head back in the game... THEN I can even pretend to try to follow a schedule. Okay.. it's not true.. I don't NEED them to be here NORMALLY in order for my head to get in the game, but I feel so behind right now (mentally) and every time I sit down w/ my calendar in front of me to 'figure it all out' I feel like my head might explode! I did get out for an early morning ride today before Tom had to fly off to Asia and I will teach my spin classes this week... and maybe try to run while the kids are in school this week (if the knee will cooperate), but I'm allowing myself to just not worry about it all too much this week. We're fresh off a REALLY hard month for the family, a trip to Disney and now single parenthood. This is not conducive to hitting the training hard. This is conducive to spending as much time as I can with my kids and just letting what be is until I can take a deep breath and get my head back in the game.

This is the balancing act folks... this is where the road meets the rubber. This is the real deal. It's not the days and weeks and months where it all seems to come together flawlessly and you are nailing all your workouts... it's the time where you have to juggle it all ... the time where people would choose to give up because it's just too hard to get it all done. You must allow yourself to step back a little... still do your thing, but don't worry so much about hitting it and know that the space will open up again for you to go hard for it.... IF you are in this place with me right now feeling like maybe it's not all worth it... maybe you should just wave the white flag, buy a gallon of ice cream and throw in the towel stay strong with me here!!! We will get through... it IS worth the fight! FIGHT for it... stay with it... keep the momentum going, but pull back on the throttle! This will keep you going, but get you through.

What do you do when the going gets tough and you feel at the end of your workout / training mojo rope!? How do you rally?

Rev3 Knoxville VOLUNTEER Report

I'm injured.. It's official. So I rolled to Knoxville anyway and pretty much decided en route that I was pulling completely out of the race. I had considered doing the swim and bike then just DNFing the race. Didn't really like that idea. If I was going to get in the water I wanted to finish the deal. I taught a spin class on Thursday night and my knee was bothering me (it hadn't previously hurt on the spin bike) so I figured I should just lay off it. I was/am super bummed to not being doing my first tri of the season, but it is what it is.

I'm still so glad that I went down to Knoxville anyway. Not only did I get to meet my TEAM TRAKKERS team mates, but I got to work my booty off behind the scenes with Rev3. They are a top notch crew... and I'm not just saying that bc we're all part of the same family. I watched over and over again as they took care of the athlete first!

Saturday I rolled down for the practice swim and got to swim FOR THE FIRST TIME in my TYR Hurricane Cat 5 wetsuit. DAMN! I was very impressed. It was by far the first open water swim where I didn't feel like I was struggling. Great flotation!

Then Laura, Chad and I went out for a little spin on the bikes.. unfortunately Laura took a spill (as did many other athletes) on some really bad train tracks. Thankfully she bounced right up. And like a good triathlete the first words out of her mouth were "is my bike okay" then she looked herself over. She got some road rash, but rode on!

TACO BREAK!

Kier and Laura W.!

Next up was registration. Kier, Kristin, Colleen and I ROCKED that registration booth. Kier made sure to be in charge of the PRO line when they got done with their course preview meeting and we got to chat up Matty Reed, Julie Dibens, Courtenay Brown (actually got to talk to her a bit and she's super grounded and really cool), Richie Cunningham and many other pros... good times. We broke things down and messed around a bit....

Now it's time for some dinner w/ my Team Trakkers team mates Kier, Mike and Laura. LOVED having this time to chat and get to know some of my teamies!

Race morning got Kier and I going around 5am to head down to transition for final set up and TRISLIDE application! We got to LUBE people up all morning!

Rev3 is a top notch group. Did I already say that!?

The expo was slammin and look at the pro set up!

Expo from up above.

Number 1 was dedicated to Sally Meyerhoff. A fallen Triathlete!

The pro space in transition.

Lubing up my teammie Chad! I think it the TriSlide was cold.

After all were lubed and folks were off to race we finished up getting things going in transition and watched in amazment as Matty Reed came sprinting up after only like 17 minutes of swimming. DANG!

Next up was run course marshaling. I stood in a spot where people ran out and back, up some stairs on the way out and down on the way back. A lot complained about going up stairs post bike, I only saw one fall and a few stumbles. (I'm wondering if this was more prevalent on the half.. I was done when the OLY was almost over.)

Matty Reed rounding the corner on the way to his first place finish - with lucky number 13.

Women's Pro Winner Leannda Cave.

I had a long drive home and had to wrap things up long before my Half Rev Teammies came in and I'm sad to not have been at the finish line to see it all come to a close... and for the celebratory beverages of course. Virtual Cheers to all of you!

It was a long drive home..we hit a snag of traffic that caused us a 10 mile section in about 2 hours. My plans to drive through were smashed and I stayed the night at Kier's only to get up at 3am to drive the remainder of the trip... which thankfully was uneventful.

I'm still drained from all that has transpired leading up to Knoxville and then the big trip down, but I would do it all again. A couple of good nights sleep and weaning off the caffeine has put me on a good path to 'recovery'... yes, volunteering is hard work too!

New Milford Sports Club Tri Program

Last night was the second session I was able to attend for the tri program my buddy Scott and I are leading at the New Milford Sports Club. It was their second swim session.

There are six people in this group and I have to say they are stoking the triathlon fire in me. The fire always burns in me, but it has gotten a bit dim over the last couple of weeks. I've been so busy with my Great Uncle and life and this blasted knee thing (I'm making an appt with the ART guy TODAY) that I've not been so enthused about triathlon lately.... but meeting this group and spending time with them as they enter into triathlon or look to tune up their game has reminded me why I love this sport so much and THAT I love this sport! So THANK YOU!

Watching them in the water last night was amazing! (I was surprised to feel the desire to get in and swim with them.) They improved in just the hour that we worked with them. I have to say it is hard to not overwhelm people in the pool. I remember all too well what it was like when I first tackled this swimming thing. How overwhelmed and defeated I would feel after some practices. I DO NOT want these athletes to feel that way - though I know I won't be able to avoid it... it comes with the territory. Scott gave them some basics on the first day on Monday and gave them a lot of information to think about just to give them a base understanding of how everything was going to go down then last night we gave them one task to work on. Focus on this one thing... then make it comfortable.. then move on.

The improvements were amazing!

This process is continuing to give me insight and perspective as I think of myself as an athlete and the self talk that I (come on you know YOU do to) give myself... sometimes it's positive, but mostly it's not. I tell them to keep a positive attitude, to keep it light, to focus on just the one thing and that they should be proud of their effort and improvements yet I do not do this myself.

Am I really talking about this AGAIN!? Seems we all need a reminder to think positively about ourselves.

So I will be taking my own advice (and I'm sure I'll need to hear it again) to go easy on myself and focus on the positives of it all. Afterall ... tis why I am here doing this. Amazing how teaching someone else really teaches you too!

Thanks again guys for all your hard work thusfar.... looking forward to our next session!

I've been NOMINATED by Circle of Moms!

  
I've been NOMINATED for the Top 25 Health & Fitness Mom Blogs by Circle of Moms!

I feel SO HONORED! Thank you Circle of Moms for reading and for nominating me! I'm so excited to think that others find inspiration from my experiences as a mom and athlete!!! I truly believe that each and everyone of us has it in us and that we deserve the chance and time to let it shine! Make that moment for yourself today!! Get out there and feel the sweat pour down your body and the wind in your face!

BUT FIRST!! Head over to Circle of Moms and vote for me. I would be STOKED to be considered one of the Top 25 Heath and Fitness Mom Blogs. Help me spread the word. You can vote ONCE a day EVERY DAY until June 1st!

Just click below!

 

Perspective: The first tri of the season is HERE!

I've gotten a heavy dose of perspective over the last couple of weeks.

I'm coming up on my first triathlon of the season - as a sponsored athlete!!! - and I've never felt less prepared to race. I feel unprepared physically (I know I'm fit enough to complete the race, but I have major knee / calf issues right now and my taper has basically been TWO work outs over the last couple of weeks and those likely would not have happened if it wasn't my job) and mentally (my mind is elsewhere).

My Great Uncle has been living in Manhattan for the last 60 some years. He is almost 90 and has gotten to the point where he can no longer live on his own. I've been going into the city quite a bit to help with his transition from living in a small apartment off Central Park to an assisted living place here in Newtown, CT. It's been mentally and physically taxing and has taken ALL FOCUS off triathlon and my up coming race at Rev3 Knoxville.

I've really enjoyed spending the time with both my Great Uncle and my dad. Dad and I have been taking adventures into the city on the train and subway and it's been fun to spend that time with him. I'm very excited to have my Great Uncle living close by now so that we can go and visit him and help him when he needs it.

Needless to say I haven't had a lot of extra brain power or energy to worry too much about how I'm going to get to Knoxville (though the details are all worked out), meeting my team for the first time or the race. I'm excited to have a nice road trip with a new team mate and to meet everyone. I'm nervous about the swim (first open water, first in my TYR hurricane Cat 5 wetsuit), bike (first ride on my tri bike since last year), and the run (on my crappy knee). I'm actually considering two options 1. Planned DNF just dropping out after the bike, 2. WALKING the run.

I'm thinking the first option is probably my best. I KNOW myself well enough to know that I'm not too keen on walking in a race and that I would push it and possibly make my knee worse before I even got started with the season. My knee has also been bothering me a lot just with the walking around NYC so walking for 6 miles probably isn't a great option. THIS part sucks. I don't love the idea of a DNF. BOO!

But really this whole thing with my Uncle has given me so much perspective. This triathlon thing (for me) is about fun and the ability to be ABLE to get out there do it. My favorite part of triathlon is definitely the social fun aspect of it... and mostly the training to be honest! I am so lucky to be healthy and part of a family that gets my need and desire to lead a fit and healthy life... thus accomodating my 'schedule'... and FAMILY will always come before triathlon.

So whatever I end up doing at Knoxville is A-OKAY and I need to remember what I've been able to put into my training... the crap my body seems to feel the need to throw back at me... my glute/hammy problem and now my knee/calf. It is what it is and I'm LUCKY to be able to roll to Knoxville AS A SPONSORED athlete to meet my team and spend the weekend geeking out over swim, bike, run.

Let's do this thing! Can't wait to meet the team and CHEER for the runners and at the finish! Go TEAM TRAKKERS!!!!

What's your NUMBER 1 reason you love YOUR sport of choice!? What do you prefer... the training or the racing?