Mini Tri

Yesterday I did my own version of a mini-triathlon. I've been biking to/from work everyday (approx 7 miles round trip. Clocking over 30 miles during the week. Not like I'm keeping track.), and then did my usual Wednesday night 1K swim WITH the run this time. OK OK... not the whole run, but at least part of it. So I didn't do all 3 events together per say, but I did them all in less than a 12-hour period so I'm going to count it.

Needless to say... I'm tired. My BODY is tired. But last night I was in endorphin heaven!! #worthit (Yeah. I'm single in my mid-20s & get my kicks from swimming in seaweed & having helmet hair. Don't judge me.) Not only did I accomplish all 3 events *that I will eventually be good at* in 1 day, I knocked about 12 minutes off my swim time from last week and was still able to run. Again this does not mean that my time was good... it means my time was less embarrassing than the week before.

I cannot get over the fact that in less than 1 month, my swimming skills (while still less than mediocre) have improved SO dramatically! This is fantastic news for anyone who wants to start up swimming too, eh?? It's fantastic news for me at least because I'm totally motivated to get out there next week & take even MORE time off my swim and do the WHOLE run. Fingers crossed.

Gotta give another big shout out to the peeps. Yes, you. I know you're one person who might not think the thing you said/did made any sort of difference but it did! I mean... collectively... having so many encouraging words, tips and having so many people willing to put in the time to help me out is unreal. I'm feelin' the love, y'all!!!

I know I probably sound super lame getting excited over a not-so-great swim time & being able to ride a big girl bike, but that's where I'm at. I'm sure a lot of you are thinking "Aw. That's so cute. I remember my first race". Yeah yeah, I know. I'm still working on taking off the training wheels & floaties while you got 1st place in Iron Man 3 years in a row and qualify for the US Olympics. I GET IT. I'll get there too... eventually. Bear with me, just don't pity me.  :)  #laughatmypain

Back on track: I'm stoked. Tired, but stoked. I can only hope that my progress continues as it has been the past few weeks. I realize that there will be plateaus, but the fact that I'm actually doing what I set out to do... & can actually DO it is pretty great. Just don't ask me how I'm doing on an "off" day ;).

If I can still inject humor into it, I will still blog about it.

<3 E

Three Strokes, You're Out

So I went for my third ocean swim today, & although I'm still embarrassing slow I AM getting better. Disclaimer: this does not mean I'm good. This just means I'm less worried about dying & can now focus more on my strength & technique. Instead of doing the backstroke & singing Sara Evans "A Little Bit Stronger" or channeling my inner Dory, I can actually swim quasi-proper now although I still sing songs in my head to make it go by faster. It's a survival self-soothing instinct to not think about sharks, seaweed, drowning, etc.

A few of us started a Saturday morning swim group that is the same course we do on Wednesday nights (1000m). Yes I signed up for a extra day of torture a week... for FUN. I just feel like the more exposure I get to the water the better I'll get. And it helps that I'm training with the fastest swimmers :). Like many other aspects of life, when I want help & advice to get where I want to be, I ask the people who already are there. I like to pick their brains and find out how they got to that place and try and soak up as much advice as possible from them because they're the ones who have been on the journey and are "walking the walk".

The only downside to swimming with the bests in a non-race environment is that they swim ahead of me but then wait for me to catch up. My secret is out!! There is absolutely no way that I can hide how slow/bad I am when all eyes are on me. I'll chalk it up as a good lesson in being humble. I am thankful to have all of the pointers though. It's the little things like where to enter the water, how to start the race faster, how to get my wetsuit off less spastically.

I'm also at the "light switch" point where I had previously thought I had pleeeeenty of time to train, to now thinking "oh shit. I have A LOT of work to do in the next few months". So I'm upping the training but having serious doubts about whether I can do it or not. I can tell you one thing: I'm tired and my body hurts EVERY DAY.

I'm thankful for all of the outside help & my motivation to meet my goal, let's just see if I can actually pull it off!

I'M ALiiiiiiiiVE!!!

Friends & family -

You can safely assume that since I'm writing this blog I am, in fact, alive. I survived my first(!) ocean race sans a thunderstorm thank the Lord. Nor was I attacked by sharks, jellyfish or large tangled piles of seaweed. With a full-length wetsuit & neoprene cap, the water temperature was actually pretty bearable. All sounds pretty successful, right? WRONG.

I was very concerned about everything except for my actual ability to swim. If you have a grandmother, or know any grandmother actually, & you asked her to swim 1000 meters, she would have beat me. My "swimming" more closely resembled a person trying really really hard not to drown. There were a few lifeguards out in the water monitoring the swimmers, & I'm pretty sure all of them were thinking "is she ok? is there a new swimming stroke we're unaware of? do we help this sad non-swimmer swimmer & drag her to shore to save her dignity & possibly her life??".

I'm not exaggerating. That's what they were thinking. I could clearly see the pity in their eyes even from my super sexy fogged-up goggles*.

I guess the point is, is that I did it at all right? I keep telling my ego that. My new friend Amy said it best: we're starting with our bar very low (I speak for myself, she's actually quite decent) & we can only improve from here on (unless I drown or get eaten by a shark).

What the most awesome thing about all of this is the people. Well actually... also challenging myself. But let's get back to the people. Everyone is so great! And helpful! I feel so blessed to be in such a great community of people committed to athleticism and positivity. Everyone is so willing to share their knowledge & tips and offer words of encouragement. Some even have gone so far as to offer to train with me (probably a nice warm-down for them). Even though I was feeling pretty down about how awful I did, I had so many people say how great I did, that I'll get better in no time, etc etc. By the way... this is one of the rare times in life I don't mind people lying straight to my face.

Even though my water talents are less than adequate, I'm fully committed to racing every week. I will definitely need to increase the amount of days I train but I'm determined to be more like Michael Phelps and less like Kate Winslet in Titanic.

Will keep you posted on my progress (which will not be happening this weekend)! Also please don't show up to any of my races until I get a lot better :)

Off to STAGECOACH, Y'ALL!!!


<3, E


*Goggles, full-length wetsuit AND neoprene cap??? I bet you have an awesome visual. ~I don't think you're ready for this jelly~

Back For Good?

Yup. Back on the air. Back in business. Back back back.

I'm hoping that since I'm starting on a whole new journey I'll feel motivated to track my progress on a more or semi-regular basis. My last catalyst was tracking the joys of "fun"employment and now it's about the opposite. This is more about taming (or failing to tame) my wild ambition to accomplish a laundry list of goals, & then some goals on top on that.

I'm starting by making this my haphazard newb guide to "Signing Up for a Triathlon & Sticking to it Whether You Can Do It Or Not". Coming to a Barnes & Noble near you. #overlyambitious #whatwasithinking #stubbongermangenes

Since starting this journey I've picked many brains (thank you to my self-nominated mentors!) & Googled countless searches for guidance on what equipment to buy, the best way to train, etc. I may even have to consult a loan officer before this is over. So I have the equipment, have started to train... slowly & sporadically. I have yet to get in the water but like so many other decisions I make in life, I'm going to wait for the worst timing possible & just go for it without too much thought. Why change now?

In less than 2 days I'm going to jump straight into the freezing cold ocean, in a (possible) thunderstorm, with my way-too-tight wetsuit, with sharks *(there was one around here a week ago that killed a pregnant sea lion that my family made sure to mention to me multiple times & therefore when I say "sharks" I'm completely validated), and with having zero ocean swimming experience. What's the worst that could happen. I'M SO EXCITED!!

I can-not wait to report back on how this goes. This blog that will one day be made into a bestseller might actually be in the tragedy Comedy section instead of the Motivation/How-To section like I planned.

On a brighter note, not too worried about the running & biking parts #massivecalves. If there is any major worry it's not to eat s**t on my bike. Considering the amount of spasticness I possess, that's actually a pretty legit concern. Alright... keeping it short (by my standards) & sweet, & leaving you with the cliffhanger of whether there will be a blog post Wed/Thurs or not. *Disclaimer: I'm leaving for Stagecoach (woot!!) on Thursday so I may be too distracted to blog by thoughts of cowboys country music.

<3 E

*Tangent