Race Schedule and Results

Thursday, September 27, 2012

Awareness


Sometimes we just meet someone who strikes a certain chord with us.  Maybe they have a special talent, or a special personality, or there's just something that stands out.  And we want to help them.  Maybe because their heart is so amazingly big.  This is a little story about that.

Everyone knows I'm a member of Team Rev3.  We're an awesome group of athletes if I may say so myself, but we all seem to have big hearts.  We want to help where we can.  We have partnered with the Ulman Fund and that's kind of like our team's little baby.

But back in maybe August, one of our teammates reached out, telling us about a lady named Donna.  I don't know Donna personally, but her story and her amazingly big heart struck a chord with me.

Donna has a nerve disorder called Charcot Marie Tooth disease.  What, you haven't heard of it?  Yeah, I hadn't either.  But, CMT is the most common nerve disorders out there.  Donna shared a little bit of her story with us, let us know that September is is CMT Awareness Month and asked if we could help get the word out.

We are Team Rev3.  ABSOLUTELY.

Here's a little about the disease:
  • It affects nearly 1 in 2500 people
  • It's not usually a deadly disease
  • People with CMT have difficulty transmitting signals to their muscles because of genetic problems, resulting in muscle atrophy of the feet and hands and then progressing over time throughout the core
  • Some people impacted by CMT are in wheel chairs, some in legs braces, and then there are people like Donna who appear "perfectly normal" 
Donna told us a little about what the day in the life of someone with CMT is like... there's the not knowing what your future will be like in terms of mobility, there's the uncertainty of knowing how fast your disease is going to progress, there's hope for a cure, there's knowing that you have a disease that appears invisible to some,  there's the fatigue that comes with it, and there's the desire to go fast, but knowing you can't because of faulty nerves.

Donna sent us all shirts from the CMTA which is the sole single focus organization actively supporting the search for a cure for CMT.  They currently fund over 50 different research initiatives in the search for a cure for CMT.



For Donna, and all of the people out there suffering with CMT, I hope that September has brought awareness to people throughout the world who don't know what the disease is.  I hope that science brings hope for a cure.  I hope you know how amazing you all are!

To learn more about CMT, visit their website.

Tuesday, September 18, 2012

Tuesday Ramblings...


Bullet Point Style (you love it, admit it)

  • I got to experience my first NFL game last night and it just so happened to be a Monday night game - double whammy.  Tom bought tickets for me to give him for his birthday (nice of him, huh).  He assured me that I would love the seats and that I would have the time of my life.  I will say that it was an experience to say the least.  My cheering neighbor had a smile that looked like this      and gave a disclaimer when he got to his seat with his Papa John's pizza that he'd be loud and everybody would know it.  Yay...  The lady behind me yelled out quotes from the Honey Boo Boo show.  And we had the police called to our section twice for fighting... once for a Bronco fan and a Falcons fan, both of whom I'm assuming had consumed their fair share of the $7.50 beers (I base this solely on the fact that the Bronco fan was pretty much hugging the cop to tell him his side of the story).  The other... two older women fighting about season tickets, while one was sipping on her smuggled in miniature bottle of wine and peanuts.  The game was fun... looooong (who starts a game at 8:30 at night anyway?), but I really enjoyed the experience.  And I know that Tom had a great time so that's all that matters.
 
  •   Nothing needs to be said about this one...

  • It's starting to look like fall in Suwanee.  The seasons are fun for Tom and I because we don't know quite what it's going to be like.  It's still in the 80's (while in Ohio, they have had some days in the 60's), but I think we'll like it.  Leaves are changing and falling, pumpkins are everywhere.  I just need to find some good apples to make sauce this year (since I haven't seen a single Macintosh, my go to apple of choice).
  • I wrote before about loving Chobani yogurt and they contacted me, telling me super exciting news that they have my favorite flavor, pineapple, in six packs.  While I've yet to find a six pack of any flavor around, Chobani graciously sent me a free six pack.  I love companies like this.  That's really really great customer service!!!  Plus I feel like a rockstar because the "champions" eat it and well, maybe that'll rub off on me.



  • Which leads me to training.  It's been hit or miss to say the least.  Ya'll know I pulled out of the Ironman.  I decided to run the Atlanta marathon on October 28th, but after two weekends of 14+ mile runs, I thought maybe it would be more fun to run the relay with some friends.  Thus the Diet Coke Mafia was born.  Oh yeah... we are going to be a kick ass team.  Thanks Karen and Charity for deciding to join in my craziness.
  • Oh... and Karen.  This girl rocks.  Seriously, if you don't follow her blog, you should.  She's training for her second Beach to Battleship which she is going to do amazing.  We were supposed to go to a training camp in PCB on Labor day weekend together.  Something came up and I couldn't go last minute.  I felt horrible.  She still went and had an amazing training weekend, and sent me this to brighten my weekend.  Absolutely awesome friend!!!! 
  •  And finally, this one's for the girls (and maybe the guys... who knows).  Have you ever bought a pair of jeans simply because of the size on the tag?  I literally went to Costco and had a pair of Lucky Brand jeans in my hands and couldn't bring myself to buy them because of the number on the tag (sad and pathetic, I know).  I then went to another store, found a pair that looked and fit just like them, and they were TWO sizes smaller.  You bet your ass I bought them.  And I might go get another pair.  Just because.  :)
Happy Tuesday!

Tuesday, September 4, 2012

When life... well happens


It's easy to give good advice - you know what's usually the right thing to do so when someone is at a crossroads in life. For instance, I would never tell someone to pass up eating at Mellow Mushroom (I mean, hello, have you had their Parmesan pretzels and their buffalo chicken pizza???).  Or to not eat a whole back of Cheetos in one sitting.  I mean really, I seem like I'm genuinely good at giving advice.  Now listening to my own advice... eh, that's tricky.

I told a dear friend this past summer (more than once), that it's okay, life happens and to just follow her heart and do what she loves.  She was struggling with some changes that were preventing her from training for what she had originally set out for later in the summer, just a hobby that makes up maybe 1% of her awesomeness.  Every time we talked, she would tell me how busy she was with work (which she was loving), how at the end of the day, she wanted to relax, unwind and be with the ones she loved, but that she was really struggling with what she thought she should be doing. Life was happening. She couldn't control that.  It was this never ending circle of feeling torn.  She needed to do what made her happy. 
 
Last November I signed up for yet another 140.6.  I got a coach. I'm part of Team Rev3 and had planned on doing 4 or 5 of their amazing races.  I had envisioned my season being filled with new Georgia races (full of hills and humidity).  I was excited to explore new roads, both by bike and foot.  In my mind, Tom and I were going to be smiling at all the "newness" that are city would bring to us in terms of triathlon.

And then life happened. If I would just listen to my heart for once, I would have known the right thing to do a long time ago.  But like I said, that's easier said than done.  I kept plugging forward, thinking that eventually it would all grown on me again.


This year has been less than easy on me.  I've written about starting over in a sense, being challenged with my new surroundings, about loss, about finding my path.  And I have finally hit a point where I need to listen to my own advice for once and do what I need to do (this time, not involving the advice on Mellow Mushroom (I eat there enough) and the Cheetos (they are always in my pantry)).

And while Tom and I are smiling probably more than ever, it's just not at the triathlon/training part.  I've cut nearly ever race out of my schedule this year - it just doesn't excite me.  I like swimming, and biking, and running here, but I just want to do what I want to do and not have something looming over me (ie a big race, expectations of pr's, disappointment of less than stellar events, etc.)  I love the new city, the opportunities, the friends I've made.  But life has thrown me some curveballs - some of which I've blogged about, some which I haven't, and I've been left to find my way through the madness, unsure of which path I should take.
 
Because so much has changed for me through August (it really WAS a sucky month), I've taken a step back.  For once, I AM listening to my own advice.  I need to follow my heart which really isn't in racing.  I need to regroup, settle down a little.  I need to do what I love and love what I do each and every day.  I need focus on what defines me, not what I think others see me as or assume I am.  I need to give life a chance to calm down, or maybe a chance for me to catch up to it.

Because, in the end, we're only given one life.  We need to make the most out of every day that we are given.  Why spend it doing something that isn't making us happy?
So that's where I am at.  Life is happening.  I'm doing what makes me happy.  I'm following my heart.