Knock Knock

Hello?  Is anyone there?  Is this thing on?

Ahem...

Hi.  Sorry that I've been gone so long.  Life threw me lemons and although I'm fairly good at making lemonade with them, I decided that this patch was worthy of more - like some tequila and salt.  It's been a long road, but we're in Georgia and loving it.  I love the town of Suwanee where we moved to, the house is amazing (albeit FILLED with projects that seem like they will never end) and I'm starting to feel like I'm home way faster than I ever thought I would.  That's good. 

But with all the good going on, I've been doing a lot of self evaluation and while I like some things, there need to be some changes too.  I think that's good to do every once in a while, as hard as it may be.  Honestly, sometimes you might not like what you find out about yourself.

For me, it's not about what I don't like about myself.  I just kind of feel like I'm on a never ending ride of commitments - all things that I brought on myself and things that no one else would ever give a damn about, but they eat me up inside.  I'm the kind of person that wants things done yesterday.  That's hard to do with a move.  Real hard.  And with training.  And with work.  You see how it starts to spiral.

So in my latest self evaluation, I decided that I needed to take control again.  I mean, this is MY life and I can do what I want with it.

Our first visitor comes on the 27th of April. Kristin dear, the house ain't gonna be done.  I will try to have a mattress for you to sleep on and I will have appliances in the kitchen to cook with, but there might be spackle on the walls, paint on the old floors, a bathroom without a sink.  We'll work around it.  The next set of visitors come in May (my momma and dad... yay!!!!).  For them, well, I know my hubby and that's why we're working such long hours each day - I kid, I kid.  We want to show off the house to you.  But, there will still be boxes laying around.  And there might not be new floors down yet. Heck, we might STILL have the poison ivy infested beds out front (okay, no, we won't), but I know that you'll love the house just the way it is.

As for training - here's the big one.  I had a nice little chat today with the best coach in the world.  She gets me right now and right now, my heart is anywhere but in training.  I've been in training for 6 years.  Longer if you count the "marathon years" (haha... the ones where I ran just one marathon a year as my only race... oh the days).  It saddens me that training has become a chore.  And this is probably the thing that I've struggle the most with through this whole move.  I want to run and bike and swim.  I love those things.  But I need to do it because I want to do it, not because I have to do it.  My season is changing a lot this year from what I had originally planned.  This is something that I struggle with too, but I know that I'm doing what's right for me right now and that's a good feeling.  I've been loving my nighttime exploration runs where Tom and I leave our neighborhood and just explore.  We've found some awesome trails and parks and old town Suwanee.  We talk about his day and mine (as we adjust to us not being together all day) and what we want to do this week, this month and this year.  I'm going to just "wing" it a bit for the time being and see what happens.  It's good for my mind and my soul.  I don't know if I'll be racing in Knoxville in less than a month and that doesn't worry me in the slightest.  I might not race at all this year.  We'll see.

And work... we'll business is booming which is amazing.  And I'll make due with the fact that my warehouse is in shambles and I can't find half of my inventory.  My customers know no different.  I'm getting into a daily routine that's better than it's ever been - I wake up early, walk the dogs, hit the office, fill my orders and before I know it, Tom's coming home and we're starting our day.  I'm getting used to this.

So life is good. 

One last thing about training.  So, these hills in Georgia. HOLY FREAKING WOW!  If you can't bounce a quarter off my butt after running these every day, nothing will stop the jiggle.  I think in the last 11 days I've run more net elevation gains that I have in 32 years of my life. 

And I'm loving that too.

I'm back people... Thanks for being patient with my absence and for being understanding as I figure out this game we call life.

The power of perception

I haven't talked much about my workouts lately, but Coach Sharpie is keeping me busy. I'm in a drill phase...  learning a lot of things that I probably should have known after 5 years of racing, but never really did (I guess that's the power of a coach.  Hum... who would have thought?)

In any event, as I swim and bike and run, I am constantly thinking to myself "I am getting stronger.  I'm am getting better".  And often during my drills, I think to myself, "wow, I feel so smooth right now".  And then it hits me...

It doesn't matter that I'm rocking a sparkly Rev suit that makes me feel like a super hero:

I'm pretty certain I look like this when I'm swimming: 

And when I run:

Ah, the power of perception.  I guess as long as I think I look good, and fast, and smooth, that's all that matters.  Right?

:)

Three things thursday

I've never participated in three things Thursday (does that count as one thing?). :)

1. I swam today.  It was glorious.  I'm enjoying swimming (**gasp I know!  Who am I and what is the Carole lady doing to me?**).  I was all alone in the pool.  I had my music blaring, listening to everything from Sugarland and Adele to Kid Rock and Kanye.  I caught myself starting to sing but quickly remembered I was underwater.  My arms are killing me, my legs are tired.  And when I thought that finally all was right in the world, realized that I was supposed to run today and swim tomorrow.  Oye ve!
2. I talked to four different people today from two different insurance companies and all four said to me "I bet you are up to your ears in boxes getting ready for the move?".  Right.  About that.  I haven't started packing.  Anything.  I did buy some boxes.  And 300 feet of bubble wrap showed up today on my front porch. And I hired the moving people.  But the packing?  I should probably get one that.  Tomorrow. 
3. I'm seriously thinking of opening a Noodles and Company in Georgia.  Right now, this is about the only thing that I think Georgia is missing.  If you haven't eaten there, you seriously are missing out.  Best Macaroni and Cheese ever (better than the blue box Heather!) and their Japanese Pan Noodles are to die for.  Then again, maybe this is why I'm not losing weight.  Something to ponder I suppose.

Picking a leader

I've not hid the fact that I've been a self coached triathlete for the last 5+ years.  There were a lot of reasons for my decision, and we all know that there have been tons of talks both ways on which is better.  It's definitely a personal preference in my opinion... all depending on so many factors - your goals, your objectives, your financial situation, your willingness to have someone else dictate your ass kicking sessions.  Being self coached has worked for me in the past.  I'm lucky to have an amazingly talented husband to train with and we have the flexibility to workout when we want. 

But I'll admit when there is something missing and lately I've felt it.  It's not the "off-season-I-don't-want-to-do-anything" feeling (yep, I have that too).  For me, I've been missing the structure.  I feel like a lot of my workouts don't have purpose.  Kind of like I'm winging it and definitely not pushing myself to my potential.  Looking at my race schedule the last few years, I've gotten by, but I am ready for a change.  And what's a girl to do when she wants to get better, have more structure and have more purpose?

Find someone to lead her, to guide her... aka hire a coach.

Welcome Sharpie into my life!  I'm so excited to introduce you all to my new coach, Carole Sharpless. 

I got to know her last year when I joined Team Trakkers.  She's who our team calls "Momma Bear" for so many reasons.  She the most caring, amazingly supportive woman, with the kind of personality that makes you think "is there anything I don't love about her?".  But what a lot of people don't know is that she's a kick ass triathlete. (click HERE if you want to see some of her results... I mean, hello... lots of podium finishes!!!) And when looking for a coach, those were two qualities I wanted... someone who knew they stuff (she has all the important coaching certifications, as well as a ton of experience) and someone who genuinely cared about the people they surround themselves with.

I started talking to Carole about some options of her coaching me, something I knew that she did, but didn't talk about much.  I wanted to make sure it was a good fit on my end and on hers.  I mean, this is a year long relationship.  And I wouldn't trust my season to just anyone.  Or my ass kickings.

After many heart to hearts (I'm telling you, I love her honesty and candidness with me about anything I throw at her), we both agreed that this will work.  I'm super excited.  I feel like my love for triathlon and for getting better is higher than ever.  I'm anxious to see what Carole throws at me and hope she knows that I'm going to work my butt off for her.  And like I told her... I can't wait to see what she does to me!

If you are looking for a coach and want to see if Carole might be a good fit for you, visit her website HERE.  And if you want a good laugh, make sure you stop by her blog and give her some love.  She's funny people... like snort out loud when you read kind of funny!


You know, coaching IS a very personal decision.  And I'm confident that I picked the right person to lead me through this year.