Changes

Changes seem to be the theme of my life these days.   As you probably noticed, I've made some layout changes with my blog.  From that, all of my REV3 stuff is gone.  Here's why...

When I joined Team Rev3 back in 2011 (it was Trakkers then), I couldn't have been more excited.  I was on a national tri team and I did it while not having to be the most amazing athlete in the world (I always envisioned that this is how you got on a team).   I was excited to see what a "team" was all about.  And it was awesome.  Yes, we got free race entries and great goodies from our sponsors, but it was so much more than that. 

I met some of my best friends in the entire world from this team.  Literally these are people that I would probably never have met in life and now I talk to them daily, I hang out with them, I plan trips with them.  They know every detail of my life.  I can laugh with them, cry with them, joke with them and I know that no matter what, they will always be part of my life.  My husband has gotten to know them.  And their spouses.  They have become like family.

And there are some teammates that I never even met in person but they too have become friends.  They support me in athletics, they support me in life.  Our paths may never cross in real life, but they are part of my life.

And of everything that I've gotten from the amazing people at REV (which is a lot), the friendships and support mean the absolute most.

Going forward in 2013, I don't know what life will hold.  I won't be racing until after the baby is born.  Most likely, it's going to be a balancing act that will take some practice.  I have a few running races that I'm eying in the fall, but I'll have to see about tri's.  I can run (hopefully) through June when I deliver, but I'm a bit leery of doing tri's.  I'm using this time to kind of regroup.  And when I thought about my sponsorship with REV, I just didn't feel like it was fair.  By me being on the team and not being able to race or support the sponsors, I was taking away from someone else out there in tri-land that would be an amazing spokesperson.  So with I made the decision to leave the team.  Not because they did anything wrong.

Just because my life is changing. Simple as that. 

I have a few potential partnerships in the works which I'm excited about.  I'm hoping that they work out for the 2013 season and if they don't, I'll be alright.  And maybe when 2014 rolls around, I'll be ready to seek out a team and sponsorship again.  We'll see.  I'm taking one change at a time.

My Thankful 20

A lot of people have been putting their "30 days of Thanks" on Facebook.  I like it.  I'm just not on FB every day to do it (okay, maybe I am, but I didn't jump on the bandwagon).  So I've decided in honor of November 20th and one of my favorite holidays, I would do a 20 Things I'm Thankful For post.  Here ya go.

1. I'm thankful for my amazing husband.  As a girl I dreamed of marrying a man only half as good as he was.  In my eyes, that would be the perfect man.  He has and always will amaze me with the amount of love that he has to offer, his drive, his optimisticness (totally a word), his compassion, his belief in me and just the man he is.  I love him.
2. I'm thankful for my parents.  I wasn't always easy for them (ahem... sorry about the years between ages 13 and 20).  But... they never lost hope in the woman that I would become.  They never turned their backs on me.  They never stopped pushing me, stopped encouraging me, or stopped loving me.  And they let me make mistakes, many of which would shape my life for the better.  But most of all, they have given me so many things that I will never be able to repay them for.
3. I'm thankful for my sister.  Not many people are super close with their sisters.  Not many people can call their sister a friend.  We've had our ups and downs.  I'm incredibly proud of her and the woman she is, and I can't imagine my life without her.
4. I'm thankful for my brother-in-law, John.  He makes my sister happy.  That's all I want for her.  Plus he's a goofball and every family needs that! :)
5. I'm thankful for my Charlie girl.  Yes, she's a dog.  But, she's an amazing dog.  Always happy, always full of life.  Doesn't ask anything of us except for unconditional love and maybe a daily walk and some treats.  She brightens every day.
6. I'm thankful for the time I had with Buddy.  He changed my life in so many ways.  And he helped make our family complete.  My heart is filled with memories that include him and that's a cool thing.
7. I'm very thankful for my extended family.  I have an incredible group of aunts, uncles, cousins, second cousins and a very special grandma.
8. I'm thankful for friends that have become family to me.  There are a handful of friends that I truly count as family.  I've learned that you can't always choose your blood family and that just because they are blood related, doesn't mean that they will support you, be proud of you or even love you.  But there are those special people who started out as friends and have made a place in my heart that many family members don't even hold!
9. I'm thankful for my friends - in real life and my creepy Internet friends. :)  You have all been such a support system to me through thick and thin.  You make me a better me.  You inspire me, you make me laugh, you love me and you support me.  That's a really amazing feeling.
10. I'm thankful for the house that I live in which keeps me warm and keeps my family safe.  It's my dream home.
11. I'm thankful for a business that my husband and I grew from the ground up.  It's taught me a lot, challenged me even more, but given me the flexibility to do what I love... from home... in my pj's.
12. I'm thankful for my husband's job.  It's something that he loves to do and I know that he feels fulfilled when he lays his head down at the end of the day.  Plus, it introduced us to the South.  And I love the south now. :)
13. I'm thankful for my health.  In a world where I feel like your life is too short, I've been very blessed with good health.
14. I'm thankful for Tom's diagnosis of Type 1 Diabetes.  Does this seem weird to you?  I've written about how it has changed his life for the better and I think that it made our marriage so much stronger.  I've said it before and I'll say it again... Diabetes doesn't stop him, diabetes fuels him.
15. I'm thankful for the opportunity to have been part of REV3.  Although my path is changing is 2013 a little, they are an amazing organization, with top notch races and I have met some of my best friends from being part of the team.  
16. I'm thankful for the ability to swim, bike, run, hike, walk, and play each and every day.  I might not always feel like it's fun, but the fact that I CAN do these things, is a blessing.
17. I'm thankful that I live in a world where I have freedoms - as an individual, as a woman, etc.  And I thank the people who fight for MY freedom every day.
18. I'm thankful for life's little indulgences - be it a warm bath, a diet coke, Reece cups, Cheetos, sunshine, flip flops, sandy beaches, or whatever it might be for that day.  It's the little things that make me happy.
19. I'm thankful for the future - it's an exciting time in our lives and I'm thankful that I have so much to look forward to.
20. I'm thankful that I'm living my life to the fullest.  I'm thankful that I love my life.  I'm thankful that I'm happy.

What are you thankful for this year???

Wednesday Bullets

It's been a long time since I've done a bullet update (complete with pictures).  Here it goes...

• I published this blog with the title "Thursday Bullets".  Things have been nuts around here.  Why did I think that they would actually slow down at some point?  Ha... that will never happen.
• Our house is finally almost done. There will always be little projects (or big ones like a new deck), but we have a whole lifetime to get all of that accomplished.  The most recent project?  Adding our white cream picket fence.  Now we just need the 1.2 kids in the yard and we'll be the perfect American family, right? (no mom... that's not happened yet)

• And we're still representing OH-IO.  

•  We're finding a lot of these guys around.  As long as they stay outside, I'm cool with them.

•  Charlie celebrated her 8th birthday last week.  It's hard to believe that she went from this

  to this.

 We love her so much.

• And just for my mom and dad... this is what her upstairs toy basket looks like.  Yes, we live in a tennis community.  And yes she brings those home when we walk each morning.

•  Buddy had a rough weekend.  Friday night, just as we were heading out for date night, we noticed he was bleeding.  He had just chased a cat and somehow managed to cut himself really bad (maybe on the bush he ran through to try to get the cat).  Needless to say, he didn't win the battle with the bush, ended up having emergency surgery and having stitches put in his butt.  He's been walking around with a shaved pink butt like a baboon, trying desperately to rip the stitches out (thankfully, it's probably the only place on his body that he can't reach).  We've had a few rough days with him no sleeping and just crying and crying.  If this is what parenting is like, that 1.2 child might not happen.  I can't do the sleepless nights.  He couldn't handle it either.  This is how he ended the night on Tuesday... mmmm good drugs...

• I finally felt like "me" on my bike today - as in I didn't totally suck.  The first two rides, my brake was on and that's my excuse.  Saturday I felt pretty good, but it was hot and Tom and I had both had horrible night sleeps with Buddy being in the vet.  So today we went out on the same route we did Saturday.  We rode it 15 minutes faster today (it was only a 20 mile course).  I don't know if I should be proud of that or ashamed of Saturday's ride. :)  No brake problems today... now if I could just remember that I was in my 52 front ring while climbing the wall by our house I probably wouldn't have feared for my life that I was going to start rolling down backward. 
• I can't wait to share some great things that I recently received and want to rave about.  Here's a hint...

 

My September

I know that a lot of people write all about their workout summaries every month.  I wish I had something stellar to write in regard to fitness, but well, I don't.  I've biked a little.  I've swam once.  I even ran a little on Saturday, but I'll get to that.  So, here's what's been happening in my world. Grab a cold one... it's been a busy month!

REV3 Cedar Point

Tom raced the full at REV3 Cedar Point.  I was supposed to race the half, but since I couldn't run or swim, by default I became a cheerleader for the day.  I had a freaking blast.  We got up there Thursday, putzed around Friday, went to the amusement park (although I couldn't ride the rides, but had fun walking around with everyone) had some people over Friday night for dinner, Saturday got Tom and his teammates and my friends ready for the race, met up with my awesome Trakkers teammates, and then Sunday spent the day screaming my head off for all of my friends.  I'm so blessed to be surrounded by such inspiring people.  Holy smokes they did awesome!  It was so fun to hang out with Annie, Kelly, my family, and Heather's mom, and then as everyone finished, to have them join the party.  It was by far one of the best events I've spectated (and believe it or not, I have spectated my fair share).  I was a little bummed that I didn't get to race, but cheering was SO fun that I got over it quickly!  I'm so happy that I got to see Matt, Heather and Kristin finish their firsts.  It was fun to cheer Tom on to his 5th finish.  My teammates did amazing as did Tom's. And REV3 - kudos to you for a spectacular race.  Everyone I talked to has loved it!  And I got to finish with my hubby... what more could I ask for?

 

Interbike
After getting back from Cedar Point, Tom and I turned around and flew to Vegas for a few days.  We went to Interbike.  I have some thoughts on Interbike.  So everyone told me that it would be the most amazing experience in the world and that I needed to sneak my camera in there to see all the technology that is going to be introduced in 2012.  I had my expectations set high... probably a bit too high.  Although it was cool, and it was overwhelming in terms of "stuff" to see, it wasn't all the latest and greatest that I thought it would be.  It was very retail oriented... in that all of the exhibits had mini conference rooms set up so that a retailer could have a one on one meeting with the brand, order stuff, etc.  I could have taken pictures (it was banned, but EVERYONE was), but honestly, there wasn't much that I HAD to have pictures of.  I walked out knowing that I do, in fact, love my Kestrel 4000 Pro - not that I was ever questioning that. :)  Vegas was super fun though... I stuck to the penny slots and played for 3 days on very little money!

Fitness
Okay, so I'm still healing.  It's going to be a looooong process.  Tom drained my leg (gross, I know, but I couldn't take it anymore) but I still have a lump there and a big ole' divet and lump on my back.  I've been biking since two days after my accident and actually went out with Keith last week to bike for a while.  It was awesome to catch up with him.  We both decided to brave the Thursday night ride together this past Thursday.  It was a bit eerie to be out with the group, but I'm so glad that I went.  And they are such an amazing group - decided we would "conquer some demons" by bringing Keith and I to the accident scene.  As we passed over the dip in the road that caused it all (thankfully I have answers now), we totally missed the chalk outlines of Keith and I that a few in the group had taken the time to draw earlier that day, complete with Keith's glasses and my ponytail.  We turned around as a group and inspected the "crime scene".  Keith and I are good for some entertainment and he and I both laughed a lot about it.  Glad that we're at that point now! :)  I feel like my confidence grows more and more on the bike!

Akron Marathon
Yesterday was the Akron Marathon. First, let me just say that this is the most amazing marathon - top notch in EVERY sense!  I can't rave enough about it and if you are looking for a great course, great expo, great swag, a race director that shakes EVERY ONE'S hand as they finish, amazing organization from start to finish and an all around great time, do this one! Okay, so I was scheduled to run the full and decided that I'd walk the half.  On Friday night, I bandaged up my body and realized that with everything securely in place, I could run with very little pain.  This was HUGE!  In my fit of excitement, I decided that maybe I'd try to run walk the full.  Thankfully I texted Matty-O because we were going to meet he and Heather in the morning (they were doing the half) and he talked some sense into me.  He told me that Heather would walk the half with me.  I was super excited to have the company.  So Saturday, I bandaged everything up, met up with Heather and we started running.  I was freaking running.  We made it about 4 miles and then both she and I started to have some pains here and there.  So we run/walked the rest of the way.  And let me tell you - I freaking hurt.  Walking is so much harder than running.  But, I finished and was so excited. Tom cranked out his second fastest marathon every (just two weeks after a 140.6).  The perfect way to celebrate his birthday. I'm now putting Chicago back on my calendar in two weeks.  I can't run the whole thing - because of fitness and the injuries, but I'm going to finish that darn race.  You just watch me!






So, that's my last month in a nutshell.  It's getting crazy around here... I'm super behind on blogs and will try my hardest to get caught up soon.  :)

***  oh... one last thing.  Are you interested in being part of an amazing triathlon team?  Team Trakkers is going to be Team REV3 Racing next year and they are accepting applications for new teammates.  Let me just tell you - I've been part of other sponsored teams before and they don't even compare to the awesomeness of our team.  We are truly like a family and I've met some of the most amazing athletes and more importantly friends from being part of the team.  I'll be back next year and can't wait to see some of you at the races!  Visit this link if you are interested in applying:  http://rev3tri.com/news/rev3-is-now-accepting-applications-for-our-age-group-team/