Monday, October 7, 2013

Tri-ing The Best I Can


So here it is folks - the end result of a committed triathlete (though still in the wannabe category) who decided that what she really needed in her life was to take on the daily/weekly ritual of creating and updating her own blog. Why on God’s green Earth would I even consider such a thing given everything else I have going on - good night.  Like being a mother (and the endless list of jobs that entails), girlfriend, full time employee, student of a never ending series of required FINRA exams, and I’ll say it again, wannabe triathlete, isn’t enough?... no friends, apparently not.

So why exactly am I doing this? Many reasons, actually - unfortunately I no longer live near most of my family or close friends (amazing work peeps aside)and though many are genuinely curious about when/what my next race will be and how the training is coming along, I have realized that daily posts to Facebook may not be the best avenue to share these updates. This blog does two things to remedy that; 1.) provides a great venue for those interested, to simply check in, see what kind of nonsense I’m up to and comment or move on and 2.) helps to keep from clogging up everyone’s wall with those mundane auto-posts from MapMyRun/Training Peaks etc. Now aren’t I nice? I believe these “workout” type of updates rank in the top ten of most hated FB posts – so really I'm just saving you from that inevitable daily eye roll!


The real reason why I’ve decided to spill my guts online…..I’ve been racing in triathlons for just over a year now with 4 under my belt so far (3 sprints & 1 Olympic) – still a baby learning how to crawl. There is SO much that goes into this sport that I find it a bit hard to fully explain. And when I do try, be it usually with others who don’t participate, those poor souls have no option but to sit politely with a smile on their face and a concerned but vacant stare, all while nodding their heads as if what I'm saying is even the slightest bit interesting. “The swim start was nuts! Seaweed for the first 50 meters, totally pushing against the current. At about 5 minutes in I was finally able to find a good pace. Transition 1? Boy howdy did that not go how I had planned.….” drone, drone, drone…. Let me stop here for a moment and say that yes, I certainly DO have an outstanding support system – between P (Paul The Oak, my honey), The Kid (Seth, my 13 year-old-too-smart-for-his-own-good son) and many friends and family, there are some that genuinely like to hear about all my nonsense. But let’s be honest, how long can one person listen to the same story over and over just because this crazy lady remembered some boring-as-all-get-out detail that she hadn’t thought of before?

I really needed to find a way to not only log my training miles, but vent about how it was going, what was hurting, what nutrition plan I was trying, details on how the race went, what mental state I was in etc. All so that come my next event, I could look back on what worked and what hadn’t before, WITHOUT driving my family absolutely bonkers in the process.I guess physically writing in some sort of journal would suffice, but then I couldn’t share all my vulnerabilities with you lovely people!

That being said, here is what you can expect to see from me going forward……
* Posts from the heart - I am by no means an eloquent writer (leave that up to my expert honey) and I don't pretend to be. What you see on here is exactly how you'd expect to hear it from the horses mouth. There is no part of me that finds reworking each entry to its most perfect form even the slightest bit appealing. I am not here to impress you with my grammatical prowess, so set that portion of your expectation bar a bit lower folks.
* Training – updates on progress, obstacles, etc.
* Race reports – pics, stats and overall recap
* Lessons learned – nutrition, race day planning, life balance (how do you keep from crying over absolutely nothing on race day? Still trying to figure that one out…)
* Product reviews & advice – perspective from an average lady on a budget
* Race Travel – reviews of hotels, local restaurants and overall experience of the venue
* Mixed bag of emotions - random posts which will inevitably include some honest venting, self-praising and of course what comes easiest, self-pitty
* Personal – whether or not my family has kicked me out of the house just yet!–lol

So there you have it folks, my first official post. Here's hoping that some of you find my weekly rants either useful or at least entertaining. Hop on board this crazy train as I just keep moving forward, ‘Tri-ing The Best I Can' – ah ha, get it? GET IT?!!

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