Recovery Week & Ragnar Trail.

We’re all MaD HeRe!

This past weekend was a wonderfully Ragnar Weekend! I finally got to a spot where I could fit in a Ragnar Trail relay to my schedule and it was GLORIOUS! Last winter when Ragnar Relay announced that they would be having a Northeast Trail Run, I just knew this was going to be my only chance to jump into one of these events this year. After checking in with CBW we quickly decided that this relay must be run and that it would be super fun to have a women’s only team (mostly because it would be less drama) and we were right!

As per my normal Ragnar team experience, the team we registered with in December was about half of the actual team that appeared at the event with us, but that is half the fun right?! With one teammate out due to a torn ACL while playing soccer, a second out due to an illness, and a third out because she had qualified for 70.3 Worlds – we had quite the revolution and change out of teammate during the spring months. However, I think it was all for the best since we had an amazing group of women from all over the East Coast (and one from the South/Central part of the country) get together for a crazy fun weekend! AND to make it all the better, we decided to roll with a super fun theme of Alice in Wonderland er, I mean Ragnarland! (Whoop!)

Ragnar Relay New England was the perfect mix of camping and running through the glorious woods around Northfield, MA. A challenging but not too crazy course and we totally lucked out with an amazing weather weekend (about 50% of the Ragnar Trail relays seem to be a wash out, so I consider the weather a gift from the running gods).

When we arrived at the campground, it was still earlish (9am) but the campsite was filling in quickly. We walked all around the field and assessed the open spaces to quickly decide that we might be better off up on the hill overlooking the site. Luckily, we found an awesome space on the edge of the area with our own little private direct back trail over to the start tent. Seriously, we only had to share it with a couple other teams and the Ragnar Staff that were running in the event. It was pretty sweet.

Speaking of pretty sweet. My friend CBW had an amazing hat. She was fairly adamant that we should dress up as the characters from Alice in Wonderland so I quickly assigned her the duty of being the Mad Hatter. She did not disappoint. Seriously, her costume was amazing. In fact, the entire team totally got into it and I think we all had some pretty kick@$$ outfits. Especially KK who joined the team with only 1 week notice and had just completed the Syracuse 70.3 the prior Sunday. She saved our tails from having to run extra legs, AND ended up playing the roll of Team Mom since she brought EVERYTHING we could EVER need for camping. – Seriously. She even had a vacuum! Prepared friends are good to have.

Ok, enough randomness about the camping portion. Let’s talk about the running. Oh the running. I started with the red loop (hardest loop), followed by the yellow loop (moderate) at night, and the green loop the next morning. I honestly really loved all three loops. We had about 2800 feet of elevation over the course of 14.8 miles. So really we were like little mountain goats for part of this relay. Each loop started UP the same path and then split off – with the red and yellow loops headed up the mountain first thing the looping back down. I had zero expectations going into the relay, and 1 focus for the relay. TO. HAVE. FUN. No worries about paces, speed, time, etc. The goal was to complete the relay, uninjured (no twisted ankles, no stubbed/broken toes on roots, rocks, etc.) and to relax a bit out in the woods. This was my break from Ironman training and a much needed break before finishing out my training for Lake Placid. At the close of this weekend, I can say I accomplished my goals.

Ok, back to running. The red loop. This was the longest, most technical loop. It required a bit of patience as you climbed the mountain and reached the summit and then carefully made your way over the path down the mountain before you got out into the grassy trails. I loved it. I have not been able to run trails much this year and I just loved being in the woods, listening to my own breathing, and focusing on where I took my next step. The red loop was 6.3 miles long, with the first 5 miles being out on the red trail and the last 1.3 miles or so being on the track where all three trails came together. The first 5 miles were pretty relaxing since I only saw a few people out there. The last 1.3 miles was fun and fast as everyone came together and knew they were on the home stretch back to base camp.

The yellow loop was my night time run. I knew it went straight up and then back down the mountain. At 4.8 miles, it was a similar experience to the red for the first 3.2 miles of being out in the woods and the grassy trails, a few more people were around since all the teams were out running at this point, but largely you had to just focus on the trail in front of you, focusing on each step. It was so dark and the headlamp really didn’t provide enough light alone. I was very happy for the handheld bike headlamp that KK had brought for us all to us. It really was a lifesaver, even if it was a bit of a pain to carry it. With that loop done, a few of us ended up grabbing beers and heading to the campfire for a while to hang out and chat. I swear, I could do this every weekend. With or without Ragnar. I just need a few friends that want to camp and run. 🙂

After the relaxing by the fire, it was time for some sleep. This is where Ragnar Trail went over the top for me and completely had me falling head over heels. I got 4 WHOLE HOURS of sleep! Usually at a Ragnar Relay, I am lucky to log more than 20 or 30 minutes of sleep during the 30-40 hours of the event. With the combo of just being tired all the time from IM training, plus the fact we had flat ground to lay on and I had no where to be until I had to run the next morning, I was in heaven. Totally passed out from about 1 am until 5 am. I felt like a new woman in the morning!

Finally, the green loop. The easiest loop, yet, my legs were still a little cranky from all the climbing during my runs the day prior (I think the entire team experienced that… and some more than others.) The green loop was about 3.4 miles with about half out on the wide open grassy trails on the mountain and then again the final track into camp. When I hit that final 1.3 or so miles, I was so happy. This was just such a fun event and our team was doing so well. We had all gotten along, we had all enjoyed our running and the challenge of it, and we had only a few runners left until we wrapped up.

It really was a great couple of days and a fantastic opportunity to take a break from all those 100+ mile bike rides and runs on Saturdays and the long long runs I had been doing on Sundays. I took this last loop of the relay course to reflect on how far I have come these past 3 years from when I set out to do my first 70.3 until now where I am training for a full Ironman (something I thought I would never do!). How far I had come from my first real trail race a couple of summers ago, and how much more I still want to experience. It was just one of those runs where you can really reflect and get excited about what you have accomplished in the past and how much more still lies ahead of you in this life.

So, that’s it. A wonderful recovery week, closed out by an amazing Ragnar Trail Relay. 🙂

Weekly Workouts// (Recovery Week)

• Monday – Day Off
• Tuesday – Bike Fit
• Wednesday – 90 Minute Brick/Bike 60, Run 30
• Thursday – 2800 yd Swim
• Friday & Saturday – Ragnar Trail New England! (14.8 Miles)
• Sunday – 1 hour Bike/Recovery Ride

Weekly Photos//

So, here we are, about a month until Lake Placid and I’m searching for a new bike seat. Good times.

  As seen on my run after my bike ride on Wednesday.

I really do live in a beautiful place. I love that my neighbors are horses.
The Mad Hatters Campsite at Ragnar Trail New England!
  

Rocking our costumes before we started on Saturday! 

Hanging out at the start line!

 Aaaaannnnd we’re off! Love the enthusiasm! (This may be the best race photo ever…. just saying).

Heading out for my first loop!

KK aka the Queen of Hearts wrapping up her first loop!

KC finishing up her first loop.

Ragnar Trail New England – Tent City.

So many tents. Such a beautiful day. So much awesomeness.   

Why yes, our campsite also had the added benefit of our own personal built-in drying rack!  

Saturday afternoon – chillin’ with a few beverages.

EM Finishing up her first loop!

Sunset

 Campfire! YESSSSSSS!

It may have been about 10 am when this was opened. But hey, that’s what happens when you’ve been running through the night! The Mad Hatters at the finish line – yes, we busted the costumes back out!

Like I said. Pure awesomeness.

If you ever have the chance to run a Ragnar Trail relay, do it.

Find some chill people, and just go do it.

I swear, you’ll have fun.

Well, at least as much fun as you allow yourself to have… 🙂

An Intentional Act.

It’s been very quiet on this space since Raleigh.

Maybe you noticed, maybe you didn’t.

Either way, I’ve been quiet. I’ve been trying to sort through my thoughts around the race I had in North Carolina. To assess what went well and what did not. I’ve been trying to recover and ramp up my training again. I’ve been swimming, biking, running. And I’ve also had a small injury which I have dealt with and that I hope is mostly behind me now.

I’ve been slapped upside the face with the reality that Ironman is barreling down the pipe and will be here before I know it.

I’ve realized HOW HARD this endeavor truly is. There is no escaping it, Ironman is a difficult race, no matter how much training you put in. You have to earn each stroke of the 2.4 mile swim, each peddle of the 112 mile bike and each step of that 26.2 mile run. And even if you put in all the training and work behind each event that you possibly can (while balancing your normal/non ironman life), you still have the nutrition and hydration factor to balance – oh so carefully – during the course of the training and the actual race day. As it turns out,140.6 miles doesn’t come easy. 140.6 miles is a very intentional act.

Here I sit 34 days from the event, the nerves are setting in. I sprained my wrist so swimming has been not so great the past 2 weeks. On top of the wrist, I’ve biked the course in Lake Placid the past two weekends and finally come to terms that my bike seat just isn’t working for me. Leaving me essentially 2 weeks to figure that situation out. Oh, and it’s become clear that I need more practice on hills. Much more practice. Ugh. Finally, the running. Oh the running. We’ve been careful with my running since I was injured last fall with my calf muscle bringing my racing season to a screeching halt. As of 2 weeks ago, I had not run more than 13 miles but have increased up to 14 and 15 these past two weeks. Hopefully I will get at least one 17 or 18 mile run in before race day.

Ok, well now I have that out of my system and into the universe. The world can take my worries and let them disperse. I know that there is not a whole lot left I can do training wise at this point to propel me across that finish line. At this point it’s more about listening to my body, focusing on nutrition and working on my mental strength to get me through. 

July 26th is going to be one for the books. No matter what happens. All I know, is that I have not come this far to not give it my all. 

140.6 miles is an intentional act.

So, what have I been up to these past 3 weeks?

Weekly workouts//

Week of June 1: Recovery Week, post Raleigh 

• Monday – 20 min Recovery Swim (hotel pool, Kansas City)
• Tuesday – 30 min Recovery Swim (hotel pool, Kansas City)
• Wednesday – 40 min Recovery Bike (hotel gym, Chicago)
• Thursday – 30 min Run (hotel gym, Chicago)
• Friday – 2200 yd recovery swim
• Saturday – 2 hour bike
• Sunday – 1 hour run

Week of June 8: Lake Placid Training Camp Fri-Sun

• Monday – 3600 swim ladder (attempted with injury, not great…)
• Tuesday – rest day
• Wednesday – brick: 90 min bike, 30 min run
• Thursday – 45 minute Base Run 
• Friday – (#1) swim 2.5 miles in Mirror Lake, (#2) 32 mile bike – including biking up Whiteface Mountain Road… 
• Saturday – (#1) Bike 110 miles (I skipped the out and back, ran into a few issues on lap 2…) and (#2) run 3 miles (was dehydrated at had to cut my run short 
• Sunday – (#1) Bike 56 miles and (#2) run 14.5 miles

…. Yes, we bikes 200 miles on the LP bike course over 3 days. And yes, this course is no joke. One loop is such a different story than 2 consecutive loops. Hello hills. 

Week of June 15:

• Monday – Rest day
• Tuesday – Sports massage for recovery 
• Wednesday – Swim 4200 yards
• Thursday – 50 min Tempo Run
• Friday – plan to swim 3200, got out after 1300 – couldn’t hold anything remotely close to my normal pace, so I listened to my body and stopped… 
• Saturday – back to LP, biked 115 miles and ran 4.5
• Sunday – ran 15.5 miles in the heat & humidity… Not my favorite run of recent memory. 

Total miles? A lot. Since I’m actually typing this post from my phone, I’m feeling too lazy to put together the math right now. 🙂

I’m definitely into the “what doesn’t kill you, makes you stronger” part of Ironman training. 

Only a couple weeks left, and I’m determined to stay positive and optimistic about this. (And for my friends and family’s sake, I’ll try to keep the complaints to a minimum. I am still aware that I chose to do this of my own free will AND that I actually paid to enter this event.)

Now, for the fun part, the photo recap (or what I actually stopped to take a moment to capture…) 

Kid President is the best. 

My newest addition while biking. Bonk Breaker Salted Caramel. Yum! 
Yes! Next winter’s running adventure with my Mom and sister!!

So much wisdom. Life truly is too short and if I’ve realized nothing else during the pat year it’s that I spent too much time with people too concerned with how they are viewed by others. 

 

Volunteering at the Hudson Crossing Triathlon.

 

Oh yea, I turned another year older 🙂 loved this from my friend Kim! 

Sprained wrist = 3 to 6 weeks with this training partner. (I give this about 2 weeks, then hopefully we’re moving on.) 

Getting ready to celebrate a new baby! 🙂 

Our Friday bike of Lake Placid training weekend… Check out that climb up whiteface. Glad we only went up about 3 miles of the 12 mile road!! 

 Bike course elevation for LP. A bit overwhelming… And leaving me wishing I had found more hills to train on… 

5:30 am. My favorite time of day. So peaceful, fresh & new.

Betty Designs secret swap! Looks like my Betty had help decorating the box! 

And apparently chocolate doesn’t like traveling across the country. 

But these spoons were so cute!! 

Biking in LP… At the out & back in Ausable. Probably my least favorite part of the course… 

Still fine tuning my hydration set up. Taking in the right amount of fluid is turning out to be one of the hardest things for me to balance. So frustrating. 

Heading back into Wilmington – last true decent on the course before the 13+ miles of climbing into Lake Placid. 

In retrospect, I probably could have picked a flatter Ironman course to tackle, but there will be no question that I earned my medal once I cross that line on July 26th. 

This will be the most concentrated effort that I’ve ever had to put forth to achieve something in my life. This journey has taught me a lot and I believe has so much more to teach me before I cross that finish line. 

Thank you to everyone that has supported me and continues to support me along this road that I’m taking. It truly takes a village to achieve something like this and I couldn’t do it without each and everyone of my friends and family cheering me on. 

140.6 miles. It’s an intentional act. 

An Epic Weekend & it’s Taper Time!

But first, just a little note on Memorial Day.  I just want to say THANK YOU to all those that have served and provided the ultimate sacrifice for our country, to protect our freedoms that so many of us take for granted. I know, a simple THANK YOU really pales in comparison to what our armed forces and their families endure to ensure that we can continue to live our every day lives in a country where we can basically do whatever we want to do, and pursue our dreams. I spent a lot of time thinking about the meaning of memorial day over the weekend, and I just wanted to express my gratitude to all those who have served in the past, serve today, or decide to serve our country.

Alright, well, now that I’m done trying to {somewhat unsuccessfully} express my deepest gratitude, let’s move onto what happened this past week/weekend. These past 3 weeks of training was a definite build period for me. My long bricks extended my bike miles and ramped them up from 65 mile rides in the last cycle up to 100 miles in this cycle! This weekend was the pinnacle of this cycle with some really major workouts for me – Friday through Sunday included 2.3 miles of swimming, 117 miles of biking and 13.5 miles of running – and I managed to nail every one of my workouts! I was so pumped – especially as I wrapped my run on Sunday and managed to get through 7 half mile repeats at my old (pre-injury) pace. Every once in a while, things just click!

This last weekend was a big win for me, all though this training season I’ve been struggling. It seems if my swim is going well, my bike and run are off. And if my bike is going well, my run and swim are off. And if my run is going well… well actually that has not happened yet this season since my injury has continued to drag me down a bit… this was the first weekend that I just felt like everything went well. Which is HUGE since we’re headed into IM Raleigh 70.3 this weekend. Now all I have to do is focus on my taper week activities – a few shorter workouts, some speed work, and making sure I eat well.

Oh, and of course, what would taper week be without watching the weather ALL WEEK long. Speaking of weather, it’s going to be HOT, HOT, HOT in North Carolina (big surprise). Looks like hydration will also be key this week. Luckily a heat wave has rolled into the Northeast for this week, so my body has half a fighting chance to acclimate a little before we get down South. But hey, what would a 70.3 be if it wasn’t 90+ degrees and humid?! I’m not sure I would know what to do with myself… Syracuse 70.3 has been awesome for this weather pattern both in 2013 and 2014 with a last minute heat wave for race day. Eh, oh well.

Alright, well, here goes nothing. Race day is next Sunday. Kind of weird to race a 70.3 when I’ve been so focused on IMLP, but I’m just going to focus on enjoying myself and taking in all the new scenery next weekend – oh and my first open water swim for the season – craziness!

Feeling a little dysfunctional and underprepared, this race just kind of snuck up on me since it’s not the focus of the season, so I’ll just have my fingers-crossed that everything goes well! 🙂

Weekly Workouts//

• Monday – Rest Day
• Tuesday – Brick: 1 Hour, 45 minute Bike; 30 minute Run
• Wednesday – AM – 3100 yard speed work swim planned, was bombing on this one and cut it short at 2100 yds
• Wednesday – PM – 60 minutes of sports massage to work out all my issues.. haha.
• Thursday – track workout planned, life interrupted my plans… no workout today.
• Friday – AM – 3700 yard Swim
• Friday – Noon – 1 Hour Bike
• Saturday – Brick: 100 mile Bike & 30 minute Run
• Sunday – 1 hour 30 minute Run, with 800 repeats

Total Time: 13 hours 30 minutes

• Swim: 5800 yards / 1 hour 40 minutes
• Bike: 144 miles / 9 hours 20 minutes
• Run: 16.5 miles / 2 hours 30 minutes

Photo Recap//

Working Albany Corporate Challenge for Ragnar Relays – this event was CRAZY – 10,200 runners makes for some overwhelming traffic through the tent (especially when there is free Ragnar swag to be had.)

The “egg” in Albany – our view for the evening and the calm before the storm of runners!

After some great conversation this week, this thought just kept popping in my mind.       My lunch date on Friday. I’m in love. If only every lunch date was as good. 😉

My date Friday night. Couldn’t ask for a cuter guy to hang out with!

100 miles done!! Had to take a picture to capture the moment. First of five 100+ mile rides during this training cycle. Managed to complete the entire thing without a mapped route, no support (had to carry everything) and totally solo.

We can all achieve much more than we ever dreamed possible.

It just takes a little work, dedication and perseverance.

After Saturday’s brick, I came home and found these in my mailbox!! The beautiful and wonderful Ginger at Plaid Lab Studio strikes again! She makes  beautiful jewelry – much of which is bike inspired!! She sent me the skull and butterfly bracelet for my Betty Super Powers – perfect timing with Raleigh 70.3 coming up next weekend!!

 

Sunday morning 6 am, track workout. This went SO SO SO well for me! I was totally pumped since I came off my longest brick the day before!!

Part of the reason for my 6 am wake up… my nephew was baptized Sunday!

And after Church, I noticed that 2 red hats were hanging out in the backseat of my Jeep… love these girls!  

Sunday afternoon, I scooted up to Old Forge in the Adirondacks for a little R&R with some friends. Love me some lakeside relaxing!

Um… yea, so apparently it doesn’t matter which 70.3 I sign up for. I get to race in super high heat/humidity with very little heat training under my belt. This should be fun… but hey, at least I’ve done this a couple times before!

Well, that’s all, I hope you all had a great Memorial Day weekend and spent some time remembering those who have served our country so that we can all continue to enjoy the freedoms that are given to us. I know it was a great weekend for me – family, friends, and some great workouts!

Highs and Lows. Another week down & 2 weeks until Raleigh!!

Another week in the books! As I sit down to write this on Sunday night, I’m 14 days away from IM Raleigh 70.3 and 70 days out from IM Lake Placid! Craziness.

Part of me can’t wait for the end of July, but part of me realizes that I need to stop and soak up every moment of this experience – both the good and the bad.

So with that, I thought I would run through some of the high points and low points of the past week:

High: Starting out my Monday hanging out with a few friends and catching up over a beer.

High: Running hill repeats with no calf pain!! First set this year, and while the actual act of running hill repeats is not that fun, I was so happy to be doing them pain free!

High: I had the benefit of getting to work from home for a majority of the week – which meant sneaking in my 2 hour brick and other workouts was so much easier this week!

Low: I was working at home because my house that I bought last Fall needed some serious plumbing/insulation repairs. Turns out pipes freeze when some major insulation is missing from your house. (<– while my wallet didn’t like this, hopefully I’ll actually having running water in my kitchen next winter!)

High: Completing my 81 mile bike and 6 mile run Saturday.

Low: Screwing up my nutrition/hydration (underestimated) and feeling like death Saturday night.

High: Managing to complete my long run Sunday, despite still not feeling great Sunday.

Low: The range of emotions I experienced during said run – this IM training is definitely physically AND mentally challenging.

Low: Discovering my lawn mower battery had died during the week. (Dang this homeowner stuff!)

High: Representing Ragnar Relays at Fleet Feet Adirondack Wednesday night. Had lots of fun with our 101 session and met some great people! (P.S. if you have never heard of Ragnar Relay, you should definitely check it out!)

High: Having some time to actually RELAX and enjoy some down time – like I said, being home and not on the road for work makes a BIG difference.

High: 6 am swims on Wednesday and Friday. I seriously love my early mornings in the pool, especially at the Saratoga Y – everyone is so friendly there and I love the windows that look outside at the end of the pool – best way to start the day!

High: Going to dinner with my sister and Baby J on Friday night – we checked out a new local restaurant and bar!

High: My new Betty kit! Love the Jacquard kit… it’s bright orange on the left side (more visible to cars) and ruby red on the right – killer color combo! – Want one?!, You can get your own here: https://bettydesigns.refersion.com/c/1f9b0

High: Chicken BBQ with my parents after my long run on Sunday. I was a bit of a mess, and the family time and good food was what I needed!

Turns out I had way more highs than lows this week – which is always good! (Even if a few of the low points felt a bit overwhelming!!)

Got to stay postiive, especially since I’m staring down a heavy training week with an epic weekend ahead – on the docket this weekend is 100 mile bike with a short run after on Saturday, then another hour of biking Sunday, my nephews baptism, and finally a 2 hour, 15 minute run. Then it’s a quick taper to IM 70.3 Raleigh the following weekend! A bit daunting to think of it all at once, but luckily I only have to tackle it one step at a time!!

But first, it’s time to officially recap this past week:

Weekly Workouts//

• Monday – Rest Day & caught up with some friends in the ‘cuse!
• Tuesday – 60 minute Run with 6x2min hill repeats
• Wednesday- 3200 yard swim
• Thursday – 1 hour 45 minute bike with speed work, 10 minute run
• Friday – 3200 yard swim, 6×500 descending plus a cool down
• Saturday – 5 hour 15 minute bike, 60 minute run
• Sunday – 2 hour run

Total Time: 13 hours

• Swim: 6400 yards/ 1 hour 50 minutes
• Bike: 111 miles/7 hours
• Run: 25 miles/4 hours 10 minutes

Photo Recap//

Well, this is a new one. Can’t believe how little rain we’ve been getting!

  More positivity… Good thoughts… And butterflies.

The culprit battery… ugh.

New Betty! ❤Well, this should last for about 1.5 days.

Bronco. Seriously, he can flop anywhere!   Because I’m too lazy to shop for myself… tried out Golden Tote. Definitely picked up some different and new styles to try!

Bronco v. garbage – he tried to pass it off like he didn’t know what happened.

…unfortuantely for Bronco, the plastic hanging from his tooth gave him away.

And a closing thought as we all start the week out:

This is definitely the truth. I’ve had various people that have challenged me, inspired me and helped change my life.  (i.e. Hello Ironman, would have never thought this possible 5 years ago. A special thanks Meghan for pushing me and making me believe this was in the relm of possiblities.)

I’ve had a number of people in my life that have challenged me, inspired me, and have changed my life in various ways over the years. My classmates from college, my Purdue cohort in grad school, my various mentors, my friends that I’ve met over the years, my family, and the community that I grew up in and have been blessed to return to.

Ok, enough sentimentalism, I could probably go on this topic for a while, since as I’ve gotten older I’ve come to realize that the quality of the people that you share your life with is one of the most important things in life. Without people to share the highs and lows, the wins and losses, the achievements and failures, life just is not as sweet.

So with that, thank you for sharing in my highs and lows from this last week. I hope that you  had more high points than low in your own life last week – and if not, it’s ok. We all have our highs and lows from week to week and month to month, but I do wish you the best of days and that you’ll always be able to pick out a silverlining no matter how tough the outlook appears.

Cheers!

Sitting Between Two Chairs

A couple weekends ago, I went to church with my mom, my sister, my BIL and my nephew… during the sermon, our pastor used the following quote from Luciano Pavarotti’s Father:

‘If you try to sit on two chairs, you will fall between them. For life, you must choose one chair.’

For me, this really hit home, and I am guessing it might hit home for many others as well. We all seem to be juggling so many things all the time. Life, work, friends, family, then at times school, classes, raising kids, attending social events, training for various athletic endeavors – 5Ks, 10Ks, marathons, triathlons, etc – while also trying to take time for yourself, to think, to relax, to enjoy a hobby or whatever makes your heart truly happy. There just seems to be SO MANY priorities. And that was the point of her sermon. We truly need to prioritize our lives. By this I mean it’s key to figure out what is actually a priority versus what tasks are in our life that we say are priorities but at the end of the day are just making us busy and diverting our attention from what really matters. There are so many “priorities” that are presented to us, that we rush around to complete or achieve that at the end of the day, don’t really matter and just result in a more stressed out, over worked, and tired person.

I am guilty of this.

Times 1,000 (or maybe 1,000,000,000…) but I digress.

Right now I am definitely sitting between two chairs. I own a home in Saratoga, and I work in Syracuse about 75% of the time (and I am on the road the remaining 20-25% of the time). I am a dog mom for two awesome pups. I am training for an Ironman. I am working for Ragnar to promote their ADK Relay (seriously, it’s an awesome time, you should sign up with friends!!). I am on Team Betty. I am finishing my LEAD NY classes. I am making as much time for family and friends that I can, given my work and training schedule. I am trying to make time for myself when possible.

From the list above, I would say there are a lot of things I could focus on to simply my life. The one thing I value more than anything is time with family and friends and I wish I had more of it than I have today. The primary driver behind my move to Saratoga was to be able to spend more time with family (although I must say, one issue with setting priorities that depend on other people is that there needs to be a bit of alignment…), and given my current goals my training is still going to be a priority for the next 3.5 months as I continue my journey to Ironman Lake Placid (eek! that date keeps getting closer!), but most of all I need to figure out my living/work situation to help strike a better balance. Living back near Saratoga where I grew up has been a long term goal of mine, and I will be the first to admit the choice I made last year to purchase a home 2.5 hours away from where I work was a crazy one and made the work/life situation a bit tougher, but it has been worth is because I truly LOVE LOVE LOVE being at my new home and near my family. So far, I’ve manged the commute and balance between work pretty well since October, however with the training ramping up I know I’m going to hit a tipping point and need to be proactive about the balance I can strike given my current situation.

Which brings me back to my chairs. For me, the two most apparent chairs that I am sitting between are Saratoga and Syracuse. I’ve known that I’ve been sitting between them – I have lots of time to think in the car each week about this – and I’ve been sitting between them for a while. Growing up in a rural, close-knit, community outside of Saratoga, I always struggled a bit with the “city life” of Syracuse. I always longed to be back in a community similar to the one I grew up in (or thin this case, I did move back to). Don’t get me wrong, I have had (and continue to have) a lot of great times in Syracuse and made friends with a number of fantastic people throughout the years, which I would not trade for the world. (Which is why leaving Syracuse is hard.) I’ve been trying to sit between these two worlds, and build a bridge, but I’m finding that gap continues to challenge me – and probably will for a bit more as I continue to sort this all out.

Nothing like throwing everything against a wall and seeing what sticks.

Pretty sure the whole “throw it against the wall” has been my method for about a year now. I’ll be the first to admit it’s been a bit of a whirlwind and it’s funny (scary?) how easy it becomes to throw caution to the wind when you go through some major changes in your personal life that leave you wondering what happened and how your life has been turned upside down. However, I guess it’s also a good thing because if those major life changes had not occurred, I don’t believe I would have ever taken the leap of faith or that path that I’ve chosen these past few months… So I guess I have one thing to be thankful for from that whole prior experience.

Change is not easy, but it often leads to better things. And someday, I’ll figure out my two chairs, or maybe just turn them into a bench. Either way, life will re-balance itself. It always does.

Weekly Workouts//

Week 1:

Monday – 60 Minute Recovery Bike

Tuesday – 60 Minute Tempo Run

Wednesday – 90 Minute Bike – Power Zones 3/4/5

Thursday – 3200 yd Swim <– Hello endurance… up and at ’em before LEAD NY!

Friday – Day off/LEAD NY Classes

Saturday – LEAD NY Classes / 2 Hour Bike Session at night

Sunday – AM – 2800 Swim – Speed Work

Sunday – PM – 1 hr, 40 min Endurance Run

Week 2:

Monday – Day Off / Travel to Kansas City

Tuesday – 30 Minute Run

Wednesday – Travel back from KC / 2000 yd Swim – Speed Work

Thursday – 90 Minute Bike

Friday – 2000 yd Swim – Speed Work

Saturday – Brick Session – Bike: 3 hrs/Run: 30 min

Sunday – Syracuse Half Marathon (aka my “catered training run”) <– Not my best 13.1 but not my worst AND first time over 10 miles since my injury last Fall – made it through without aggravating my injury & my calf is holding up (whoop whoop, hopeful that I can continue building and stay injury free!!)

Photos//

Trying to learn more about Africa. Still digesting my trip, but don’t worry I’ll work on a post before too long!

This guy was hanging out at my parents farm one morning a couple weeks ago – too cool not to share!

My current music obsession. Love her sound!

Race season can finally start – my Team Betty kit arrived – so stoked and can’t wait to start racing in it!!!

Applicable.

And they said I couldn’t fit a bike and two dogs in a 2 door wrangler.

Although it will be easier once the weather is nice enough to have the bike mounted outside the vehicle…

(Bronco agrees, he wasn’t too impressed that he had to share his area with the bike.)

Out for Kim’s Birthday! Love my tri friends – new and old!

Certainly not my best, but also not my worst 13.1 on the books. Today was a “catered training run” and the first time crossing over the 10 mile mark since injury last Fall. While I was bummed to not be racing, I was so thankful that I was able to complete the distance.

Slowly but surely getting back on track – the road to Ironman Lake Placid continues…

And just because it makes me laugh. I feel like an Omnomnomnivore lately with my training… must eat food. All. The. Time.

Well, I hope you all had a good couple of weeks – despite the not so spring like weather here in the Northeast! It’s really getting more difficult to believe that spring might actually arrive. Especially after braving temps in the teens for yesterday’s half marathon… something tells me we might just skip spring and move right to summer this year!! (Wishful thinking?!)