Choices, Chances, Changes.

Choices, Chances, Changes.

We all face them every day. They may not be big choices, grand chances or colossal changes. Yet they occur. All. Day. Long.

Choices

We decide what time to get out of bed.

We decide what to eat.

We decide what to wear.

We decide our activities for the day. Our priorities.

We decide if we go into auto-pilot with our day-to-day, with our weekly routine, with our lives. Or if we decide to take chances…

Chances

We are blessed that we are able to decide when to take chances.

To refuse the mindless routine. To mix it up.

To choose chance.

To actually take the chances that are presented to us.

To jump out into the unknown. To make new friends, to rekindle past relationships, to extend a hand, to assist others, and often, in turn to help ourselves.

We get to take the changes, to embrace change.

Change

Pursue change. Big or small. Try new things.

Try a new flavor of coffee, try a new workout, try a walk down a new path.

Take the chance to adventure up a mountain or across the sea.

To experience all the world has to offer. People, places, things. Embrace them.

To learn. To grow. To evolve. To change.

There are abundant opportunities to dream of, and to embrace change.

Choices, Chances, Change. 

We grow through choices, chances and change. Some choices, chances and change are small. Other choices, chances and change will rock your world to its soul. There are positive choices, chances and change. There are the not go great (and yet still oh so valuable) choices, chance and change. They come in all shapes, sizes, and stature. They can have satisfying and exciting outcomes. They can also have depressing and stressful outcomes. Yet I have found, regardless of the outcome achieved, there is always always always something to learn, to experience, and to grow from.

Choices, Chances, Change.

These are the things life is made of.

 

 

Five hundred twenty-five thousand six hundred minutes

How do you measure a year in the life?

In daylights, in sunsets, in midnights, in cups of coffee
In inches, in miles. in laughter, in strife.

In five hundred twenty-five thousand six hundred minutes.

–Seasons of Love, RENT

Looking back on the past year, I just cannot believe how much has changed. How much has come and gone from my life. All the new experiences, adventures, people and places.

With Thanksgiving being last week, I was very busy working on prepping my house that I’ve owned for all of 3 whole weeks, buying food, and figuring out how to cook a full Thanksgiving meal for my family in between traveling to Syracuse for work, finalizing my prior house for sale, hanging out with friends and sneaking a few workouts in.

To say the very least, the past two weeks were quite the whirlwind of events (per usual, welcome to my world). However, despite the fact I was super busy, I also felt very relaxed, happy and definitely extremely blessed.

I know that most people typically wait until the New Year to review the prior year and look forward to the next, but Thanksgiving just seems like the appropriate time for me to take a step back and really look at everything. I cannot believe what a difference a year can make. There have been so many changes in my life. Last year I was struggling with a relationship that ended, I was struggling with whether or not I would race a second 70.3, and was questioning a lot of things in my life. This year I have moved to a new city, a new home, I have completed my second 70.3 and signed up for my third AND for my first full 140.6 Ironman event. I have made new friends, joined a new triathlon team with T2 Multisport, experienced new things (hello CX!), somehow secured a spot on Team Betty 2015 (still so pumped!) and worked to embrace life to its fullest taking the bad along with the good.

Despite feeling a bit lost this time last year, I did know and hold on to one fact – I had an amazing childhood and an amazing family that continues to love and support me. They have proven that they will support me even when I do crazy things – you know, like sign up for an Ironman event, or make the decision to move to be closer to home despite holding a job in a city 2.5 hours away – I know that I am truly blessed to have this support.

And I also found that I had a few truly amazing and steadfast friends that helped me immensely this past year – through cups of coffee (or pints of beer), workouts, conversations, and even a little assistance packing up a moving truck – you guys have been amazing and I can’t thank you enough.

I don’t know what this next year will bring, but I do know that I am excited for every experience – both good and bad – that will come with the next five hundred twenty-five thousand six hundred minutes.

 

Weekly Workouts//

 Week 1:

Monday – Tuesday – Wednesday – Work conference in Indianapolis/embracing the “off” season…

Thursday – 20 Min Bike, 3 Mile Run

Friday – 30 min Strength Session

Saturday – Swim Ladder 1800 yd

Sunday – 3 Mile Run

 Week 2:

Monday – Rest Day/Buy Local Bash & Travel

Tuesday – 30 min Strength Training

Wednesday – 45 Min OUTDOOR Bike

Thursday – 1 Hour Trainer Ride

Friday – Sick Day

Saturday – Run 3 miles

Sunday – Sick Day… should have just taken it easy on Saturday!

 

Weekly Photo Recap//

Our company tied in a community service project with a few other companies and the Indianapolis COLTS with the Thanksgiving season. Had the opportunity to participate in the Million Meal Marathon in Indianapolis!

Airplane time = thinking time.

So I’ve owned the new house for 2 weeks and a couple of trees fell down on my deck… this is what I came home to.

We WILL be replacing the blinds… good ole Bronco.

Date Night! (Can’t believe there was agreement to this…) With a little help… the fallen trees are now next year’s bonfire/campfire wood! 🙂

Officially Official! Loved seeing the announcement and the start of our discussion forum – so many amazing stories of amazing women! Not sure how I was selected but so excited to be a part of #teambetty15! A little reminder from a fellow Betty:

Buy local bash at the Landmark. Crappy picture of a gorgeous building. If you have never been inside the Landmark Theater in Syracuse, you must go

Clarks Ale House is open and I’m back in Syracuse. Obviously this had to happen:

Got to hang with this dude in Syracuse this week.

Yes, it happened. Can’t wait until next year’s CX season!

Just 3 hours after my outdoor bike ride… winter wonderland has fallen on us!

Mini pumpkin pies for all!

About mid-point on cooking the Thanksgiving Feast!Had to get a little creative with the oven space…

Whoo-hoo! First ever full thanksgiving meal that I have prepped! AND we managed to fit all of us around my kitchen island/dining room table mish-mash.

Bronco is thankful for puffy vests that fall on the floor!

Yep, claimed this one.

Family photo time!

Outside lights are up!

I have a lot of railings…

Remember the GIANT knitting needles that I shared in my last post? We’ll here is the finished project! A blanket in about 3 hours time!

Absolutely LOVE how it came out – and it was a fun and fast project!

More good news! I qualified again this year – sadly, I once again will be unable to participate since it is the weekend AFTER Ironman Lake Placid. Maybe next year…

Last (but certainly not least) Miss Roxie relaxing. Not sure how this position is comfortable, but she seems to be happy with it.

Cheers! Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday!!

 

Backup Plans.

Life has been moving at a crazy fast speed for me these past few weeks. I would have thought with an injury that things would slow down…  and they both have and have not. I have less runs to fit in my schedule (no running until at least November for me), but tons of PT and icing sessions have entered my life. Also, I’m finding lots of value in being a triathlete instead of simply a runner since I have two other sports to “fall back” on that don’t have high impact – biking and swimming – and therefore are approved for my continued adventures. When one door closes… you have to find another to open. Having a backup plan (or sport) is always a good idea.

Speaking of continued adventures, the past couple of years I had been toying with the idea of getting a mountain bike to diversify my biking routine. Well, that’s off the table – for now – I’ve discovered Cyclocross! I’m not sure how I’ve managed to miss this amazing sport until now, but I’m so glad that I opened my eyes and realized what amazingness lies within the world of cyclocross. It’s the best of both worlds – speed and a road bike type frame, with dirt and mud and grass and obstacles and so so so much fun! The handling skills and flying dismounts are so fun to practice PLUS there are tons of awesome people in the sport PLUS it’s a great mental break from the IM base maintenance I’ve been trying to keep up and stay motivated with. Last week was my first exposure to actually riding cyclocross, but I was bitten by the bug pretty hard. Happily, I have a friend that is letting me borrow a bike so I can hold off on the purchase of said cyclocross bike and just have fun this fall. (Although my PT told me no obstacles for a couple weeks – my dang calf muscles just can’t handle it… I really screwed myself up this time.)

Other than my newly discovered love for cyclocross, I’ve been biking and swimming to keep up some level of off-season fitness and work has been down right CrAzY. Seriously, my job ramped up the craziness this spring, set in another level of crazy during the summer, and has layered in even more these past 4 weeks. I’m grateful that I’m in the off season for tri because I would not be able to be pulling the hours that I currently am, plus training, plus being a fully functioning and friendly member of society. I know I don’t normally mention work here, but it’s a part of my life and it’s definitely playing a bigger role right now. It’s all about balance. I’m happy to put in the time, but will be happy when this extra work load lightens up again too!

The one thing I am certain of in life is that things always change. People come and go from your life, there are ups and downs, there is times of craziness and times for rest, and the only thing that matters is your ability to adapt to the changes. Things always work out for the best, one way or another. We all certainly get the chance to help direct the changes in our life by the attitude and the mindset that we face them with.

Change is good. It allows us to grow.

Weekly Workouts//  

Week 1

• Monday – Rest Day/Golfing
• Tuesday – Rest Day/Travel to Reno – crazy meeting day 22 hours start to finish!
• Wednesday – Scheduled for 30 Min on ARC Trainer – No workout due to crazy meeting schedule – a 19 hour day!
• Thursday – 35 Minute on Stationary Bike before hoping a plane to travel back from Reno
• Friday – Rest Day
• Saturday – AM – Pure Barre Class
• Saturday – PM – 1800 yard swim
• Sunday – Endurance Bike – 2 hours/32 Miles

Week 2

• Monday – Rest Day/Start of PT
• Tuesday – Cyclocross!/PT Session
• Wednesday – 2200 Yard Swim/PT Session
• Thursday – Rest Day/PT Session
• Friday – Rest Day
• Saturday – 2 hour/35 Mile Endurance Bike/PT Session
• Sunday – 2200 yard swim/Pumpkin Picking for 45 Minutes

Photo Recap//

First, a few good things (before the pics…)

• I’m sure you’ve all seen this, but Jimmy Fallon is at it again. Making songs better than their original version: I’m all about the bass, no treble.
• And all the Things You Should Know Before Dating An Athletic Girl (or at least 17 of them…) – made me smile, definitely agree with a few of these…

I read this book on my way back from Reno – it’s not currently available in paperback, but if you can you should download and read it. Very interesting and lots of great perspective on no only athletics, but life in general.

My room in Reno. I swear it was bigger than my house! 

View from my room on the 19th floor… 

Eat, Sleep, Bike, Repeat. Love this!

A thank you gift from Ragnar for the extra work I did this year. So sweet!

The view from the top of Sweet Road (Syracuse IM 70.3 course). If you zoom in, you can see the dome to the left… Amazing scenery.

This is how I roll…. #bettydesigns

Had some seemingly bad news delivered. But I’m certain this is going to turn into something amazing. Stay tuned. 

Someone went to critter sitter – I felt like a mom putting her kid on the school bus. He then slept for 2 days…

Cyclocross! Waiting instructions on our next obstacle. 

Dismount and carry – onward and upward! 

It’s all about the tape to tape.

Apples from the best orchard in ENY! Holy giant apple…

And sometimes, they actually get along!

Enjoying the last of the summer weather, top off the jeep, head out the window (Roxie’s, not mine.)

150 miles for pizza.

This past weekend I drove 150 miles, one-way, for pizza.

Yes, you read that right. For pizza.

Hey, sometimes a girl’s got to do, what a girl’s go to do. And after my three-and-a-half-hour brick session Saturday morning, I needed a pizza. But not just any pizza. I needed the Black Horse Special (aka the best sort of supreme pizza ever made) from my hometown. So I jumped in the Jeep with the 2 pups Saturday and headed East. My mom is amazing. Within 30 minutes of my arrival, the pizza also arrived. Now, considering that I drove 150 miles to reach said pizza, and it was everything that I dreamed of and more, you would think that I would have thought to snap of picture of this glorious beast of a pizza. Nope. Instead I just inhaled it, along with the cheesy garlic bread sticks. (I blame the Run-ger.)

And while, yes, the thought of this pizza was the big driver of my choice to head East, it was also fueled by the fact that I had a long run on the agenda for Sunday, and frankly the thought of logging another one of these runs on the treadmill was about to result in me beating my head on the wall. The past two weeks, I successfully had stuck out an hour-twenty run and an hour-thirty run on the treadmill, and was exposed to watching the great sports of bowling, drag racing, and ice skating for those runs at the gym. And while I have enjoyed (and I use that term loosely) learning about these sports, I was really really really ready for a change of scenery!

Speaking of the past two weeks of training… check out this craziness:

• Swimming: 10,550 Yards (6 miles) over 4 Sessions
• Biking: 112.6 {bike trainer} miles – 2 Bike only Sessions/2 Brick Sessions
• Running: 40.7 miles – 4 Run only Sessions/2 Brick Sessions
• Total Mileage: 159.3 miles,
• Total training time: 18 hours, 45 minutes

Whoop!

Some thoughts after adding everything up over the past two weeks…

First, I wonder how many bike miles I would have added up if those had been outdoor rides (my bike trainer rides tend to produce much lower miles)…and second, I’m so happy and proud of myself – last year this volume of training would have near killed me both mentally and physically. This year, while still tiring, I feel much stronger and ready to take on the higher volumes. [Note: I may (but hopefully not) change my tune the closer we get to race day.]

Also, I was super pumped on my long run this past Sunday – I’ve been doing Heart Rate (HR) based training which has been frustrating (a post coming soon about this type of training) but it is finally paying off! I put in a 11.25 mile run in Sunday and it really felt great! It’s amazing to finish a long (for me) run and feel great!  PLUS as mentioned, I was able to run OUTSIDE in the little spring thaw we experienced over the weekend here in Upstate NY out in the COUNTRY of my hometown. It was beautiful and made my run all that more enjoyable. PLUS I got to bust out my favorite compression running tights! (Can you tell how excited I was based on all my caps?!)

Sunday was just one of those days that makes you happy to be alive, to be a runner, and happy to be able to enjoy being outside.

So, other than my crazy pizza run and my crazy training, I actually have had a few other things going on in my busy schedule. Unfortunately, I have been slightly neglectful in taking pictures of events… but a few of the things I did choose to snap pics of include:

Adventures in food and eating – including the integration of nutrition and calorie tracking.  To help me reach my calories during my long weekend workouts (I’ve been averaging about 5 hours between Saturday and Sunday) – I’ve started in on smoothies. I’m loving experimenting with foods and incorporating spinach and other greens. I know, looks not quite appetizing, but don’t judge – they really are quite delicious!

I finished another project from my knitty list! Check out my latest fingerless gloves. I just love them, even if they did take forever due to the pattern.

I became RAGNAR famous. The email to promote the ADK Ragnar Relay was released last week – and when I opened it, I saw a picture of my friend Rochella and me as the large promo picture! (I’m in the purple on the right – yay for .02 seconds of fame!) This was right before my first leg of ADK Ragnar last year where I PR’ed my 10K pace! [Note: Photo credit goes to AO, one of our teammates from last year who is working on a pretty sweet video recap of our adventures from both Ragnar Cape Cod and Ragnar ADK.]

The pups continue to bring me lots of laughs. They spend a lot of time playing with each other – which involves a lot of Roxie trying to boss Bronco around with growling and barking, and Bronco retaliating by batting her around a bit, but when it comes time to crash, they cuddle up together.

This doesn’t always work out for Roxie, but they seem to tolerate each other…

And finally, I decided to donate my hair last week! For those of you that know me, you would have realized that my hair was getting quite long over the past year. Well, with all the training, my hair was becoming more and more of a pain. Trying to smoosh it into my swim cap, trying to keep it tied back during long runs, and so on was getting more and more of a nuisance. Never mind the fact that I was always running around with wet hair after workouts (not really great in the winter).

So I knew I wanted to shorten my hair and decided to just go for the gusto and finally really chop my hair like I had wanted to do since I was in high school. Every time before this I’d always chickened out and stopped with a cut around chin length, but luckily my hair stylist Krista that owns Lavish Salon told me I wasn’t leaving the chair until I finished what I had come through the door to do. I’ve been going to Krista for over 5 years now and she is seriously amazing, so if you live in the area, definitely give her a call!

So without further ado – here is a before picture from a few weeks ago:

And after!

I’m sure I’ll miss the long hair somedays, but I seriously loved training over the weekend and not having to have 3 hair ties and clips for my bangs – all I needed was a head band and I was good to go! (Plus I enjoyed the fact I probably looked a little more crazy with my hair flopping all over the place as I ran down the road!)

Ok, well here we go with another couple of weeks of adventure, including a trip to  to VT and another to NYC – so if you don’t hear a lot from me, no worries, I’m just out living life!

Hope you all had a stellar weekend and an even better Monday!

How 9/11 Changed America

On this 12th Anniversary of 9/11, I thought it would be appropriate to use my Wednesday post to reflect on 9/11. I know most people know exactly where they were when they heard the news, I know I remember – that entire day is very vivid in my mind. Watching the TV, listening to the radio, telling those you care about how much you loved them. I hope that people never forget how this day changed the world. Personally, I’ll never forget the unity that it brought out in people. I wish that we could all remember and treat each other with care, love, and respect more often – life is short, cherish each day, never take it for granted.