One Year

It's been exactly a year since I quit my job, forgone medical school, and pursued triathlon. It has been a tough year mentally, emotionally, and physically, but every drop of blood, sweat, and tears (lots of them) were totally worth it. I've learned a lot more about myself as a person and as an athlete, and I know what I need to do in this life to succeed, be happy, and inspire others.

Happy ONE year to me! And many more to come :)

The past 365 days by numbers:
6 triathlon races
5 personal records
2 podium finishes
1 DNS (due to food poisoning)
810.93 miles ran
260.84 miles swam
4300.78 miles biked
104.18 miles hiked
253.5 hours spent on the bike
57.4 max mph on the bike (descending a mountain!)
214,438 calories burned (not including swimming)
3 national parks visited
2 state parks visited
7 books read on nutrition/training
1 joyous triathlete + her awesome support group

The last in the list is by far the most important :) Thank you guys for a great year and for many more to come! Lastly, I depart you with some wisdom.

Top 6 things I learned:
 6. Don't let anyone ever tell you you can't. Haters gonna hate. Lovers gonna mate. Hah! But seriously, only you can determine what you can or cannot do. Do not let anyone else dictate that for you. My parents used to tell me all the time as a kid that I was too small, too short, too weak to compete with the rest of them and that I should give up so I won't have to work so hard. I believed them and their words came true. I still struggle with this as an adult, but I have learned to ignore them and other naysayers and instead channel the little engine that could. I think I can, I think I can, I know I can.
5. Never give up. I was ready to give up my entire athletic future once I got shoulder surgery, but all that led to was sadness and loss of motivation. I did not enjoy my own pity party, so I signed up for an Ironman not knowing if or when I'll be able to swim/bike/run again. I never looked back since.
4. You are stronger than you think you are. Many times in a race or during training, I was ready to call it quits. I didn't think I could go on or push any harder. I've always wanted to cut a sprint set short, but I forced myself to finish because I knew I would regret otherwise. I actually finished some of the sets in descending times and did not feel trashed afterwards.
3. Don't stop dreaming. Ever. Dreams fuel you. They make you smile and grit your teeth when things get tough. They pull you through. And when they finally come true, it's a feeling that's unrivaled. You'll feel so amazing that someone could punch you and it wouldn't matter or hurt because your dreams came true!
2. Pursue your passions. I tried to put my sport-based passions on the back burner for school and that only made me burnt out, depressed, and hating life. That is not an enjoyable way to live, trust me. Whether it's kayaking, basketball, football, triathlon, running, reading, hiking, traveling, or eating, include your passions in your life. Life is too short to deprive yourself of them. You are never too busy! Prioritize this!
1. Hit the pause button. Or as Gru likes to say, freeze ray! Life goes by too fast, but what's even worse is that we let it. I forget to enjoy the moment or the blessings in my life because I'm too caught up with daily tasks or planning out my future. It's nice to shut everything out and enjoy the beauty of a sunrise during a run or the smell of chlorine on my skin during the day or instagramming a herd of cows sitting in a bed of wildflowers at the top of a hill I'm bike climbing. Stop what you're doing once in a while and just soak everything in. It'll make you smile the rest of the day, I promise.

WORD! :)

Rest Days

I used to dislike rest days. I felt as if I was wasting my time by not training. My rest days also were not truly rest days because I'd try to fit in all my weekly errands (vacuuming, laundry, grocery shopping, bike cleaning, etc). However, I did enjoy sleeping in before having to go to work.

As I become a more serious and experienced athlete, I've learned to love rest days. They are necessary for training, as they allow both my mind and body to recover from the punishment I put it through daily. I ward off injuries and burn outs and in return, I can continue to train even harder.

It's tough to make myself take a day off because of my type A personality and because of my love for this sport and training and being active, but to have longevity in triathlon, it's a must!

The beach is a good way to spend a rest day

I'm clearly enjoying my day off! :)

Okay. Confession. I woke up earlier to get a long run in before I started my rest day. :( But I did take the rest of the day off! 

Sigh. I'm working on it.

Patience may be a virtue, but it sure sucks

A week from today, I'm supposed to be in Milwaukee gearing up to race the Olympic-distance Age Group National Championships, but instead, it will most likely be fifty-three weeks until I hit the big stage. I finally got my invitation last week while I was away on vacation, but the slots had already filled up and using my VIP sign-up pass would only get me on the waiting list.

I've made the hard decision not to sign up and give Nationals a try this year because:
1) Uncertainty of getting a slot to compete
2) Cancellation of flight tickets and hotels -- lose $$
3) Dislike of last minute plans
4) I'm not where I want to be if I were to compete at this high of a level (qualification came as a surprise)
5) If I go to Nationals, I'm there to own it. I want to give qualifying for World Championships and representing USA a real shot, not just be there for the experience (and spend money/savings).
6) I'm a baby in my age group. To qualify in my first year is a good sign in the direction I'm heading. I still have four more years in the F25-29 to leave my mark. I need to make the top 18 to go to Worlds.

I feel like I'm letting myself down for declining this opportunity, and more importantly my followers and supporters. All of you have continually encouraged and spurred me along on this journey, and whenever I had doubts about my own abilities, you never failed to lift me up and pack my punch with more power. For that, I am immensely grateful. I cannot do this without each and everyone of you. I hope you all have really good patience, because I'm going to have a long journey ahead of me, and I'm going to need you there every step of the way.

I am normally a very patient person unless it comes to myself and my own endeavors. I had originally (foolishly) given myself only a year to achieve an elite/pro status, and if things did not work out, I would abandon this dream and move on. I had completely underestimated how long of a process this transformation takes and how much patience plays a huge (and healthy) part in the creation of an elite endurance athlete.

Garmin Monthly Data

I started the year ambitiously as I revved up the miles in January. I felt great, progress was showing, and I was ready to conquer. Next thing you know, I'm stuck in bed for days, getting sick, and lacking motivation. I had trained myself to exhaustion and could barely get out the door in February. Patience. Slow and steady wins the race. I finally read about how most of my favorite professional triathletes took years and years (8 for Meredith Kessler) to make the jump from an amateur status to a professional one, and that gave me a new look on my plans and dreams.

As my year is almost up (and despite many thoughts to give up on this dream), I am ecstatic to tell you that I am not giving up. I'm ending my timeline ultimatum of one year and extending it to however long it takes or until my passion for the sport dies (long shot!). My goals and dream are still the same, only the list of wanted achievements keep growing. :) I have a race tomorrow and a few more in store later this year. I hope to finish high enough on the charts to get an early qualification to next year's Age Group National Championships and have my own secured spot to compete. The next time I receive this email, you can sure bet that I'm going to RSVP hell yes.

My Surprise Achievement of the Year

Just because I'm not going to Nationals doesn't mean the rest of my season is boring! I'm going to try to use Sunday's race to qualify for next year's Nationals. The 5i50 in September also serves as a qualification for a different National Championship, and my half ironman in October will be an opportunity to qualify for the 70.3 World Championship in 2014. 

I told you I'm a dreamer. :)