Off // On
2016 was an unreal year and I fell in love with keeping a blog about my training adventures! Last year, I couldn't find my balance in life to keep it up. Here we are! 2018 and I am ready to get this blog game back on point. I can't wait to share my thoughts and training experiences with you beautiful folk! Before I get going about off//on, I want to say a MEGA thank you for supporting me, cheering for me, and taking the time to read my rambles!
After completing my first Ironman on July 30, 2017 my whole entire heart, body, brain, and soul was ready for a major time out. Truth be told, I couldn't wait to never hear an alarm at 4:15 AM ever again. I couldn't wait to not be freezing in the pool water 3 days a week, or to never spend 5+ hours on the trainer. It was a bizarre feeling as prior to this it had been 3 years of dedicated marathon training and 1 year of dedicated Ironman training where all these things got me PUMPED! "Unmotivated" was not a word that had existed in my vocabulary for quite some time. Honestly, even when I was 207 lbs in 2010 I was more motivated by yo-yo dieting than I was in the last five months of 2017. For the last little bit a huge passion of mine has been off.
Truly up until a few weeks ago, I was planning to take this year off of physical endeavours and continue with my dog walks and monthly yoga class just to keep healthy. I had a handful of reasons why I wanted to take it off... I have loved having more relax time to snuggle my pups, I've been able to make more time for family/friends which has been incredible, its been nice to have more time to exist in the dating world, work feels more calm as I don't have to balance it with a part-time job of training, and my credit card has adored not being full of race fees, gear, and nutrition items. One other thing I know about myself is that I have always been motivated by seeing how far I can go, and not so much by how fast I can go. With this, the goal of an Ironman was my jam! Outside of major ultra-runs, Ironman is the epitome of how far one can go. So after I did that, what was to come next? Nothing had started to sound pretty good to me!
What changed? What got me back into this incredible world of athletics a few weeks ago? I can name them all on one hand: 1) The community. My goodness how I have missed being so closely connected to all of the amazing athletes out there and experiencing training with them. This includes the incredible athletic community in YYC, the instagram world, and the one and only team of its kind... Renegade Endurance!
2) My family/friends. At some points of following a training schedule it will limit free time for family and friends. I feel so beyond blessed that nobody in my life has ever made me feel guilty for this, even if I have felt selfish myself for it. Instead my loved ones cheer me on relentlessly, and believe in me fiercely. Thank you to everyone who has asked me how I have felt since Ironman, and helping me talk out how I can find balance in my life while continuing to train.
3) The realization that I am a much more productive person when I am dedicated to training. Many people have asked, "What do you do now that you are not training?" The glory of so much relaxation time, completing work at any hour and at any pace, and sleeping in until 7:00 on weekdays because I can is wearing off. I am becoming a major slow-poke at life. Now, I don't necessarily think that this is a bad thing but it also isn't the most useful. For example, it might take me 90 minutes to compose a weekly email at work I send, instead of 30 minutes. Simply because I have had that extra time.
4) The celebration! The INCREDIBLE thing with training, is it isn't just about celebrating at the finish line of the race. It is about celebrating EVERY single day along the way. Getting pumped about completing each workout, and pushing yourself more than you ever thought possible (somedays this push comes in the form of merely getting through a workout, and other days it appears as a new personal best or an insanely good sweat). One of my favourite quotes is, "Until further notice... celebrate everything!" True, right?!
5) A new shirt: "FEmale - the original ironman!!" I was gifted this shirt for Christmas from some wonderful family friends, and it was my last step in deciding to sign up for a race! It allowed me to remember how empowering training is for me. Training and fitness goals give me motivation in EVERY area of my life not just athletics.
SO!! HERE I am!! It is game on in my training world! Now, along with game on in my training world I have a few changes to go with it. I am going to set a time goal. My goal is to rock in the Calgary Half-Ironman in 6:05:00. I am going to *try harder than before* not to overload my credit card with race things, and I am doing the half distance to still allow me to have extra puppy cuddles and family/friend time.
A big part of my original off time was to rediscover balance in my life. What I've learned is part of that balance has got to be triathlon! Let's do this!!