My Favorite Things

Making lists of favorite things is, for me, a task ridden with anxiety.  What if I've accidentally excluded something I love?  What if I discover something new tomorrow that I love even more?  -- Sara Zarr

There is something accurate about the quote above - I have a lot of favorite things, and I may forget to mention many of them here.  Also, things that used to be my favorite have been surpassed by other things...for example, I used to just love the Moving Comfort Fiona running bras.  Now I hate them, so I'm trying new ones and I have a new favorite.  But who's to say that my new favorites won't be eclipsed...Anyway, I spend a lot of time complaining - something I'm hoping to do less of in 2016.  I figured a good way to counteract my complaining personality is to actually spread some praise and compliments.  :)  And so, a short list of a few of my favorite things.

My Favorite Goggles:  TYR Special Ops
I have a weird shaped face, I think.  And until I started using these goggles a couple years ago, I was never happy.  Either they would leak like mad or I would get a raging headache when I was wearing goggles.  For some reason, these are just perfect - no headache, no leak.  Yeah, I still look like a raccoon after morning Masters practice, but at least I get a good swim in with no major side effects.  Plus they're polarized, so I can wear them inside and out and see fairly well...well, as well as I do at any given moment.

My Favorite Running Bra:  Kiava Endurance Bra
As I mentioned above, I had been using Moving Comfort Fiona bras for years, but they started to really irritate me - something about the band was chafing my skin, no matter what I did.  Plus I managed, through overuse and lazy washing techniques, to mangle the hook-and-eye closures.  Anyway, it wasn't pretty.  So I was shopping for new running bras and I saw that Kiava was having a clearance sale around Christmas and some folks on the trail runners Facebook page were raving about the clothes.  So I bought a couple on sale.  LOVE THEM.  I've worn them for a couple long runs and I can't even begin to tell you how comfortable (and supportive, of course) they are.  Thumbs up!

My Favorite Dinners:  Blue Apron
Last year at the end of summer, during IM training, I gave up on trying to feed my family.  I love to cook and we try to eat fairly healthy, but I just couldn't manage the menu planning thing anymore.  So we gave Blue Apron a try...and here, months later, we're still using it.  Sure, there are probably cheaper ways to go.  And yeah, there are some meals we haven't liked.  And yes, meatless is pretty much a no-go in my house, so I occasionally add sausage to the meal (like tonight's lemon ricotta and brussel sprout pizza).  But on the whole, my family is eating well - lots of seasonal vegetables, seafood or fish on a much more regular basis than I ever managed, better portion control.  Plus I still get the "cooking" thing, since the meals only come pre-planned and pre-bought - the cooking (right down to the peeling of garlic) still falls on me.  The cooking is fairly simple, but one problem is that it doesn't work as a "holey crap, everything ran late and we need to cook something in 10 minutes in order to make it to the next thing we need to be at" kind of meal.  But usually, within 45 minutes, we have a decent dinner...and I like it.

My Favorite "I Need Sugar Now" Treat:  Nerds
OMG.  I love Nerds.  I used to think they were vile candies, but I have come to see the light.  They are incredibly efficient sugar-delivery mechanism and they're super easy to handle and transport.  I have little plastic containers that I use to carry them with me on the bike and run; I just flick open the top and pour the Nerds in my mouth.  The best.  OK, I know - not healthy...but seriously, sometimes you just need an infusion of sugar, and short of a dextrose drip, Nerds get the sugar in you right when you need it.

My Favorite Ride:  Virginia Capital Trail
I've been envious of my friends who live places with bike paths for a long time.  Now, there's finally a good bike path that isn't too far out of my way...and it's 52 miles long - so I can get a century ride in without ever having to ride on the roads.  That's pretty sweet.  I'm not afraid to ride on roads - I know people who are.  But sometimes, especially if I'm trying to work on being in aero more or if I'm out for a long ride and want to focus on my nutrition or my hydration or anything other than traffic...it's nice to be on a bike/pedestrian only path.  My only complaint is that it's pretty flat - so training for IMLOU can't happen only on the trail - although when you're out there long enough, it doesn't feel flat at all.  :)

That's enough favorite for now.  I couldn't go from complainy to complimenty all in one day.  I'll have to save some other compliments for later.  :)

Mission? Accomplishment

You have to remember that the hard days are what make you stronger.  The bad days make you realize what a good day is.  If you never had any bad days, you would never have that sense of accomplishment. -- Aly Raisman

I've realized over the last couple of days something that I've been missing recently -- that feeling of accomplishment.  You know, the swelling pride that you feel when you make it through a tough race or noticed for completing some project.  I think that I have missed out on that feeling, in part because of some of my failures this past year and in part because I haven't been looking for it.

But over the last couple days, I have definitely felt that again...and I do want to thank my coach - she's been a big part of making me see what I've accomplished.  On New Year's Eve, I swam 7300 yards.  That's 100 yards more than last year.  It wasn't the greatest feeling and I had to use fins.  A lot of fins.  But I swam for three hours, minus a few breaks, and I racked up some serious yardage.

On New Year's Day, I ran a 5K - the First Day 5K.  Here is a picture of me and my younger daughter before the race, acting silly and rocking our race swag hats.

I didn't PR the race, not even close.  But I did better than I did at the 5K I ran a couple weeks ago.  And I didn't walk at all - not up the little hills and I didn't bother with water.  But why I feel so good about it is that I executed it exactly as my coach told me to.  She had given me instructions about HR to follow over the course of the race, and I did it.  And I finished at a crazy high heart rate and I'm super proud of my effort level.  That feels pretty darn good.

Finally today I had 2 hard workouts on my training plan.  I didn't feel like doing them, especially after yesterday's effort with the race.  But I did them -- and I did them right.  And tonight I'm feeling pretty darn accomplished.  It feels good.

Maybe the quote above is right and you need the bad days to really feel the sense of accomplishment.  It probably also helps to have someone say something about it.  Which means my coach is pretty awesome.  Plus now, having felt this again, I I want to keep feeling it, so I guess I better keep working this hard!

A small look back, a big leap forward...

Review your goals twice every day in order to be focused on achieving them. -- Les Brown

An important part of any focusing regimen is to set aside time at the end of the day - just before going to sleep - to acknowledge your successes, review your goals, focus on your successful future, and make specific plans for what you want to accomplish the next day. -- Jack Canfield

The object of a New Year is not that we should have a new year.  It is that we should have a new soul and a new nose; new feet, a new backbone, new ears, and new eyes.  Unless a particular man made New Year resolutions, he would make no resolutions.  Unless a man starts afresh about things, he will certainly do nothing effective. -- Gilbert K. Chesterton

Let's face it.  2015 was not a great year for me.  I'm ending the year with more fails than successes, more questions than answers, more things undone than completed, and more pounds on my hips than I started the year with.  In all of these things -- fails, questions, incompletes, and weight -- I think it's fair to say "less is more."  It's hard to acknowledge my successes from 2015, because I think that the year was spectacularly devoid of them...and so I think the best thing to do, as the year closes out, is to...let it go.  (Ha, you thought I was going to put in a Frozen video here, didn't you?  No, I would not torture you that way.)  Rather than looking backwards and dwelling on the things I have too much of (or even the things I had too little of, like success)...it's time to move forward.  So I've decided to start 2016 today.  A few days early.  Why not?  Calendars are so arbitrary.  :)

I usually make New Year's resolutions.  Why not?  Everyone does.  And everyone fails at them.  And so do I.  But I like the idea of a new me - starting afresh and focusing on my goals.  Of course, everyone does...that's the whole scam of New Year's resolutions, right?  We say we're going to lose weight, save money, be nicer, etc. etc. etc. for a day, or two, or even three...but then old habits kick back in and we go right back to the old us.  I've been reading a lot about habits and change.  I can't promise that I'll get this entirely right, but I think I have a plan to make some better New Year's resolutions...scratch that, some New Me resolutions.  I will set my resolutions in terms of goals, so they can be measured and reviewed.  I will make specific plans and set milestones so I can view progress.  I will acknowledge successes and I will try to understand failures and make adjustments to overcome them.  I will come into 2016 with new eyes and a new soul.  I'm starting afresh and I will be effective.

More about my New Me resolutions later...right now, I have to go run.  Success!

Heartbeat...

Repetition is based on body rhythms, so we identify with the heartbeat, or with walking, or with breathing. -- Karlheinz Stockhausen

Like I said, repetition in practice and hard work. -- Jerry Rice

This is my heartbeat song and I'm going to play it...

My new coach has me training with heart rate.  It's kind of been a crucible type moment, since it has revealed exactly how out of shape I am...either I have been this whole time and didn't know it or I've gone downhill very quickly.  Let's not speculate which it is.  Anyway, the bottom line is that, like I mentioned before, I have a long way to go.

When I first started training for triathlons, a million years ago (or maybe like seven), I used a HR plan...and I remember it was horrible.  I couldn't run and keep my heart rate any where near the zone it was supposed to be in , so I ran/walked or joggled or whatever.  But I kept at it, and eventually I lost weight and got faster and fitter.  And hopefully that's what will happen again, because yet again, my HR will not cooperate with running at any speed or for any distance.  I am hoping (and hopeful) that this will be like before -- that, if I keep at it and trust in the system, I will end up fitter and faster than before.  That's what needs to happen and I trust my coach.  So heart rate and joggle it is, for now.  And faster and fitter it will be.  :)

(Because leaving you with Kelly Clarkson's Heartbeat Song would be cruel and unusual punishment...)

A Long Way to Go and a Short Time to Get There...

It's been a long slog back, and we've still got a long way to go. -- Ted Strickland

I've got a long way to go to being the ultimate best, but I think my time is now.  And I'm starting to enter my prime. -- Kevin Durant

I ran the Toys for Tots 5K today.  It was a long way off my 5K PR...and I know this, because I gathered up my past race info and PR data for my new coach.  So, right now more than other times, I am acutely aware of just how slow I am now in comparison to other points in my life.  And not just because I'm getting older, because 2014 was actually one of my two good recent years.


All I can really say is that I have a long way to go...and a short time to get there, if I want to accomplish my goals for 2016.  (You may be saying to yourself - hey, that phrase sounds so familiar...but why?  From Smokey and the Bandit, of course, and that great song from Jerry Reed.  Click the video - you know you want to.)

Anyway, I am viewing today's race as a baseline.  A good place to start from.  I gave it a good effort and I see how far I need to go to get back to my happy place.  I have a new coach who wants to help me get there.  And I have the willpower to make it happen.

Dear Santa...

Believe in love.  Believe in magic.  Hell, believe in Santa Claus.  Believe in others.  Believe in yourself.   Believe in your dreams.  If you don't, who will? -- Jon Bon Jovi

Dear Santa,

It's been a long time since I have written you a letter.  I hope you are doing well. How's the missus?  And the elves?  Anyway, I know you're busy, so I'll get straight to the point.

I've been very good this year.  :)  OK, maybe not "very good."  But I haven't been terrible.  So I think I probably deserve something I want for Christmas.  This year, I'd like you to bring me a new coach.  I liked my old coach...but she's retiring and so I need a new one.  I've been interviewing new coaches, but it's hard and I don't like it.  (Oh, full disclosure - I may have had an e-mail mishap where I sent critical comments about one program back _to that coach_ rather than to my husband...ooops.  OK, I can see why you might see that as naughty behavior, but really, it's just because I was in a hurry and careless...not intentionally naughty.)

I can't really circle the coach I want in a catalog - do kids even still do that?  My kids e-mailed me their Christmas lists...along with helpful links to online stores.  Is that what kids do nowadays?  I guess pretty soon they'll just send their Christmas lists to you telepathically.  Or maybe you'll read their minds?  Creepy.  Anyway, I'm old school...so I'll just tell you what I'm looking for and I trust you and the elves to get it right.  :)  It's not like I'm asking for a pony or anything.

I want a triathlon coach who is nice, but not too nice.  I want someone who will be supportive and encouraging, but who will also make me work harder than I imagined possible.  I am a little lazy and not prone to push myself, but I will if someone else tells me to.  But I'm also a little anxious and doubtful, so I need someone who will believe in me until I can believe in myself.  I used to have more mojo and moxie when it came to this triathlon stuff, but I've kind of lost it and I'm looking for it again and I think it's important for me to have a coach help me do that.

I want a triathlon coach who can work with slow people, but will work to make me faster.  I'm slow right now - I get that.  But I don't want to be slow.  I want to be faster, and I'm (mostly) willing to work hard to get faster.  I don't want a coach who believes I'm too slow for them.  Or that dumbs things down because I'm slow.  I want someone who is invested in my success, both to finish the long distances and speed up my slowness.  (Even though I'm old.)

I want a triathlon coach who can rearrange my schedule (or at the very least put up with my rearrangements of their hard work) when job or kid drama comes up.  I want a triathlon coach who works with my personal quirks...I don't like to ride outside when it's cold (and cold is a subjective, warm temperature).  I like to run races occasionally, either with my daughter or just because it's fun.  I like to eat a lot and I like to drink wine.  I am a back of the pack runner/racer - and I aspire to back of the middle of the pack, or even middle of the pack.  That's it.  I like to train on weird days because my schedule is actually more flexible during the week than the weekend.   I appear to attract weird injuries - hypothermia, anyone?  I hate swimming by myself.  I started lifting weights in the off season and I kind of like it.  Did I mention I like to eat a lot and I like to drink wine?

Now, don't get me wrong.  I'm not high maintenance.  I mostly listen.  :)  I generally put in my best effort, as written.  :)  But I'm a mom and wife and full-time professor.  And sometimes there is life.  On the other hand, triathlon is a big part of that life and it matters a lot to me, which is why I want a new coach for Christmas, because I'll miss my old coach and I'm not sure I can do this on my own.

One of my daughters thought if you list only one thing on your Christmas list then you'll definitely get it.  So I'm just going to ask for a coach.  And I know you'll deliver, because I believe in you and I know you want me to believe in me.  And I promise I'll be good next year.  :-)

Merry Christmas & have a safe trip on Christmas Eve!

Talking Turkey

Gratitude can transform common days into thanksgivings, turn routine jobs into joy, and change ordinary opportunities into blessings. -- William Arthur Ward

Happy Post-Thanksgiving, Pre-Christmas extended stretch of over-eating, over-drinking, and under-training...at least that's what it usually is.  But this year, I've decided to exercise a different plan.  I will follow my training plan (starting tomorrow, because this morning I woke up with my normal snot-nose headache that a friend told me could be seasonal allergies and I'm beginning to believe that's a real possibility).  I will eat carefully, except at holiday parties.  I will drink less during the week.  :)  I will make it to Christmas weighing the same, if not less, than I weigh this morning.  Because then New Years won't be a shock to my system, but a continuation of positive behaviors.

What's up with this? What kind of idiot makes a pre-Christmas resolution?  The kind of idiot that looked at a picture of herself at this year's Turkey Trot and nearly cried.  I had a turkey belly BEFORE gorging on turkey and I had a waddle under my chin that would make any turkey jealous.  (And if you could see my arms, you'd see the old-lady chicken wing thing I got going on.)  All in all, it was a wake-up call that I never wanted.  Girl, you're getting too big.  This has to stop.  And so, the pre-Christmas resolution.  I don't think I'm setting myself up to fail, because I'm not being militant.  Just sensible.  Careful.  And I know I have some holiday parties over the next few weeks where I'll want to eat and drink (including tomorrow at lunch).  And I will.  But on non-holiday party days, which is the bulk of them, I will be careful.  No more turkey pictures for me!