Love What You Do

I've been thinking about hobbies.  Last night Mark got up at 1am to drive to our boat (2 hrs) to go fishing.  He absolutely loves it.  To him, the drive doesn't matter and sleep can wait because there are fish to be caught! He spends hours preparing his gear, reading fishing reports, checking on weather and wind, and has even read a book or two (which is HUGE if you know him).  He wants to be good at his hobby because being good makes it more fun.  Besides his hobby he works and makes plenty of time for me and Hunter at home.  The hobby, by definition, is what he does in his chosen free time (well,  we all know with a small child there isn't actually any 'free' time, so rather he makes time).  

This of course got me thinking about triathlon.  For most people, it is a hobby.  Like fishing, an expensive, time consuming, hobby.  But what really struck me is that so many times training for the hobby seems to become a chore for many people.  They 'have' to get out for the bike ride or come up with many excuses (spoken or not) throughout their day to avoid actually doing a workout.  If this is your chosen hobby, which you started for whatever reason, you should LOVE it!  If there is no passion involved, then why do it? 

I think the main reason I have had success in triathlon is that I truly love the sport.  I love the daily training grind.  I love training on my own, with groups, with fast people or slow people - there is a time and place for it all.  I love the feeling after a workout so hard you never though you'd finish.  What I love most is showing up on race day to challenge my body and mind and see what I can do.  I love enjoying race day with everyone there and commiserating afterwards.  

If you find yourself in a rut with training and are feeling like it is more like a 'to-do' item rather than what you are doing for fun then something has gone wrong in your thought process.  You need to reset and remember why you chose this hobby to fill your free time!  What do you enjoy?  What makes it stressful or ruins it as a hobby?  Why are you not making time to do it? 

There are many ways to get fast at triathlon if that is your goal, but I can tell you not enjoying it and being too strict is not going to pay off in the long run.  Get out and train hard if that suits you.  If this is a hobby you truly love, like fishing, you will make time for it. 

Happy training! 

Racine Report

This is not really a race report, but rather a general explanation about why there is a DNF by my name at Racine 70.3.  I do not say this often, or maybe have never said it, but it was just not my day on Sunday.

We all had our challenges dealing with the race morning weather, changes, cancelled swim, delayed start and modified race distances.  For those that weren't there....There was a major weather front that came through just as the race was meant to start, causing a delay of 3.5 hours.   The swim was completely cancelled and the bike shortened to 31 miles.  The pros had to start in time-trial fashion (one at a time every 30 seconds).

This format doesn't suit me, but I was on board to give it my best shot.  I got out on the bike and quickly realized, as I somewhat predicted, I needed a MUCH longer warm-up before biking hard.  I was just starting to get rolling around mile 10 when my bike started to feel really unstable.  I thought I had a flat and moved to the base bars.  I quickly noticed my aero bars were completely loose and were just about to completely fly off my bike! Yikes...but slightly better than a flat :)  Luckily after only a few min of riding out of aero, the Trek mechanics showed up and we pulled over to fix it.  I was actually thankful for the break, but painfully watched a couple girls ride by knowing I was unlikely to catch them with the way my legs were riding!



Back at it with no excuses but under trained bike legs, I finished the ride feeling ok.  I got out on the run, ready to have a good run despite an embarrassing bike ride. I've been feeling strong running and thought I could run with the top girls (well, a bit behind, but run close to the same time at least).  I felt good for 2.5 miles, settling into a strong pace, but my back started tightening up.  By the turn at 3ish miles my back had completely tightened up and there was no way I could continue running, let alone walk!  I got picked up and got a ride back to my family.  I didn't feel bad or have a hard time deciding to stop, since there was no way at all I could continue!  Anyone that knows me knows that I don't quit on races and pride myself on finishing, especially in tough conditions, so not completing this race is something new and not something I plan on doing again.

I'm lucky to have a great chiropractic team here in Madison (All About Chiropractic) who got me in on Monday for a full exam and x-rays.  Being 3.5 months after baby my body is still changing and I'm kicking myself for being lazy with my back care and massages these last few months.  It certainly caught up to me and there were many things out of whack.  I'm happy to say that I think this will be resolved quickly and we have a great treatment plan.  After some work yesterday I'm already feeling better (and can walk!).

As far as what's next...First off taking care of my body and staying healthy has to return to top priority.  Secondly, get my biking to a place where I can be more competitive....this means making time for more riding (trainer, eek!).

Lastly, thank you to Ironman for putting me on the pro panel for me to represent Timex and new moms out there!