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Carrie Tollefson, host of CTolle run, makes this race SO fun.
She even makes us stragglers feel like rock stars.
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I'm not going to lie. It's hard.
Really hard.
I want to say impossibly hard.
But I don't believe in impossible.
My friend gets it. Her husband is an Ironman. She's a runner. A genuine, former-Olympian runner. And she has two small children.
The question still has me thinking. Quite frankly, not a day goes by without me wondering how our training is affecting our family and if we're doing enough, pouring enough into our kids while we attempt to reach a really high goal.
I'm not champion triathlete or athlete in general. I've never been one. And I'll never pretend to be one. We're both these proud mid-packers who love participating in triathlon. So I've embraced this motto this year: I just do what I can with what's been given to me.
Lately I've been transferring this motto over to time as well. When I have an hour to do that key bike workout, I'm gonna do what I can with what's been given to me. When I have an afternoon with just me and the kids, I'm trying to do what I can with what's been given to me. Go to the pool. Bake some cookies. Practice transitions outside with 'em.
I'm pretty sure Mr. T. is in the same frame of mind. Actually, I believe he's had this frame of mind far before I came to the conclusion this past week. Yes, we still have a plan. Yes, we still follow it to the best of our abilities. But we're learning, as I've said before, to focus on just today, on the tasks at hand and the time we have, and the opportunity to hold onto what we've been given while we have it.
Enough philosophy for now. This week's training for me included a race and for Mr. T. included his most difficult bike workout yet. Friday Jason took his bike and several bottles of fuel up to Lake Cochrane, the closest place to us with some wicked hills and a clear lake. He completed his long bike on this hills, battling 30mph winds for a chunk of the time. To say he came home spent would be an understatement.
Saturday I completed another Olympic triathlon, the Outland Challenge. We've tried to keep our race schedule pretty sparse this year (IM has drained the racing budget), so I'm grateful for any opportunity to practice putting all three disciplines together. The swim was my fastest Oly swim yet, and even though I was at the end of the pack dragging themselves to shore, I was proud of how I felt and did. Not once did I find myself in the wrong place on the lake. Hooray for sighting! Demon vanquished. Kaboom.
The bike route on this particular race and the run took me on the same hills that Jason battled the day before. Thankfully, we just had a slight breeze, something fairly negligible in South Dakota. Really, the conditions couldn't have been more perfect for July. I finished near the end of the field of ten women in the Olympic distance, and I am so SO pleased with how I felt and with my times. And I think I'm ready for this next weekend.
Sunday we compete in the Chisago Lakes Half Ironman. Jason has done this race for the past two years, and he has often told me it's one of the best non-IM sanctioned races around. I'm looking forward to putting this distance behind me. Jason is looking forward to just another fun race.
Ten weeks (eeekk!!!) to IM Choo!
