Love this Life...

I bought this shirt in NYC with this poem on the back. I loved the message and hope you do too!


Love this life ....
Is about celebrating the moment
and that we are not guarenteed
or owed another day and how cool it is that what we hide
can actually be the fuel towards our glory
and that it's not so bad being proven wrong

Love this life...
is about welcoming the blind turn
and the the possibility that
there is no such thing as coincidence
and that empathy is incredibly sexy
and that is never too late
to pick up a a guitar or a paintbrush
or to make an amend or make a new friend

Love this Life...
could be about rekindling a past flame
or igniting a new one
or shapeshifting from a dreamer into a doer
or savouring the caress of a love long gone

Love this life...
means whatever it is you want it to mean
because

Love this life...
is a celebration of you and your path

Love this Life...
cuz it could go at any second
YOU ROCK!

Acu...TORTURE!

Acupuncture is one of the main forms of therapy in traditional Chinese medicine and has been practiced for at least 2,500 years. Certain points on the body are stimulated by the insertion of fine needles.
It is thought to restore health by removing energy imbalances and blockages in the body.

Yesterday, I decided to go for some acupuncture followed by a deep tissue massage.
I did not think to much about the process until I was lying on the table,face down and she put the first needle into my body. I believe the needles first went inbetween my toes and fingers. One was to increase the blood flow,one was for the heart and sad feelings. I assume she figured I was depressed as I could not train. The one's that went into my glute and hamstring were deep and took my breathe away as the needles hit the nerves. She would make comments like good and great every time my body shook and I screamed. She finally left the room and I lay there, needles all over wandering how I got myself into this. It is definitely not the most comfortable experience but I am always up for trying things to help my body. A friend of mine had heard me yelling from the next room and called me a wimp. After about 20 minutes she came back into the room and slowly removed the needles....that was a little uncomfortable too.
But by the end of the deep tissue massage which was well needed I had forgotten the discomfort I had felt earlier.
I was told not to do any working after, so despite it being a gorgeous 70 degree day I stuck to the no workout rule and just went in the steam room and later took a epsom salt bath to get rid of the toxins. I also tried to hydrate well.

Today, I have to say my hamstring felt remarkably looser. My shoulder still hurts but that may need a few more sessions. So I will go again next week.

For now I look forward to a relaxing but busy weekend in NYC with my daughter Sydney. We are having a girls weekend as Hank and Tanner are heading to a football game.

Good decisions!

Coach Paulo decided I should take another 4 weeks off before I get back to training. This is a very smart decision...one as an athlete I would not have made due to my eternal desire to train and to race as soon as possible. This pressure I put on myself was actually hurting me as it was forcing my body to do too much too soon and setting me back. I am thankful to have a coach who always puts health first.
Therefore I have 3 weeks left where I am not to think of training,racing or triathlon. I have of course already broken that rule a few times. After skipping a few days in the pool I found myself today swimming with my friends and slowly pushing the set harder and harder. I had to really force myself to go swim behind them at a much slower pace, which I did. After no running for 5 days I attempted to run again...but I stopped at 1 mile! I have not biked in 8 days. Four weeks will go FAST and I told my Physical Therapist I will wait 4 weeks and no longer. He laughed and told me to tell my body that. Today was another painful session over the glute/hamstring area. Next week I will go get an MRI done of this section to see exactly what is going on.
I found myself tonight going over some racing pictures and reflecting on my trip to Ironman South Africa. I miss the excitement and energy of racing and shall use this misfortune to fuel my fire. I have big expectations of myself for 2010. But for the next few weeks I shall continue with my recovery!

Things I miss about training!

Swiming,biking and Running!

The beautiful sunrises on early morning training days!



How great it feels when things are going well!



The adrenaline of racing!



Being in shape!



I could go on...but I am sure you get the point!

Chillin....or trying to anyway!

I have not blogged in a while as I have just been facing the reality that my season ended over such a silly unexpected crash! The impact of my fall took alot more out of me than I initially thought. I had visions that I would be back training within 2 weeks and would be able to continue my training for Ironman Florida but that has not been the case.
I have been in Physical Therapy 3 times a week and ART the other 2 days a week getting my body back to functioning correctly. I was very lucky to have no broken bones yet I still suffered alot of bruising and swelling and trauma to my neck,back,hip,glute,hamstring and shoulder. So it's been a slow process, although everyone keeps telling me it's been really fast!!! I am not pain free yet but I am getting stronger everyday and am starting to bike every other day and swim daily again. Running is still slow and short as I do not want to irritate my hamstring but I am running every other day too.

I have taken this time to really enjoy the family and we have been really busy the last two weekends doing things I love but at a slower pace :-)

Here are some of my favorite pics from the weekend. There is a race up here in New Paltz, NY called SOS, Survival of the Shawungunks. I have always wanted to do it so I thought we would come check it out. We stayed at the Mohonk house which was an experience in itself.



First on the agenda was to check out the trails on our bikes. This turned out to be a 4 hour ride in rolling hills with a few wrong turns and plenty of bribery going on...but the kids survived and loved it!





The long ride was followed up with eating like kings and queens. The Mohonk house gives you huge buffet breakfast dinners and lunches so you never go hungry.





Next day I got to do a short 30 minute run as the sun was coming up before heading out on a 3 hour hike/walk up to the tower which sits at 1400 feet and then down in some of the gorgeous trails they have.