I am not sure what it is with planes and blogs. But here I am back on a plane! Traveling again for the first time since my trip to South Africa in August and I finally have nothing to do but put my thoughts onto paper!
Not sure why I have not blogged in so long! I thought of it a few times but that's as far as it went! Perhaps uninspired by my not racing…perhaps feeling the disappointment of ending my season! But whatever the reason I was inspired to write a blog today as I ran into a friend who told me how much her 11 year old daughters enjoy reading my blog and I felt like I was letting them down by my absence of recording my life happenings…exciting or not!
So thank you Anna and Alexis for inspiring this latest blog!
I need to fill you all in with a quick summation of where I ended up my season back in August! I had headed to Mont Tremblant Canada for a last minute decision to race an Ironman a short 3 weeks after IMLP in honor of my dad who had just been diagnosed with stage 4 cancer!
My race had no purpose but to finish and smile and celebrate the wonderful gift of being fit and being mentally strong!
The race was tough and my body was tired, mentally and physically, but I was so glad I made the trip to that beautiful part of the world. I finished strong and celebrated the fabulous results of many friends racing that day!
The morning after the race I made the 10 hour drive back to NJ and then woke the next morning to head to South Africa with my daughter! Knowing the serious condition my dad is in and not knowing how his treatments would go Coach Jesse and I had decided it was best to end the season right there and take some much needed time to rest and be with my family in a time of need without any pressure to maintain my fitness!
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| Sydney and I heading to Germany |
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| Sydney taking a moment to say a prayer for her pop pop! |
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| Sydney and I on the Bridge of Locks standing over the Rhine river Germany |
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| My travel buddy |
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| Touring Frankfurt! |
Onto SA and I was reminded of just how much the sport of triathlon has given me. The tools for enduring an Ironman go hand in hand without the tools you need for fighting just about anything that life throws your way! How you react to the things that might go wrong in an Ironman is how you may react when you have to deal with adversity!
I had many a conversation with my Dad on how to stay positive through these dark times!
It is something that is so difficult to do when you are fighting a terrible disease like cancer but you have no choice but to take it one treatment at a time, one day at a time, one week at a time! Just as in an Ironman keeping positive goes a long way in how your body responds. In an Ironman you don't look ahead, you stay in the moment, you pray, you appreciate when you are feeling good and you stay clam and control what you can control!
I am so thankful for being able to be thereI to support my mom and Dad through this difficult time and I continue to do so from a distance. He is fighting the battle like a champ and his tumor is responding well! I also loved the time I got to hang with my brother and his family!
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| Sydney hanging with her cousins |
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| Sydney bought this beautiful handmade heart for me! Love her! |
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| Sydney so comfortable in the wild!!! |
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| My mom and her beautiful sister Aunty Barbs! |
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| I will miss those beautiful South African sunrises! |
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| Sydney and I overlooking Durban beachfront |
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| On lake Zurich |
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| Our trip around stunning Lake Zurich with the Alps in the background |
On returning to the states I accepted the fact that my season was over but I will admit it was hard watching all these late season Ironman races going on with no races on my schedule for months. By the time I race again I will have taken 8 months off of racing which is CRAZY long considering my hefty schedule over the last few years!
This time has been nice though and I have really enjoyed the slower pace of not always rushing trying to fit everything in. I got to sleep in and eat whatever I want and stay up late and watch TV. But you know what I realized… I like to wake up and train early, I really don't enjoy watching TV, I like my busy schedule and I like my daily structure and my healthy eating of four fruits and veggies a day, smoothies and lean proteins!!
I just end up taking more stuff on like more time to practice soccer with Sydney and more time to coach the girls out running. Instead of my own blogging I created a Facebook site for their team with all their sponsors! I too got out on the mountain bike before anyone else this year enjoying the warm weather riding in the woods! We have made several trips to NYC to see shows.
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| Mountain biking for fun with my good friend Mercedes |
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| Ran a few 5kms with the kids! |
But the biggest change to my life has been the addition of this cute puppy whom we call Mowgli to our family!
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| This is Mowgli at 6 weeks! His first name was Brayden but he looked more like a Mowgli to us! |
Everyone warned me puppies are like babies…but I did not believe until I was holding this fluffy little thing in my arms. I also did not realize how much time is involved with taking care of a puppy! So much for sleeping in! Early morning, lunch and evening walks, puppy baths and feeding and of course plenty of time goes to hugging, puppy belly rubs, puppy games, training…it is never ending!
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| Enjoying the fall evenings at my house! |
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| Sydney playing soccer |
So now that I am getting back to training and my hours are creeping up over the 20 hour mark I can officially say I am back to being overwhelmingly busy between my training, kids activities , puppy and life itself!!! Just the way I like it!
I will be updating my blog a little more when I can find some quiet time…right now there is none!
What I can tell you is I look forward to my 4th year being coached by Jesse Kropelnicki and racing for QT2 Systems. I also have made up a tentative early season plan which involves a Feb training camp in Claremont Florida, a few running races and a April/May Ironman combo!
and you may want to know where I was headed…..Out to San Francisco to be an Officiant at my cousins wedding and of course I couldn't resist the urge to find a race while out there! Because what better way to see a new place than by running a half marathon through the streets of Berkeley! I was happy to finish second in my age group! 
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| Love these beautiful ladies! |
