"Don't let the fat chick beat you"?

I have been racing for about 5 years now. I am not a typical runner or even triathlete. I fight with serious medical conditions every step of the way, but each step makes me stronger. I have two boys both with special needs and I have learned to chalk that up to making me stronger as well.


It is with sad heart that I must report that lupus has won the battle this year, but trust me when I say the war is far from over! My racing days are not over by any stretch of the imagination. This is just a minor setback that will make me stronger.

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Tri season!

The only reason I got in to this long distance running insanity is because I wanted to do a triathlon. 

Once upon a time, there was this fluffy lifeguard who was in a bad personal situation (don’t worry, she was a strong swimmer).  While sitting next the pool horribly early one morning making sure no one drowned (that would have ruined her whole day) she met someone, Mark.  This gentlemen was in his 40s/50s (maybe) he was a very nice (good looking) gentlemen. Over time they started talking.  This lifeguard found out he was an Ironman, well, to her credit, she did know about triathlons.  At the time our heroin (aka, fluffy lifeguard) didn’t realize, like people, triathlons come in all sizes!  One of her later in the day regulars was training for a sprint distance triathlon and the life guard thought, hey, I can do that! And she started to train, before long the “fluffy” lifeguard was not so fluffy anymore! Sadly, before the lifeguard was able to do her triathlon she had reentered the military and got deployed to Iraq, got hurt and thought she would never be able to do a triathlon.  Luckily our heroine was stubborn and after two years of feeling sorry for herself (and becoming fluffy again) she decided enough was enough and started training.  While signing up for her first triathlon she actually start to tear up, yes, she is a big wuss! About a week later a friend came up and said she just signed up to run the Denver Marathon, and the lifeguard (who is no longer a life guard) told this friend she was insane! Do you know have far a marathon is? That is a lot of miles! A few weeks later the lifeguard signed up too!  (yea, my friend backed out of Denver all together! I managed the half)And the rest they, is history!
Last year, sadly, I didn’t do a single triathlon, I know, what is wrong with me? This year I get 4 possible 5! To make it even better, they are a nice verity of distances! Two (maybe three) are sprint distances; one of the them is Tri for the Cure (LOVE that race).  Then I have an Olympic distance and to close the season I will be doing my second half Ironman.  I am excited because I won’t be using swimming and biking as just cross training, I actually get to train in those disciplines again! I know I have a lot of work to do on the bike (oh, the century ride has been bumped down to a 34-miler, but I will get to that in a moment). I am not sure why, but every time I have been on my bike within minutes of getting off I have a MAJOR blood sugar crash (p.s. cheese helps recovery). This is the major reason I will not be attempting a full century the week after next! That is ok, a 34-miler will help me find where I am having issues. 
There are a few issues I know I have to work through…
#1 – blood sugar crashes – they get very scary!
#2 – listen to my body.
#3 – hydration while running (still having issues with that)
#4 – enjoy!

 I can't wait!!!!!!


~If you hear that someone is speaking ill of you, instead of trying to defend yourself you should say: "He obviously does not know me very well, since there are so many other faults he could have mentioned"~

1 comment:

  1. You've got this!
    So awesome!

    I'm so with you on #2. Why doesn't it talk louder?! ;)

    ReplyDelete