Soul Searching in the Sun!

• On: 11/29/2009 19:52:08

One week in Tucson’s fresh air and ample sun feels more like 2 weeks anywhere else.  Jerome, myself and the kids left last Sunday for a week’s vacation and holiday in Tucson.  Much to the dismay of my extended family, Tucson has quickly become our “home away from home” and even where we have celebrated our last two Thanksgivings.  This year, our now traditional Thanksgiving Day hike to Seven Falls in Sabino Canyon is a must before we celebrate with turkey and pumpkin pie.  We are so thankful that the kids will and can hike that long!  It was a 4 hour round trip hike!  The weather we had was amazing.  It ran about 15 degrees above normal all week in Tucson – which means plenty of temps nearing 80F all week!

Jerome and myself rarely go away without the impending Triathlon race or training playing a major role, so when we go away for Thanksgiving all week – the focus is family, different places to eat and hike and swim!  Ah, no real swimming  for me, of course- just one of our condo’s heated pools kept the kids entertained all week.  Of course, the locals think we are NUTS swimming when it is “only” 75F outside…but us true blue Chicagoans know what the other side looks like!  (And do not say this too loudly, but I do NOT miss swimming yet!).

One of my personal missions for the week was not to work.  I realize that sounds weird to most of you – who can go on vacation for a week and leave work behind.  Jerome is like that.  He is an engineer and IT guy…so he leaves and tells his office “ON VACATION”  do not bother!  HA! I can do the same as well, but my work is much more dynamic.  I had several athletes racing Ironman Arizona, which was the day we flew out to Arizona – so my IPhone was on all day trying to grab updates and times and then catch up with each athlete’s race.  BUT, we all succeeded and by Wednesday, I was DE-computered and de-stressed.  I turned off the IPhone and did not bother to re-charge it until later in the week.  And, the ONLY time I made a phone call was to Kim K who is racing Ironman COZ as we fly home (update:  She PRd and was 9th in her AG, yay!!).  So, yes, I de-toxed and thanks to everyone, it was a success!  The only playing around on the computer I did was to play on FB and read some blogs….while eating breakfast on the porch over-looking the mountains.  AH!  Just what I needed. 

This weekend marked ONLY 2 weeks since my last race of the season.  How funny is that it seems SO long ago but yet it took me 1 week in the middle of the desert to unwind and NOT think about Triathlon for an entire week.  I wanted to stop my mind from whizzing through the details of my season, my races, my good races and my couple of not-so-good races.  And, try to get to the heart of my soul.  What really makes me tick and really what I wanted to do in 2010 and beyond.  THE catch is I signed up for Ironman Roth in 2010…July 18^th to be exact.  DO I want to do that?  I have not yet made up my mind YET….I am lucky, since it is NOT an “M Dot” race, you get all but $50 or so back up until APRIL – so really, I have plenty of time to decide if that is what I plan to do in 2010.  It is not the race I am not sure about – it is the BIKE training.  Swim training  - sign me up!  Run training – I AM IN!  Bike training – ugh!!!

So, I am undecided right now and that is an ok place to be.  I spent some time – when the kids were in the pool swimming (at 7 years old they entertain themselves for a bit until Daddy plays Monster with them!) just making a list of WHAT I like about Triathlon and what I do not enjoy.  Funny thing is, my list of “do not like” was…well…SHORT.  But, traveling so much without the family is one of the “do not like” things.  And, traveling with the kids and pulling them out of school and events IS NOT something I will do on a regular basis anymore – they need to have their own things and passions and NOT travel all the time.  Of course, once in awhile is super…but you know what I mean.

Overwhelmingly I decided that I LOVE the Triathlon lifestyle.  I love to train…and while I am on my ‘break’ from structure, I love the idea of waking up and doing whatever I want to for a bit.  Of course, that can not last forever, but it can in November and December FOR SURE!  I think one of the biggest mistakes triathletes make is that they do not rest enough.  They are jumping back into things way too soon and that is because they are USED to feeling fit and feeling in shape and can not bear the feeling of getting out of shape – but that is in the head – and it DOES come back quickly for “FIT” athletes.  I am so past all of that, so that is a moot issue for me.  I think laying on the couch for 8 weeks on full bedrest when I was 30 with the twins trumped any idea I could get fit again! LOL

And, another thing that I thought about this week was NOT to take myself so seriously. I am an extremely intense person.  Everything I do is full on.  I try so HARD to be present.  Full on mom, full on triathlete, full on coach, full on wife, full on friend….you get the point.  My problem is I do NOT know how to do anything half- assed.  I just don’t.  I do NOT know how to go to a 5k and just run it.  It is not in my competitive bones.  But, I am finding that I may need that.  Need to keep things light. Some of my favorites races these past few years have been the grass roots races…the ones where there are 200-400 people max and we roll out of bed and to the race site 1 hour before the Triathlon starts!   It is how I started in Triathlon (as most of us) and it reminds me NOT to take myself too seriously.  No one cares how you do – they think you are a rockstar for even doing the darn race!  As I plan more of 2010 this is something I need to keep in mind.

Another thing that became clearer to me is that I LOVE TO PLAN.  I think I am in love with the idea of setting up the races, making a huge macro plan of each season and dreaming of different race scenarios.  Well, that is great and dandy but at some point you have to RACE these races too- and I do, but I SURELY love to sit and daydream about all the options.  I think this is where my coaching comes in and I have been able to “satisfy” this passion of mine via the planning I do with each of my athletes.  That is a good thing because I think I would have planned Jerome and my race season through 2020!

The other thing that became more clear to me is that I like to eat.  Surprise surprise.  The good thing about me is that I have NEVER had an eating disorder OR disordered eating (unless you count eating 1 lb bag of Peanut M&Ms disordered!? haha)…so, I have an excellent handle on what is good and not good.  I am SO thankful for this clarity.  Trust me.  HOWEVER, I need to be more careful.  I have the BIGGEST sweet tooth EVER…and while I eat well balanced meals, I love sweets.  And bread.  And Pastas.   I have promised that I will be better with that aspect of my training, when the time is right (which, is not right now). 

And, lastly, as I have talked about before, I DISLIKE the gym.  I do NOT like weights, plyos, functional lifting or anything like that. I never have.  But, as a good female triathlete, I have been able to see past this short coming and get over it. And, in 2010 this will be a priority for me.  As nearly a Master athlete, I can NOT take this for granted anymore.  I wish….but nope!  So, I am meeting with a high end personal trainer that has her own studio/business and works with athletes on personal training + flexibility (ick) and some of the things that I suck at.  My motto has always been:  HIRE THE BEST and hire people that have built their entire business around what you are looking for.  So, next week I will meet with the Sargent and get things rolling (If I like her!  SHE better be super hard core!  Lol).  So, meeting with the Sargent allows me to get my ass kicked and avoid the GYMs that I so much try to avoid…especially at this time of the year.  And, I am looking forward to that focus this winter.

I think I may take a few computrainer classes with some different peeps at the BIKE RACK in St. Charles - Christine P, Carla H, Lindsay (do you go?)...should be fun and different! 

Oh, and I really missed shopping on Black Friday!!!  BIG-TIME!  (shhhh...), I went but shopping in Tucson is NOT Chicago shopping...eeks!  :)

Each year I have to dig around and see what else I can do to change things up and keep things improving.  For some of you who are new to this sport or only been in this sport for 3-5 years, this is easy!  And Fun! As it should be…but 2010 marks my 16^th racing year…so I think having this window to my soul on my vacation to Tucson was absolutely critical. 

For some of you that know me best, throw out some ideas...and, an IRONMAN is not an idea for me! LOL

At the top of Mt. Lemmon this week – which by the way was a glorious 55F degrees!!! – I ran into a woman who races in the 55-59 AG and soon to be 60-64.  She had on a TEAM USA shirt and I started talking to her (of course) and we both had been to A LOT of the same races – Du Worlds in Ferrara, Italy in 1995, Gernika, Spain in 1997, etc, etc…and it made me smile.  She asked if I was in the 30-34 AG and I smiled at her – liking her even more at this point – and I said…nope, I am a bit older and don’t travel too much anymore (as Graham and Morgan were standing right there with me – Jerome was riding up) but it sure is fun, isn’t it?  And, her response, “It only gets better!”  And, that sums it all up for me….THIS only gets better.   And, with that, let’s bring in the New Year and new racing season (after some more R&R from me first!) !!!

I will post some pics from the vacation in a bit.  We just got home, have to unload all the Peapod groceries (why why did I wait so long for this service?!) and get this house in order.  IT IS A MESS because I was so rushed to get out of town (you know how that goes!).  And, a big thanks to Jen Lynn who took time out of her schedule to meet me for Lunch at my fav place in Tucson:  CHOPPED.  Thanks Jen!  Next year Jerome and I will do that race you organized!

Hope you all had a great holiday weekend!  BRING ON CHRISTMAS!