A Season Of Change And Gratitude

As the years stack up, and boy are they stacking up, there is one thing that I don't take for granted, and that's my health and overall wellness. Too often, we overlook this and are not so gently  reminded when someone we know is diagnosed suddenly with some irreversible disease or disorder that can change a  life forever. Everything comes to a screeching halt and our daily routines that can seem mundane have an entirely different meaning.
  Invincibility, I've learned weakens with age and wisdom and humility replaces it. Embrace it ( your life, your wellness, the fact you can make choices and be thankful- I try very hard to be mindful of this. Sounds simplistic and relatively easy to do, but I often fail at the task.

This year has been a good one for me. A rocky start into  January with little to no exercise, no motivation to do so for that matter  sprinkled with some travel to Belgium and Colorado,  add in the holidays, toss in a brutally cold winter and one has the perfect recipe/excuse to become sloth-like.  With no real athletic goals in place for 2014, I got lazy and my reward was a fair amount of extra poundage on my 5'10" frame.
Suddenly I found myself on a scale at a doctor's visit to the tune of  17 pounds over my normal weight. With an ACL reconstruction excuse in 2011-2012, extra poundage was acceptable. This year? Notsomuch... I was force fed Belgian beer and chocolate?

As soon as I laid out some sort of plan for spring and summer and what I wanted to do, It was easy to jump in feet first freshly motivated to begin the long process of becoming less sloth-like. Or so I thought.

By June 15th, I managed to get myself to 8 pounds lighter and started a season of short course triathlon racing with a touch of road racing. For time sake and keeping your eyes from glazing over,  I've just highlighted  my run times to show how they improved with training consistency, a few diet changes and overall painfully slow but progressive fitness gains. The process yielded some satisfactory results in the local albeit small, (not super competitive) but most importantly FUN New England region of racing.

Let's get this geriatric party started!
June 21st
Mashpee Super Swim 3 miler (wet suit division)  2nd AG/ 7th Gender 1:18:51/ 1:37 pace/

The follow day: Mashpee Hero Triathlon  (Sprint)
swim/0.3 bike/13/run 3.2  4th AG/15 Gender  I accidentally followed the OLY distance course instead of the 3.2 run course for the Sprint and had to turn around.  Doh!   Run time: 36:16  for the "5K" A  great day to remind my body how to handle running a very uncomfortable pace that made me want to lay down on the side of the road in a little ball. (whimper)

Next up: Massachusetts State OLY distance Triathlon July 13th  5th AG/
(2:26 :09) 10k 53:22   (8:36) pace.   Still feeling sluggish and  holding a weight of 138.2, A 10k felt like a 1/2 marathon. Slog Slog, Slog...

 July 20th- East End 5 Mile Road Race  It took me until July to feel like I was running and not shuffling. 5 miles-  40:47 (8:10) pace  Yay! Could there be hope for me after all?

I found another OLY distance Triathlon race to sign up for in hopes the last 3 sprint distance races
 ( my A races)  would feel a bit breezier?

 August 3rd Lowell OLY distance Triathlon ( 2:20:05)  1st AG/2nd Gender  Run 10k:50:01 (8:20) pace Where were all the fast girls? I won a 3 pound bag of Heed electrolyte mix! :-)  It was expired!  :-(

August 23rd  Cranberry Sprint Triathlon (1:24:54) 1st AG/gender  5k- 24:32 (7:54) pace

 Sept. 6th Pumpkinman Sprint Triathlon  (1:16:04)  1st AG  Run  3 mile -23:36 (7:36) pace

 Wallis Sands Sprint Triathlon (1;14:26)  Run 23:00  5k (7:11) pace

I ended the triathlon season at my  race weight, injury free and goals attained.  It feels strange to be in run shape this time of the year, but  I gave up a season of cyclocross,( a sport I had no idea what I was doing no matter how hard I trained) to stick with and build on the run foundation I worked long and hard on for months.
Next up: My first 1/2 marathon this weekend  in over 4 years!!! Perhaps I should have looked at the course profile BEFORE signing up??  Silly girl.....

Thanks for reading!