Esprit de She Chicago, 2016

My original goal in running was to run a 5k. After I did that I went straight to half marathon 4 months later. I skipped any distance between 3.1 miles and 13.1 miles. However I was finally going to get my first 10k under my belt in July at the Chicago Esprit de She 5k and 10k ... and then summer happened.

Rock 'N Roll Half Marathon, 2016

I rocked. Well yeah, of course I did. I rolled. Ok, not literally. I got soaked. No, totally.

Esprit de She, 2016

My first triathlon was the Esprit de She Sprint Triathlon in Naperville in June of 2015. I was hooked afterwards. I was on top of the world. It's a weird race due to the logistics of the course, but it's fun. It's women only and there's no cares in the world of skill level. All of the women out there racing are doing just that ... racing and encouraging. I swore last year I'd do it again and I counted down the days until I was able to race the course in 2016.

Running to Keep Families Close

Two days before my 35th birthday I had an idea. Now me and ideas, we go hand in hand; don't get me wrong. Some of my ideas have been great. This idea I said "I could do something totally amazing, be helpful, and in the end I'd kick ass."

Annabelle Sophia Rusek

As I've gotten older my friends have started having kids. Now I've not exactly ever been a person to think or say "Well that'll be me!" Cause, uh, no. And as I've gotten older and my friends have started having kids I've pretty much thought they all looked the same when born. The same squishy red face with closed eyes, usually a hat of some sort, stripped blanket. A baby is a baby to me.

Ironman Blues

Ironman Blues.

I had heard the term. It's not a technical term. It's one of those terms that people who have finished an Ironman race have coined because basically after their big race they feel lost in life. They have the blues. They don't know what to do. I scoffed at that thinking "What, how is that possible? You just finished a huge event, live off of that high for life and move onto the next one!"

The Ironman Blues are real.

Ironman 70.3 Florida: The Overflow of Emotions

I went straight to the food tent after receiving my medal. This was two-fold. One: I was hungry and knew if I sat down I may never (at least not in a reasonable amount of time) get up again. And Two: I was bawling my eyes out.

Ironman 70.3 Florida: The Run

Ironman 70.3 Florida Swim: Done. Not how I had planned, but done.

Ironman 70.3 Florida Bike: Done. Not how I had planned, I lost two water bottles, blew one tire, but done.

Ironman 70.3 Florida Run: 13.1 miles from the finish line.

Ironman 70.3 Florida: The Bike

I knew I probably had a DNF already. But that didn't mean that I couldn't go out and rock the bike and run portions of the race and know that I could do it. I mean, maybe my watch was wrong. I could race 70.3 miles in a row. I could have given up. But for what?

Ironman 70.3 Florida: The Swim

I went to bed early the night before my first Half Ironman and I'm pretty sure I didn't move at all while I slept. I had spoke to Kristine and Matt before going to bed, they gave me last minute advise. They told me I'd do great. They told me to have fun. And with that I drifted off to sleep trying not to think about everything I was really thinking about.

Ironman 70.3 Florida: Ironman Village

After a few days in Florida the time had come. The time when as they say, "Shit was about to get real." I had to go to Ironman Village. I had to check-in. I had to seemingly sign my life away, or at least for race day. I had to go to a course talk. And after 2pm I was able to rack my bike. Then basically ... there was no going back. Not a single bit of going back. Well sure, I could have not showed up on race day, but that wasn't an option.

The Road to Ironman 70.3 Florida

The thing about picking a race to do that is not near you means: Road Trip.

Life ... It Happens

You're probably wondering what happened to me. Maybe you're wondering if I made it through Ironman Florida 70.3 on April 10, 2016. The answer is YES! I MADE IT! .

Now since that's out of the way ... where have I been? Living life. Life happens. Good. Bad. Indifferent. Confusing. Twisting. Turning. Tiresome. It happens.

Half Ironman Training: It's Basically Over

In 16 days I will be racing my way through Florida.

At 7:05am in my purple swim cap I will begin the 1.2 mile swim. After I complete the swim I will hop on my bike with sticker number 925 on it and ride 56 miles through Florida farm country; I'm told it exists, I truly cannot picture this. I will end my day with my race belt and my 925 and name around my waist running 13.1 miles. The goal: Race 70.3 miles in less than 8.5 hours. When I put it like that it seems far less crazy than saying "I'm going to go race a Half Ironman in Florida."

Half Ironman Training: 6 Weeks In

The fact that I'm training for a Half Ironman is crazy enough. In fact I truly do question my own sanity. I'm not questioning it in the sense of "Why did you think you could do a Half Ironman and start training for one?" I'm questioning my sanity in the sense of "I'm actually doing this, when did I get Super powers, and with my super powers can I make a pet unicorn appear?"

Esprit de She

My first official Sprint Distance was the Esprit de She Triathlon in Naperville, Illinois. I crossed that very emotional and muddy finish line on June 14, 2015. I loved the event. I’m not sure if it’s because it was my first event. I’m not sure if it’s because I simply finished and within 22 seconds of my goal time. I’m not sure if it’s because I survived what is still arguably the most bizarre swim a person might have to face during a race. I am sure I loved this event because it was an all-women event. Women only. As young girls like to say “No Boys Allowed!”

                                 

Nuun

Nuun.

I just learned of Nuun probably about a year ago. Now what is Nuun, I know you're wondering. Nuun to me is a super power for my water which in turn makes me have super powers, so basically Nuun turns you into a Super Hero. NOTE: That's NOT actually how Nuun is marketing or directed, that's just my opinion.

January 15, 2001

Fifteen years. A decade and a half.  A lifetime ago that seems like just a few years ago.

It was a cold, snowy Monday morning on January 15, 2001 where I found myself boarding a Southwest Airplane from Midway Airport in Chicago, Illinois that would land just two hours later in Orlando, Florida. I had my bag checked. The bag I had to remove items from because it was too heavy to check. I was as ready as I was going to be. If I'm being honest I wasn't ready at all. If I'm being brutally honest I almost turned back around and didn't go.

January 1, 2009

Not to be dramatic or anything, but the life that I knew; my life as I knew it, the life that had been forming since September of 2002 changed at 4:05am on January 1, 2009. And at that time I didn't know what I'd do, where I'd go, why. All I could do was cry.

2015: My Year in Review

Unpredictable. Unforeseen. WTF.

I'd actually probably take those two words and abbreviated phrase to describe my 2015. In reality any year in anyone's life can probably be described with those two words and abbreviated phrase, but I'm actually sitting down and thinking about it. Reflecting. Wondering. WTF.