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.