December 9 week in review

I am so tired right now I can barely keep my eyes open, much less write. My husband was away last night to take care of a family member. I had dinner delivered and had a comfy lazy evening. When my food was delivered, I had the thought that the delivery guy looked a bit sketchy but it was a fleeting thought and I went on with my evening. When I got ready to go to bed though, my cat didn’t come with me. She always curls up against my legs but I had no idea where she was. My imagination kicked into overdrive. My brain told me the “sketchy” dude (who is probably extremely nice) had realized I was home alone and come back. He had broken into the house while I was in the shower, killed my cat and was waiting for me to either come looking for her or go to sleep. I almost never am afraid to be alone. It’s not my preference but not because of fear. But I totally freaked myself out last night. I turned the living room lights back on (from an app on my phone so I didn’t have to leave the “safety” of my bed). I considered texting my 21 year old son and asking if he could come spend the night. I got mad at myself for being ridiculous but still couldn’t sleep. The cat finally came in after midnight and as soon as she laid down next to me, I passed out. Silliness.

I tried to swim today but thanks to my middle of the night mental antics, I was too tired and cut it short. I’ll be going to bed early tonight.

Okay. Workouts. I was at 50% compliance again:

• Monday – nothing scheduled
• Tuesday – spin class – done. I realized not every workout has to be super hard and kinda took it easy.
• Wednesday – I had a swim planned. It did not happen. I was also going to strength training. That did not happen either
• Thursday – Spin class was scheduled.. I did not go to spin but I did half an hour on the bike after I “made up” the weight training from Wednesday.
• Friday – Strength training was scheduled but since I did it on Thursday, I did nothing.
• Saturday – swim drills – nope. Tried to swim today instead.

Nutrition numbers were worse this week. I was playing with more carbs but I didn’t have the activity level to support those so I had a few hyper readings.

That’s about all I have to report this week. I’m still taking the “off” part of “off season” a little too seriously I think! 

2019 Race Plan

If you follow me on Instagram, you know that this past weekend I signed up for my first 70.3 in September 2019. For those who don’t know, that’s commonly know as a “half iron distance”. And that sentence clarifies exactly…nothing. So. A full iron distance triathlon consists of a 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike ride and 26.2 mile run or 140.6 miles of race. Ergo a “half iron distance” is a 1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike and 13.1 mile run or 70.3 miles of race. (Ironman® is a specific company that puts on races. The race I am doing is *not* an “Ironman® branded” race. However, they established the format so those distances are commonly referred to as “iron distances”) There are other, shorter distances in triathlon, commonly referred to as “sprints” (shortest) or the “Olympic distance” (medium distance). Those distances tend to vary from race to race. To date, I have only done sprint distances. The 70.3 will be my “A” race, and the last one of the year.  

I’m not sure about my first race of the season yet. Ideally I would do the YMCA Sprint Spring that is in April to shake the cobwebs off. It’s an indoor swim on Friday and bike/run outside on Saturday morning. However The Hubby and I are going to a concert that Friday night so I don’t know if I want to toss a race in there too. I’ll take a look at my fitness and decide in a few months. It’s a sprint and just a shake out but I still don’t want to do it exhausted. I have deferred registration to the PacCrest triathlon at the end of June in Sun River, OR. I plan to do the sprint there. So if I don’t do the Y Spring Sprint, that will be my first race of the season.

The Y Not Tri is a fun, laid back local race in early August. I enjoy that one so if my personal life schedule allows, I’ll toss that in as a fun training run through. I’ll do their middle distance which is a short sprint (400 yd swim, 6 mile bike, 2 mile run). And then I’m looking for a good local Olympic distance somewhere in mid July – mid August. There’s one a couple of hours away the first weekend of August that’s a possibility. I just don’t want another one where I have to spend a night away but given my location, I will probably have to. Any suggestions for the Boise ID area are welcome. Or if someone wants to fly me (& my husband) to a really cool race and pay for my lodging…I mean…I would be open to discussion. 😛 

I will start my official 70.3 specific training about 6 months out so I still have a few more months of strength/base building before the year gets really focused. But I have to start looking at these things now to make sure I have places to stay and a spot in the events. 

December 2, 2018 -week in review

I realized as I sat down to write that since I am in my “off season”, I don’t have a lot of content as a “type 2 triathlete”. I’m still training but the sessions are relatively short and easy so fueling is a non-issue at this point. Also, my TrainingPeaks compliance last week was about 50% so fueling REALLY was not an issue. 😛 . I slept in. A lot.

I am “self-coached”. And I use that phrase loosely. Part of me would LOVE to have someone setting my workouts and checking in. But I am a middle of the pack age grouper with goals to “complete not compete”. Would I benefit from a coach? Absolutely! Is it high enough priority to impact my family’s finances? No. There are a couple of more experienced triathletes in my life who answer questions and help with training simply because they love the sport. I do not pay them and they prefer that they not be called “coaches”. They don’t write most of my workouts or my training plans. They don’t check my TrainingPeaks. But they are a fantastic resource.If you are in the Boise, ID area and are looking for a small group to train with, let me know.

I’m not even going to speak on my nutrition last week. My app that I use to track carbs and blood sugar readings sends me a weekly comparison report. It says my Blood Glucose trend was up 10 points, I have 2 more hyper readings and my carbs/day were up 19 grams. However. I also started testing 3-4 times a day instead of 1-2 and actually logging (almost) every bite. So without comparable data sets, I don’t know how accurate that is. Next week will give me a better idea of how I’m doing. 

Workouts planned last week were: 

• Monday: Strength training – 33 minutes of full body done at home
• Tuesday: Spin class (5:30am) – first class since this past spring and it was brutal but it got done. Bike computer died so no data.
• Wednesday: Swim drills – slept in, did not get done.
• Thursday: Spin class – Did not do. Horrible headache and woozy every time I stood up. Opted to sleep in.
• Friday: Strength training – nope.
• Saturday: Swim drills – I did not do the workout as written. I ended up doing two sets of short ladders with 50 yards of sculling and 50 yards of kicking at the end of each for 1,000 yards total. I SUCK at sculling so I’m always chanting “Sculling makes me stronger” to get through it. It does. I’m noticing an improvement. It’s still not my favorite.
• Sunday/today: rest day – I don’t really NEED a rest day given how little I did this week. But we just got our first snow and it’s just a lazy, cozy day. 

R2D2 vs C3PO

My husband and youngest son have been watching “Clone Wars” on Netflix. It’s a Star Wars animated series. I don’t know the timing within the Star Wars universe (after Anakin is a Jedi, before he’s not) or if it’s considered canon (probably?). It’s not something I really watch although I’ll tune in occasionally. But they usually watch if I go to bed early or am busy elsewhere.

The other night I was in the kitchen while it was on. It was an episode that featured R2D2 and C3PO. And I realized…C3PO irritates me. Or at least he did that episode. But I had a certain admiration for R2D2. C3PO was whiny and immobilized by fear. R2D2 took action. C3PO criticized and was sort of buffeted along by events. R2D2 made solutions happen.

Of course that’s a quick impression based on the few minutes that I was listening. I have seen the movies though and would say overall that’s their “personalities”.

Maybe I wouldn’t like R2D2 if I understood his beeps and whirrs. But in that moment, I realized that although I might resemble R2D2 more physically (short and round), my natural tendency is to react more like C3PO in stressful situations. I can get whiny and want to just curl up under a blanket. But my desire is to consistently be like R2D2 in all respects. I despise the idea of being controlled by fear (or discomfort). I would rather take action through fear or stress. I would rather take the initiative. It takes being conscious of reactions (or lack thereof). It takes practice.

There’s the quote “Courage is not the absence of fear. It is the ability to act in the presence of fear.” (I did not a quick search to credit someone and found a range of similar statements credited to a plethora of people). I don’t think we can live our lives with the purpose God intended if we cannot act in the face of fear. I’m regularly wrestling with staying in a safe, comfortable zone and stepping out to push limits or take action. I just thought it odd that Star Wars could bring that thought process to the forefront again. To R2D2 – may we all be more like him. Except with more clear communication.

Type 2 Triathlete

I became interested in triathlon about 6 years ago. I dipped my toes in about 5 years ago and around 3 years ago I started wanting to see what I could do if I actually trained instead of just doing a small local race with whatever I had in me on that day. Then in May of 2016, I was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes.

I have heard people say things like “I have <insert disease>. I am not <insert disease>. My disease does not define me.” And I understand the spirit behind that attitude. I applaud the spirit behind that attitude. But the fact is, I am diabetic. And diabetes DOES define me. Not completely, no. And it does not have to LIMIT me. But it is one of my many defining characteristics.  I am also a Jesus follower. And a wife. And a mom. I am clumsy. I laugh a lot. I am loud and love to dance (badly). And many of those other defining characteristics impact the triathlete part of my life because they’re all a part of me and my life. But honestly, none of them confound me quite like the diabetic component.

When I started looking for other Type 2 triathletes, I found very few. I found quite a lot pages and blogs and stories from Type 1s. And those stories are inspiring but how they manage things is completely different than me. I can’t even imagine that level of monitoring.

I’m sure the Type 2s are out there. Maybe they’re in forums and discussion boards. I don’t tend to keep up well with those though. So I decided to start creating the kind of content I was looking for. Training stories and blood sugar tracking. Nutrition experiments and results. A lot of what you would read for a “normal” triathlete but with transparency on my fourth discipline. I swim/bike/run AND actively manage blood sugar. Two and half years and I still don’t have it completely under control. My last A1C test results were not good although my daily averages since have been. (I was also unable to walk or train during most of the last testing period due to injury).

So I don’t know exactly what this will look like. If any of you other Type 2 Triathletes out there find me, let me know what you want to see. Let’s talk about how you manage. My goal for 2019 is to complete a 70.3 in September…without a trip to the med tent. I know it’s doable. One training session at a time.

The One

About a month ago I arrived at the gym to swim. And like usual, I pulled off my rings and dropped them in the front pocket of my purse with my lip balm. I’ve done the same thing probably 100 times before. When I got back in my van about an hour later, I found the ring I wear on my right hand but not the one pictured above. I pulled everything out of the (small) pocket and it was not there. I searched the floor thinking maybe I had missed the purse & dropped it onto the floorboard. I used the flashlight on my phone and checked under seats and every nook and cranny…even though the van had not moved. Nothing. When I got home I checked my purse again, thinking maybe there was a hole in the lining or something. I took everything out of every pocket. I found nothing. I checked the van again. Nope. I really liked the ring and I had been wearing it in place of my wedding set since it is too big on me now. So I was really disappointed and frustrated. But ultimately, I paid $30 for it over 12 years ago so I went on with life.

Last week I was on the way to an appointment when a song came on the radio. There was a line that exists in probably half a dozen songs. “You left the 99 for me”. (Or something with that idea) And every other time I have heard that line, I have skipped over it or dismissed it. Of course He leaves the 99 for the 1 but I’m part of the 99. That day I felt myself getting a little irritated though. Because I’m part of the 99 and He keeps leaving me. And I immediately had a thought. “But you’re also the one. Every time you doubt or fear. Every time you try to take back control. Every time you put something before me. Every time I come after you and gently bring you back to Me. Every time you’re the one.”

In Luke 15:8-10 there is the parable of the woman who loses, then finds a precious, irreplaceable coin. There is great celebration when she finds it and Jesus compares it to Him going after “the one”. Now I know these parables are primarily speaking to God pursuing the lost, those who don’t know Him. But that morning it was personally comforting to me.

I left my appointment with this realization still strong in my mind. I opened the door to my van. And my ring was laying in the driver seat. Just laying there. Like it had been set down for me to find. Now I had been in my van EVERY SINGLE DAY for two weeks. It’s not a small ring. It had not been in that seat.

Perhaps it’s a small thing. But it was my “lost coin” returned to me. It felt supernatural; like one more confirmation from God that He would always come for me. And it makes the ring a bit more special.

Year of No Nonsense

It’s been a  hot minute since I’ve splashed words about this space. I had 2018 all planned, scheduled and tied neatly with a bow until life casually spewed gasoline about and flicked a lit match into the middle of it all.

• I cancelled an early season race in anticipation of returning to the Philippines. And that trip never came together.
• I volunteered to co-lead the 6th grade girls group in our church’s youth group – something that is so far outside my comfort zone that it’s not even in the same time zone. Not to mention it completely torpedoed my anticipated schedule.
• I planned on racing in July, August and September. And July 1st I tore a muscle in my hip resulting in crutches for three weeks and physical therapy. Three and a half months later I still feel regular pain/discomfort and cannot run.

Those are the big ones. And yet, it hasn’t been a bad year. It wasn’t what I expected but it has been full of fun, meaningful, happy moments and events.

That being said, as the tail end of 2018 barrels towards us at an unnerving rate, I am also drawn to the idea of a “Year of No Nonsense”. What is that you ask? For me it means a life focused on a few things: being present in the moment, being kind to myself as well as others, being intentional with important relationships, banishing laziness but embracing rest without guilt…and learning the difference.

I’m a planner by nature. Some of my triathlon friends met to discuss our race plans for next year and I showed up with a spreadsheet. But there’s a necessary balance. I’m attempting to enjoy the process and/or journey instead of focusing on what comes next whether that’s one set at at time in the pool or one conversation at a time.