A sad heart bouyed by a world of support

It's been a rather difficult month in my journey as more sadness has enveloped my family.  My maternal grandmother passed away two weeks ago in the wee hours.  Thankfully I was able to arrive on the mainland in time to see her prior to her passing.  Our entire family gathered in the hospice and were there for her final hours.  This is the third passing in my family since we arrived on the island in August - it has been a rough 9 months in that regard.

My desire to push forward with the Honu race was faltering as I mourned and tried to put myself together prior to flying home.  I had told my dad and Justin that I was seriously considering not competing in June.  I even started looking for another 70.3 race to do later in the season as I didn't want to give up on my goal, just delay it until I could gather myself again.

I arrived back at work to find a care package from my co-workers for my race weekend.  They also gathered a donation for my cause as well.  It was so very thoughtful of them and perhaps just what I needed to bolster my resolve.

Now I am down to 10 days until the race and I'm nervous.  I still know that I can finish the race however it may be slow.  My main concern is my mental strength.  I have been utterly exhausted and battling headaches since returning to Hawai'i.  Perhaps the race and the weekend on the Big Island are just what I need.

On an exciting note, the donations have almost reach $1500!  I am contemplating doing another race in the fall and continuing my campaign to raise $7030.  We'll see how the next few weeks pan out.  Thanks again to all of my very generous friends and family - much love to you all!

T-Minus 1 Month

It's May 1st and that means it is just over 1 month until race time.  Yikes, the time is disappearing rapidly.  Luckily I feel pretty good about my training and I know that finishing won't be a problem.  Now, will I set any records?  Well, let's just say that is highly unlikely! :)

I'm doing a trial run in 2.5 weeks at the Honolulu triathlon - an Olympic distance.  That will give me a good opportunity to test out the transition skills (probably a little rusty) and make sure everything is in working order.  It also provides an opportunity to do a short open water race beforehand and that will test my anxiety levels.  Ah, the joys of doing things that push ourselves and conquer fears.

Now I just need to convince some of my pals here on the island to do some shorter tris later this summer.  We might as well keep this fitness train moving forward!

Back to training and happy May Day everyone!

Diva Half, Good Nutrition and 10%

It's been a great few weeks here in MS triathlon training land.  A good friend of mine and I competed in the Wahine Diva Half Marathon the first weekend in April.  We joined up with a new work friend at the start and tried to clear the cobwebs out for the 6am start.  It seemed a bit too early for a run only race until I passed about 7:30 and the sweat was rolling off of me.  I joked with a fellow racer that we could probably walk the whole thing and still end up drenched.  It was super muggy!  It is a rather crazy event with women running in all shades of pink, often including tutus.  About a 1/4 mile from the finish line, they hand every woman a tiara and hot pink feather boa to carry across the finish line.  Let me tell you how much I didn't want to have a hot, fake boa around my neck at that point, but what the heck, it was all in good fun!

Although I am still traveling at a much slower pace than my goals, I was able to cut about 1 1/2 minutes per mile off my overall pace from January.  I'm pleased that I am making progress however the competitor in me wants the pace to increase much more rapidly.  My legs felt really good after the race, which was a pleasant surprise although they were darn sore on Monday at work.  I'm convinced I'm just allergic to the office and my body will try any excuse to make me want to work from home ;)

Justin and I have also embarked on a revamped nutrition plan in an effort to better regulate our caloric intake as well as the caloric timing.  The first 6 days of "weeds" for lunch was less than optimal and my stomach was loudly protesting at times.  Of course one of my co-workers had to tell me about this great filet mignon he had just to make my mouth water even more!  I survived the week and we are now back to eating carbs.  My training definitely took a dip during our carb-free ramp up but overall I think I feel better.  It never hurts to retrain the palette to eat a little less bread and butter - even if mine goes kicking and screaming.

I also sailed past 10% of my donation goal!  Thank you so very much to all of my incredibly generous family and friends out there.  I am using your support to buoy me when I feel tired and tempted to skip a session.  Every day I get a little closer to both my donation and athletic goals.  7 weeks until race day...

>hugs<