Triathlon Season 2015

Yesterday my 2015 triathlon season commenced and being it was a whole 9 degrees when I left the house yesterday morning I was thanking my lucky stars that the race was indoors. This indoor tri, was an ‘hour of power’ if you will and once the hour was over, power was one thing I no longer had. I finished with sore muscles, slight dehydration, a headache, a sense of accomplishment, but power was not an attribute I could correlate with my current bodily state. This triathlon was uniquely different than any other tri I had competed in before. For starters it was held completely indoors which I had never experienced, the scoring was based on how much distance the athletes covered over a designated amount of time rather than speed and very little training on my part had been conducted before the event started. Also for any of you that have competed in a triathlon before or supported a triathlete you know we do not travel lightly, however yesterday was an exception; I only had to take myself, swimsuit, goggles, swim cap, and biking/running clothes and shoes. That may still seem like a lot, but trust me when I say I have a check list that typically the night before a race I have check everything off and laid it all out to make sure I am not forgetting a helmet, bike shoes, wetsuit, ect. Yesterday’s race started with a 10 min swim and thank heavens I have been taking a combat swim class in sub 0 water because it prepared me for the freezing water we swam in yesterday….I joke about the water temperature, kind of. I sadly was trying so hard to not drown that I forgot to count the laps I swam in 10 mins, but if I were a guessing girl I would say 14-16. After the swim we were given 10 mins to transition from the swim to the bike. This lengthy amount of time was due to the gym wanting a safe transition and to remove all wet clothes and replace them with dry clothes for the bike ride in their state of the art spin room. Once I arrived at my designated bike I had all of 2 mins to get all settled into the saddle. In the 30 min allotted time slot for biking I managed to squeeze in 10.3 miles averaged 20.7 miles an hour (don’t do the math I may be off a point or two on that average) and was the top girl in distance in our wave. I nearly vomited, nearly passed out when I got off the bike and had not had a drink of liquid since this fiasco started…I may or may not have been in rough shape. The transition between the bike and run was not quite as luxurious; we had 5 mins to get from the bike to the treadmill. As I began my run a huge side pain started to make routs in my rib cage and I was done. I have run through a side stich before and once was enough for me to learn my lesson. I had to walk the majority of the 20 min run portion of the race. I was frustrated, annoyed and realized even more the importance of doing those things your life that are very important but you hate, like cleaning the toilets, picking up after the dog on walks and running. Moral of this story…eat less candy and run more miles! Cheers to a triathlon season that will no doubt be riddled with adventures, disappointments, frustrations, fulfillment, joy, laughter, tears and accomplishment.

Happy New Year 2015

Today I woke up in disbelief that we are on our way to enjoying another year. I am not quite sure where 2014 went or 2013, 2012, or 2011; heck I am not sure where the past 12 years since college graduation went, but I digress. As I mentioned yesterday 2014 was a year of epic porportion, I feel so blessed to be where I am in my life, but I also look forward to 2015. It will be a year filled with challenges, opportunities to grow, joy, accomplishments & dreams realized. I start grad school next week after being out of school for over a decade, talk about anxiety, excitement & trepidation all rolled up into one trembling gal. Summer will bring a challenge like none I have ever faced before as I hope to complete my first 1/2 Ironman (1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike ride, & 13.1 mile run, all to equal 70.3 miles covered in one race). Technically I start training in February but with the daunting idea of racing that far training has already commenced for me. Come Sunday I will see how the training I have done so far Will paid off when I complete my first triathlon of the season. I hope 2015 bring health, happiness, accomplishments, joy & success to us all.

Chronicles of 2014

As 2014 comes to an end and I look back on the epic amount of blog entries I have written this past year I realize I will be hard pressed to out write 2014 in the upcoming year…I kid. I love writing, I love sharing positive experiences and I love the idea that a small part of my life’s journey may inspire someone else.

2014 has been a pretty epic year even though it was not document well here. Since my blog was…for lack of a better word…neglected this past year I will take a moment to chronicle my year that was.

February containing a week that has become near and dear to my heart, I choose this past year to be real with myself and others. I was able to come to terms with being uniquely me and embracing the life that has formed me into the woman I am today. It was huge for me to face my fear of judgment and publicly share my life’s journey through the eyes of a recovering eating disorder patient. Facing my fears allowed me to grow greatly and realize my deepest dreams of helping others find their joy, their worth, and the life we all deserve to live.

I realize as I look back on 2014 that February was a month of growth for me in many ways. After the heartbreak of the job I loved being illuminated in December 2013 and the uncertainty of floating around completing special projects I was brought in to the fold of the compensation department. This decision, made 75% out of fear and 15% out of interest allowed me to learn valuable lessons that I otherwise would not have been given the chance to learn. Beyond all else I learned that I should never make decisions based off of fear, 0 patients and a sense of failure; but rather I need to trust in my God and know that everything is going to work out just like it is supposed to. In November of this year my work like did just that, it worked out.

I somehow turned a year older.

Neither my brother or I were able to make it back home to see our parents for the holidays so we planned a spontaneous trip to Oregon to surprise my mother for her birthday. It was a perfect trip, filled with fun, family, friends, love, laughter and everything a surprise birthday celebration should be.

I got on a rather large health kick and wanted to detoxify my body, after much research, knowing my financial limits and body limits I decided to try an ionic foot detox. The theory behind the process is through an ionic balancing process in which toxins are pulled from the body through the feet. The water in which the feet are placed in for the 30 min procedure changes from clear water to a nasty color. The color of the water once the treatment is complete is supposed to represented the part of the body most of the toxins were pulled from. The water my feet sat in was a green brown color which is supposed to indicate toxins being pulled from the Gallbladder; the irony is that I do not have a Gallbladder. My uneducated advice would be to not waste your money on a ionic foot cleans.

Two of my favorite foreign DaVita teammates came to Denver for business and we met up for a shopping trip and drinks.

I joined a golf league; I loved nearly every min of being with girls and for me attempting to hit the ball. Good news is, I did improve over the course of the summer, I really enjoy the game and plan to be part of the league again this coming summer.

I ran as part of one of the DaVita corporate relay teams in the Colfax Marathon. My leg of the race was 6 miles uphill. This is not a dramatic comment similar to those our parents use to make, remember those…”I use to walk uphill both ways in the snow to school”. My leg of the race really was entirely uphill the, when I handed the baton off to Shilo I was slightly jealous that she got to run down the hill I just ran up.

A few baseball games were attended. Although the team being routed for by yours truly very rarely won, it was still fun to enjoy the sunshine, a cold beer, and the company of friends.

A sorority sister from Houston came to Colorado for a family vacations and a few of us Zeta’s living in Denver had the blessed opportunity to met up with her for dinner on her last night.

I went to Siesta Key, FL for the first time and nearly didn’t make it back, it was simply lovely. Others may argue I nearly didn’t make it to FL in the first place. Long story short, I locked the keys into my boyfriend’s which really didn’t seem like a big deal in that I had planned accordingly and had a lot of time until my flight. However, since I was driving a car in which I didn’t reside on the insure it was an act of Congress to get someone to come out to the airport to let me back in the car. If I had not also locked my purse in the car I would have just gone and gotten on the plan. After all how much does one really need in FL, I am thinking just a bathing suit. However, my purse was sitting on the front seat with my cell phone and wallet out in plain sight. Once I finally realized getting the car unlocked was going to take much longer than I had thought and that I was in fact going to miss my flight I called the airline to tell them. There were no more flights out that night and if I wanted to get out before the following Friday I was going to have to pay $400 for a new ticket. The car was finally unlocked and I was able to make my way to the airport. Although it was early in the evening I was not about to move the car for fear an additional disaster could occur. That said I spent the night in the airport, no sleep, freezing, no food and very very grumpy. I was beyond thrilled when I finally landed in Orlando, but I can tell you I will never live the experience down.

I painted, painted and painted some more to update many of the rooms at my boyfriend’s place.

I started taking Plexus, loved the results and became an Ambassador for the company.

We went horseback riding in the mountains. Although I am not sure anything could beat riding horses on the ranch in the wide open country of OK, I will tell you it is a close second.

PIC I found a gem outside Boulder when I went hiking at Chautauqua Park.

It is an understatement to say I love birthdays. I love celebrating the uniqueness, the specialness of friends and family, and I am incredibly enthusiastic about planning birthday celebrations where the birthday person has no idea. I planned and executed a top secrete birthday surprise mission for my boyfriend. It took weeks of coordination and it would not have been possible without his best buddies and his extraordinary family. The birthday celebration was a top secrete scavenger hunt of sorts, the kids gave him his first clue in which he was to go meet up with a few of his buddies for a round of golf. The tee time was all set up, his friends were going to meet him at the course, and most importantly it got him out of the house so we could prepare for the last mission. The additional clues contained gift cards, or sent him to other locations for my golf fun. By the end of the day I handed him his last clue to make his way back to the house where he found his birthday gift of a new lawn mower, I know we give exciting gifts, and a house full of his best friends. I was able to get about 25 people to come to the party. I was really proud of the success the day brought and above all else I think he loved the day which was my main mission _____ As mentioned earlier February was my month of growth, November was my month of dreams realized. My life has just not been the same without triathlons, my passion for them are deep seeded and although my life is happy, healthy, and filled with amazing people, I was still missing something, so I joined a triathlon team. I will begin training with them in February with the hoped to complete my first ½ Ironman during the summer of 2015. I was recruited, I interviewed and I accepted a new role within the DaVita Village as part of the communications team. The position turns out to be a perfect fit; I am thrilled to go to work every day. The team I work with proves daily to be phenomenal, the work I do is fulfilling and rewarding and the knowledge I seem to constantly be gaining is unmatched. A week after accepting the new position I found out I was accepted into grad school to pursue my dream of studying the brain, human behavior, and earn a degree to help others through difficulty, uncertainty, sadness, grief and loss to find joy, happiness, success, dream realized and the live we all deserve to live. ______ My life is made complete by the people in it. Although my life now is in CO and I could not ask for a better life than the one I am living there is a piece of my heart that still resides in OK. My closest friends and extended family still call OK home. Before starting work at DaVita I made it back to OK a lot, but once I started a big girl job I have been unable to travel as much and I really really miss my friends and family. So I drove to OK for Thanksgiving and got to spend quality time with a few of the people who have been my strength, my support, my courage, and those who have picked me up when I was unable to pick myself up during some of my darkest days. I will forever be indebted to the extraordinary family and friends I have in my life.

2014 is ending similar to way it was brought in, relaxing and surrounded by a few of the people who mean the world to me. I am making a similar resolution this year as I did last, to blog more frequently (fingers crossed). Cheers to an extraordinary 2015 filled with abundant opportunities, unending joy and unmatched successes.