the big secret.

so yes i have been absent for a few days, i know. but i just couldnt be here posting about other things when i couldnt yet tell you the thing i really wanted to. it was just too hard. plus i wasnt really ready to say all these things out loud yet because as soon as you do they become real. and you have to stick to the things you say, for real. 

after great support from a loving boyfriend (whos having just as hard of a time keeping it a secret as i am), supportive family, and friends cheering me on...i am now ready to tell the world. i have finally decided on my next race, and its a big one. i am going to do a... TRIATHLON!!!! omg, i know. 

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i realized a long time ago that i dont have a full marathon in me. i have mad, mad respect for those that do seriously. but its not in me. i love coming home from a 10/11/12 mile long run and know that the finish line is not far from that. i cant even wrap my head around coming home from those long runs and know that i am not even halfway. so i was in my spin class on january the 4th and thought hmmm...maybe i could do this.  i came home and put it out of my head for a few days knowing that tinkerbell was coming and thats what i needed to focus on. then i started to do a little research which quickly took over and completely freaked me out. there was so much, and things to buy, and theories to subscribe too, and nutrition. i couldnt handle it all. so i put it out of mind, i had to and continued soaking up my tinkerbell training. 

after 2 weeks i was ready to tell richard. he was the only one (sorry mom) i was ready to even think about it with. and i hadnt even said a word to anyone about it. i told him the night we went to see phantom over dinner and got no reaction. like literally none. he just looked at me and said i knew it was only a matter of time. i cant lie, i was a little disappointed. then he started making comments here and there about how cool this was going to be. and that he would be dating a triathlete, or what a cool medal to put on the wall, and i cant wait to see your moms reaction when you tell her. so i knew he was in. i even decided on my distance, the olympic. thats a 1500m (.93 mile) swim, 24.8 mile bike, and a 10k run. holy crap.

he has been there supporting me
since my very 1st race!!

once i finished tinkerbell i texted a family friend that was a competitive swimmer and just completed her 1st 1/2 ironman last year so i could ask questions. i met her for lunch and got the perfect reaction, excitement! being a swimmer herself, she was great to talk to since i am terrified about the swim. she was sooo helpful and knowledgeable about the technical stuff and the girly stuff like what to wear. i had let it slip to my runner group friend and he had given me a few pointers that satisfied me till i was really ready to start having conversations about it. i had decided before pushing it all aside that i would do a local one at lake mead on april 21st called rage. it had the 3 distances, which i had just learned about, and i didnt have to travel. with all the other costs going into this i wasnt ready to add more. 

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after talking with her it was time to tell my parents. i was thinking my dad would be totally ok with it, but my mom, probably not so much. she worries that im not taking enough rest and that im beating on my body. she wanted me to take at least 6 months off after tinkerbell from training/running anymore than a 10k, i talked her down to 4. i was nervous/anxious/excited all day i damn near blurted it out. my dad was soooo stoked. the whole meal he just kept grinning and saying a triathlon! it was seriously cute. my mom was instantly worried instead. she instantly whipped out her phone and started counting weeks. luckily i had real things to tell her from other athletes and the things i had read. she wasnt totally on board but did offer to ask around at her school about a bike, so i knew she was supportive. 

they are always there by my side!

since then its kind of taken on a life of its own. i started telling a few friends and the guys at my runner group. my running partner derrick was so excited he signed up for the same race and distance. i got advice from another friend and scored in her volunteering her road bike to complete the race in. my mom also came through and found 2 people the first day that were willing to let me borrow theirs if i needed it. richard has been concocting his 1st facebook status as soon as this goes up for days :) its seriously so cool to have him be so supportive in something completely opposite!

i have been doing some concocting of my own, as in a training plan. dang was this hard. i mean to fit it all in, and school, and work, and sleep, and a little bit of a life. wow. i dont know how people do this with kids. dang. after much research and blending plans together i have decided to swimming 3 days a week because that is my biggest weakness, biking 2 days, and running 2 days. i had to give up a rest day to make it all work so i made it count and put it on sundays so i can sleep in too. i kept in body pump so i can strengthen my upper body to help with the swimming and keep my lower body strong too. i have also added 2 double days. i have avoided these like the plague for years, i wont lie. but to get all this in and my body ready for things to come i had to. here it is though, always a moving target and subject to change. but the 1st week has been successful. check back tomorrow for the recap on that!

now dont worry, i will always be a runner. it is my first grown up sport love. this is just the next challenge and something i cant wait to try. i wont be the skinniest one out there or anywhere near the front. but i wont finish last. i will always return to running. it will always be my therapy and make my heart the happiest. 

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