When Life Gives you Lemons....Make Lemonade!!!: February 2017

This is my Journey into the World of Ironman. It's my journal/documentation of the ups and downs of what it takes to be an age-group athlete training for an Ironman triathlon. This is more of a way for me to remember what I am doing over the course of the training season, as any Ironman Athlete can tell you, sometimes the days can blur into one training day of swim, bike, run after another. So, while some may not find this at all interesting, those that wonder...could I do an Ironman? Do I have what it takes to do an Ironman? I give you a peek into my journey and days to complete my next Ironman. Forgive any misspelled words/awkward sounding sentences. I'm pretty happy just to get them down on paper. Consider it a test of your mental skills to figure out what I'm saying. I hope you enjoy reading my journey.

2017.

Hmmmm...I'm not sure what to say. Usually by this time each year. I've got at race plan, I'm usually 2 months into my training. And the year is planned out. This year is different. I have nothing scheduled, nothing planned. I think last years whirlwind of racing and training has burned this girl out. And with all the self sabotage going on during my training last year for my full. I just don't have the desire to do anything realated to triathlon....at all. I have been hoping for some inspiration, to get me back in the pool, back in the gym. Anything...but nope. Nothing. I've done some fun runs after the race...Emerald Bay Trail Run...amazing beautiful. The Emerald Bay Half Marathon. And an Open water swim in Lake Tahoe in October (FREEZING!!). Another trail run in November.

Emerald Bay Trail Run

Lake Tahoe,

Lake Tahoe, Open Water Swim

Huge Pinecone....my foot is a size 10.

Emerald Bay 1/2

Then...nothing. My body is tired, it's exhausted. I am in need of healing. I also know that doing nothing is making it worse. But I can't help it. My body is just in protest. I've been doing gently yoga and stretching. That's it. I've been exploring Lake Tahoe and the Reno area. I have tried several times to go skiing/snowboarding, but have a difficult time pay 100$ plus dollars to fall down a mountain for 4 hours. Ha...ironic since I pay so much more for my races. But, my heart just isn't in it.

I feel a bit floundering and lost. I want to sign up for a race, but I just don't feel like doing the training. I need to "want" to train again before I can commit, or I think I'll hate the sport. I am looking at my old posts, and getting that excited feeling of wanting to race. But the start is the hardest right now for me. I don't have a good place to go here, so I use it as an excuse to not. Lazy? Bored? Burned Out? Depressed? Tired of doing it always alone? Maybe all of the above.

Just time for a break. So, I'm trying to engage in other activities that I've been missing, by exploring. National Parks, photography. Reading my books. Watching movies. I'm not exactly bored. But,while I have that desire to get back into it. I just have no energy to do it. I've lost that drive to push myself. I know it's there, but it's buried deep right now. So I will just keep searching for it and waiting for when it's ready to break free. Until then, I will keep taking pictures and exploring my life in a different way.