Farewell Till Then... a Love Letter.

I'm throwing it out there; let's see who leaves some love after. Yes, I am openly asking for your e-mails or comments, because I wake up lately almost with certainty that I am all alone. Mind you I kind of am- I live in the Middle of Nowhere, QC. It's winter time and the only thing my town is renowned for is the cycling in the summer, and hurricane type winds. Wait, we have a rather famous fancy hotel here too, but I believe they must keep guests A la Hotel California because I run past it often and I have yet to make a friend on its lush grounds. Today I shall look for hands in the windows...

I think I just ran off track. Now I have some scary movie I have never seen playing through my mind. Whomever it was that stated the common truths about athletes having some serious mental differences, I hereby agree!
We do. We are. Thank goodness for that. The world would be much more pathetic if no one ever tri-ed.
Let’s note that I do love the man very much for all he has done, for sport but more so for cancer- yet I have disagreed with Lance before in this blog. Since he still hasn't called to prove his point (ha ha) I do believe that I am right on this one: Endurance athletes are not running FROM something, we are running TOWARDS something.
It's the common cycle of my own life that makes me right and Lance wrong. Hence I ask for your feedback, perhaps I am not the only one? Go back through the periods of your training, please; perhaps you too will find that when you had a big goal, something huge to accomplish outside of triathlon, that's when the endurance athlete in you justified cheating your program, and simply went long.
LSD Long slow distance. When there are big goals ahead and I begin to take action towards reaching them, I morph into the ultramarathon runner I was really born to be. It's a new year, with new goals, with a lot of work ahead... call me Karnazes!


The new business is proving to be much 'bigger' than I ever could have imagined. It's also given me more time to train. Yet every week, I sit and review my tri training program, I clean my bike (she's on the trainer, but I'm a bit neurotic) and yet all I want to do is run. I'm just running. I run to the bank. To the office. To the store. I run for an excuse to get away from the computer, to leave the cell phone (which broke and I have yet to replace) at home. I download the latest Motion Traxx (total plug right there- check it out on iTunes FREE!) and I just go. The boys of IM Talk are back so I downloaded the newest on the pod as well. I've listened to it 3 times this week- while running. I'm no longer fast, but I'm not injured not sore not thinking that it's an icy barren jungle with wind gusts that would snap a kite... I'm just running free. (fully clothed, but free as in YAHOO!)
Just yesterday on a webinar I referred to myself as a triathlete and I felt like the biggest fraud. I am doing all my tri friends a disservice thinking I stand amongst them. In the season of my life story right now, (get a Kleenex….......) I am a runner.
GASP...................... EXHALE....................... DO I HAVE NO HEART?????
I said it. It used to give me so much pride. I adore my runner friends. Yet right now, as I'm watching the sun peek between the clouds and my legs are twitching just to hit the packed snow for 2hrs, admitting that totally saddens me.

Life really is bittersweet.

Goals can give you a finish line, allowing you to periodize your season so that the ultimate dream is attainable. The WHY's will get you to take action. We proceed in solitude, knowing our mission, hoping to find a few cheerleaders and mentors along the way. I have spent my adult life studying triathlon. The history, the good the bad and the ugly. I am obsessed with the sport, and I do believe it loves me very much. It's been kind and generous, and I know we will meet again. What I had last season was the ultimate friendship. It led me to greatness. It made me a better person. It gave me the courage I was desperately searching for. Yet seasons change.

On this journey, along these Yellow Bricks, it seems I have now lost my heart.... So I'm putting a leash on Toto and taking him out for a run; maybe, just maybe, when we finally get to the wizard, he will very surprisingly be a Kenyan after all...

Train safe.

Capturing our Horses in 2011

As I sit to write there is a song repeating itself over & over again. Not as dramatic as when Amazing Grace blessed my mind in Timberville, but Wild Horses by The Stones- has me writing on a whim, please bear with...

I can sit here, over my Xtra Sharp tea jolt and ponder a long time about it. I'm introspective like that- with a training regime that gives me lots of time to think about silliness. I woke up with a song and I know what it means: It's the triathletes of races past! They are telling me to get over it, to take action, to face the winter demons and get on the trainer!!
Just do it, woman! The hard-to-admit fact is that this last week I have not been much of a triathlete. I am having issues with the massive size of my quads right now, I have been home with Dylan on vacation for almost 3 weeks, which has completely drowned the Phelps inside of me; but now, with visions of running stallions and an ugly image of an old Mic Jagger, I am resetting and refueling... I love this sport and no matter how much I debate going back to the simple life of a runner - those wild, wild horses could not drag me away...

We have so many reasons to do the things we do. We all do, and I am very respectful of the reason's of others. It's part of my job, your WHY. I take other people WHY's with me every where I go, everyday. I think I have so many others WHY's that they are what is now stuck to my quads- the WHY don't my jeans go past my knees anymore question is being answered- by WHY's. With so many wonderful, heartfelt reasons to do what motivates us, I lost track of my own. I do know better, please forgive me, yet I got so caught up, I lost my own marbles...


So here is what we are going to do people. (Please play along with me...) We are ALL going to back up, get out the whiteboard, and set our goals for 2011. Then, only when the goals are clearly outlined and jumping off the page are we allowed to set our WHY. Yes, in my life of coaching & teaching, I tell people to do it backwards. Trust me on this one, you will NEVER achieve a goal if you don't know what it is BEFORE you know the reasons... because reasons are very susceptible to influence; goals are not. I am confusing you- because everything you have ever heard about goal setting just got put into your mental blender and became a green, lumpy mess? OK, here we go:

1- Have your goals. Write them out: what, in your heart, do you want to accomplish this season?
2- Write out the reasons for those goals. WHY? Why are these the objectives that matter to you. WHY will you shed blood, sweat & tears for that list? You need your reasons, because without knowing WHY each goal matters, you will lose your precious marbles too.
3- What is the minimum effort/ sacrifice/ work/ pace/ distance you will accept of yourself? Write that down. Wtf? I know, you have been taught to write what you WILL do to reach your goals, now I'm asking you to do the opposite. Here it is folks- most people can easily say "I'm going to go run 20km today." and then run 19km and still be content. BUT, if you make a decision with yourself that you will NOT run less than 20km, well you know what- you'll run it, because the mere thought of disappointing yourself is much worse that the attempt to satisfy yourself. Human beings will fight off pain much harder that they will fight for pleasure. THIS IS HUGE in goal reaching. If your business goal requires you to make $20,000 this month, don't write off a to-do list of how you will reach that. You will most probably crap out on yourself. Instead, be clear on what you will LEAST accept of yourself, i.e.- you will not sleep before you follow up with at least 5 customers daily. If you need to run a 3:56 km to reach your goal, than know now that you will not allow yourself to run slower than 3:50km. It's not being negative, it's being accountable in a way that moves you to action.
4- Everyday make a small list of the 'smaller' moves you must make to reach the bigger goals. My goal is the Rev3 Half Iron in June... well, that appears to give me plenty of time. So today, I set my Sunday goal to a minimum 90min run at not a second less than marathon pace, and at least 30minutes of yoga to start the week fresh & limber.

I urge you all to set up your 2011 the way you need it to go. Where do you need to be one year from now? Let's make things happen, let's take control of our wild horses and put them to work for us. Perhaps, in retrospect, they have been running wild long enough.
Happy Season, happy achieving, please train safe- the basement is a wild place sometimes!