The Family Table

It had been a long day.  The kids were crazy.  The excitement of the holidays is was getting to be too much.  My husband was trying to help me in the kitchen and it wasn't working.  I might have even snapped at him a little!  Sorry honey!  We sat down to a simple meal of "scramblewitches" with sauteed bell peppers, tomatoes, avocado and sweet potato fries.  It wasn't anything special, but as we sat down, I realized how special it all was.  All of the stresses of the day seemed to melt away.  The girls entertained us with their mealtime antics and a wave of peace came over me.  I became grateful to have this table and most importantly, the special people I share it with.  Even when ten minutes in, like clockwork, Marley announced her need to visit the bathroom.  

My mom and stepdad blessed us with this table when we got married.  It has already been through a lot.  The chairs are slightly crusted from the kids food.  There are scratch marks and burn marks.  Sometimes I feel bad we haven't taken care of it, but I know my Mom and John are happy we use it the way we do.

When I studied nutrition in college, the numbers and percentages didn't sick with me (that can be looked up in a book).  What stuck with me were the emotional aspects of food, one of those being how important it is to share a meal with people you love.  We embrace this in many ways in our lives.  I personally have many memories of great food celebrations with friends, family and co-workers.

I appreciate my husband shares the value of a family meal with me.  I look forward to many more meals with my wonderful little family!

Grateful

A year ago, I wasn't dreaming of becoming a USA Triathlon coach.  A year ago, I was knocking on doors, waiting to find which would open to a new career path.  Oh, how grateful I am this door opened. (Since it's Thanksgiving I'm probably going to use the word grateful a lot!)  

Today, I am filled with joy because not only has the door opened to a new career, it has also opened my life to spend more time with my children.  I can't describe what a huge gift this is.  I could ask for no more.  I am extremely grateful to my husband, Eric who has pushed me to make this decision.  Eric not only works more now to give us financial stability, he has worked to create a gym in our home.  This gym will allow me to work from home and spend more time with our girls.  I would understand if he thought this was just too much to do, but he has done the opposite.  The garage was his final "man space" in our home.  He has given this to me and is in the process of completely remodeling it.  It even includes an orange wall!!!

I think when you make a life change, this is where you find out who your true friends are.  I am so lucky to have many.  My friends have supported and encouraged me.  They have helped me through the days when I start hearing negative messages saying, "no I can't".  When I thought for a moment I wasn't doing the 70.3 last year, I was quickly reminded of what I was doing this for.  This wasn't for me,  it was for the kids I'm hoping to coach one day.  They would be watching!

What would I do without my family?  I'm sure there is some universal rule saying you shouldn't coach our parents.  I'm breaking this twice.  I coach both my Mom and Dad.  They are amazing and they work SO hard!  Mom has endured some "almost puke" workouts lately and she keeps coming back for more.  Coaching Mom through her first triathlon made me realize I could be a coach.  Dad is working on his golf game and overall health.  After a year of prostate cancer treatment, I feel so fortunate to meet with him a couple times a month.  He works out and most importantly, we spend time together.

Finally, my girls.  Every day I look at them and still can't believe I am a mom.  I never dreamed my life would be what it is today.  I am so grateful for their health and amazing little personalities.  They make me grow and learn every day.  They seem to know when I'm having a rough day and say, "I love you Mommy".  I love that their lives are now immersed in fitness.  Not a fitness forced upon them but a fitness they see in their role models.  I love to see them play in my gym, trying to lift weights and play, "triathlon".  I don't expect them to be triathletes, but I want to give them the tools to have long and healthy lives.

I have spent much of my past year in prayer, asking God to give me new direction.  Apparently, I'm not so good at receiving his messages because he has made this career change one of the loudest messages in my life.  I have tried so hard to see how being a triathlon coach could be a profession God would want me to do.  I always understood the meaning in police work.  Then I realized, exercise gives confidence and health.  Triathlon helps people realize "I CAN".  And so I remember this for myself to repeat on the days I am struggling, "I can do all things through him who gives me strength" Philippians 4:13

NYC Marathon

They New York City Marathon starts in just a few minutes.  I have amazing memories of the race I ran in New York six years ago.  Where do I begin?  First of all, it was wonderful to have friends and family there to support me.  My Dad and Deborah flew out with me and one of my best girls, Tara came from Boston.  We had fun touring the city, visiting the Twin Towers memorial, NYPD museum and touring in the double-decker red bus.  I think my favorite and of course the most emotional was the Twin Towers.  They still had a small area commemorating the fallen Police Officers and Firefighters.  I don't show my badge often but this was worth it.  The security guard let us in to get a closer look.  I hope we don't ever forget these amazing people who risked their lives to save others.

After some delicious pasta meals, it was time to race.  I will tell you now this race wasn't about the time.  I actually had an awful race.  This race was about the people.  Somehow, I met up with a Firefighter from Colorado and a Prosecutor from, I don't remember where.  We chatted a few times along the way.  About half-way through, we lost the Prosecutor and started running the race together.  I don't remember what we talked about, I don't remember the boroughs we visited.  I do remember keeping each other going.  As we got to the upper teens, we both began struggling and talking ceased.  There were miles he pulled me along and miles I pulled him.  When we got the the 20s it became a, "put one food in front of the other" kind of race.  I kept thinking, just stay with this guy.  Finally, we saw Central Park and I think I saw Tara getting yelled at somewhere along the way!  The finish line was right there.  We crossed it and gave each other a huge hug, agreeing we couldn't have made it without the other person.

I have no idea what the name of the runner was.  It doesn't really matter.  What mattered was on this day we found one of the great things about racing.  Sometimes you have a bad race, but you have traveled all the way to New York.  You are going to finish!  You meet a great person along the way and become best running buddies, even if only for a few hours!

Good luck to everyone running in New York today!

Pumpkins in the rain

The Transition Area

Ahh...the transition area. That wonderful space during a triathlon where you quickly as possible switch from one sport to the next. Prior to starting the race, you have painstakingly laid out all of your clothes, food, water, number, etc. in order to make it a seamless portion of your race. In actuality, it's the place where you are completely jolting your body from one event to the next. Swim to bike or bike to run. Some of us are fast in transition and others will never live down their first transitions!! (sorry mom, I couldn't resist) Bottom line, we try to blast through faster than an Indy car in the pit stop of the 500. Truly we should treat transition as important as any other part of the race.

That all being said sounds nice until I find myself in the middle of a transition of sorts in life. It's a good transition.. no.. a great transition to be going through. I have been waiting for this time for the past year and a half. Dreaming of the day when certain stress and anxiety would leave my life. But I didn't really lay out my transition area ahead of time. I just kind of showed up and found myself here, in the transition area.

May 2008, I was on vacation with my husband and good friends, the Witherows. Eric and I were so excited to be in Mexico for a week of sunshine and sleep. While there, I started to realize, I needed to do something else for work. I wasn't happy as a police officer. But I had no idea what I was going to do. Being the not-so-patient person I am, I of course wanted to figure it out right then and there. But life doesn't work that way and I was going to have to wait. That summer, I started in a Masters program for counseling. The first class in, I knew this was the wrong direction. So, I quit. No shame there. I went through some major emotional moments the following fall working cases that were painfully sad for me. I was again reminded, I needed to find a new direction. I couldn't image spending 18 more years wondering when I was going to that profoundly saddened again. Eric suggested I look back into becoming a teacher. He knew how much I loved teaching DARE at the elementary schools. I thought about it once before. This time, it just seemed to fit for me. It took some research and decision making to determine where and when I wanted to go. It seemed it would be FOREVER before I actually was going to start.

I began to sleep on a regular basis again when I told my chief I was quitting. The 50lb weights I was carrying on my shoulders rolled right off. I'm entering the transition area, looking for my space on the bike rack.

Paralleling my decision to go back to school was my dream of starting a youth girls triathlon team. USAT coaching clinics fill up in a matter of minutes. I had searched for a clinic in Santa Monica and one day learned they opened an additional class on the dates I was hoping to attend. I signed up and somehow(God) was able to get into the class. Just prior to my last weeks of full-time work at the police department, I attended the USAT level 1 coaching clinic. Wow!!! I was completely blown away by the instructors. I have always loved the Olympics and secretly wished my parents had started me in gymnastics when I was two years old. Our instructors were the coaches of Olympic and world class elite triathletes. I was overcome by the amount of information and tried to absorb every last drop. I have found my space in the transition area!

This past week, I came to the space in transition where you take just a moment to regroup. I didn't chooses this space. The H1N1 strain of the flu did that for me. My whole family has been blown over by this flu, requiring me to be pretty much at home for two weeks. The sliver lining is, I have been given more than just a moment to take a breath and relish in the moment of the race I am now in. I have had time to complete my USAT test and just mailed if off today. I have spent some great days with my girls. Days where we just sat and read and spent time. This is the point in transition where I fuel up. Yes, I have eaten my fair share this past week, I have also fueled up on good family time.

And now, I'm getting my running gear on. I've started school, which I love. I completely feel I am in the right place. I'm ready to train and coach and can't wait to help people become their best. Most importantly I feel I am running a race that is now the best for my family. No more will I have to run out on our plans or tell the girls I will be gone all night.

It's good to slow down sometimes, in transition. Even for just a moment. Whether in life or in a race. Relish the moment and how hard you have worked and fuel up for race ahead!

Lake Stevens 70.3

I know my sister-in-law, Karie has been expecting I write this much sooner.  Sorry, it's taken a week to process the Lake Stevens 70.3 Ironman!

Years ago, I told myself I was going to do an Ironman before I turned 40.  It happened to be and still is, the craziest endurance event I can find.  So, of course I want to finish one.  I have learned to be VERY careful about what I dream of doing.  Usually it happens. 

When I woke up on August 16th, I thought of a great video a friend sent to me at work on a particularly difficult day.  A day I didn't think I could handle.  It helped me remember who helps me through all of my days, especially the tough ones.  I had a good cry and remembered the message.  I prayed, God would help me through this day too, and he did....

Last Sunday morning at about 5:00, Eric drove me to the start of my first half-ironman.  As my body shook from sheer nervous energy, I told him I could still recall the moment I decided to do this.  At that point I was wondering what I had been thinking.  To help me, Eric drove part of the run course, which I hadn't really bothered to check out.  Finally, I had to stop procrastinating and get to the transition area.  I got my body marking taken care of and entered transition, which I would do a few more times that day.  I arranged my stuff about six times before I could assure myself it was right.  As I always do, I met the first of the great people I was to meet that day.  We had a nice little chat about how worried our moms were about this event.  My next step was to pick up my timing chip and make the first of many trip to the porta-poti.  I returned to my bike and checked my stuff just one more time.  That was it, I couldn't change anything...I was as ready as I could possibly be!

Now, time to find the family.  I met up with Eric, the girls, Mom and John.  Now it was time for Mom to make the first of her many trips to the porta-potti.  Like I said, she was nervous!  We started to walk toward the starting area of the park.  It was now time.  My friend, Pam sang the National Anthem and she was amazing.  I decided I should find my wave and went off to find the other ladies wearing yellow caps.  We began to saunter towards the dock as waves began taking off.  As I walked onto the dock, I saw Kyle and Heather, two friends from church.  What a blessing!  To get a big huge hug right before you get in the water.  I made it to the final dock and the announcer started telling us to get in the water, we were going in seconds.  Another blessing...I only had time to jump in the water before the start.  The water was surprisingly warm as I began my swim.  I was thrilled to find I wasn't sucking air or panicking.  I found the "white cable" some of the ladies told me about before the race and just kept repeating, steady relaxed strokes.  Before I knew it, I was to the first buoy.  1/4 mile down and again before I knew it 1/2 mile down.  I actually began to really relax and was able to focus on my stroke.  I rounded the end and finished the last 1/2 mile.  I was elated at this point.  My day could have ended there and I would have been happy.  But it didn't...

Transition was pretty smooth, other than knocking my neighbors helmet, food and asthma medication off her bike (I put it back).  I took off on my bike and surprised myself again to see I was clipping along at a pretty good pace.  The first hills were fairly easy and before I knew it there were Darlene and Bri!  How great...to see your friends while your completing an Ironman. I did miss Bri's great signs. "Train like a racehorse", "Sting like a bee" and "Go bikers!"  I did see the last sign telling me I "rock" shortly after seeing Jim at the next intersection.  Then right after that I saw Eric, the girls, Mom and John.  Wow!  The first loop flew by.  I couldn't believe how many places I saw my friends and family.  Eric was amazing, he was able to get to so many spots on the course.  I really think I have the best husband!!!  The second loop was a little more of a challenge.  But I pulled through and even kept an average speed which was faster than what I predicted.

Finally, I was at the run.  I kept telling myself, the hard work is done.  I've run for so many years, it's second nature and there wasn't anything to fall off of!  My legs felt great for the first half but were ready to be done about an hour before they needed to be.  I formulated a plan to run to each water station, and walk through the water station, while I cooled down, ate and drank.  This seemed to work.   My body was on fire, but I was done!  As I rounded the corner toward the finish, I saw my friend Julie who gave me a huge high five.  I crossed the finish line, completing the Lake Stevens 70.3 in 6:43:50.  The first of many and one more step closer to my Ironman goal.

I have more memories than I can write from that day.  I loved how my girls told me they wanted to eat as soon as I was done.  I love being their mom!  I loved that my Mom and stepdad could be there with us.  They have been dedicated supporters for a long time.  I loved that my husband found me so many times on the course and has supported me in everything I have done since the day we met.  I loved seeing the Gibsons who have totally supported and encouraged me.  I can't wait to train Bri!!!  

I met my goals; to finish and have a great time!

It's almost time....

I just looked at the ticker on my blog, "3 days, 17 minutes" until the Lake Stevens Ironman.  I didn't imagine how I would feel when I saw such a small number on the countdown ticker. Surprisingly, I have been sleeping well the past few night and I feel great.  In fact I have been sleeping better than ever.  Maybe it's the week of summer rain that has decided to show up.  

I can't wait to get out on the course and see what it's like to complete a half-ironman.  I have in my mind two goals; finish and have a great time.  I'm confident both of those will happen. I'm looking forward to seeing my good friends out on the course.  You know your friends are great when they tell you they are getting cardboard to make signs for you.  I've found out some of my police friends are going to be out there as well.  I'm most excited to see Eric, Payton, Marley, Mom and John.  I'm sure Marley will be driving everyone crazy as she already says, "go biker" every time she sees a cyclist.  Will she do this 1500 times on Sunday...oh, I hope!

It's been a great journey training for this event.  I have some amazing training  days and some really tough training days.  I have taken a lot of time from my family.  My hope is this time away is an example to my kids of how important it is to stay healthy.  My husband's support is unwavering.  He's endured many of my early mornings to which I find breakfast ready for me when I return.  I am also very appreciative of my mom, sis-in-law Karie and friends; Darlene, Andrea and Tracy who have encouraged me along the way.  Thanks ladies!!!

I know Sunday is going to be a great day.  I'm determined to enjoy the whole process, coming away with experience I can pass along to other future triathletes.