Bring It On!

"Where were you Gandalf?"

"Looking ahead"
"And what brought you back just in time?"
"Looking behind"

Alright, I just scored some serious nerd points on that "Hobbit" reference, but since today is New Year's day, I think invoking Tolkien and doing exactly what Gandalf does is a good way to start 2014. Thus, like every other blogger and her training partner, I am reflecting back on 2013 and thinking about 2014. Hopefully this post will be a bit different from the rest and you actually find something in here to take away and improve your 2014. If not, hopefully I have not wasted too much of the year for you. You could say that this post is more for my mental benefit than yours, but read on if you wish. You may pick up a few thing to help you with your goals.

2013: 

"Looking at the world through my rearview

Searching for an answer up high

Or is it all wasted time?" B.o.B "Just a Sign" 

Honestly, 2013 was certainly not wasted and was an interesting year for me to say the least. The best way to describe it would be a "developmental year." Personally, I went through a great deal, none of which I really expected on January 1st 2013. First of all, I had no idea I would move to Arizona or become a teacher. Those two were controlled entirely by fate (or for you Latin and theologians out there, "fortuna"), and I am awfully glad she dealt me a good card. I love my new life in the warm and sunny climate of the South West, and even though the toils are much and fruits few (another geeky Latin reference), life has progressed pretty well.

2013 has also been a developmental year in my triathlon training. I had some good races (Galveston and Syracuse) and load more duds (Knoxville, Quassy, and Vegas). When one changes professions and moves cross country, it is only to be expected that you cannot train as consistently or as well as you would like. With that said, I would say I am fitter than I ever have been. I am up five pounds of muscle while maintaining 5% body fat, increased my FTP by 20 watts, took 20 seconds off my 100m swim interval, and still can do a decent mile. Touch wood I am injury free too. My health score and gut health seem to be good, and my hormones seem to have adjusted well to the new stresses of life and increased training. I think my greatest health achievement of 2013 was finally getting off the juice (i.e. Diet soda) and the white stuff (artificial sweetener). I still have cravings but am looking forward to remaining clean in 2014.

I loved being a member of the Wattie Inc. team and partnering with Amrita Bars in 2013 and thankfully will continue these relationships moving forward into 2014.



2014:

"I like the dreams of the future better than the history of the past."

Thomas Jefferson 

2014 also looks to be an interesting developmental year. I am aging up to the 25-29 age group, which will bring a lot of new challenges and competition. Welcome to the big leagues, junior! It looks like 2014 is going to be full of 3:00am swims, post work trainer rides, foam roller dates (the only dates I seem to be able to get these days), all day Saturday adventures, and Sunday Fundays. With the stress of teaching and aging up, I am only doing two races, Eagleman and IM Boulder, which will be my first full Ironman. However, both of these races bring the opportunity for Kona qualification. I know that this is a long long shot, but who knows. If Kim Cardashian can get married to Kanye West, who knows what could happen! To all those doubting demons in my head: "BRING IT ON!"

Health wise, I am going to continue to tweak my diet by increasing my plant consumption and becoming more metabolically efficient. As far as my weight, I will let my training, fitness, and racing dictate that. If I gain weight but am faster, then the number does not matter. What I refuse to do in 2014 is to cut calories that is soooo 2008.

I am also now going to be coaching in 2014. I recently became a certified Beach Body coach. This will be a topic of future posts of course, but as much of a gimmick as Beach Body, P90x 1-3, Insanity, and the like are, I believe that I can through these programs (of course they need some modifications) help triathletes and anyone else who wants to improve their body and fitness. If you are interested let me know, I will be more than happy to talk to you about how it can help you. If not, I will not try to sell it or convince you otherwise. Later on in 2014, I am also going to be launching a regular coaching program for a select few but that is down the road. For now let me leave you with this:

"Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment."

~Buddha~