Who did this to you?

If you came into the store this weekend, here is what you would have seen....

Trevor came home from his grappling class on Saturday morning with a big ol' shiner. He told me he didn't know how it happened and that everyone was trying to take credit for it. There is something kind of sick about that. I don't know if Josh was at class on Sat, but I am blaming him for this....Trevor was working out with Josh when he broke his leg a few years back...so he's on my list already. I don't know what our customers think when they come in and are greeting by a 6 foot 4 guy, who's clothes are way too big, with a big black eye. Do they think "wow....I want to be just like him!" or do they look at me and think "man, she's beating the crap out of him".

Normally Trevor is covered in bruises, they just aren't on his face, so I can forget about them. For the next week or so, every time I look at him I'll be reminded of what he is...a fighter. I don't know how it happened, but that is what he is.

The truth is that he is a fighter in every aspect of his life. When he decides on something, he focuses on it and fights tooth and nail to achieve, complete or reach it. He doesn't give up and he doesn't give in. Its pretty amazing to watch. The calm, cool determination he has it so opposite of me, I guess that's why we are such a good match. Over the years, I have learned from him - not the calm, cool part, but the determination part. I've obtained some of his fight...I'm just a little more spastic and stressed about it. I'm convinced that's what he loves about me...

Pressure

I have been feeling it lately - pressure. Our Grand Opening event for the store is in 4 weeks and for some reason, that thought makes me panic. These last few months have been so busy. This last week, I have kind of hit a wall - I've had a headache all week long and just feel like I have no direction. I wake in the morning and don't know what to do. I am lacking focus. Now is not the time for that.
We have secured our guests for the Grand Opening. These guys:

Bill and Jim Germanakos - winners of NBC's The Biggest Loser. These guys are awesome. They are super nice and passionate about their health and fitness. I am so excited to have these guys here. We are planning a big event for October 11th that will include an all day meet and greet, autograph signings and a mid-day seminar. We also have a free yoga class scheduled that day, food, samples, raffles. There will be a lot going on and that means there is a lot of planning to be done. Then, of course, the excecution of it all. I believe we have a staffing issue - as in, we have no staff other than ourselves - finding more help for that day is currently a priority. I have spent quite a bit of time the last few weeks working on this event.

This coming week we'll have flyers/posters created and printed to be distributed. We'll be updating our website. Newspaper ads will start in two weeks - radio ads start in two and a half weeks - I go in on Tuesday to record those. We need to order products, decide on in store deals. We will be donating a portion of our proceeds to the Humane Society where we met Daisy. Did I tell you that I have had a headache all week long?

To make things even more exciting - the weekend after our grand opening, we are sponsoring an all women's half marathon here in Vancouver. We are having shirts made up for that and I am super excited about that. I have had the opportunity to be creative and come up with some fun designs. Hopefully others will like them too and pay us for them! Otherwise, I won't have to buy another shirt for the rest of my life.

So there is a lot going on. Add to that the drama at work - which includes an absentee co-worker and a buyout offer situation that won't be resolved until Mid-October.

I am also feeling a bit let down know that our triathlon season is over...what do I do now....what do I train for? I am working on an off season training plan and a race calendar for next year. We looked forward to the half marathon in China for so long, then right after that decided on the triathlon, so we have had something to look forward to for about a year now. I need to get the next thing on the calendar. I'm sure it will be something crazy - our lives are not boring any more!

Is who you think you are.....

Who you want to be? That's a line from a Bon Jovi song and today the answer for me is Yes. That makes today a great day. Today we did another triathlon - only our second. This one was better than the first. It was still one of the hardest things I've ever done, just not THE hardest thing. I was not so afraid this time around.


We took on an extra challenge and sponsored this event. We got there early and set up our booth. Our manager Casey came down to "man" the booth while we completed the event. He got to see first hand just how crazy we really are. He also took pictures and did a damn fine job.



This event was small and cozy - much more informal than the Blue Lake Triathlon. For me, this really made a difference. The day was supposed to be sunny and warm - the sun didn't come out until about noon and we had been done for close to an hour by then. It was pretty chilly in the morning -the water was warmer than the air. That was a nice surprise.


We started the swim and for the first few minutes, I did panic. This time, I had a plan. I had a pattern of strokes I would follow. That kept me focused on counting and left me unable to really worry too much. I actually passed a few people on the swim and I swam the entire way. I didn't have to back stroke, no swimming to shore to stand up, no side stroke and no treading water. I did a mix of crawl and breast stroke. Mostly crawl. I was amazed at how much my swimming has improved in the just a month. I took about three minutes off my swim time from the last triathlon.


No, I'm not walking, even though it kind of looks like it - I am doing a little breast stroke.


The transition to the bike was much smoother as well. I didn't feel like the swim was a near death experience like last time. I also came out of the water proud of myself...last time I really beat myself up with negativity for the entire swim. Mental state makes a huge difference. I hopped on the bike and off I went. This triathlon was right by our house, so I know the roads. I knew there would be two big hills out and two big hills back....I wasn't prepared for the 10 big hills in between. It seemed like every time we went up hill, there was a downhill....followed shortly by another up hill. I said a curse word at the top of every hill. Lots of cursing going on today! I had wanted to finish the entire event in 1:45 - which meant that I needed to be running by 1:15....at 1:10 - I knew there was NO WAY I would be making my time goal. This course was so different than Blue Lake - Blue Lake is super flat - no hills. When I finished up the bike, I heard another participant say to their family - "that was the hilliest, hardest bike ride I've ever been on"....good....its not just me.

I think the guy behind Trevor was timing his transition....


I started the run and I felt like I was having an outer body experience. I felt really spaced out. The run was on the Salmon Creek path - Trevor and I have run this path hundreds of times and I know it in my sleep - that made the distance go much faster. At about mile 1, I saw Trevor headed back - he looked good and strong and we briefly commented on the hills. I knew he felt the same way that I felt!


I finally decided that I wanted to finish before the 2:05 mark - I really picked up the pace the last mile and finished right at 2:04. yay me. I felt so proud of myself today - it was a hard day and I am certainly exhuasted, but I did it. Again. And I did it better than the last time. I could have just said, "that was way too hard - not doing that again". Instead I said, "that was way too hard - what can I do to be better prepared next time around". I swam more. I really worked on feeling comfortable in the water. I had a plan for the swim and stuck to it. I ran and biked many mornings when I did not want to get out of bed. These last few weeks have been really stressful and busy and I made the workouts a priority. yay me, right?!


Trevor finished in 1:47 - yay Trevor.


After we finished we went to our booth and sampled some recovery drink to the many others who had completed the event. We talked to a lot of people and it was really fun. Sponsoring this event was a good fit. They started giving out awards....they got to the men's 30 -34 age group and Trevor was 3rd, only 2 minutes behind the winner. Then they got to the women's 30-34 age group and I came in 1st?!! There were no prizes for 2nd and 3rd, because I was the only one in the age group. Does that matter? I think not.

We are done with the triathlons for this year. We plan to continue the craziness next season - we plan to do a sprint triathlon in June and then an Olympic distance (1 mile swim, 24 mile bike, 6.2 mile run) in August. The next few months, I'll be able to mix in some fun workouts - my step videos, boot camp, kick boxing. I will be swimming a few days a week all winter long and then at the beginning of the year, I'll start working on the triathlon specific training schedule. I love that we have found this new event. I spoke with a woman at our booth who was a seasoned triathlete. She was talking about how she used to be a runner and said "all runners eventually become trathletes". I guess now that's true for me and Trevor.

Trevor said this to me "Now we aren't only triathletes, we are award winning triathletes". Find the right race....and you can be award winning too!!