Traveling for Work and Thoughts on Ironman

Well an hour and a half to kill and I’m not even sure where to start. I feel like I have a lot to catch up on. Let’s start with the all consuming topic – (for those of you tired of hearing about “it”….I suggest you skip to the next paragraph) – Ironman 2009! Well I’ll actually start with going to Misty’s housewarming party last Saturday. It was so much fun hanging out with my TNT friends. A few from Tahoe and the Tri team. With super Ironman Kimmi there, go figure a lot of conversation revolved around the race. We could go on and on about races and nutrition and training plans and flare for our cheerleaders. It’s something that I don’t think I can get sick of talking about since it’s going to be a big part of my life for the next 363 days. We actually got into a conversation about how we feel like no matter what we do, we have two groups of people in our lives. Those that race and get “it” and those that don’t. And while its fine that I have friends/family that aren’t involved in the racing community, it’s easy to over consume them with your talk of racing and training and if you’re paying attention, can see the big “sigh” they get as they try to courteously listen until the first possibility to divert the conversation. But how do I not talk about it? It’s a REALLY big deal. But I’m just not sure there’s any way to really get them to understand. Anyone in my life for the next year, it’s going to have to accept that I’ve signed up for something that isn’t just another race and I have to dedicate more of my time that I’m probably going to want to in order to prepare for it. It’s going to be challenging on every level and…well…maybe that’s what I need. It will be taxing on a mental, physical and emotional level. And as I mentioned before, those of you that get “it” and know me are probably wondering if I can really handle anymore struggles. I wonder that myself but at the same time, I signed up for this race and this training, and I haven’t looked back. I KNOW this is something I can do and I KNOW it’s the right time. So we all had a discussion that night about how to deal with our two groups of people and it really came down to one obvious answer. We (our racing/TNT “family”) need each other. We need each other’s support just as much as our outside friends and family. My racing family will better understand when I’m struggling with swim speeds or frustrated because for some reason my feet don’t want to go beyond 6 miles or I can’t stop thinking about what I’ll be doing at this exact moment 363 day from right now J But at the same time, my outside group is there for me in all other aspects of my life. I think I just need to come to terms with the fact that not everyone can be everywhere in my life. Doesn’t mean it doesn’t suck at times but that’s just the way it’s going to be whether I like it or not.
OK new topic! The Iron Angels and Bosley did the Bear Water 20-mile Run last Saturday. I really didn’t know how it was going to go but all in all I was very happy with how we all did. I was trying to find a good pace to settle into when I decided to try and keep up with Dana for awhile. Needless to say after that we pulled each other along at a faster pace than I would have done on my own and finished in 3:23:06. That puts us on track to potentially catch a 4:30 for the full marathon so I am very happy about that. Although if I were to say I have a goal, it’s still just to be sub-5:00:00 :)
I’m actually sitting in the airport right now waiting to fly out to Seattle for our second Marketing Off-site meeting this year. It’s back at the ever wonderful Willows Lodge but I’m actually really not wanting to go. We have very little personal time which is going to make it hard for me to keep up my marathon training. Plus my poor Neo has his urinary troubles flaring up again so he’s only been on meds two days and I’m leaving him for a week and making my sister have to take care of him. I think he’s much better and should be back to his normal self in a day or two but still….I hate leaving him. Plus, while I think my co-workers are great people, I REALLY would rather not spend damn near 24/7 with them and have to be in work-mode all the time. It’s 2 ½ days of really long meetings and then we are going on a group “adventure” all Thursday afternoon (shoot me now!....that a disguise work for “team-building”!) and then out to some fancy dinner. Dana used to live in Seattle and said the restaurant (The Wild Onion) is really awesome so I already know what I’m going to order off her suggestion :)
I don’t think anyone from my work reads this so I can safely say that while I love my job, I have started looking around at other possibilities. While I’m not in a cubicle working, I still work a cubicle job and I just don’t think I’m meant for that my whole life. I do it but I don’t enjoy it. I still haven’t gotten fully back into studying for my personal training certification and I’m not 100% sure that’s exactly where I’m going to go next but in any case, I haven’t abandoned that either. Long story short….if anyone knows of a fun, flexible, NON-cubicle job for a fun, professional, multi-tasking 27 year old female….call me :)