Who Are You Fighting?

Sometimes the biggest battles are the ones that you face against yourself. For me that time is now. The time when I am exhausted physically and mentally. When my body is tired and tells me it just wants to rest. This is the time when champions are made...when you are on the verge of having nothing left. I know that it is only Tuesday but this is how I feel. Maybe it is the cold, gloomy weather or the fact that I have a lot going on this week and weekend. But at 8pm tonight I am going to swim 800m during a time trial and see where I stand. Mean Green Tri is only 4 weeks away...4 weeks! This is when I compete in my first triathlon of the season. The last time I competed was 2012 and that was before I was sick. So tonight during our swim time trial and on Thursday when we do our run TT are critical. I have to do well and most importantly give it my best.

Some people might think that I am lazy and just do not have what it takes to compete anymore. Maybe they think I do not have the desire to get in shape, but they are all wrong. I believe that sometimes a person has to have an epiphany to encourage or motivate them to do better. For me, it took seeing my life as what could have been and just knowing what it still can be...if I let it. I have to work extremely hard and never give up and for those that know me; know that I rarely do. This is going to be a long 4 weeks leading up to this race and an even longer one until Nationals in April. But I know that these experiences and training are something I will remember for the rest of my life. I want to look back and show my kids that I never gave up hope but I also had to work hard for what I wanted as well. Hopefully, one day when I have kids I will be able to tell them never give up and they can never say that I did.

The Calm Before The Storm...Err Time Trials

I must have picked a great day to get back into training. So this morning I made it to campus and it was 38 degrees outside with a 30 degree wind chill. All I had on was spandex and a sweatshirt. My fingers and toes were so cold that during the ride which was only an hour, I lost feeling in them. Luckily the feeling in my fingers came back but not in my toes. Not until I took a hot shower and then they burned really bad because of how cold they were. If you have ever been to a cold place, you will understand. Total for the ride this morning was 16.6 miles, 498ft of elevation, and a time of 1:12:27. Nothing but headwind the ENTIRE way there! But afterward it felt pretty good.

Tonight we had swim practice which was actually pretty good. My wrist was a little sore but not to where I think it will affect me too much. I learned that 44 is my special number for strokes every 50yrds for a 100yrd swim. For just a 50yrd sprint I can do it in about 30 strokes. Tomorrow we are having a 800yrd time trial, so that is going to be interesting. I cannot even remember the last time I swam over 300yrds in one setting! Last time I swam 1600m it took about an hour and that was in 2013 while I was living in Utah. So I am going to guess that an 800yrd will take about 40mins for me tomorrow night.

All in all, it was a great day to be back on the grind. I am exhausted and still need to eat something before I go to bed. I need to figure out an eating schedule fast because this is not going to cut it when my girlfriend gets back and we do T25 together. How she manages to do her job, spend time with me and our dogs, and everything else she has to do everyday...I don't know how she does it! I have only done this for one day and I am tired as heck! But if she can do that every day then I know I can manage this :) After all, if I want this bad enough and I want to get better...I will do whatever it takes and suck it up.

Accident Prone

So my girlfriend always teases me because I'm accident prone and always end up getting hurt somehow. Either running into the door, falling down steps, to even tripping over our dogs. Well, she has been gone not even 24 hours and I've already ended up in the ER with x-rays...

I am fine...let me make that clear. But I was at bike practice this morning and while on I-10 my teammate Jacob and I were approaching a light. I was switching into a lower gear and clipped out with my left foot. My balance was off for the first time ever and I started to fall. My right leg was still clipped in mind you. So instinctively I put my hand out to catch my fall...bad idea. I checked my bike and it had minor scratches, got back on and peddled aback to campus. As I went to pick my bike up I felt something in my wrist pop and pain just shoot up my arm. Thought maybe it was just cold. Went to take a shower and it kept popping but didn't hurt as bad. Weird. Went to the school clinic and was told to go to ER because it might be broken. Yeah right....

Went to ER...got x-rays...hairline fracture in my wrist. Doctor said probably from trying to brace myself for the fall. He said next time to use my whole arm instead not wrist with palm down. It might hurt but shouldn't break my wrist. Best part is? I just can't put a lot of pressure on it and I should be fine...whoop whoop!

I swear...I don't know how I have always played sports when I get hurt so randomly and easily. Well that was my morning...And I feel great! Can't wait for swim practice tonight!