Schedules- HA!

Last week, I did well with my workouts. Got them all in, (well all but 20mins of a run). I also got to spend quality time with my husband and son which was great! Victorious!
My weeks usually begin with the giant task of making my master plan on how I’m going to fit it all in. Heaven help me, if something gets thrown into my delicate balancing act that wasn’t planned. Last week it was an unexpected visit to the doctor for my son who had pink eye and a cold. This week it was getting errands done that were not completed over the weekend. Most weeks, I find myself moving workouts around, getting up early to squeeze something in before work or anyone wakes up. I get to the end of the week (and sometimes day) completely gassed from it all. It is very typical that one, two or five things that were on the list still remain untouched. I continue to work on learning to let things go. I try my hardest to not let it bother me when Monday rolls around and there are those tasks that somehow never made it to the completed list. But it does. I took this Friday off to close the books on my freelance business. Sad really, because I enjoyed my clients, but at the end of the day I just couldn’t fit that into the mix as well. Also sad that I need to use a PTO day for this- Yuck.

I question how others find the time to get it all done- without outside paid help?? Impossible I say. Training wise--I’m still in the early season. The Big stuff begins Memorial Day through Labor Day. I have a huge fear that I won’t be able to make it all work without something suffering. Mom. Wife. Work. Laundry. Meals. Grocery Shopping. Housekeeping. Bills. Swimming. Biking. Running. It seems a never ending list, and as race season approaches I wonder, how WILL I get this all done, and still have time for kicking back with the fam? I am starting to accept the fact I will need to ask for more help, and depend on others. I am faced with the task of finding a sitter to watch Jack for a few hours when I have a long ride or open water swim after daycare and before John gets home. This thought freaks me to no end. Not that I’m a control freak, but after all the struggles we went through to bring Jack into this world I have tremendous amounts of Mommy guilt. The thought of spending time away from my little cherub makes my stomach and heart ache. I don’t want him to always see me going, and I don’t want to miss out on spending time with him and my husband. As strong as those feelings are, I also feel strongly about setting a good example for Jack to follow. I want him to know that hard work pays off. Yes, he is a little young for such lessons, but eventually he’ll grow up and I would like this concept to be something he is already used to. Mommy guilt is such an overwhelming thing.

This past weekend, my workouts were eh, just okay. Computrainer class was wicked hard. I struggled the entire time, and Sunday I had my long run. Which could have been really bad, but God blessed me by providing a light sprinkle instead of the pissing rain we had just a short hour before I left. I was really unmotivated, since Jack and John were up having a good time laughing and playing in our warm house… and I was um, heading out into the cold rain to do a run. BOO! I started off slowly and headed down the road, when I saw someone else in a brightly colored jacket running toward me. I felt better… knowing I wasn’t the only crazy person running out in the cold rain. As they approached closer, I noticed it was my coach…NEVER was I so glad to have seen her, it gave me such a boost, and I got the motivation to press ahead and push up to zone 3. I nailed that zone the whole time, and it felt good! Monday was masters swim. Can I just say I hate when they add the chemicals to the pool!!! This is the second time where I thought for sure I was coming down with the flu. I couldn’t breathe and my muscles were so unresponsive from lack of oxygen. I was moved up to a faster lane and after 2 sets moved myself back to my orig. lane. I just couldn’t do it, by the 3^rd or 4^th stroke I was gasping for air. NOT FUN. And NOT a good start to the week. I struggled through, and after practice a teammate called me a lane hussy… I am still laughing; I was like Goldie Locks and the 3 lanes.  I just hate nights like that.

In other news….
I had my annual doctor appointment. It’s been over a year since Jack was born and since I had my transfusion. For those of you who don’t know, when Jack was born, we had complications and I had an emergency C-section.  Jack was stuck and they had to open me like a T. They finally got him out and he wasn’t breathing for six mins. LONGEST six mins of my life! While they worked to get Jack breathing I was slipping into shock for being open so big and so long.  I received 9 pints of blood platelets and plasma. Thanks to the grace of God, everyone is here and healthy. They test a year out to make sure nothing weird was contracted from the transfusion. I am happy to report I have a clean bill of health. Thank you to the donor(s) that donated. I wouldn’t be here today if it wasn’t for you. I can now donate blood, and am very eager to do so. It is such a simple thing and truly saves lives- I’m proof!   

Red Cross blood collections in the month of January were the lowest seen in a decade. Across the country, severe winter storms forced thousands of expected pints of blood to go uncollected; up to 30,000 and still climbing! Just 1 pint can save up to 3 lives!

   

Join the Recovery by making an appointment to donate blood or finding a Red Cross “Recovery 2011” blood drive near you!

http://www.redcrossblood.org/

Until next time!!

Fire in the Belly

Confidence 

 

looks to be a re-occurring theme among some of the tri-blogs I read. It appears that during the off season, it is hard to keep that going. No races to affirm what you are doing is paying off. Just the cold, gray snowy days.

Confidence is something that seemed to elude me on Sunday morning at my swim meet. I looked high and low and it was nowhere to be found until the second half of the meet.

My husband, son and Mom came to cheer me on- How awesome are they??? My husband, John, earned some huge points by helping my son Jack make a sign for me. Did I mention how awesome my family is? My Mom is super, she drove all the way out to St. Charles, right after her masters swim practice and then chased my little one around and STILL had a 4 mile run to do when she got home. Thank you family- I love you all.

  
I was a little nervous, I wanted to do well for the team, for me and for my family that made the special trip out just to see me.  At first it was nothing more than pre-race nerves.  I got there and chatted a bit with my teammates and the heat sheet (list of events showing which heat you are in and who you swim against) came out. I noticed that I was in some fast heats swimming with/against some really fast girls on my team.

I was also on two relays with my tri-coach- who is a super fast and strong swimmer. WHY was I so nervous???  I’ve done swim meets a thousand times before. I shouldn’t  be this nervous. Confidence where are you? Apparently, it went out to Starbucks for a Chai latte and slice of pumpkin loaf. Grrr, I need you.

First up, 100 IM, got up on the blocks and the gun went off- I was NOT dialed in, I was too worried about God knows what, and I dove in only to have my goggles flip and fill with water. I panicked and basically didn't breath until breast stroke (3 lengths in). UGH, not a great start. I still somehow managed to improve my time from the last meet… but I was disappointed and felt I could have done better. 

Next was my first relay… the 200 medley. We had a rockstar line up. I was in for 50 fly – 3^rd position out of 4. You need to be fast, and after the 100 IM I really needed to do well here. Confidence- I could really use you right now. I was afraid I was going to let my relay team down, and disappoint my family. I ended up doing well, and our relay team did awesome.

Upon waiting for my next event, our swim coach asked me “What is it going to take to calm your nerves down?”  I stopped and thought about what she asked me. I thought about what I've been reading… I thought about what I wasn’t doing…I wasn’t focused, I didn’t have a clear mind and I wasn’t allowing the positive in. No wonder confidence took a coffee break… there wasn’t any room with all that negativity going on!

Im on the block in the middle.

Next event, I got up on the block with a little attitude. I stayed focused – reassured myself that I am good at this, and that I have worked hard and I WILL do well.

Guess what, the rest of my events went well. Surprise, Surprise.

Out of my 6 events… I walked away with 4 first place finishes, a 2nd and 3rd place. More importantly, I improved my times from the last swim meet, and put into real world practice a valuable lesson on confidence and positive thinking.

Monday night we had swim practice and…. IT…. WAS…. ROUGH!

Lots of drills and streamline kick. I thought my legs were going to fall off… especially only a day after our meet. But I swam with confidence and purpose. I reconnected with an old feeling I haven’t had since the day before my last tri race in Aug. - fire in my belly.

Welcome back my friend, it’s good to see you.

Great post on confidence: http://elizabethfedofsky.blogspot.com/