The month of March was SO much better than February!! I wasn’t sick or injured at all! Whoop! Whoop! Here’s a look at what I’ve been up to…
Training:
My training was SO much more productive and focused than February! And that makes me happy! I had a swim time trial…my CSS (critical swim speed) increased 3 seconds per 100 yards! Hello small gains in the water! I had a FTP challenge on the bike this month, where I had an increase of 10 watts over my last challenge! Hello HUGE gains on the bike! I also finished the year with a 10K road race, where I came SO close to breaking my PR from 2008! The best part…I wasn’t even rested for this race, so I can only imagine what I could have done on rested legs! HUGE hugs to Coach Kelly, with Track Cat Fitness, for challenging me on so many levels, pushing me WAY out of my comfort zone, and making me #trackcatstrong this year!
Swim Totals: 14.1 miles
Bike Totals: 234 miles
Run Totals: 54.2 miles
Reading:
Me Before You by Jojo Moyes is a very moving book. Louisa Clark is living a simple and comfortable life when she loses her job. She takes a much needed job working for Will Traynor who was in an accident and is now wheelchair bound. He is bossy, crabby, and used to being the center of the universe. Louisa’s life changes on so many levels throughout this amazing story.
How Bad Do You Want It: Motivation vs. Commitment by Carrie Cheadle gets you thinking about the differences between motivation and commitment. Do you have desire + drive to stay motivated? Are you so committed that you have determination + dedication? Do you feel like you HAVE to complete your workout or do you feel lucky that you GET to complete your workout? If you want more insight on how motivation + commitment can help you achieve your goals, this is a must read!
Do This Now: Mental Training Homework on Getting Unstuck by Carrie Cheadle is great if you are seeking change! Maybe you’re seeking change in your personal life. Maybe it is time to make a change professionally. Maybe you want change in your sport. What ever it is, now is the time to change! Now is the time to “Do Something Different!”
Listening to:
Conor Dwyer is an Olympic gold medalist who talks about how hard work in swimming has gotten him so much farther than someone with talent who doesn’t work hard. A hard worker definitely trumps someone who wastes their talent! So inspiring!
Celebrating:
Turning 40! I’m super pumped about turning 40! I’ve heard this is one of the greatest decades of our lives and I’m excited to finally be here to experience it! I’m also super excited to be the youngest one in my age group as I race and push myself to new levels this year! 😉
Getting my Coeur Sports 2017 Team gear…This kit! This Team! I absolutely LOVE EVERYTHING Coeur Sports stands for! As a Coeur Sports ambassador, I am a beacon of the Coeur mission: to inspire + encourage other women, to welcome questions from women + other athletes of all abilities + backgrounds, to be a good sport…even if my race didn’t go as planned, have fun…even if in pain, during bad weather, or when my spirit unicorn doesn’t show up to guide my way, and to give a hi-5! If you see me or one of my sisters in one of these amazing kits this year, PLEASE come chat with us! We’d LOVE to give you a hi-5 (or even a hug), answer questions, and cheer you on! I’ll even share my spirit unicorn with you! Cheers to an amazing 2017 full of lots of #heartandcourage + chasing dreams!
#Fearless check-in:
My intention for 2017 is to become more fearless! So…how have I been doing with this? I feel like I was much more successful during January, but I’ve still made some progress on becoming more fearless in March. In my personal life, I have not had a drop of alcohol in 2017 = WIN! I am still working on facing those things that truly scare me, but this has required me to take baby steps because some of these things have a REALLY TIGHT hold on me. I am also really working on not letting others opinions of me bother me, but this is very challenging since it too has a TIGHT hold on me. How do you get those tight holds to let you go?!?! At work, we have started a new unit that I have never taught before thanks to our newly adopted standards. As a result, I am much less knowledgable than I am comfortable with. This has challenged me to be more #fearless at work, because I have had to openly admit that I often “don’t know” all of the answers. SCARY! I have made some BIG gains while training this month! This has caused me to have to stare fear in the face and stretch WAY out of my comfort zone! I also pushed myself HARD during my 10K road race…so hard that at about mile 4 self-doubt started to infiltrate my thoughts. How long can I keep pushing myself at this pace?! I’m feeling tired…what if the wheels fall off?! I can’t believe how hard this is…what if I work this hard and I don’t reach my goal?! I’m so proud of myself for changing the negative channel in my head and pushing myself hard all the way through the finish chute! While I’ve made some progress, I still have a LOT more progress to make, but don’t we all?! I’m a continuous work in progress!
How was your month of March? What were your March highlights? What are you excited for?
PushMyLimits 
I’m posting this comment separately so you can delete it…. It’s finish chute, not finish shoot!
Oops! Misspelling! Thank you!
“How do you get those tight holds to let you go?!?!”
First you have to realize that it is you who is holding on, not the thoughts. You control your thoughts, not the other way around.
It’s a deep process, and being a recovering drunk helps because what is a luxury for normal folk is an absolute must for people like me.
If you’re really interested in changing the “hold”, let me know and I’ll put something together for you to work on. I think I still have your email address.
Thanks Jim! If you have time, I’d love your insight on how to let the things that have tight holds go. I appreciate it!
I’ll work on putting it together this coming week.
Thank you! Much appreciated!
I love all the smiling pictures in this post-well done on a great month of training. My training, as always, seems to be hit and miss due to the unpredictability of my offspring. I’m not getting worked up about it though…in Sept Chris will enter kindergarten, so I will be able to get more consistency in my workouts then.
As for what other people thinking having a hold on you. That happens to me too and think one of my problems is social media. I put so much more of myself (good and bad) out there and it stings when I get nasty or negative feedback, but it also hurts when I get none at all. I don’t want to quit social media since there are a lot of positives too. I can get some great encouragement, advice, and ideas from other people. I hope you make some progress in what is holding you tight in the next month 🙂 Cheers
Thanks Amy! Crazy that Chris is off to kindergarten soon! Will he be at full day or half day kindergarten? Social media may play a small part, but one of my other tight holds is not social media related at all. I’m hoping to make some big improvements in April…figuring out how to really let it go will be the key! Cheers to April and hopefully more spring like weather!
He’ll in half day (3 hours) 4 or 5 days a week (he’ll go every other Friday morning). Keep working at what is holding you tight-it will be worth the effort! I’m so happy with the nicer weather and have my first outdoor ride planned this morning. I’m not as excited as I was (actually a bit nervous), but want to #rideformike
That’s awesome that you’ll have some time each day to yourself this fall! I’ll keep working! Have a great ride and don’t let fear hold you back! 🤗
My highlights are balancing my full-time job, a blog, my 5 month old and family, while staying fit… Busy Busy! Have you thought about challenging yourself with a 45 minute plank? I have an article on my blog about it. Great article and thanks for sharing your thoughts.
Thank you. I have zero time or ambition to hold plank for 45 minutes. Training for Ironman while balancing work life, family life, social life, etc fills my time and my heart.
I said the same thing before I did it 🙂
I just don’t have the desire. That’s a requirement to turn it into a reality! 😉
Agree to disagree on that Kecia. My reason behind it, sometimes you have to do what you don’t want to do to succeed in what you want. Just food for thought 🙂
We definitely have to agree to disagree on this one! 😉