Rear View

It's that time of year to look in the rear-view. I've been reflecting on 2012 and looking ahead to 2013.  My major goal was to do twelve events in 2012 and I did it......including two century rides and a half-iron triathlon.  I've had so many favorite moments this year and many of the simpler, more joyful moments happened on a swim, bike or run.

The other day, someone posed the question - what keeps you motivated to keep working out - day after day. What keeps you inspired? I found it in each of the events I did this year. Here's what keeps me motivated:

finding my edge

pink caps

the possibility of a personal best

my team! Go YDUBTRICLUB!

to watch others succeed [with Karen at the 2012 WB Tri]

passing it on [a relay with my niece, Lydia in May]

new gear [leaving Lucinda for her B2B slumber party]

it makes me feel like a kid again - only faster [with Anna at a training ride in raleigh]

to go farther than I thought I could [after the HOT 100 in September]

to go places that I never thought I would

for road trips with race buddies [with jyo at stumpy creek]

for the post-race parties [with jess and michelle white lake]

just to finish and have fun

for the anticipation

for the stories behind the scars

to feel strong and fit

to get dirty [rainy ride in april - lost two contacts and had dirt in my teeth]

to be silly

for the memory of those who cannot

for the views

to encourage others when they tri

great causes and cures

for amazing adventures in the middle of nowhere

for the bling

for weekend rides and garden raids in the country

for the post-training rewards

to find the best in me

I can't wait to do it all again in 2013. I may race less this coming year - but I have some big goals in store. Stay tuned for my big announcement in January!

Namaste, Ya'll

A quick, fun story before I launch into my year-end round of posts. Last week, I was asked to fill in at the Fit Center - as a yoga instructor! I love yoga and try to hit one class each week (thank you, Jamie Annette!) but, I do NOT know how to teach it. They were in a pinch and the boss-man suggested I pop in a video and go from there.

So.....…..I did it! I took my friend Tony Horton with me and did parts of the P90X YOGA X video with a crowd of 15!!! Before class, I gave them a five minute warning and let them know we’d be doing power yoga and that I was coaching – and that my feelings would not be hurt if they wanted to sneak out. 

No one left! I warned them that I only knew four sanskirt words: Drishti, Namaste, Anjali Mudra and Ardha Uttanasana – but I think that's more than Tony Horton knows! 

I left the cues to Tony and encouraged them to take it all very lightly. "The word for tonight may be fun," I offered.  During the class, I suggested modifications to a lot of the poses he did.  We did  do eleventy Chaturangas (oh! Another word I know!) and by the end of class my triceps and lats were weak.

At the end, I attempted the savasana on my own (thanks for the confidence, Jess H.). I didn't rush it, I eased up out of it and was doing fine until the very end. We were seated and quiet with our awareness back into the room; webrought our hands into prayer pose and I said..........Namaste........ya'll!

Stay tuned for my upcoming posts - a race review and interview and a rear-view!

Fired Up

I reached the tipping point this week! Last week was full tilt boogie and now it's TAPER TIME!  As they say, the hay is in the barn. The bulk of the work is done and now my body is repairing itself and I'm mentally preparing to rock out the B2B Half!

I received my race packet in the mail, I have my eye on the forecast and I've even washed and set aside some of the clothes I'm wearing on race day. I've had a friend retape Lucinda's aerobars (in hot pink) and I'm replacing batteries in my watches and heart rate monitors today.

Of course, these next two weeks also mean that the bats are in the belfrey. [Check out this article!] I've gone from a 16-hour training week to ten hours this week and six hours + the race next week.

I'm already ready already! Let's do this thing! In the time that my mind has between now and race weekend, my mind vacillates between being nervous to being gung-ho. I've been prepping for this 6ish hour journey for nearly six months and I'm ready to move.

What's keeping me fired up?  MUSIC! My spin students are in big trouble because for the next two weeks we're gonna be listening to these motivational songs!

Here's what's on my SPOTIFY playlist:

Scarlet - U2
Ready to Go - Republica
Uprising - Muse
Good Morning - Mandisa f/ Toby Mac
Beautiful Day - U2
Stronger [What Doesn't Kill Ya] - Kelly Clarkson 
Girl on Fire - Alicia Keys
The Fighter - Gym Class Heroes f/Ryan Tedder



The Champ - Nelly
Titanium - David Guetta f/Sia
Lights - Ellie Goulding
Tonight is the Night - Outasight
Vertigo - U2
Dare You to Move - Switchfoot
Harder Better Stronger Faster - Orbital Fog
Stronger - Mandisa
Don't Stop Believin' - Journey