As a coach, I need to know a lot about my clients. Daily stats, pretty HR charts, elevation, cadence and pace are handy, but most beneficial, is mental attitude. It’s why, as coaches, we ask for daily logs. We can see stressors both physically and mentally, in not only your workouts, but daily life as well.  That affects training and racing.

My clients work hard, put in long training hours, and know what it takes to perform optimally. They ask their bodies daily to give it their best, to push forward. They ask it to slow down for endurance, to speed up for tempo and to go long, hard distances. A lot is being asked of our bodies both mentally and physically while training, and most do it out there alone. It may be on a lonely country road, a road that they have put hundreds and hundreds of miles on already. They know the routine, they know the scenery, they are out there for one purpose and that is to train their body and their mind, to accomplish their goals, and to build dreams and even the most stalwart can lose a bit of mental focus.

So, I am asking my clients this week to write down what motivates them. They need a hard copy. Write it down and keep it on display somewhere so, on those days that negativity slips in, the pool seems to cold, the trainer to boring and the dreadmill to monotonous, they have a reminder. It is something that triggers the GO button. A reminder of why they do what they do and how that feels.

Here is what I am asking my clients this week, and as a coach it will help me as well.

List three things that motivate you in your training

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2.

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List Three Race feelings that you have been through

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List 3 task goals that you would like to accomplish during “off” season i.e. I want to site every 5 strokes, I want to lower my resting HR rate.

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2.

3.

Name 3 visualizations that you can use in a race.  I.e. Be a Locomotive

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2.

3.

Write Down 3 Mantras.  I.e.  I am Strong

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3 Anchors that motivate you: This could be a song lyric, color. Something that changes negative space to positive.

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These will change as training changes. It’s all for growth. As you change, re-write them, keep them current and USE THEM.

Pain, NOLA and the tears that refuse to come.

I have been dealing with a lot of pain lately. The dull, constant pain that one tends to ignore and push through. The kind that mentally wears you down, more than physically. I narrowed it down to my knee. It would lock completely on runs, the same as it did at Phoenix Rock and Roll Half. No worries, I thought. I have noticed my runs gradually getting slower since that race and my bike was a constant all out effort lately. Winter blahs, I thought, push through it. Keep it Going. You delivered a 10 pd, 8oz kid with a big noggin, NATURALLY!! YOU GOT THIS! Piece of cake. I thought it was just a joint mouse, the meniscus. Damage done, nothing I could do except train and race with some pain until season ends. I may be a tad stubborn. A tad determined.  It's what gets me through. These are suppose to be good qualities, right?

Last Tuesday, I was on a run and at mile 3 my knee and body said " Sorry girl, you are done" Damn YOU! NO! You have already screwed me with 3 stress fractures in the last 2 years. Come on! Play Fair!  I flew out to Colorado for you, to learn HOW to run, proper form, and to teach others so, I didn't get stress fractures. I got that down. Why are you throwing me a curve ball? " NO" it replied "and since you are being such a ninny, I'm throwing in some IT band issues too." Fine. I'll just limp 3 miles home, grumble, bitch and schedule an MRI.

"Collateral ligament issues, Vastus Lateralis Musculatural possible tear and your IT band is severally inflamed" Came the doctor's voice today. Oh, is that all? Well, maybe I'm not such a big wuss after all. Shoot me up, doc and girl is all good, right? Apparently, no.

A Huge defeat. I knew it was coming. Even though I would not admit it verbally, I knew in the back of my mind what was going to evolve. It was not total denial, an ignorance is bliss ordeal. I was pondering, scheming. I just wouldn't verbalize it. I'm running at a 2 minute per mile slower pace, I knew something was up. My heart just didn't want to hear the answer.

NOLA is out.  Indianapolis Half is out. OD'S to prepare are gone and Boise is just a dream. 4-6 weeks physical therapy and THEN I can gradually start training. A cortisone shot and lots of time in the pool with the buoy only. I can't bounce off the wall. SUCK. Oh, and in 3-4 weeks , you can aqua jog! Go Me. If therapy goes well, we can accomplish Colorado HIM. Alright, I'll take it but, in the meantime, I'm not going to sit around. There has to be fire. I will accept defeat  and all it's ugliness but, I will not accept depression. I will not sit. It's taken all weekend to ponder. I had to clear head space, get inside my head and sort, organize, not feel sorry and find my passion. It's been being chipped away at the last few months. Many better athletes than I work through pain daily, I understand but, it wears down your soul. You have to have a game plan girl.

 SO, here it is for all of you to see. You can all make me accountable. I started triathlon coaching 3 weeks ago and it is my responsibility to the 9 athletes that have hired me so far, to give them my best, make them the best athletes possible and help them achieve their goals. I ask that they trust me and that they listen and I ask them to work. To be inspired and to find heart. I expect nothing less from myself.
Your season just got jacked.  Yeah, your screwed. PICK IT UP GIRL. There are reasons that you cannot see yet but, everything does happen for purpose. Truly believe that. You do not have time to sulk.
4-6 weeks of therapy. I'm going back to my weights. My first love. How can I improve while healing? What can I do? I'm hitting my back, shoulders, arms and abs to the strictness of a Fitness model routine. I'm hitting them hard and I'm hitting them often. Building upper body and core will enhance my swim, save my legs even more for the swim. Pull, baby, Pull. Lean it out. I eat clean but, I mean a strict lean out. I'm cutting. Winter has been kind to me but, there is room for improvement. Strict diet. I'll cut 8-10 pounds. Competition weight baby. I have been there before. I have raced there before. It's entirely possible. Leaning it out will only help my performance in Colorado. I cannot race but, I'm not going to sit, especially if the cortisone and Naproxen takes away the edge of the pain. I'll come into Colorado leaner and stronger with hopefully 16 weeks to build into it. Not a bad plan and if I cut down lean enough and my legs stay in some semblance of shape, I may throw in a bikini/fitness competition in there, in June as well.  Nothing serious, just fun. Why not? I mean, who says that a girl can't have the best of both worlds. Just making the best out of the cards that I have been dealt. IT"S TIME TO GET INSPIRED and really who doesn't want to be able to bounce a quarter off their ass? It's all going to be ALL GOOD!

Jallopy and the tri-bike

 I was handed a large chunk of money this week, of which I have yet to deposit, with more on the way. A windfall. Go buy another car, I was told. I sucked in air. My car?  *Gasp*  Okay.... yes, I know it needs ANOTHER grand of work done to it but, it's paid for and it has all these fantastic stickers on the back!! The weather is warming which means the bike rack is going on the back and it fits perfectly. Do you know how long it took to earn those stickers? That's a right of passage! This is all just silly. It threw me into a panic!  I know.....I can buy all those stickers at my next event but, somewhere along the 3 years that I have owned my car, I fell ass deep in love with it. 

It's a pit, it's almost always dirty, there are forever at least 5-6 water bottles rolling around in the back, swim bag, gym bag, bike on the back. Crayons, school books, American girl dolls galore!  It's a chaotic mess, just like me. We have the same persona. We both have some age on us, we both still look hella good. I live in this car! It's my home. How can I give it up? It has, on the most part, been faithful to me and the one time it did fail, it died at a mall parking lot.  A mall parking lot!! A mall I wasn't even aiming for. It left me stranded at the mall for 4 hours. This car is good to me!! Do you see it's benefits?

 Now, I have to enforce the value of the statements I am making. My eyes literally roll back in ecstasy at that new car smell. A smellgasm for sure. Until this car,  I had to have a new one every 2 years.  A complete car snob. And now, I have found comfort in a car. I need to keep her. Hell, I even pose with this car. See above. I am a proud owner of stinky tri bag car. So, it was a no brainer. I'm bagging the money. It's hitting savings for a rainy day when she ( my car) decides she cannot handle me anymore. When I have finally wore her out and we have to part ways.

Instead, I am taking a part of that cash and buying another kind of ride. A tri-bike. My coach told me awhile back that triathletes are a rare breed. That they would drive up to a race with a bike that was twice the value of the car they roll up in. Maybe this makes me an official triathlete. It proves my dedication to the sport. An initiation. My bike is not going to be double the value of my car but, I bet if I resold each one of them separately they would bring in the SAME value. All I know is that I am more excited thinking about shopping for a tri-bike than a new car. 

So, in the next few weeks I will roll up to the sparkly tri-shop and buy myself a pretty sweet ride. I'll name her, my ride, and proudly put her on the back of my car and silently pray we make it all the way home.

And this is how the story goes......

This is going to be a long one. The beginning, background and where it has lead me. It's actually a good story so, hang on. I could certainly write chapters on each portion of my life but, for a blog sake we will just roll with synapses.
I have 3 children. 2 of which have a very rare mitochondrial disorder. The journey that they have lead me through is nothing short of amazing. I have gained fear, knowledge, courage, insanity, peace, love and forgiveness in humanity, just through the birth of my children.
I was told by my first neurologist that my little beautiful blond girl may never walk, talk or function with normalcy. I found him pompous. I didn't agree. My first instinct was to prove him wrong. I was angry at the world. Although most people look at anger as a negative emotion. That emotion served us all well.
I have battled and fought and so have my daughters. Numerous therapies 3-4 times a week, doctors appointments, at one point in our lives we adhered to NACD where I was doing almost 15 different exercises 3 times daily on top of therapies and daily life. She blossomed. It worked to a point where she walked, she talked and she fought just as hard as I did. She went to regular school. We fought there also. We fought until someone ( a teacher) told us she would never read. Again. Anger. It does work. I pulled her out of regular school and we home schooled for 2 years. She can now read.

My organic eat clean food obsession is a result of my girls also. They have an issue with their Krebs cycle and again, another blog post to come. Their mitochondria works they just have Pintos instead of Ferrari's. What can A mom do? She can nourish them....well. And make sure that what they put into their bodies is processed and used as efficiently as possible.

So now, I have healthy, vibrant children who I still fight and have gut wrenching struggles for daily but, in all our battles to help them achieve to their best potential, somewhere along the line I blossomed too.

I would like to think that where my life is heading now is a result of my blind focus and determination of my will and what I wanted to achieve in my personal life. Not even close. It is a result of 3 kids. 2 that I have had to fight for and somehow I came out on top.

My girls went back to public school a few years back. They are social creatures and strive on daily interaction with other kiddos. This left one mom confused and with nowhere to go. I had put everything I had within me to help them walk, even though it wasn't until age 3. Help them talk, even though that didn't come till much later. Help them see,  help them read. We had accomplished much and it was time to let them fly. Time for Kristine to come out of her mommy hole.

I started at a local gym. I got out. I met people. I thrived at it. Eating clean, healthy organic food and lifting weights 3 times a week shreds some serious poundage. It was about 40 plus for me. It was nice.
I started to feel better about who I was a person. I was starting to live my life for me. You always live your life for your kids first but, I think somewhere a lot of mom's lose who they are as a person. A unique person.
 Training lead to cardio. Cardio lead to Endurance and endurance flickered sight of races. First A mini-marathon, then a sprint triathlon, an Olympic and an Half Iron Man. Half Iron man lead to others wanting to know what I was doing and why, oh and " Can you help me out too" YES.... I would love to.  I can honestly say I love what I do. I love being who I am. I love training, I love racing and I absolutely love watching others achieve their goals. No greater joy. It's why I decided to train. Personal training, Triathlon and run coaching.

I thought I was doing all of this for me. I thought I had stepped out of that ginormous mommy hole. That this was all about Kristine and helping others until I was in a seminar a few months back and was asked to share my story. A comment was made. " So, you are doing running, biking and swimming, the things your girls find difficult and cannot" WOW..... a step back. Reality check. I'm still trying to conquer it. Yes.... Yes I am. I will do and do with joy, with them right along with me, the things that they find difficult. A way of coping but, it has lead to  many a great things.

And if I can help my children succeed and I can personally succeed then I have been blessed. A need to share. It's why I chose to coach.