As promised…

Well just over a week later we are together again and I am still babying this foot trying to get over this tendonitis. However, I have made strides to help not only treat but also make sure this doesn’t reoccur anytime soon…hopefully. I am a big fan of supporting and promoting local business and am a team member for our local run store. So when the issues persisted I of course went in and had my foot properly analyzed and ordered orthotics to help support and correct some issues. The Foot Landing and Sherri have always been a wealth of knowledge and help to our running community so I was much appreciated. I of course also began treating as directed by the doctor and more than likely won’t run until my first race of the season in 2 weeks the only difficult part is I am on my feet most of the day while working so I will have to be conscious to take it easy and refrain from ignoring and pushing through the pain. I have taken this opportunity to focus on swim and bike training which are always areas that could improve especially the swim. Exciting news though my race kit has arrived for this year and I’m in love and the combo of my US newton’s and matching mojo hat completes it (pictures below). Without further ado I will introduce my little not so baby sister… Carli

The Perks

There are countless perks to being the family member of a triathlete. Of course the first to come to mind are the materialistic things. All the cool goodies he gets to share from his sponsors, I have made it through this school year as a 5th grade teacher living off of nuun tablets! One I am looking forward to is my Love the Pain gold label hat 😀 I’ll move on though.

Another perk I have grown to love are all the family trips we have been on going to support our athlete. Our family is close knit to begin with but there is nothing like all waking up at o’dark thirty to go down to a starting line to cheer him on, then move on to tracking on our phones! “Hey did you see he took off so and so seconds/minutes from his last marathon”. The hours of keeping the little ones entertained until we can spot “daddy” running or biking by. Then the feeling of all of us cheering and screaming him across the finish line, I have never seen prouder faces on our parents and grandparents than those moments.

Now my favorite perk of all is the even stronger bond it has created between myself and my brother. I have always looked up to him because I mean really he is my big brother but watching him push himself to become a better person for not only himself but his family is amazing. The number of hours he puts into his training is mind blowing, while still being able to handle all of his daddy duties. He has motivated me in the last year to pick up a new hobby to bring myself to a happier place in my life through running. Now by no means am I up to the dedication of my brother but I am slowly becoming a stronger runner and healthier individual. He was by my side as I started my journey with my first 5k in a very long time and kept me going. The first time I wanted to stop he gave me the motivational “you got it, keep going “, the 5th time I wanted to stop I got the real big brother “stop being a pansy you got it, you can throw up after”! I am super excited that this February he will also be by my side as I run my first half marathon. It has been a dream of mine for a long time and he will keep me motivated to accomplish my dream. As the time draws closer my “coach” keeps reminding me I need to keep working, the miles won’t just come to you, you have to be ready for them. He has been a true motivation all my life, I always wanted my big brother to think I was the cool sibling even if I was the annoying little sister. I wanted to always make him as proud of me as I was of him. Even as adults I think he is one of the coolest people I know. Always willing to give of himself to help all those around him, and not just friends or family. He competes for the amazing RODS charity that helps special needs children find forever homes and give them the loving and fulfilling life they deserve. So my final words will be a push for you all to go and do what you can to help my cool brother reach his goal as he’s now committed to the 2018 Dopey Challenge for the RODS foundation and his new fundraising goal is $3200. Most people would tell themselves they could never raise that much money and run that 48.6 miles (5k,10k, Half Marathon, Full Marathon) but not my brother…

 

Another intro to a family member that means so much to me and hopefully help you gain some clarity into my journey not only personally but as a support system. I am blessed to have so much support as well as yes someone to share all the great product with! These next two weeks is going to be spent hitting the bike and swim pretty hard in hopes to heal so I can show and turn it on in the run for the sprint on April 9th. After that sights are set to St. Anthony’s Olympic at the end of the month which is definitely a favorite and one I intend to make a solid showing at.

 

Team pages and workout data links:

http://www.rods.org/team/collin/ … Racing for Orphans with Down Syndrome

http://www.nuunlife.com … Nuun Hydration

http://www.lovethepain.com … Love the Pain Endurance Apparel/Mojo Racing Team

http://www.teamironcowboy.com … Coaching Site

http://www.baseperformance.com … Base Performance Hydration/Nutrition

http://www.honeystinger.com… nutrition ambassador

http://www.thefootlanding.com … Team Player FL

https://www.strava.com/athletes/9908772 …Tracked Workouts

Transitions…

This past month has been eventful and full of just that, transitions. As I entered into the month of December I knew I had quite a bit on my plate, including making the transition from maintenance training to olympic training schedules. I also officially welcomed another younger sibling into the family as my sister was married early on in the month. The week following I was wrapping up finals midway through the month for my first semester back to school in my undergrad program. Then of course as I’m sure like most of you I joined the mad dash to prepare for Christmas as it was my 10 month olds first! Now As I have successfully transitioned through the first and now into the second week of my olympic training program which I am beyond excited about the next on the agenda… Wedding Day. Thats right tomorrow marks single digit countdown to the big day. I couldn’t be happier overall with the month of December but it taught me a lot looking back. Most important to focus on what’s in front of you and that you can control but look ahead and plan for that next step or…leap.

Yes it was a busy month and yes a squeezed in 5o plus hour work weeks between it all but it was easier to handle as I almost approached every task like I would a triathlon. I knew what discipline or event I was currently performing but was looking one step ahead planning my time and energy to maintain so to reach every goal insight and with some let in the tank to spare. Those who fail to plan, plan to fail! Always keep that in mind when approaching training and life. I also take this time to apologize for my absence over the last month and promise to be more vigilant in posting and updating. Extremely excited and looking forward to married life, my second semester back in school, training and I’m sure so much more. I am also over the moon thankful for the support of all my loved ones, friends, ambassador teammates, racing team mates and can’t wait to take this journey moving forward with you all. Much of my training this past month up until a week and half ago has been sporadic and indoors mostly so stats aren’t available for most. However links are available to view and communicate if you want to talk training or have any questions and especially tips… yes of course I’m still learning in fact I learned something this very evening. Until next time goodnight all!

Team pages and workout data links:

http://www.rods.org/team/collin/ … Racing for Orphans with Down Syndrome

http://www.nuunlife.com … Nuun Hydration

http://www.lovethepain.com … Love the Pain Endurance Apparel/Mojo Racing Team

http://www.teamironcowboy.com … Coaching Site

http://www.baseperformance.com … Base Performance Hydration/Nutrition

http://www.honeystinger.com… nutrition ambassador

http://www.thefootlanding.com … Team Player FL

https://www.strava.com/athletes/9908772 …Tracked Workouts

 

Humble and Thankful…

Training and competing in any sport at any level can be a humbling experience. This week in the mix of work, school and the holiday festivities I took a 5k that I had hopes to set a tone for the year to come or finish 2016 on a high note with… needless to say things didn’t go as planned. For several reasons I was not fueled, rested and recovered come race day and wasn’t able to overcome the damage done. However its the failures or near misses that teach us most moving forward if we are able to accept them for what they are. For instance I know and should have gotten a good nights rest instead of running on five hours sleep. I also shouldn’t divert from normal fueling on the night before and by no means should eat greasy heavy Chinese food. As small as these deviations sound they definitely threw my body for a loop and I was by no means ready to perform at peak level. However I learned and I live to race another day. Like most highly competitive individuals though I wasn’t going to go out this year or set the tone for the year to come with a near age group place miss. So on December 10th I’ll learn from this humbling experience and even though its anther short 5k I will come out prepared and ready to compete and leave it all out there.

This week each year reminds us to be Thankful. Thankful for those around us, the blessings we have and what we have to look forward to. All to often we take these things for granted. Surrounded by friends and family on Thanksgiving this year it reminded me once again to take pause and be thankful for what I have been blessed with and what the future holds.

Training has been going as smoothly as possible with few interruptions or adaptations to accommodate changing work and school schedules. Looking forward to the transition into Olympic Distance Tri training December 19th. I was fortunate to win a pair of Hoka One One Clifton 3’s and received them this week. Suspicions confirmed that they weren’t my cup of tea after the second test run and first in this pair. However don’t be afraid to try new things whether its variations in training methods or equipment.

Team pages and workout data links:

http://www.rods.org/team/collin/ … Racing for Orphans with Down Syndrome

http://www.nuunlife.com … Nuun Hydration

http://www.lovethepain.com … Love the Pain Endurance Apparel/Mojo Racing Team

http://www.teamironcowboy.com … Coaching Site

http://www.baseperformance.com … Base Performance Hydration/Nutrition

http://www.honeystinger.com… nutrition ambassador

http://www.thefootlanding.com … Team Player FL

https://www.strava.com/athletes/9908772 …Tracked Workouts

 

Flexibility…

Most of you probably saw this title and thought, yes of course it’s important to be limber or have great physical flexibility as an athlete. While that is the case, thats not where this post is headed. Some of you may have noticed an increased lapse in time between reading this and my previous post. This is where the flexibility comes in, you see all to often we feel like we have to do it all. That nothing can slip change or wait and if it does that means we have failed. Today I was upset at myself because for the first time in my training program I missed a day of training and let me tell you that doesn’t happen with me. I will give you my reasoning, which some may call an excuse, but I think it’s only fair to explain. Today I woke up feeling the beginnings of a stomach bug that had run its course through the rest of my family this past weekend. On top of that, I knew today for me was going to be a long day but had bargained with myself to try and feel better throughout the day in hopes to make the sickness manageable to get my training in this evening. My fiancé then pointed out that she unfortunately would be working late this evening, so running after I got out of work wouldn’t be an option. At this moment it dawned on me that I was falling victim to something I preach to everyone especially athletes, lack of flexibility. 

You see, there are going to be days where training is either cut short, altered in some way shape or form, or even missed all together. That’s life! Sometimes your body is going to tell you that what you had in mind is not going to work that day, or your schedule isn’t going to be capable of being adjusted or you just plain need to take a break. That’s ok, I don’t recommend making a habit of it, however every now and then life happens. Don’t let important things in your life such as your family, work, your body or other commitments or essentials suffer because you have to get that 110 min ride in or your 45 min recovery run. Yes, these are part of your training for a reason but it’s ok to back up your training schedule a day or to miss a workout. Ultimately, your not a failure for missing or adjusting, nor are you going to lose the race or perform horribly because you didn’t stick to the exact plan. Trust the process, it’s a journey. There are going to be ups and downs, good days and bad, hard days and some not as challenging, but in the end one day isn’t going to destroy the entire goal. So, again I apologize for the absence but I guess it was just me being… flexible.

Other Important news since we last caught up…

The Cubs won the World Series

Donald Trump was elected POTUS

And I am now an official Base Performance team member as an Ambassador! I know many of you have seen my updates for team’s and ambassador programs in which I will explain in greater detail toward the middle of December and be able to offer you all some codes for killer discounts and promo’s!

Team pages and workout data links:

rods.org/team/collin/ … Racing for Orphans with Down Syndrome

http://www.nuunlife.com … Nuun Hydration

http://www.lovethepain.com … Love the Pain Endurance Apparel and Lifestyle

http://www.teamironcowboy.com … Coaching Site

http://www.baseperformance.com … Base Performance Hydration/Nutrition

http://www.thefootlanding.com … Team Player FL

https://www.strava.com/athletes/9908772 …Tracked Workouts

Processed with MOLDIV

 

 

Momma Knows Best!

This woman truly needs no introduction, but here goes…She’s my mom. Ok really though, she’s not just my mom, she has two other children, my younger brother Corey and sister Carli. She’s an inspiration to me to say the least, a person that I will talk in detail about later in the blog and journey. Until then sit back, relax and read because, “Momma knows best!”

The Heart of an Athlete….is it nature or nurture?  As the mother of an athlete and ironman, I have had plenty of time to ponder this question. I know I speak for millions of moms who have logged countless hours sitting on bleachers in the sun, rain, cold…cheering for our warriors on the field, track, and arena.     Yes, we believe that our child is the best and brightest on the field….and guess what, they ARE! But at some point, these young men and women leave their sport for other things…school, work, family…leaving the true athlete. The ones whose hearts beat for the thrill of the competition and joy the victory.

I am lucky enough to have one of those special athletes. As a child, he may not have been the best to his coaches on the field but his heart told a different story. He loved the sport…whatever it was that he played. You could see it on his face, read it in his moves…it drove him…inspired him… gave him the courage to keep going when things were difficult. These are the moments that a mom lives for…to see her child doing something that challenges him and rising and conquering that challenge! Collin was born with that heart….the heart of a champion.

Although his life has been full of obstacles both personal and on the playing fields…Collin continues to move forward. I would like to think that he has learned some of this along the way by example from his role models and the adults in his life…but inherently I know that he was born this way. Wow, I guess I can take credit for that! I would like to think that he has gotten some of that “I can do it if I set my mind to it” from his stubborn ol’ mother…we are very much alike and I could not be more proud of that fact…but back to that heart that beats inside him….I used to think that all of his races, marathons, and triathlons were for him. But for what reason…he knows, we all knew he was capable but to Collin that just wasn’t enough. Collin runs for a purpose! No, not to keep in shape…although that does help…but to help those that do not have the life that he has lived. One with a loving family that support and comfort, love and respect everything that you do. He runs for RODS – Racing for Orphans with Downs Syndrome. You see, that athlete’s heart now loves some special little girls…Braelynn and Gracelynn. They a beautiful, funny and perfect in every way. Collin and Suzie (their mommy) are wonderful, caring parents and are so very blessed.  It is because of these blessings that Collin runs…to give back, to inspire others by his blog messages, to raise awareness and funds for those much less fortunate than he….and that my friends is because he has the heart of a true champion and always will! It is not about the competition anymore that drives him but the thrill of victory for those he loves and supports that their lives will be better is some small way. Keep running Collin….and I will always be there…cheering as you cross that finish line! 

Being the mother of a triathlete, especially one in training for an IronMan can be very unsettling. No matter how old or how strong or capable your child is, a mother worries! In this mother’s heart, I know that this is a personal goal… one that Collin will train hard to reach because he wants to succeed so I will do what I do best… worry and pray and support him on his road to Chattanooga!

Team pages and workout data links:

rods.org/team/collin/ … Racing for Orphans with Down Syndrome

http://www.nuunlife.com … Nuun Hydration

http://www.lovethepain.com … Love the Pain Endurance Apparel and Lifestyle

http://www.teamironcowboy.com … Coaching Site

http://www.thefootlanding.com … Team Player FL

https://www.strava.com/athletes/9908772 …Tracked Workouts