Workout buddies ROCK!

My fantastic friend Stacy is visiting from North Carolina this weekend and she practiced Day 4: Peak Pose Pincha Mayurasana with me and then joined me for a 4-mile training run! What a pal!

I cut our yoga practice short at 30 minutes because neither of us were going to make it into a forearm stand today AND we wanted to get a good run in before heading up to Bayfield, WI, to kayak around the Apostle Islands :) 

Having friends that have values and interests similar to one's own is such a boost to confidence, mood, motivation, and accountability.  Thank you, Stace!

@CoachBurow #accountability #yoga #trainingrun #workoutpartner #apostleislands 

Tri-ing, again!

In the books: Long Course Triathlon, 07.19.2014

Sort of.

Apparently, the timing system at the event wasn't working properly AND I wasn't fast enough to capture with back-up timing.  Oh well, I know I completed all of the events in the time I had anticipated! Plus, I have my medal and finisher shirt :)

 

Here's a recap:

• Pick the event - Paul Bunyan Triathlon in Bemidji, MN. July 19, 2014.
• Start training for this event - I had completed the Med City Marathon Relay with 3 others in May, so my running, yoga, and core foundations were in place.  I needed to add the bike and swim.  
• Be dedicated, even during long weeks and on special trips or mini-vacations - some days I wasn't home until 8pm and still had a workout planned.  Two weekends before the event, I went to a rodeo and visited friends; brought the bike along to get a ride in.
• Arrange for room & board - I have generous, kind, supportive friends who let me [us] stay at their house the whole weekend and even came to the race to cheer!
• Pack, drive 5 hours, get to bed at a decent time, sleep a few winks, and wake up in time to have breakfast and coffee! before arriving at the course moments after the transition area opened.
• Grab race packet, clamber into wet suit, get marked (race #), and pick out appropriate color swim cap (denotes which wave, or flight, of swim).
• Quite possibly the hardest part of all = getting into the water to acclimate pre-race. BRRRRRRR!
• And then . . . do what training has prepared me for! Swim - Bike - Run!

The Paul Bunyan Long-Course Triathlon is a 1-mile swim, 20-mile bike, and 5-mile run.  

Pre-race excitement

Swimmers ready

Gorgeous morning for a swim

Everyone getting set up

Adorable little cheerleader!

Gah! So tired and walking up the hill

Finish line

Done!

I am grateful to have a supportive workout buddy and training partner to keep me motivated and encourage me to challenge the limits I sometimes put on myself.  What an accomplishment for both of us.  Now we gear up for our next event in a couple of weeks - looking forward to it!

Life Goes On

As the calendar year comes to an end, I find myself looking forward to many new adventures in the next 3, 6, and 12 months (and, of course, beyond).  

What a whirlwind of change 2012 has proven to be in this lady's life; for better or worse in the immediate sense, all things work together for good.  I have laughed hard, cried, trained, quit training, started training again, achieved goals, fallen short of goals, gotten angry, given forgiveness, taken lots of naps, gone for periods of time with too little sleep, been injured and healed, learned a lot, dated, winery-toured, snuggled my nephew, counseled friends, received support, frustrated many, confused a lot more, and still - here I am.  I am a child of God, a daughter, a sister, and a damn good friend.  Everything that has happened in my life, whether by my choice or by indirect consequence of my choice(s), I am remembering that a heart of gratitude and love not only feels best, a heart that full will bless others.

I am in great company and although many, many, many circumstances did not turn out as I anticipated, I am slowing down and taking a breath . . . counting to 10 . . . and moving forward.

Good health to you - be safe, and be well!
 

How many times can I be the come-back kid?

Since I have been teaching more and more group fitness classes at TWC and have been working various other places in the community, my personal training and small group training has picked up (Praise God!).  As well, I am more active by . . . default?  I don't know about that, but I am slowly gaining muscle endurance and s-l-o-w-l-y gaining muscle strength.  (Unsure what is going on but my body still won't tolerate strength+endurance physical activity for very long without pain.  Interesting.)  One of the small groups that I am working with is a 'Beginner 5k' training group!  Therefore, I am holding myself accountable for running the route 2 days before the training group runs it so that I know approximately how long it will take to complete and what the terrain is like.  Got my behind out there this morning, despite wanting to "skip it" due to Minnesota's ever-changing climate (last week: 60-70 degrees, sunny; today: snow/sleet). 

I continue to come back to blogging when I "feel" like I am getting back into "training" :-p I do have some goals and even some upcoming events that I plan to participate in, so I suppose this may translate into more frequent blogs in the upcoming months. *insert applause, hoots and hollers*

Has anyone else been using foam rollers?  I have been using mine daily and have been encouraging just about EVERY client/patient/friend to utilize one!  Foam rollers are somewhat "trendy" right now, but I will say that I started using them nearly 15 years ago when I had access to one at home (dad was rehabing from a vehicle crash and had one).  The rollers can be used to massage muscles and break up scar tissue - really effective for Chronic Myofascial Pain, injury rehab, muscle tightness, etc. 

Another note - I have been experimenting with making kale chips and "ice cream" (not mixed - ew).  When I get recipes that I like A LOT, I'll share!  Meanwhile, I'm also going to start experimenting more with the juicer my housemate has . . . and figure out ways to use the 'fibrous leftovers' [because it is very nutritious and it is wasteful not to use!].

Okee-dokey then.

Are you training for anything?  Training yourself to be more physically active, in general, perhaps?! :-)