Off season, mind & faith

Well, its officially off season for me.  Actually its been off season for a while and I'm really enjoying it.  Currently my schedule is do something one day and do the next thing either three or four days later.  It could not have come at a better time as my mind and shoulder needed it.  

I explained the shoulder thing last week.  The mind is a very different problem.  It is harder to overcome then a physical aliment. The mind / spirit needs to be strong to overcome many of the discomforts and challenges this sport brings.  Although I love what I do it was getting to me and this rest has provided the rejuvenation I needed.   When I jumped back into the pool this week my spirits soared, I smiled and felt like I belonged there. While walking this week with my husband it was everything I could do not to run. I will be ready to reach deep to meet the training requirements for the Full when Coach decides its time to start that.

Not only do we need a strong mind we need faith. I'm not sure my tri buddies would call it faith maybe they would use the term self confidence or mental fortitude. "Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen " Hebrews 11:1  It often happens while listening to Rev. Larry's sermon at Faith United the words can be incorporated into my crazy world of triathlon.  In the sermon Rev. Larry mentioned a song Michael Card wrote about faith -  “To hear with my heart, to see with my soul, to be guided by a hand I cannot hold, to trust in a way I cannot see, that’s what faith must be.”   I realized during this sermon triathletes need an overabundance of faith to sign up for a race.  We need to have faith in our coach(es), our training plans, our nutrition, our family to help and our own mental fortitude to push through whatever comes our way.  There is a lot of faith involved because when race days comes we have the assurance of hope we will cross that finish line but never know what challenges the race course will bring on that day.  To read Larry's sermon go to:   http://faithunited.ca/content/130804-faith-pt1-yes-lord

So while its off season I'm working on my mind/spirit and faith to hopefully get to that finish line.  I'm also working on another very hard demon which I'll call the cookie monster.  Yep, when it comes to food I can be like the cookie monster. In the off season we need reduce our calories and if required, like me, try to shed a few pounds before race season begins again. 

I'll leave it this week by saying have faith in yourself and try something new.  You never know where it will take you.  It could be triathlon. 

And the fun begins

Finish line @ IMMT

A few weeks back my friends Jeff, Erin, Sheila & I volunteered at IM Mount Tremblant (IMMT).  For Jeff & I it was our way of ensuring our race spot for the 2014 race. For Sheila it was bitter sweet as she could not race due to injury and decided to volunteer instead. That's the way it is with this sport.  I'm lucky race day is over 300 days away as my shoulder has been nagging me for some time.  While in Mt. Tremblant with Coach Paul it decided it had enough after only .5K swim.  It has only been six weeks but it seems like a life time since I swam last.  

I am happy to report the shoulder held up during a very small swim at the lake with the DRTC team yesterday.  Thanks to Kim for lending me her flutter board.  Now to see what Dr. J says but I'm heading to the pool in the morning.  A few laps and then I'll work on my whip kick and general kick.

Bikes, bikes and more bikes in transition

This is all part of getting stronger for my next challenge the IM Mount Tremblant full Ironman distance.  A full is comprised of a 4K swim, 180K bike & 42K run.  I was watching Ironman Kona on TV today and the announcer said if you have to ask why you do it you just don't understand. I really liked the comment because it is so hard to explain why we put our body through this but each and everyone of us like to challenge ourselves to our limits.  Its the same reason some people are obsessed with cars, others with movie etc.  My friend Michelle is doing just that today racing at Ironman Canada in Whistler B.C.  Its about 5PM their time and she's off the bike and onto the run.  Can't wait to see her results showing she has crossed the finish line.

To my training partners Alison, Deanna, Jim, Lucie & Mark you have all inspired me at IMMT this year.  Congrats on your success and having the guts to sign up, train and start.  You are all Ironman in my eyes.