{"id":365,"date":"2013-07-15T06:12:41","date_gmt":"2013-07-15T06:12:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ramblingrunnergirl.com\/?p=365"},"modified":"2013-07-18T18:58:27","modified_gmt":"2013-07-18T18:58:27","slug":"ready-as-ill-ever-be","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.ramblingrunnergirl.com\/?p=365","title":{"rendered":"Ready As I’ll Ever Be"},"content":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s been said that if you wait until you\u2019re ready to do something, you\u2019ll never do it, because you\u2019ll never actually feel ready.\u00a0 I signed up for Racine 70.3 back in the fall, on a strangley beautiful November night, when I made my friend\/training partner\/moral support, Steve, hold my hand as I hit submit to register.\u00a0 At that point, I had plenty of time, MONTHS, to get ready for the big day.\u00a0 Now I have a week.\u00a0 One week from right now I will have earned that 70.3 sticker\u2026or not.\u00a0 The future is unknown.<\/p>\n

Almost exactly 2 years ago, I started down a path of major unknowns.\u00a0 I assure you I did not feel ready for any of those unknowns.\u00a0 And just about that same time, Farrell proposed the idea of a triathlon.\u00a0 Eh, why not?\u00a0 I was already about to learn a whole lot about myself and what I\u2019m capable of, so why not shift the focus off that for a bit and learn some other new skills?\u00a0 She signed up for an Ironman, the least I could do was sign up for a mini-tri and let her coach me through it.\u00a0 But, because I don\u2019t ever ease into things slowly, I jumped right in with both feet.\u00a0 A sprint?\u00a0 Why would I do that?\u00a0 That ends with a 5k, which I can do backwards, in my sleep.\u00a0 I run marathons for crying out loud!\u00a0 So, I signed up for the Lake St. Louis Olympic distance Triathlon.\u00a0 .9 mile swim, 24 mile bike, 10k.\u00a0 And did I train for it?\u00a0 Umm, well, that\u2019s another story.\u00a0 I can count my swims on one hand, and probably my rides, too.\u00a0 I had a few other things going on that I was trying to tend to, like, um, buying a house for one.\u00a0 So, on race day, it was just about getting through however I could.\u00a0 I swam freestyle, side stroke, doggy paddle, whatever.\u00a0 I desperately wanted to backstroke, but that\u2019s a sign of distress, so I figured they would pull me out of the water.\u00a0 I had a decent bike, nothing great, but I wouldn\u2019t have expected otherwise.\u00a0 And then the run\u2026or the shuffle as the case may be.\u00a0 I remember when I crossed the finish line, I said, \u201cThat was, without a doubt, the hardest thing I\u2019ve ever done.\u201d\u00a0 And up until that moment, I believe that was true.\u00a0 Was I ready for it?\u00a0 Not at all.\u00a0 Could I have prepared better?\u00a0 Sure.\u00a0 But that race happened at the tail end of one of the hardest years of my life.\u00a0 I literally found out my divorce was final two days later.\u00a0 Apparently it had been final for a week or two, but the judge hadn\u2019t notified the attorneys that she\u2019d signed the papers yet.\u00a0 I still believe that I needed to get through that tri, and learn what I\u2019m capable of, before I got the closure I was seeking.<\/p>\n

You can\u2019t always prepare for what lies ahead.\u00a0 And sometimes, you just do the best you can to prepare, knowing that it will likely be even harder than you expect.<\/p>\n

Am I prepared for Racine 70.3?\u00a0 I don\u2019t know, I guess so.\u00a0 Should I have done more?\u00a0 Probably.\u00a0 Could I have done more?\u00a0 No.\u00a0 I don\u2019t think so.\u00a0 I did what I was capable of doing under the circumstances.\u00a0 And next week I will wake up on Sunday morning and give what I am capable of giving.\u00a0 I honestly have no idea what to expect other than\u2026it\u2019s going to hurt, it\u2019s going to hurt a lot.\u00a0 But considering how much I\u2019ve hurt over the past several years, I know I can take it.\u00a0 The hardest part is the mental game.\u00a0 Telling myself to not quit even when it\u2019s really, really, really hard.<\/p>\n

I may not have gotten in as many laps in the pool, or miles on the bike, that I needed to in order to feel ready for next weekend, but I did learn how to swim, and I got a real bike, and mentally, I know from experience, that I can overcome any obstacle.\u00a0 It may take time, and there may be setbacks, but I\u2019ll get there.\u00a0 If something goes wrong, I\u2019ll take a deep breath, look at my wrist and do what I need to do to get back on track.<\/p>\n

\"I<\/a>

I wear it on my wrist because it reminds me that I can<\/p><\/div>\n

Persevere.\u00a0 I never take that bracelet off, because it reminds me that I can.\u00a0 And I have.<\/p>\n

This morning, I went out to St. Charles for the New Town Tri.\u00a0 I didn\u2019t have nearly as many friends competing today as I did a few weeks ago at Innsbrook, but the ones who were out there today were pretty darn important.\u00a0 After I dropped my kids off this morning at their dad\u2019s house I hauled booty to meet Linds for the run portion, so I could run her in.\u00a0 I made it there in time to catch her for the second loop.\u00a0 I was probably there in time to do the whole run with her, but I\u2019m a bonehead and I was waiting in the wrong spot.\u00a0 Fortunately, I figured it out just in time to jump in with her for the last couple miles.\u00a0 Her breathing was heavy, she was tired.\u00a0 But I pushed her anyway, because she does the same for me.\u00a0 I didn\u2019t say much other than an occasional encouragement.\u00a0 Sometimes, you don\u2019t need much more than knowing that someone is by your side to help pull you along.\u00a0 It was only so appropriate that I did that today for Farrell as she\u2019s done that so much for me ever since I met her a couple short years ago.\u00a0 We\u2019ve been through some major highs and lows together, and she\u2019s never left my side.\u00a0 This morning was the least I could do to return that favor.\u00a0 You wanna talk about kindred spirits?\u00a0 This girl is one for sure.<\/p>\n

After I ran Linds in, I hung out with her at the finish for a bit, along with a few of\u00a0our Ironman Arizona 2014 compadres-Mark, Ron and Martin.\u00a0 I saw a few other familiar faces, and I ran into Teri, too.\u00a0 Man do I love that woman!\u00a0 She is everywhere, and she just glows.\u00a0 As I stood near the finish, which was also where the runners passed by to start their second loop, I saw Kris coming around.\u00a0 I jumped in to run her\u00a0last lap\u00a0as well.\u00a0 I tell you what, I think that girl is always smiling. She smiled and said \u201cThanks\u201d to every person on the course with a sprinkle or a water gun. \u00a0She said her legs were trashed.\u00a0 I said, \u201cThey should be.\u00a0 That\u2019s why I\u2019m here.\u00a0 Just feed off my energy.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 And she kept smiling.\u00a0 We ran past her husband, also named Chris, who took our picture.\u00a0 I love that we have a record of that moment.\u00a0 I did whatever I could to help pull Kris along and enjoy the final portion of this tri.\u00a0 As we rounded the corner to the finish, I said, \u201cNo puking until AFTER you cross the finish line this time!\u00a0 Go get it, Girl!\u201d\u00a0 And then I met her on the other side of the shoot for a congratulatory hug.\u00a0 Because that\u2019s what friends do.<\/p>\n

\"Running<\/a>

Running with Kris in New Town<\/p><\/div>\n

I had to bolt pretty quick after that, because I had to get to the store and get showered before work.\u00a0 I only got in about 4 miles this morning.\u00a0 Really more like 2 x 2 miles.\u00a0 But it was totally worth it to give up my long run for the day to do that with my friends, and like Kris said, this week is a taper anyway.\u00a0 It got me pumped for next weekend and Linds ended up with 2nd<\/sup> in her age group.\u00a0 Since Linds is the one who got me started with all this, and fueled the fire of Racine, and has planted the seed of a full Ironman, it seemed only appropriate to do this with her today, especially since she can\u2019t be there with me next weekend.\u00a0 That was the last piece of the puzzle for \u201cgetting ready\u201d for Racine 70.3.\u00a0 Sure I\u2019ve got another ride planned with \u201cGrey\u201d tomorrow, along with other workouts this week.\u00a0 And I\u2019ve still got to gather up all my gear.\u00a0 And finish talking logistics with my travel crew, who will likely make it up to Wisconsin several hours ahead of me on Friday.\u00a0 But the important stuff is done.\u00a0 I\u2019ve done the physical work I can do to be ready, now it\u2019s time to trust that.\u00a0 The mental work has been in all the obstacles that I\u2019ve pushed through to teach myself the true meaning of \u201cNever give up\u201d.<\/p>\n

Most importantly, something I said to Kris this morning as I ran with her, was how so many of my friends are going to finish ahead of me next week.\u00a0 It\u2019ll be like Innsbrook, but reversed.\u00a0 Instead of me standing at the finish cheering in my friends, so many of them will be waiting there for me.\u00a0 (Some of them might be showered and ready for dinner by the time I get there, but nonetheless)\u00a0 That\u2019s the piece that makes me the most ready to do this.\u00a0 How long it takes me to complete the 1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike and 13.1 mile run is totally irrelevant, because doing it at all makes it a PR.\u00a0 But doing it with my friends makes it that much better.\u00a0 That is truly a Personal Best.<\/p>\n

I doubt very much if Racine could ever be ready for Rambling Runner Girl, but ready or not, here I come.\u00a0 And I\u2019m as ready as I\u2019m ever gonna be.<\/p>\n

\"Lindsey<\/a>

Lindsey squared at the LSL Tri<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s been said that if you wait until you\u2019re ready to do something, you\u2019ll never do it, because you\u2019ll never actually feel ready.\u00a0 I signed up for Racine 70.3 back in the fall, on a strangley beautiful November night, when I made my friend\/training partner\/moral support, Steve, hold my hand as I hit submit to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"aside","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[11,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-365","post","type-post","status-publish","format-aside","hentry","category-conquering-fears","category-randomthoughts","post_format-post-format-aside"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4eO4v-5T","jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.ramblingrunnergirl.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/365","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.ramblingrunnergirl.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.ramblingrunnergirl.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.ramblingrunnergirl.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.ramblingrunnergirl.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=365"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/www.ramblingrunnergirl.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/365\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":379,"href":"http:\/\/www.ramblingrunnergirl.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/365\/revisions\/379"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.ramblingrunnergirl.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=365"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.ramblingrunnergirl.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=365"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.ramblingrunnergirl.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=365"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}