Since starting this blog a year ago, I haven\u2019t gone more than a week or so without posting.\u00a0 Until now.\u00a0 I\u2019ve been quiet this month.\u00a0 This hamstring injury has me a little down.\u00a0 I\u2019ve been swimming and biking and boxing and yoga-ing as much as I am able.\u00a0 But sitting on a bike that isn\u2019t going anywhere and staring at the cast of CSI while I pedal away doesn\u2019t give me quite the same adrenaline rush as a long run through the woods.\u00a0 Likewise, staring at the blue line on the bottom of the pool does even less for my mental health.\u00a0 I still get the endorphin high of a good workout, but it\u2019s just not the same.<\/p>\n
Last week I did a quick warm up on the elliptical and then tried to jump on the treadmill for a bit.\u00a0 By the time I was closing in on a mile, I could feel my hammy getting tight.\u00a0 I decided to be smart, not risk it.\u00a0 So I put my tail between my legs and went back to the elliptical.\u00a0 I have started to question whether or not a spring marathon is really in the plan for me\u00a0this year.\u00a0 It\u2019s still up in the air.\u00a0 I\u2019m not ready to throw in the towel yet, but we\u2019ll see how the next couple weeks go.\u00a0 Ultimately, I have to consider the long term goal.\u00a0 Arizona in November is way too important to risk spending the whole summer healing from a hamstring injury. \u00a0Sometimes it\u2019s hard to see beyond the present situation, but it\u2019s important to remember the big picture.<\/p>\n
My injury isn\u2019t the only thing that has kept me from posting lately.\u00a0 I am terrible at keeping secrets.\u00a0 Wait! Before you decide to never confide in me ever again, let me clarify.\u00a0 I am terrible at keeping secrets that I\u2019m super excited about.\u00a0 Like when I find the perfect present for someone.\u00a0 Or if I\u2019m on the brink of an awesome new adventure that I want to share with the world.<\/p>\n
Well, it just so happens that there is big news in the world of RRG that I\u2019ve been sitting on since just about the same time as my last post.\u00a0 A couple weeks ago I showed up to work on a Monday afternoon and just as I sat down at the staff computer to send the weekly social run email, Rosie came flying into the backroom to see if I had read the email from David.\u00a0 I had noticed the subject line, but hadn\u2019t read it yet.\u00a0 Something about Town and Country\u2026huh?\u00a0 I opened the email and Rosie stood behind me reading over my shoulder.\u00a0 Come to find out, FLEET FEET St. Louis is starting a new partnership with the specialty triathlon store Swim Bike Run, located in Town and Country, MO.\u00a0 Wow.\u00a0 This is big news in the St. Louis world of endurance athletes.\u00a0 FLEET FEET will be sharing space under the same roof as Swim Bike Run to assist with the specialty run part.\u00a0 After reading the email, I went\u2026Ohhhhh, that\u2019s why Jaime called me today!\u00a0 So I quickly grabbed the phone and called her back.\u00a0 She didn\u2019t even realize David had sent the staff email yet, but by the time we got off the phone we had a meeting arranged for Wednesday.<\/p>\n
On Wednesday I went into the St. Charles store to meet with Jaime and Kristen to talk about my possible role in the new store.\u00a0 Kristen has been on a yearlong hiatus from FLEET FEET, after serving as the head training coach in the past, she is now back to head up the new store.\u00a0 You might remember Kristen\u2019s appearance in my posts from Racine back in July.\u00a0 Kristen and I, being very close in age, started the Racine half Ironman in the same wave.\u00a0 I caught up to her on the bike somewhere around mile 50.\u00a0 And we saw each other a couple times on the run.\u00a0 Ultimately, I think she beat me by about a minute.\u00a0 I can think of no other person that would make this new opportunity more enticing.\u00a0 Funny side note:\u00a0 Tracy, Kristen and I all showed up in each other\u2019s race photos from Racine.\u00a0 I guess it makes sense, you put three adorable blond triathletes from St. Louis in one wave and there is bound to be some confusion.<\/p>\n
Anyway, I left that meeting an hour later feeling like my head was spinning.\u00a0 I was on information overload.\u00a0 I had a lot to think about.\u00a0 I spent that afternoon and evening thinking about all that was presented. \u00a0I felt overwhelmed.\u00a0 As much as I tried not to think about it, I would still find myself right back to dissecting every little detail. \u00a0I would have given anything to go for a run while I processed everything, which is typically what I do when faced with a big decision.\u00a0 But since I couldn\u2019t run, I had to opt for other methods of therapy.\u00a0 So I baked brownies.\u00a0 Somewhat counter-active, but whatever, it seemed to help temporarily.<\/p>\n
I got to work Thursday morning still thinking through everything.\u00a0 I talked with Erin some in between customers.\u00a0 I was working it out.\u00a0 I remember Erin saying, \u201cI think you know your answer, Linds\u201d.\u00a0 She was right, it was pretty obvious.\u00a0 Why wouldn\u2019t I do this?\u00a0 The timing of this is perfect.\u00a0 The benefits are overwhelming.\u00a0 As soon as it warms up, I can start riding my bike to work, where I can interact with experienced cyclists and triathletes on a daily basis while I try to figure out this whole Ironman thing.\u00a0 I get to help blaze a trail with this new concept, and let\u2019s face it, we all know that I am always up for a new challenge.<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s the thing that struck me recently.\u00a0 Being a single parent is hard.\u00a0 I don\u2019t mean that in a whiney way.\u00a0 I\u2019m just being real.\u00a0 Being a parent with a spouse is hard, so imagine doing it on your own.\u00a0 My schedule is crazy. \u00a0Between a custody schedule, a retail schedule and a training schedule, I almost never know what day it is.\u00a0 I go to work every Sunday while most of my friends are out playing.\u00a0 Monday is a sleep in day for me while the world starts the work week.\u00a0 My \u201cweekend\u201d can be found in the middle of the week because Tuesday and Wednesday are my two consecutive days off.\u00a0 But not really, because I still have to do school drop offs and pick-ups.\u00a0 I pack lunches and wash school uniforms. I take the boys to basketball practice. I
\nhelp with homework. I deal with snow days and sick kids, somewhere in there I try to get to the pool or jump on the bike.\u00a0 I rarely know which end is up.\u00a0 I have a hard time keeping track of anything.\u00a0 But somehow I manage to keep it together.\u00a0 Most of the time. Why?\u00a0 Because I chose this life.\u00a0 My life is a direct result of the choices I have made.\u00a0 And it will continue to be.\u00a0 So I try to make the most of the options presented to me.<\/p>\n
As I was faced with this amazing possibility of joining Kristen and a couple of my other colleagues, I thought, no regrets.\u00a0 Yes, life as a single parent is hard, but everybody has hard stuff to deal with in life.\u00a0 The other day after swimming, I stood in the parking lot talking to my friend Sarah while our wet hair proceeded to freeze.\u00a0 Sarah is a working mom who takes care of a child with a disability and she was telling me about the heart condition she has been dealing with for years.\u00a0 She has a defibrillator implanted to assist her heart in an emergency, and she still participates in her events, but she can\u2019t compete as hard as she used to.\u00a0 I saw her at Innsbrook last summer where she had a huge PR and placed in her age group.\u00a0 But she also had to have a personal kayaker out on the water with her.\u00a0 Coincidentally, her kayaker was Sally Drake, owner of Swim Bike Run.\u00a0 I also think of our friend Teri, who is constantly inspiring all of us with her pursuit to beat Cancer as she continues to complete marathons, Ironmans, all of it.\u00a0 Not even the C-word can make Teri stop living life.\u00a0 We are an amazingly close, supportive and interwoven community that I am beyond blessed to be a part of.<\/p>\n
So, yeah, life is hard.\u00a0 For everyone.\u00a0 I\u2019m no exception.\u00a0 It\u2019s all about perspective.\u00a0 Just like Sarah said, as we stood in the parking lot cursing the stupid groundhog, \u201cSometimes we\u2019ve just got to put on our big girl pants and keep going\u201d.\u00a0 We have been given the gift to keep doing what we love, even though sometimes it\u2019s hard, and so we continue to do it.\u00a0 Work hard, train hard, play hard.\u00a0 And if I can combine all three at the same time, all the better.<\/p>\n
No, my schedule doesn\u2019t make any sense at all.\u00a0 Not to anyone.\u00a0 Least of all me.\u00a0 I\u2019m all over the place. But life is too short to go sit at a desk all day and do something that I\u2019m not passionate about. \u00a0About a year ago, I wrote a post that started, \u201cI love my job\u201d.\u00a0 That is still completely true today. \u00a0I\u2019ve found my niche.\u00a0 I am a runner.\u00a0 I am a triathlete.\u00a0 Here\u2019s to the new adventure that awaits!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Since starting this blog a year ago, I haven\u2019t gone more than a week or so without posting.\u00a0 Until now.\u00a0 I\u2019ve been quiet this month.\u00a0 This hamstring injury has me a little down.\u00a0 I\u2019ve been swimming and biking and boxing and yoga-ing as much as I am able.\u00a0 But sitting on a bike that isn\u2019t […]<\/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_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-604","post","type-post","status-publish","format-aside","hentry","category-randomthoughts","post_format-post-format-aside"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4eO4v-9K","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.ramblingrunnergirl.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/604","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=604"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/www.ramblingrunnergirl.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/604\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":607,"href":"http:\/\/www.ramblingrunnergirl.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/604\/revisions\/607"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.ramblingrunnergirl.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=604"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.ramblingrunnergirl.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=604"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.ramblingrunnergirl.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=604"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}