Thursday, January 31, 2013

Never Say Never


Hi friends! It’s been awhile (again). Let’s catch up.

Since the Join the Voices 5M that I ran in early December, my running hasn't exactly been happening. Afterwards, I couldn't run for more than a minute without my IT band hurting, so I laid off. It was frustrating at times, but I came to love strength training instead. I can proudly say that I increased my push-up max from 12 to 25 (maybe 30 if you had a prize for me), and I can do about 6 pull-ups (on that pull-up assistance machine, not by myself. Let’s be real). I can feel myself getting stronger, and I’ve noticed small, but good changes in my body as a result.

I also focused my attention on friends and family, and in attempt not to bore you, I will recap you on the past two months as quickly as I can. A story in photos, if you will.

Failed attempt at cooking flan. It was one of my 2012 resolutions.
Hence, the reason why I didn't make any in 2013.
Meggie was competing in the 3rd Annual Mustache & Beard Competition in Brooklyn.
She competed in the women's division with a marshmallow beard. Need I say more?

Christmas Eve with my sis! I will probably be just as excited about
Christmas when I'm 65 as I was at 5.
New Year's Eve! Champagne and tequila in Brooklyn,
par for the course.
Jillian put together an awesome BYOB Painting class!
Pinot Grigio + Craftiness = Great afternoon
One of my favorite restaurants in Greenpoint hosts a Chili Cook-off every year. Keith
and I were finally around this year to go, and it was awesome. Plus, I won a
$25 gift certificate to the restaurant in a raffle! I was a happy gal.

To put it simply, it’s been a good winter so far. I haven’t had a specific fitness goal in mind, but I've been really enjoying that.

But now that spring is a couple months away, I've recently been deciding between a few different races. This is the short version of what my thought process has been:

Spring Marathon: Um, no.

Spring Half-Marathon: Perhaps. But I have a busy spring, with a wedding and my boyfriend’s scholarly law school graduation in the mix. And I’m not sure I really want to start hardcore running just yet.

Triathlon: Why not?

I have definitely said to friends (and on this blog) before that I would never do a triathlon. I am not a strong swimmer, and it sort of scares me. I like to swim doggy paddle, I like to bike, and I love to run, but I’m not sure all three would go together that well. But here I am, taking it all back.

Meggie signed up to do the NYC Triathlon in July with Team in Training, an organization that supports the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society (LLS). She asked if I wanted to join her, and my initial thought was YES. Don’t ask me why. But it sounded so much more appealing to me to try something super scary like a triathlon, raising money for a good cause with a group of great people, than to train for a half-marathon by myself and for myself.

I know that running is a selfish sport, at least for me. I think the positive-selfish part of it (getting fit, relieving stress, reaching a goal) outweighs the negative (putting your training needs ahead of others’ schedules, talking about it endlessly to anyone with two ears). But it is a solitary sport, and the only person who really benefits from my crossing that finish line at a random race is me. I wanted to change that.

Me! Me! Look at me!

There were definitely a few things that made me hesitant about signing up, though. For one, I have virtually no swimming or biking gear. Or a good race bike for that matter. I have two bikes at home that I could use to train with, but one is heavy and has few gears, and the other is my mountain bike from years ago that I may have grown out of with my 5’7” build. I also had to think about bringing said bike up my 4th floor walk-up. I’ve done it before, and it’s no fun. And beyond that, do I need to buy a new bike? I know those things ain’t cheap.

My other big concern was the fundraising. To be a part of Team in Training, you have to raise a minimum to pay for parts of your training and coaching, as well as to give back to LLS. This is New York people, and spreading your paycheck between rent, taxis, and cocktails is about as far as most people can afford to do.

So while those two things are genuine concerns, I didn’t want to turn down what could possibly be a life-changing experience because of them. I wanted to do something that scared me, and would force me to go out of my comfort zone both physically and personally.


Here’s to a scary, fun-filled six months.

2 comments:

  1. You need a customized swim cap. With my face on it.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Wow and good luck! And hey, no excuses or complaints about going over the Notch!

    ReplyDelete