For Those Who Can't I Tri

       For those of you who have been reading, the thought may have crossed you minds that this blog  is a bit narcissistic. A blog about a girl who triathlons. You are saying to yourself, "Big deal, yeah we've read it; great job Kelly, blah-blah, blah- blah." But indeed there is more to the story.

       I love to see the glass as half- full, but sometimes in life when bad things happen it seems that the glass is half- empty. Recently a friend of mine shared her philosophy with me regarding the old English proverb that bad things come in three's. Is there any truth in this?

       Three years ago, I got a disturbing  phone call from my mother. She told me that my aunt had been feeling run-down and decided to make a trip to see the doctor. Being a nurse and used to caring for others, she sometimes neglected herself. She was admitted to the hospital after finding her white blood cell count extremely low. Days later she found out that she has a rare form of cancer in her fallopian tubes. The doctor told her she had a short time left on earth. She was ready to fight with chemotherapy and whatever other methods that could extend her life. I am happy to report she is still here, fighting each day, appreciating the life she has. She never complains about her illness.

       Two years ago, I got another upsetting call from one of my best friends in North Carolina. She explained that her husband, one of my other best friends, had collapsed and was sent to the hospital where he was given immediate surgery on his back. He had contracted a rare bacterial infection close to his spine that was causing severe pain and finally his collapse. The doctors explained  it was a blessing that he had collapsed that day because if he had waited longer the infection could have caused paralysis. I am happy to report he is doing well today but still recovering from a serious infection. He takes it one day at a time.
       Last year, more horrible news, from my dad, explaining how my step-mom was suffering from chronic pain. After months of seeing doctors and trying different medications, only to find no pain relief at all, she was diagnosed with Ankylosing Spondylitis, a disease with no cure. There is little information on the disease but we know that AS is primarily an inflammatory disease that affects the joints of the spine, but it can cause widespread pain in other areas of the body.  The symptoms prevent her from doing many every day activities. One of  the affects have caused her not to be able to lift her arms above her head. She used to be able to swim a mile every day and since last December when the disease hit, she has not swum. After many months and doctors appointments, she is still not relieved from the intense pain.She is currently taking a chemotherapy drug that is supposed to give her some relief but so far has not.
       For those who can't I tri. All of the events that I compete in have a cause. Many of the events raise money for Cancer. A recent bike race was a fund raiser for Diabetes. A triathlon series called Tricats Sports ( which I participate in each year) raises money for Cystic Fibrosis, another awesome cause. While there are many personal gains fulfilled competing in triathlon, the gains for others always outweigh my efforts.
       I have a mantra that I repeat when I am racing. I say to myself over and over that I can make the distance. No matter how much pain I feel,  I know it isn't close to what the three people I've mentioned  and others with serious illness, are going through. My pain during triathlon is temporary, while those with diseases, are suffering daily. With each stroke, each pedal prod, each step I take during these events, I feel it is something I can do; something to help those who can't. I can feel pain, feel life, raise money for great causes and when I cross the finish line feel like I've made a difference.

For those who can't I tri,

Kelly  

      

Believe

       Believe- vi. to have trust or faith; an expectation.

       Nestled in Webster's is a very powerful word: Believe. Ironically it is between the word belie which is to misrepresent or prove false and the word belittle which is to disparage. Belie and belittle are two powerful words opposite of believe. How many times have we been belittled or told we couldn't do something compared to how many times we've been told we can? Our beliefs have the power to provide our own self fulfilling prophesies.



        Recently I was in an elementary school, shadowing a teacher that I will be subbing for this year. She wanted to have me in and show me her classroom and get to know the children for a day before I came in to be their substitute.

       During the course of the day the teacher had a very powerful teaching moment. She gathered the group of eight year-olds to the carpet and read them a story called You are Special, by Max Lucado. The cliff notes version of the story goes something like this: Once upon a time there was a land of wooden people. The people of this land would give each other stars for having smooth wood skin or being pretty. If you had a special talent you would receive stars.Conversely, the wooden people decided to give dots to those that had rough wooden skin or chipped paint. They gave dots to those who struggled; maybe they couldn't run or jump so they got dots. The Wemmicks(wooden people) were either covered in stars or dots so it was obvious for everyone to see how they rated.

       One of the Wemmicks named Punchinello was really struggling. He was covered in dots, it seemed everything he did got him a dot. He soon started to believe that he was not worthy of anything. One day he met a girl named Lucia, who had no dots or stars. He was curious how she managed to avoid the labels. She told him to go see Eli the Wemmicks maker. She explained that she saw Eli every day.
       Punchinello took Lucia's advice and went to see  Eli. He told Eli his story and how he couldn't stop getting dots. Eli told him that the labels would not stick if he quit believing what the Wemmicks said. He told Punchinello how special he was in his own way and that he was not a mistake. Eli said that as soon as he quit believing what the Wemmicks said the dots would fall away, just like Lucia's had. Punchinello was skeptical at first but decided to give it a try. Guess what? The dots fell away.
       I'm often asked how I get through an endurance race. I believe; it's really that simple. Triathlon is hard work don't misunderstand me. I have to train and put my time into three sports to get to the finish line. Training aside, I have to dig deep into my soul each race. Some days it is hard to motivate myself to train. I have to believe that I can do it. I believe that success in triathlon and success in life is positive thinking.
        Less than a year ago I decided to build on my writing skills and start building my portfolio. I started writing a personal blog,writing a series of short stories, and writing to magazines to get articles published. I have had many rejections and  negative comments related to this goal. Finally, after about seven months, I got an article published in Smart Magazine. I was blessed with an offer to write this blog about triathlon shortly after my article was published. These are baby steps, but still successes that I am very proud of. I believed , put forth a plan, worked hard and was able to achieve some of my goal. I still have a long way to go, but I am encouraged.
       The teacher ended her lesson with a discussion about how each of her students are special to her. She explained that she'll be grading their papers and sometimes the grades on their papers might not be good, but she encouraged them not to be discouraged if they did get a bad grade. She reminded them that hard work and believing in their abilities was the most important thing  they could accomplish. They sat quietly with bright eyes taking  in all this information.
       I remembered my  fifth grade teacher, Mrs. Kodish, who changed my life. She pulled me aside one day and told me she knew I wasn't reaching my full potential. She knew I was capable of  producing better work, but explained  I had to believe  in order to make it happen. She was right. I had always been a kid who struggled in school and after Mrs. Kodish's  talk I began to get A's and B's and continued through college.

       I fought back tears after listening to You are Special. We all have special gifts. We all have struggles as well, but I believe that if we tap into what truly makes us special we can be free of dots.

Thanks to HydroWorx for believing in me!

Tri on Friends!

Kelly

Please view the link below to see what a beautiful story You Are Special is:)

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Live Life To Its Tri-est

       Eight years ago we lost our dog Chester. He was the love of my husband Mark's life. Chester was a brown and white Springer Spaniel that my husband trained as a hunting dog. Beyond hunting, Chester was a best friend to my husband,  myself and later to my first born son. Time passed and my family finally convinced me it was time for another dog. I wasn't sure I was ready but then I found a website to adopt Golden Retrievers. I had always dreamed of having a Golden and I had read in Runner's World Magazine that they made great running partners. I primarily run by myself but I thought that could be a cool prospect; a dog to hang with while I run.

       We adopted Buddy(Cruiser) shortly after I visited the website. The rescue had named him so we kept Buddy as his name. It never occurred to me that Cruiser was a hint to this dog's mannerisms. He was a saint for the first two weeks that we had him. The rescue said we could give him back within a two week window. As if Buddy(Cruiser) knew the stipulation from the rescue, he was a model dog; until day fifteen.

      Buddy, aka," Cruiser," decided his yard was not quite big enough and so on day fifteen, and every day thereafter, stretched his legs beyond our neighborhood. No matter, I only had a toddler at the time and a pre-schooler. What else could I possibly have to do but to run after my new beloved Golden each day?
       After many tears and phone calls to my husband at work we discovered a beautiful thing called an Invisible Fence. Once we got that quirk worked out he did become my running partner, but not like one would think. I envisioned my Golden running beside me without a leash, stride for stride, in harmony. Running with Buddy was more like torture than the movie image that I had conjured. He pulled and ran too fast; sometimes he stopped altogether to get a sniff at something.
        No worries though, as time went on, I adjusted to the non-conventional way I had to run with Buddy. He loves to be out front of me in single line fashion, so to this day that is how we run together. I get all sorts of comments like, "who is running who?, " and ,"glad to see who's in charge," but after a while it became second nature to both of us and now I like following behind Buddy, it gives me something to focus on.
      Now he is nine or ten years old, we're not sure because he is a rescue. We went for a short run the other day and I could tell he was out of practice. He is getting older and I haven't been taking him as much. He was out of breath well before he normally is. We made it back to my truck and I gave him a bowl of water. In the old days he would have slurped it down and immediately jumped into my truck. That day he layed down and gave me a look like, "lady what are you do'in to me? Can't you see the white around my eyes?"
       I got down close to Buddy and gave him a pat. I could hear the, thump, thump sound his tail made on the hot pavement. I looked at his eyes and saw that the once golden fur was now white. I sat on the ground beside him and realized that although I fight my age everyday, I too am getting older. I try not to go down the road of thinking about death or my own mortality but for some reason there it was.
      I have more fine lines around my eyes and more aches and pains than I used to. I started wondering how long it would be until my body gives out. Thankfully things like swimming and running in the HydroWorx pool are low impact and definitely help.The reality is, aging  is a part of life, and no matter how we fight it, it is inevitable.
       I triathlon to stay fit and young but I know I am going to slow down and that is okay. I realized that day that I would continue to swim, bike and run as long as I can. I realized that while I am so driven to beat the clock at each of my events the important clock that ticks is life and why rush it? What difference does it really make if I don't win my age group at each race? PR's are great, but it is the journey that gets me to the finish line; like life if we don't enjoy the ride then what is the point?
      I gave Buddy a nudge and he slowly climbed into the back of my truck. I looked at him and said, "Thanks old boy for the lesson." He tilted his head and gave me one of his doggy grins with his tongue hanging out. "Thanks for making me realize it is okay to slow down and enjoy the journey."
       Buddy and my kids helped me finish the last one hundred yards at my last event and although they weren't with me the whole way, they certainly were in spirit.

Tri on Friends,

Kelly

Tri Mom Strikes Again

I completed my twenty second triathlon this past Sunday at Shikellemy State Park in Sunbury Pennsylvania. My son Bryce asked as I was driving home, “Mom why do you like triathlon so much?” I’ve been asked that question many times and each time I may answer differently because there are so many different aspects of racing triathlon.

That day it was easy to answer Bryce’s question, however, and my reply was simply, “I love a challenge.” I got a big, “Oh,” from Bryce and that was the end of the conversation regarding triathlon, but it got me thinking. I really do love the challenge.

Triathlon parallels life in many ways and that is why I continue to race. Life has challenges and we as human beings face adversity often. Think of daily life and the hassles it sometimes presents. Balancing work, family, bills, and the-day-to day grind can be a challenge. Maybe you have a sick family member or maybe you are experiencing financial troubles in this weakening economy. The key is how we feel after we have faced and overcome our challenges. When I complete a triathlon I feel like I can accomplish anything; just like in life when you overcome adversity it gives you the feeling that you can reach your goals.

Triathlon, like life, is a juggling act. I used to compete in running races. Running is hard too but if you put your training time in it can be done. The challenge of triathlon is you are always trying to do well in three sports; swimming, biking, and running. When you think you have done well in one sport, another suffers, as there are only so many training hours in a day. The point is there is always something that can be done better just like in life when you are juggling multiple tasks, something or someone may be neglected.

The last few months I faced a fairly common training challenge; knee soreness. Rest, ice, compression, elevation or RICE is what athletes have been taught to rehabilitate soreness. Thankfully I was able to use another method to rehab my knee.

HydroWorx therapy pools are another tool I use to get through training challenges. The pools are unique in that there is a hose in the pool that can shoot out water at an incredible speed. The water coming out of the jet acts like a deep tissue massage on the area that you direct it to, in my case, my knee. I put the jet right on the area of my knee that was sore and within a few minutes I felt an improvement. I was able to get back to running right away which in turn got me to the starting and finish line of my last race.

There are challenges before race day and there are even more challenges during an event. Before the race started I got lost on the way to the race site as the road that led into the park was closed. Then once I found the park I had limited time to set up only to realize when I went to the registration tent I was not registered! Once I overcame those obstacles, and the race started, I was hit in the face during the swim by an overzealous swimmer. During the 25 mile bike portion of the race I experienced a cramp in my back that finally went away when I got to the 6.2 run.

Triathlon, like life, is never dull and always full of surprises, but like I said to Bryce, “I’m always up for the challenge.”

Tri on,

Kelly