The year ended with an athletic BANG! I participated in Miles for Marly. A fundraising event organized by CMSC (100x100). My goal was to swim 50-60 including a 500 yard warm-up. I did it, 6000 yards total! I kept pace and actually got faster towards the middle/end. WOOT. Over all I felt fantastic during the workout. It was an amazing environment. At this time pre-Vineman I had not swam more than 3,000 yards so I am way ahead of schedule and really do think I will improve my swim time this year!
My training with Tri Hard started yesterday. This week is test week, to establish my zones and baseline. This meant I would also have to do a bike test after swimming 6,000 yards. I came home after the event, fueled rested and did the test. I felt weirdly good. Today I went for an amazing 5.5 mile run. It's been a long time since I've run in the day light and forgotten how motivating the sunshine can be. I sang out loud, waved to my fellow runners and riders, glided through the snow, and bounded over snow piles. Something is clicking in my body again and I love every second of it. My workouts are not easy, by any means, but they are hard in a good-challenging way. I have regained some fitness and lost some of that early fall weight. I feel 100% ready to start my Ironman training. And I truly believe my sub-12 goal is attainable.
As I reflect back on this year most of my memories are of disappointment and challenge. I lost my job, quit another, got blown off by a girl, did not achieve athletic success as I'd hoped, I crashed my bike suffering a concussion with memory loss, and struggled financially for much of the year. Not to mention all of the disaster and tragedies that happened, far too many. It has been a long time since I'd had such a trying year. The big difference this time around is that I now have an amazing network of people who helped me get through this year. Team EnVision and all of its beautiful members are a huge part of that. In one way or another all of them, whether they knew it or not, assisted in getting me through this year. Some played a deeper role than others, some simply served as training partners that allowed me to not think for a period. I made new TE friends, as I do every year. Friendships got deeper. My non-tri friends continued to support me when I needed it most. My family was there for me. I asked for help instead of struggling on my own. My best friends got married. I found a new promising job that is local. I dated more. Some of those dates were crappy. Some ended before I wanted them too. Right now I have a budding something with someone. Someone with whom I feel my walls coming down around (those 10 ft tall steel walls 10 miles thick). Someone with whom I have already had a relationship discussion, who actually likes to talk about things! Who knows where this will lead. She may simply become a good friend, but maybe something more. The good news is that I am feeling again, more than I have in 4 years.
I have found my mojo and am back to the Kristi that was prior to getting laid off. The confident happy Kristi. I am, of course, stronger and wiser because of all of this. I would not undo any of it. I am smiling and laughing more and deeper. 2013 is going to be a good year. I can feel in all of my cells.
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