Self talk

We all have our moments when doubt creeps in, but it is absolutely imperative that we cut those thoughts at the root. Sometimes when I am riding, I say out loud, "I AM NOT TIRED!!" or "I AM SOOOO STRONG!!" and ironically, less than a minute later that feeling of fatigue goes away. Conversely, when I think or say, "This SUCKS" or start whining and asking who's idea was it to ride this course?!, it seems like the agony is unending. Our minds tell our bodies what to do. There are so many new folks training for a triathlon that don't seem to know and use the power of their thoughts to get them through. I hear so many excuses of why they can't do something, that I just want to tell them, "no you can't! If you think you can't, then you absolutely CAN NOT",  but I would be labeled as the mean girl, so I just keep my lip zipped. It's really simple. If there is something that you want to do, you find a way to do it.

I recall my self talk being completely different when I was learning to swim, trying to stay vertical on my bike and starting to run again after my surgery and double pneumonia. I remember having this belief that I could actually complete a triathlon, despite my challenges. I didn't know where the mental strength came from, but I knew it. I wrote about it here. I found out what I needed to do to accomplish that goal and I accomplished it. It wasn't easy, I fell, I cried, I was slow, there were many events that I missed out on, but I accomplished my goal. The word "can't" isn't even a part of my vocabulary. I have my moments just like everyone else, but I don't let those moments stop me. I don't quit. I can, because I believe I can. Our self talk is so very important. If we simply change our thoughts, we can change our world.

Believe you can, put in the work and don't quit.

Tri Becca

Tri training check in

Things are well under way with training for the 2013 Triathlon season. So far this year, I have run a 1/2 marathon, a 10 miler and I'm almost done with a 2 month boot camp. I am trying to eat less wheat, more smoothies and have seen the scale go down by 8 lbs! I have started to work on my training plan that will take me to my Olympic distance Triathlon in 7 weeks, my Ironman 70.3 triathlon in August and my first marathon in October. The biggest accomplishment so far has been been to finally move out of the slow lane at the pool and actually hold my own in the medium lane! GO ME!!

I am excited about this tri season, as it is my time to focus on speed and diet. I have never given these two things that much attention, as I have been trying to build my endurance and get my "head game" straight. As we all know, most of this is mental and it doesn't mater if you are speedy if you don't have the endurance. Now that I have the endurance, I am all about working on speed drills and my diet so I can hopefully lean out and finish faster. I can't wait to see what this year will bring!

The only bad thing is my hip that's been hurting off and on for a few months now. I am trying to stretch more and have taken yoga here and there, but have plenty of room for improvement. I will do my best to address this, so the hip is not my nemesis for the whole season. I have a free entry into a 1/2 marathon on Sunday that I'm thinking about bowing out of, as I don't want to make the hip hurt worse. I have to figure this hip thing out quickly...

Full speed ahead,
Tri Becca

Gifts

So, it seems that me and a couple of my friends have the gift of giving race entry fees as birthday presents and I LOVE it! It started when I gifted Dawn the race entry to a triathlon in Bermuda, then she gifted me the Rock and Roll 1/2 Marathon this year, I got her back by signing her up to raise funds for a charity and race in the Marine Corp Marathon this year and then Bertha got me by gifting me a bib to run the Cherry Blossom 10 Mile Run on yesterday! I love my friends! Bertha got me good! She asked if I was interested, but when I told her yes and asked if it was free, she slammed me by saying "NOTHING is ever FREE!".  I was disappointed, because I was excited about the possibility of running the race this year. Well, when Bertha came to my birthday dinner, she told me about my gift. I was ecstatic... but a little nervous because I had not run more than 6 miles in over a month and the race was less than a week away! Oh well. I was excited about running the race with Bertha and her clients from Fitness Heights International. Another friend, Candice, gifted me a ticket to an event the night before the Cherry Blossom 10 miler, but with not being prepared to go out and run 10 miles, I had to take a pass on dancing until the wee hours of race day morning.

Running races is so much easier than doing a Triathlon in that you can just show up and hop in line. I waited until the last minute to leave home, drove almost 1/2 way to the start line and ran the rest of the way to warm up. I saw a few friends and took some photos and we were off... every woman for herself.

I saw Bertha on the course and we threw high 5's. I saw Lisa twice and she was looking like she wanted to chop off her aching foot around mile 6, I saw Mia looking like she was hurting too. I had to start the self talk at about mile 6.5... you know the, " you are NOT tired! NOTHING hurts! You HAVE done this before! You have run further than this after swimming and cycling! Let's GOOO"  self talk. Then, out the blue someone slapped me on my butt. It was Tania! Whew, she came at the right time! Her and Heather were booking it and I managed to hang with them for a couple of miles. When I hit mile 8,  I started whining and taking little walk breaks. I let them run ahead and suffered through, but I never let mysef walk more than 1 minute at a time. I was well into mile 9 and taking a little walk break, when this girl all dressed up in pink told me, "if you run the last 1/2 mile, you will finish in under 2 hours!". That was my goal, not a lofty one, mind you, but my goal, nevertheless. The last 400 meters was up a little hill and me and the girl in pink kept it moving. I was SO happy to see the finish line and even more proud of myself for banging out a 10 miler with less than a week's notice! Go me!

Next up: Potomac River Running 1/2 Marathon on May 5th

Please support me

I am raising money for this very important cause and I'm asking you to help by making a contribution! On October 27th I will be running the Marine Corp Marathon on my "Tri Becca Journey to Ironman". Please support me & our Marine men and women as I train for my first marathon. I will be fundraising for "America 4R Marines" an organization with 100% volunteer management and 98.6% of funds going directly to our Marines and Sailors. No donation is too small and is 100% tax deductible.

Please use the link in this email to donate online quickly & securely. You will receive email confirmation of your donation and I will be notified as soon as you make your donation. Again, no amount is too small and is 100% tax deductible. I thank you in advance for supporting me as I train for my first marathon.

I really appreciate your generosity and support!!

Thank you,
Rebecca

Want to donate or help? Simply go to the link below:

http://www.active.com/donate/2013teama4rm/tribecca1

The journey to Ironman

This journey to my first Triathlon began in 2010 and now the journey is on to a full Ironman (2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike ride and 26.2 mile run). I would like to accomplish this goal in 2014. I wrote about needing a bigger challenge this year and was contemplating signing up for the Ironman 70.3 in Augusta. I am still  thinking about signing up for that race, but my journey took an unexpected turn today. I have always said that I don't have the desire to run a full marathon until I compete in my first full Ironman. So, the plan was to not run a full marathon until next year.Yeah, that was the plan.

Well, with all the hype today about the Marine Corp Marathon registration opening and the trouble that folks went through with registering peaked my interest. I started to think about how awesome it was to run through Crystal City with Tracy last year and to run across the finish line with her and somehow, the desire set in to register. After Lisa wrote on Facebook that she got in, I wandered over to the site and discovered that it was sold out. I was bummed. Totally bummed. I made the mistake decision to share this feeling with my dear, sweet friend Tania, who immediately emailed me a link to a charity that I could race with. The only thing is that I had to raise $500 by October. Without even thinking about it, I was signing up and calling Dawn to tell her that I was signing her up too. So, it's done. I am running a marathon. I AM RUNNING A FULL FREAKING MARATHON! I still can't believe it!!

I do need your help. I have to raise $500 for the charity that I am racing with, Team America 4R Marines.  This organization is operated with 100% volunteer management and 98.6% of funds go directly to our Marines and Sailors. No donation is too small and all donations are 100% tax deductible. You can donate here. Please and thank you!!

Thanks for your support on my Triathlon journey. If I do the Augusta 70.3 Ironman (I will make the decision on my birthday. It may be an expensive personal gift), it will be 1 month before the Marine Corp Marathon. I am thinking that this is a good idea on my journey to a full Ironman triathlon.

I'm not sure how I became an addict, but today confirmed that I am. Lord help me.


Tri Becca

The heart of the matter

I was out cheering at the Rock and Roll DC Marathon and 1/2 Marathon today and this runner screamed "HEY TRI BECCA!!!". That made me realize that I have been slacking on the blogging lately. Back at it.....

So far this year, I have run the New Orleans Rock and Roll 1/2 Marathon, been on two 25 mile bike rides and only been in the pool about 5 times. I have been lacking the motivation to do anything until my Team PHLY tri suit showed up for the Tri Rock Philly Olympic Distance Triathlon from Philly Joe last week. I heard a few seams popping as I tried it on, which made me immediately call my girl to get signed up for some kick ass boot camp classes and schedule some rides/swims/runs with friends. Oh yeah, I'm BACK now!

I am really itching to do another Ironman 70.3 this year. I just know that with proper training, I can get a 6 hour finish time. I have my eyes on Augusta in September. I'm starting to feel like I need to have at least 1 real challenge on the schedule this year to help keep my sanity. I simply love overcoming obstacles and meeting my goals. Perhaps taking a year off from paying for any races is a bit extreme and most importantly, detrimental to my psyche. I decided to not pay for any races and redirect those funds to other things... but I don't want the other things to have to include a trip to sit on somebody's velvety couch. So, I may have to alter the plan. Cutting the triathlon, travel and entertainment budget is driving me kinda wacky. I need to have at last one of these things to look forward to. I am grateful for Dawn and Philly Joe for signing me up for the 1/2 marathon and Olympic Triathlon and to those that have hooked me up with free entries to some other running races. The thing is, I really want to do another Ironman 70.3. I really need the physical and mental challenge of doing another Ironman 70.3 this year. What's life if you are not "TRI-ing" to be better? That's the question that looms in my mind when I take the challenge of Triathlon out. Sure, I could find a different challenge, but I choose Triathlon. It's at the heart of the matter.  It's like TRIATHLON is woven into my DNA and is an integral part of who I am now. I will start to look at some financial options to make it happen. I have some close family in Georgia, so the Augusta Ironman 70.3 may be a reality.

Stay tuned... oh, and that New Orleans Rock and Roll 1/2 marathon 3 weeks ago? That was the hardest race to date, due to some hip pain. I finished and got a pretty medal, but it's still painful to even think about that race.

Tri Becca

Motivation!

 Adonis, in Greek mythology, is the god of beauty and desire

I will take swim motivation any way that I can get it these days. Yesterday I was motivated to get to the pool, but only because I really don't want to get kicked off the team for not attending at least 2 swim practices per month. I have learned that I prefer to swim when and where I want to swim and not at a specific location on a specific day at a specific time. That drives me nuts and makes me want to rebel. I don't know if I will renew my membership after this quarter because of this. But, who knows, I may change my mind once the weather gets warmer and I start to dream of swimming outdoors at Hains Point with a lane all to myself (a benefit of being on this swim team). I was talking to my Mama on the way to the pool last night and whining about the traffic and the location and time and parking and yada yada.... but my motivation when I got to the pool was worth all that I went through to get there.

As I made my way to the last (read "slowest") lane, I noticed this beauuuuuutiful man in the lane. As I eased my way into the cold water, I slowed down a bit as I watched how beautifully he swam. He stopped at the end of the lane to ask if I was getting in.  He told me to just take the plunge and I would warm up, but I tell ya, it was like music was playing when he spoke to me. Oh MY! So, I eased in, talked to the lane mates about where they were in the workout and got going. I found myself trying to get my hips and feet higher in the water as I swam past him. When we started doing sprints, I found myself swimming faster, as I didn't want him to think that I am a slacker. While my lane mates were waiting for the rest of us to finish the swim set, I found myself trying to make sure my hand entry into the water was perfect and my body rotation was just right. MAN! The motivation!! I swam faster and more efficiently than I probably ever have... or at least I thought I was. As he climbed out of the pool, I found myself just admiring the view and dreaming of our next swim together.

Delusional? Maybe. But I will take my swim motivation any way I can get it these days! I cannot WAIT until Thursday's swim practice. I know he won't be there, as I overheard him saying that he only swims on Tuesdays and Saturdays. However,  I need to work on my form a bit more on Thursday, so I can swim more beautifully when I see him again on Tuesday! The motivation man... the MOTIVATION!

...and for the icing on the cake with a cherry on top? He was wearing a Triathlon swim cap. Could the beautiful man be a Triathlete too? Oh my.... the MOTIVATION!