"Let's start at the very beginning...a very good place to start"

If you're like me, you grew up watching The Sound of Music every year on tv.  Thanks to the miracle of cable, it's actually now on a couple of times per year, and my musically inclined husband also likes it! So, even though I'm not a very good singer, I get multiple chances to sing along with Julie Andrews (even though I'm now far too old to pretend I'm Liesl with a secret oh-so-adorable boyfriend).  As a child, one of the first and only songs I ever learned was "Doe-a-Deer", and the opening lines of that song seem to reflect the completely different focus of 2010 than I had ever anticipated.

This was supposed to be the year of the M-dot.  It was all planned out, after years of dreaming and focusing on this goal, I was going to toe the starting line at Ironman Louisville this August.  Instead, someone I love has co-opted my goal and I'm facing an entirely different challenge...as soon as she decides to be born!  I've spent the last 9months both eagerly awaiting the arrival of Baby M, but also mourning the loss of something that had been an important part of my life and motivation over the last three years. 

The sadness has been two-fold.  First was the realization that if I ever do want to attempt an ironman, I need a new race.  You see, part of who I am is that I hate following in other people's footsteps.  My husband and our dear friend Julie have both done Ironman Florida - so while it plays to some of my strengths, it's a nonstarter for me.  And now that someone else I care about has adopted my long-held goal as their own, it's now off the table.  Admittedly, it hurts.  So, as I think toward the future and Stuart says "well, of course you'll still do an ironman, the goal is just delayed a bit", I struggle with the image.  I'd had multiple reasons for choosing IMKY, and now am at a loss.  As I sit here on bedrest, I occasionally peruse the websites of various ironman races (both M-dot and independent) trying to see if one truly speaks to me as the new focus of my athletic dreams.  A race that will give me the motivation to put in the hours sacrificing sleep and probably some time with my daughter during the training period.  It will need to be a race that inspires me.  I'm open to suggestions.

The second piece of my mourning over the last few months has been wondering how and if there will be room in my life for triathlon and fitness at all.  I know logically that we will somehow find time, but I know it will be different and not necessarily easy.  And as I feel blobbier and blobbier now on Day 12 of bedrest, I find myself worrying about needing to buy an entirely new wardrobe because nothing will ever fit me again. 

So, yesterday I took control.  Although it's not a tri, I decided to quit wondering and instead put my money on the table to kickoff my 2010 racing season.  On June 6th, I'll be at the starting line of a measly little 10K -- the Annapolis Zooma Run.  A few years ago I did the half marathon of this women's only event.  That seems to be pushing it just a few months after McNugget's arrival, but I figured a 10K would be a good jumpstart.  Next up, will likely be some sort of spring triathlon early in June or July.   

Yes, life is changing.  And in some ways it means starting back at the beginning.  But, I have a much stronger base of knowledge than I did when I ran my first 5K back in the 90s, or when we began training for our first sprint back in 2005, so hopefully I can quickly learn the lessons I once knew and leave The Sound of Music in the dust!

Girl Power

I spent 6th-12th grade attending an all-girls school, and never exactly excelled at fitting in.  As a result, I found myself throughout high school, and even into college and law school, bashing feminists and pushing against anything with a women-centered agenda.  No real reason, other than to rebel ever so slightly against an environment that I was less than happy in. 

And yet, twenty years later I find myself deeply involved in and thinking about the empowerment and opportunities for young girls.  My first exposure to Girls on the Run brought me to coaching, which has now brought me to a position on its Board of Directors.  I find myself in awe watching the girls I coach grow and learn and eventually mentor each other, wondering who they will be and if the lessons I'm trying to impart will still be making a difference when they are 12 or 15 or 20 years old. 

When I got my coaching certification a year ago, I did so with the idea of using it to help me continue to support and encourage my girlfriends and family to get involved in the sport of triathlon.  The name Tri for Joy reflects one of my primary reasons for participating in this sport -- the joy of achievement, the joy of hard work, the joy of the finish line. 

At the same time, I'm now sitting here waiting the imminent arrival of my own daughter - something I thought I'd never say! This is a reality that makes these issues even more personal and even more important to me, and it's something that Stuart and I talk about a lot.  How will we raise a daughter who embodies all those qualities that are so important -- strength of mind and body and character, self-confidence, kindness, compassion.

This week, my brother was in town attending and participating in a Sports Philanthropy Forum hosted by USA Today newspaper.  While there, he learned of a new initiative by the Nike Foundation to focus investment in projects across the globe that specifically target and benefit adolescent girls.  I wish I knew how to insert videos directly into my blog, but encourage you to watch the two short clips here on their website -- The Girl Effect and I Dare You.  

It's a movement, and it's spreading. 

Eating My Own Words

I was re-reading a post from October where I was bemoaning yoga as a "workout".  What I haven't admitted in the interim is that as I've gotten bigger, and my balance and breathing both took a nosedive from the beachball that is my belly, I really began to look forward to my weekly prenatal yoga classes. 

After four full days on bedrest, plus the previous week of "pseudo" bedrest, I was so excited to have permission from my doctor to attend the last session of my yoga class.  The instructor is fabulous, I'm actually really sorry that she doesn't teach regular classes.  Just coincidentally, almost everyone in the class is in their third trimester, so as the weeks went on, she spent more time on less challenging poses and more time on poses designed to stretch hips and back to prepare for birth and to relieve all the pressures that pregnancy has brought on.  In addition, simply the time for deep breathing and meditation has been great. She emphasized again today that if we can remember to take that skill into labor with us, it will make things infinitely easier. 

Spending days and days in bed has me losing any remaining vestiges of fitness that I had, but it's given me a lot of opportunity to focus on mental discipline.  Deep breathing, visualization and focus are all skills that any athlete needs, yet they so often get sidelined by the need to get our workouts in and move on with our daily lives.  I'm hoping that this lesson learned will stay with me as I move back into a more active lifestyle.

Bedrest has also given me the chance to throw a few extra prayers "northward" as I worry for a friend's preemie, another dear friend's husband who is having unexplained neurological issues, and a family member who is "boots on the ground" in Afghanistan right now.  I've been lucky to be inundated with emails, Facebook notes and even responses to my blog postings that keep me entertained, but so many of those emails also seem to contain "say a prayer for..." messages. 

Health-wise, the upside is that bedrest seems to be working.  We'll see what the doctor thinks tomorrow, but my monitoring is showing that it is back in the normal range as long as I'm in bed.  And Ms. McNugget remains crazy active.  I've had one or two random contracts, but otherwise, nothing to indicate that she's ready to vacate her current home any time soon.  It's not too late to guess a date for her birth.  FWIW, my own husband had picked today....guess not, sweetie!

Serious slugging

We're within just a few short weeks from Baby M's official due date...but I knew things had gone too easily! Last week we noticed a rise in blood pressure, and as of my visit to the OB on Tuesday, I am now on bedrest until she arrives.  It was either this or inducing to avoid developing full-blown toxemia, and this definitely seemed like the lesser of two evils.

I'm feeling good, and she's doing well so for the moment I'm just sucking it up.  Lots of bad tv.  Might catch up on a few of my USAT-required continuing education stuff to keep my coaching certification current.  Back issues of Triathlete magazine and a good novel are sitting by the bedside. 

Meanwhile, I think I've found my initial come-back race, the Zooma 10K, with a plan of a sprint or oly distance tri later in June or July.  Stuart, ever the optimist, continues to talk about the ironman I'm going to do in 2011.  If I believe it's possible, he's committed to supporting me in making in happen.  We'll see! A girl can dream, right?

There are days like that

Today's Facebook status update -- "Nothing stops pregnancy hormones like a spoonful of peanut butter stuck deep in a bag of chocolate chips. (oh yeah, good friends and a great husband help, too!)"

Needless to say, triathlon nutrition isn't top on my mind at this moment in time.

Place Your Bet

Well, apparently the window has opened for birth to be on everyone's minds....the office pool has begun.  So, feel free to play along at home and post your pick for Baby McNugget's birthdate.  No decision yet on what fabulous prizes are in store.  The guys at work think that they are playing for "naming rights".  Yeah, keep dreaming on that one! 

Data points so that everyone's on an equal playing field here.

DUE DATE: February 7th

Other factors or old wives tales...
* I've been measuring two weeks ahead since October
* Most first babies arrive at 41wks and 1 day as opposed to at 40wks
* There's a full moon on Jan 30th.

Any takers??