4 Days to Tri…500 Lbs No More!!

Woot!!! Took today on like a beast and powered through it. My daughter headed off to greet my little brother Shawn who is returning from his archelogical dig in England. So proud of you Shawn, you’re amazing!! Anyway, *coughs* Sorry proud sister moment. I knew I wouldn’t have her around to watch her brother while I went to the Tri ride this evening. With that in mind I made plans to get up early and head out before my SIL picked her up. By 8 am I was fueled up and on my bike headed toward downtown. My current Pandora pleasure while riding or running is a 90’s station, so I was rocking out as I put the “pedal to the metal.” I am sure I looked totally crazy to everyone I passed but I keep doing all of this training because I am having a blast. Of course I am also that person that dances in the car and belts out the songs at the top of my lungs. I have gotten many strange looks but I lived a half life for a very long time, so I am going take on my life with absolute passion and commitment. This morning as I rode my bike I heard a song that I haven’t heard for many years. It’s called ‘Butterfly’, and is by Crazy Town. It goes something like this:

Come my lady
Come come my lady
You’re my butterfly, sugar baby
Come my lady
Come come my lady
You’re my butterfly, sugar baby

I rocked that song and it’s entirely possible that I did my best to rap a song I haven’t heard in probably 10 years while riding a bike quite fast. That takes some talent I tell you! I stopped downtown to take a picture of the choppy waves on Lake CDA. I had a swim coming up this evening and was hoping that the wind died down before I did the swim. In all, I rode 13 miles today in just about an hour,  and it felt awesome. As I rode I thought about a question I was asked this morning. What has kept me going in my darkest days on this journey? I really had to think about that question before I had any kind of answer. There have been times when I didn’t have an answer. I couldn’t have begun to tell you what kept me going, when many have chosen to give up. Maybe it’s that I am crazy stubborn, or possibly that nothing to me can be as bad as being 500 Lbs again, maybe it’s that I almost died once and I want to embrace the person I was meant to be for as long as I am here, or it could be all of those and more. I have a very all or nothing personality, and when I start something, I throw myself into it with conviction and passion. I think that’s been an asset in this entire process of losing over 300 lbs. I continued thinking about this question as I got home and sent my daughter off, gathered our grocery list, changed into running clothes, and headed to Physio One for my run. I got there and hopped on the Alter G treadmill which is the coolest treadmill ever. It’s part of what helped me gain muscles strong enough to run when my knee was hurting. You wear this tutu looking short thing and get zipped into the machine. It lifts you up off the treadmill by blowing the area inside the treadmill full of air. I have seen people walk on this machine who can barely walk with a walker. You can choose what percentage of your weight you support and what portion the machine supports. It’s pretty darn awesome, but man is it ever hot inside of those shorts. By the time I got off of the Alter G I had run 2.62 miles in 30 minutes with an average pace of 8:52. Of course I was only supporting 65 percent of my weight but it felt awesome and I was dripping sweat.

While I was on the treadmill my husband called to talk about the question I had posed to him about the darkest hour. As he so frequently does, he summed it up with absolute eloquence. He said, “Jenny, just like the sun comes in and takes away the night, the kids and I are your beacons of light, but really it’s when you focus on the flame inside of you that you’re strongest.” Once again he was right! They are my beacons of light, and through many of those dark days, hours, weeks, etc; they’re what has kept me fighting forward in conjunction with that inner strength, the flame I have refused to have snuffed out. *G* With that thought in my head I got the recovery boots on and than busted out grocery shopping for the day. Jacub and I spent some time together, and than I did part of my weeks food prep, by washing fruit and bagging it up. Than I sliced and washed veggies, to have in containers in the fridge. Tomorrow, I will homemade granola, and baked tofu in prep for the race ahead, and the rest of the week. After making dinner and eating, my hubby returned home and we headed off to swim. Today he was able to do his first swim in a wetsuit, and that may be one of the funniest things I have seen in awhile. He took to it like a fish in water, and rocked out the swim with me. We even met a lovely couple who were out there training, to do the same race as us. Sabra and George are also doing the Sprint and were full of great info., yet another thing I love about doing this is the great Tri community. Everyone has been so supportive and kind to us. The advice and help we have been given, has been invaluable to us, and we are so very thankful. I know that on Saturday we will do it all justice, and make everyone proud of what they have invested in us. Butterfly up and out!