Swim. Bike. Run. Change

Saying Thank you for all the support I have gotten over the past 87 days just doesn’t seem like its enough but Ill say it anyways – THANK YOU!!!! From the bottom of my sometimes weak heart, I mean it.

It’s amazing to have people I know, barely know and are yet to know support me immensely. Having people reach into their pockets to make a financial support for a cause so great warms my heart to no return. And the people who have listened to me whine and complain about my body not cooperating with me – bless your heart!

Overall, this has been an amazing journey, discovering what my body can do still surprises me daily, and realizing that riding a bike is not as easy as I once thought it was.

I’m taking the time to Thank my lovely mother, every time I get on a bike, I remember how I first learned to ride one. It was her who took my sisters and I to the empty school parking lot after school, unloaded our bikes with training wheels and watched us for hours till we learned, always there to clean any bruises and encourage us all the way – This is actually one of my fondest memories of my mother, unconditional love. Always in the stands at swim meets, even though she knew like clockwork I would always come in 3rd place. In my defense, I raced with only 2 other boys in my age group and I just couldn’t beat them! I was a lil slow in track, running has never been my strong sport so even if I never qualified for the finals, she was always there anyways.

It may sound cliche to thank my mum but I learned all my key attributes and drive from her. I feel blessed each day to have her by my side. always.

So with 22 days left, I dedicate my race to my mother, Comfort Awakessien as well as all the individuals living with Leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin lymphoma, myeloma and all blood cancers fighting each day. You inspire me more than you will ever know.

◘ Every 4 minutes one person is diagnosed with a blood cancer.

◘ Every ten minutes, someone dies from a blood cancer. This statistic represents nearly 146 people each day, or more than six people every hour.

◘ Leukemia, lymphoma and myeloma will cause the deaths of an estimated 53,240 people in the United States this year.

◘ An estimated 912,938 people in the United States are currently living with, or are in remission from, leukemia, Hodgkin lymphoma, NHL or myeloma.

◘ Leukemia is one of the top 15 most frequently occurring cancers in all races or ethnicities.

◘ Anyone can get leukemia. Leukemia affects males and females of all ages. The cause of leukemia is not known.

Join the Fight to find a Cure

…A little inspiration!

So I was cruising on Amazon looking for cheap Tri shorts for race day when I stumbled across this little gem. I have to admit it got me excited after reading a few pages of it. Unfortunately I cant buy it right now but i will tell you this, it was just what I needed!

During this past month of training, I have beat myself up a lot about my strength and pace! I sometimes feel that my body isn’t cooperating with me and moving as fast as I would like it to especially when I time my outdoor runs but you know what? 2 months ago I could not run for 60 minutes straight….outside…at 8am…before starting my day

But still with all these accomplishments there is still that little voice that wants to remind me that im not good enough, especially during group training when I see people speeding past me on their bikes or running past me on the track, it makes me wonder if my weight is bringing me down. But truth is, I have the typical black woman’s body, I got some hips, a plump butt and a nice rack (hehe) simply put – I’m curvy and that ish aint going nowhere! So I am learning to deal with it.

For anyone feeling down about their weight even if they are putting in the work, this is a great pick me up!

Check it out on Amazon

…Ate my bathing suit.
and now I need a new one for the last 29 days of training.
and I loved my Nike ones too! ugh

In other news, my wet suit came in.
Look out for a sexy picture coming soon!

SOBER!!!

That.is.all.

Good day

1. The Uphill Journey makes the Downhill slide that much sweeter – This mainly pertains to riding my bike but Ive decided to apply it to other aspects of my life. Right now I’m almost at the top of the hill in my life climb and soon it will be smooth sailing all the way down. cant wait!

2. Just keep Pedaling - This is my revision of the “Just keep swimming” quote from Nemo, I learned that resting your legs when you go downhill builds up lactic acid in your muscles which make you tired and sore so the key is to keep pedaling even if you are going downhill. How about that!! Although this mainly applies to riding my bike it also applies in life. Keep pedaling means you keep moving and as long as you’re not at a stand still everything is gonna be alright!

That’s all folks!
Here’s to a great last month!

More on Lactic Acid Build-up

On Saturday I experienced my first brick training. I was excited but nervous about it and my only goal that day was to finish at my own pace without taking breaks to walk during the run.

For those of you who don’t know – What’s a “brick” and why is it named so?
○Bike-Run-ICK!
○That’s how your legs feel for the first part of the run.
○Named by Mark Sisson and Scott Zagarino one day in 1988 after they completed a Bike-Run workout — “Just another brick in the wall”.

So there you have it! There are various variations of a Brick workout mainly used to build endurance for a triathlon, helps you engage various muscles and get an idea of what your body will feel like on race day.

I was lucky that my first was on a lovely 65deg Saturday morning in beautiful Concord, MA. I arrived on time at 830am geared up with my bike, helmet, riding gloves, running shoes, clip in cleats, 2 bottles of Gatorade, 2 bottles of water and a towel.

We were told by our trainer that the bike course was a little over 3 miles and the run course was a little over 1/2 a mile. I was like sounds easy enough then he said, you have to do it 3 times! ha! thats the catch.

I started out strong but bear in mind, Ive only been out on my bike 3-4 times and as much as I enjoy riding outside, Im not completely used to it yet. half way through the trail I was already feeling it in my legs, to be fair the trail was VERY hilly! after the 1st loop, i took a chug of Gatorade, changed into my running shoes and set out for my 0.5 mile run, easy enough and then I got back on my bike. woah! my legs were on fiyahhh! Luckily for us we have great mentors so at each turn, there were mentors cheering us on, stopping traffic for us to cross the street and so on, overall the energy was very great. I did my second lap of running and felt pretty good because I knew I was almost done. 3rd loop of biking and I knew the trail pretty well, knew how to avoid cars at the points were the bike lane pretty much disappeared and knew when the downhills were coming so i could rest my legs, running the last lap was brutal, my pace was very very slow and I kept repeating to myself – “don’t stop, don’t stop” At this point I realized I was the last to finish and the lady in front of me happened to be a mentor, she waited for me and we ran the last 1/4 mile together, when i got to the finish line, everyone who had finished was cheering me on!! It felt great!
Surprisingly I didn’t beat myself up too much about finishing last because I realized that the point was to finish and I did!!

The End.

Learn more on Brick Training

SOBER!!!!!

I know I sound like I was a raging alcoholic but I really wasn’t. It just feels good to go that long without feeling like I need to drink or want to. Ive been to many events/parties during my sobriety and not felt the desire to have a drink. My drink of choice is a Shirley temple with 2 cherries! hehe

I initially decided to stop drinking for lent to test myself and I knew my training would benefit from it, and 3 weeks into it I knew I could take it all the way to race day so that the plan!

wish me luck!

Her Royal Pinkness……..El Pinko!!!!

Isn’t she a beauty???

I love her already and I barely know her

Cant wait to take her outside now the weather is getting nice but alas it’ll have to be after I’m done Fist Pumping down at the Jersey Shore.
Happy Easter all!

Wilma Rudolph. Enuff Said.

The moral of the story is, you can do whatever you set your mind to. no matter your physical condition or whoever doubts you. I’m slowly but surely learning that and although my first instinct is to tape pictures of my doubters on a punching bag and punch away, I realize the best answer for the nonbelievers is to accomplish what Ive set my mind to. I cant ever doubt myself because I have enough people doing that already.

Take that suckers. I’m flying above