jszat's group- closed (Page 7)

 Generally the assatars are penalties for losing on the challenge board and the penalty lasts a month.  New month, no more assatar.

Sorry to butt in here after being AWOL so long.....

I guess I need a little encouragement to get back on the horse and into training again. Things were going great, then life started to kick my butt a little bit. We moved to a new house, which ordinarily wouldn't have been so bad, but it was one of those moves where everything that could have gone wrong did go wrong. Now we are in the middle of what will probably be an ugly custody battle over my step son. His mother has done nothing but use him, mess with his head, and harass us for over a year. I'll spare you all the details of it, but it's one of those situations where things will get worse before they get better. All of that on top of taking care of all the kids (our three, plus I babysit a 9 year old, a 4 year old, and a 8 week old baby) just sapped all my energy for a while. Then once I fell out of a training routine, I found it very difficult to get back into it. I don't mean any of that as a good excuse, it's just what happened. I feel pretty pathetic whining about my "stressful life" when we have members who are fighting cancer at the moment, know what I mean?

So here is where I find myself- My tri is July 22 and I am out of shape. It is only a sprint, so I know I can do it, but it won't be pretty. I already know I won't be near where I want to be, but I just don't want to quit. This is something I dreamed about accomplishing, and I don't want to give up on it. Any advice? (other than get up off my and get to the gym? LOL)

PS- I hope to catch up with you all in my "spare" time. Hope life and training have been going well for all of you! 

I think some of it is how you look at training and tri in general.  I dont think of it as working out.  I think of it as 1) my own time to be alone with my thoughts 2) time to improve myself  3) time to burn stress and gain energy through making myself more fit.

In a way for me this journey has been a coping mechanism for the rigors of life, helping raise four kids, work, part time business etc.  Its not a chore for me to make time anymore cuz I look at the benefits of other leisure activities like TV or Playstation 2, etc, etc vs tri and there is no comparison for me personally in enhancing quality of life.  I feel better, have met tons of great people, etc, etc.  So when everything going on else around me is nuts, this is how I escape, how I cope, how I regain my focus.  Just a few thoughts.  I wish you the best.  As far as the tri, go into it with reasonable expecations on where your training is and use it as a learning experience as well.  Most importantly have fun with it, cuz thats what it should be about. 

Yep.  Door County Olympic for me.  Again goals are kind of subjective.  I will be trying to start the swim in the middle of the pack to simulate the human blender I will see at MOO.  Hammer it all out as this will be my first oly, nail nutrition, have fun.  No idea what to expect time wise, but lets shoot for 2:25

OWS practice has been huge for me come race day and recommend as many as you can get in.