I’ve been thinking a lot to reflect on the past year and think about how I want things to be different in the upcoming year. The truth is, 2017 was not a fabulous year for me. I feel like I spent most of it completely overwhelmed by life and lost focus on keeping myself healthy and focused. I let myself go, gained 20 pounds, lost a bunch of fitness and grew really frustrated with triathlon. I tried, Lord knows I tried. I have check lists, oils, supplements, meditation apps…you name it, I tried it.
I’ve been doing the sport now for 12 years and this is the first year I just wasn’t into it, at all. I raced, poorly; I trained, inconsistently and halfheartedly. My heart wasn’t focused on it, and that’s on me. I let it get to that point. No mas :). The goals I had when I first got into the sport are still there. This year of stress didn’t kill them off…it just gave me time for my body to recover and gave me the will to refocus.
I didn’t like being frustrated or disliking triathlon. I love this sport; it’s what makes me feel like me. I feel empowered when I hit a hard workout and accomplished when I look back at the week and see all the work I’ve done. I love meeting my friends in the mornings to grind out a session or splash into the cold water. To realize that I let myself not enjoy these things is sad to me, and I’m done with it.
This year, I will be more intentional about how I spend my time and thoughts. I’m not letting other people set my priorities for me. Triathlon is a selfish sport, I’ve always known that and felt guilt about it. All those hours on training are taken away from someone, or some other task. But, this sport what makes me tick and gives me purpose. I’m more successful and more able to focus when I’m happy, and doing triathlon, with my friends, is what makes me happy.
Also this year is my big 4-0. I’m sure all this refocusing and reflecting is correlated with that upcoming event. It’s a halfway point. There are things I thought I would have accomplished by now that remain unchecked, and things I thought I wouldn’t have that I have done. It’s an event I’m using as an opportunity to assess my journey and make any needed course corrections. š
I’ve never set training goals for a year. I do set race goals (I’m going to do xxx race in xxx time), but never ‘process’ focused goals. This year I’m doing just that. I do have some key races and some goal times in mind, but honestly…I just want to enjoy the process and be back to me. The races are secondary and a chance to celebrate.
To wrap this long post up, this is what I’m focusing on for 2018:
- January Whole30, to get my gut right. My nutrition has been off the chain the past year and my tummy is feeling it. I’m also going to do the DoTerra Cleanse & Restore protocol because my coach is running a program for it.
- Every 70.3 or Ironman I’ve done in the past three years has involved intense stomach cramps somewhere along the way. I know it’s due to gut issues. My goal is to do this protocol for at least January (and probably some of February) to get those straightened out
- Become metabolically efficient. After focusing on the Whole30 and cleansing protocol for a few months, in March sometime I want to re-test my metabolic efficiency. I had it done about three years ago and I was an off-the-chart sugar burner. That needs to change to avoids these gut issues.
- Training volume. I have to put in the work if I want the results.
- Run: 20 miles per week; 1,040 miles
Bike: 75 miles per week: 3,900 miles
The only races I’m sure I’m going to do at this point is Florida 70.3 (4th time’s the charm!) and Ironman Florida. I’ll write more about those in the coming weeks and months.
I’m ending 2017 by getting rid of the junk I don’t need, which means cleaning and lots of trips to Goodwill, the Container Store, Ikea and Home Depot. I got rid of half of my clothes (that I hadn’t worn in three years) and feel a million times lighter. I’m doing a thorough cleaning of the entire apartment (using DoTerra mixes) and prepping food to set myself up for success.
I wish everyone a happy new year and an amazing 2018!
Triathlon done intentionally 