Thankful

Last week I wrote a post about all my worries and referenced this bible verse...

I also said in that post that I was going to write everything that I was thankful for...of course, I didn't. Instead, I wrote a whiny, neurotic post about how freaked out I was. Note that I just used the term "was".  The other day...mid "recovery" ride, I started getting myself all worked up about the race again. I then reminded myself that I needed to "not worry about anything".

Philippians 4:6 didn't say not to worry about the small stuff. It didn't say not to worry some things. It said not to worry about ANYTHING. It also said to thank God for all that he has done.

As I started thinking about this during my ride, I started making a mental list of everything that God has done for me from the people in my life to even my ailments...as soon as I started doing this, my anxiety vanished.

So, here is a list (partial) of what I am thankful for in terms of my training and upcoming race...as you will read, most of my thanks is for the wonderful people He as put in my life.

Hot Stuff

Hot Stuff has been my #1 guy, my rock, and my best friend for over 27 years. Vineman would not have been possible without him. Not only did he fund this crazy endeavor, he allowed me to do it. Now, before you get all "women's lib" on me because I said that my hubby allowed me to do this race, let me explain.

If you are training for an "iron" distance event and you are married, you are only doing so by the patience and understanding of your spouse. If your spouse is not behind you, if you don't have their buy-in for the process, things are not going to be easy. Could you imagine having someone mad or resentful every time you wanted (needed) to do a 5 hour ride? I couldn't!

(NOTE: Even my understanding and loving hubby reached periodic overloads of "vineman" training...to be honest, I did too :-)  LOL)

I made him push the [Enter] key with me when I signed up for Vineman :-)

While HS may not have swam every lap with me or ran every mile, he was with me on the bike for 99% of the miles (he wasn't too keen on trainer miles).  I couldn't have done this without him!

Tahoe ride

Thank you, Honey!!!

Family & Friends

Right behind HS in terms of support is my family. I am so thankful for their patience and understanding. There were many invites that I had to turn down over the past several months because I needed to do a long ride or run. There were times I would show up sweaty and stinky to someone's house. Of course, they were all very kind listening to my training tales of woe and all of my of triathlon talk. Thank you for putting a smile on your face even if I was probably boring you to death!

Trading places...Lindsey took me to swim practice

Thank you everyone!!! 

Coaches

I am very thankful for my coaches. Their guidance and support was essential. My original triathlon coach, James, is responsible for recommending my second and current coach, Bob Korock (aka Coach K).

As soon as I started talking about doing a full iron distance race back in August 2014, Cristy Deich recommended that I get a coach to help me. This posed two problems for me 1) I didn't know if I was coachable HA HA! 2) How would I break this to James? Would he have his feelings hurt if I said I wanted to work with someone that had experience racing 140.6?

Fast forward to November 2014...James posted this on our team's Facebook page...

James had recommended a local coach with Ironman experience! I was so relieved. I contacted Coach K immediately and set up a meeting with me and HS. I liked his training philosophy and the fact that he was close to my age (didn't want some young whipper-snapper trying to get me to train like a 20 year old)... and decided (with HS's approval) to work with him.

Thank you James for recommending Bob and for putting up with me at swim practice. Also, thank you Coach K for your patience and guidance over the past several months. I know I probably asked too many questions at times... Also, all those times I said I hated you...I didn't mean it ;-)

Teammates

I am so very fortunate to be on a team with so many fun people. It really makes going to swim practice bearable! I am also thankful to everyone that stuck with me on my long rides, although the number of willing participants tapered off a bit when I got to the point where I had to do 5-1/2 hour rides every Saturday ;-)

Its not always about triathlons...sometimes we just run

Having fun even though it was raining!

Thank you all so much!

Ailments

My Black Toenail - I am thankful for my little black toenail because this ugly sucker told me that something was wrong with my shoes. As it turned out, my new shoes were a bit too small. Although my big toe had plenty of room when I was fitted at Fleet Feet, my longer second toe did not. I caught this problem in enough time to order a new, properly sized pair of shoes.

I am also very thankful for how my Achilles feels. Is it perfect? No. However, it is 10x better than it was last year.

I am also immensely thankful that my crazy, unpredictable Aunt Flo showed up last week instead of this weekend. I've had a bad race experience with her and could not imagine the extra hurdles she would present during a 12+ hour race.

What I Need

All that I need for Vineman is summed up in this prayer I bollowed from Karen Messersmith's Facebook page...

Thanks for posting this, Karen!