Humor

2017…. Back in the Saddle

Seems like just yesterday I was racing IRONMAN, Texas, even though that was almost two years ago. Life threw me a few curve balls through 2015 and 2016, but I am excited to be back in a healthy, active lifestyle and racing again.

I kicked off 2017 with the Big Beach Marathon in Alabama on January 29, 2017. The Big Beach Marathon was the first marathon I ever actually considering quitting. Mile 22 was the infamous mile in which I reached into my FlipBelt, grabbed my phone and texted for a pick up. I got no response from the other end so I kept trudging along. By mile 23 I was upset that I still didn’t get a response and bargained with myself that if I made it to mile 24 that I would go ahead and finish. I ended up finishing. The Big Beach Marathon was indeed my slowest finish time ever, but every once in awhile a humbling experience like that reminds us to be grateful that we can even get out there and complete 26.2 miles.

 

I followed up the Big Beach Marathon with the Tallahassee Half Marathon a week later. The hilly and beautiful winding course was a welcome change of scenery. I ran the Tallahassee Half Marathon with a friend/coach and catching up on life for 13.1 miles always makes those miles go by a little faster.

30?, 438 Jennifer Bendewish, 823 Maria Matheu

 

A few other exciting notes for 2017…. I am honored to be representing Complete Nutrition as a Complete Nutrition Tallahassee Athlete for 2017 and a social media influencer for Rose City Triathlon Club. Looking forward to sharing training, travels, adventures, and races this year!

complete-nutrition

THANK YOU! 10 Things This Tri-Momma is Grateful For

Thanks to SITS Girls for challenging me to share 10 Things I am thankful for. I am so grateful for each and everyday I have on this planet and all the things that cross my path. For today, I am going to share what I thankful for as it pertains to triathlon… hopefully you will find some humor in a few of them.

Triathlon quote

10 Triathlon Thank You Moments!

  1. THANK YOU to Fitness magazine for writing an article and providing a training plan for a sprint triathlon. Your colorful pictures, cute gear, and realistic training plan for all women has led me down a road in which my husband never hears me complain about the cost of his golf rounds anymore.
  2. THANK YOU for putting the dreadful swim first and the run last. As a runner, I spend the race waiting to get to the run.
  3. THANK YOU triathlon for the cute and stylish racing gear….. yeah, right. No matter how you design it, trisuits have to be just about the most unflattering outfit in my closet.
  4. THANK YOU for the police escort. I’ve been first in my age group in a race and last in a race. At least when you are last, the motorcycle cop is there to talk to you for the rest of the bike section.
  5.  THANK YOU for energy gels and chlorine in pools which have made my dentist more money.
  6. THANK YOU to all the women doing triathlons! You keep me inspired!
  7. THANK YOU for Bodyglide! (No further details needed).
  8. THANK YOU to my two little girls, who motivate me and inspire me to be better everyday.
  9. THANK YOU to all the trimomma’s out there and to a good friend of mine that I get to go on long rides with, which gives us time to talk about mommyhood, training, life, and so much more!
  10. THANK YOU to my husband who does not do triathlons. I could not imagine what two of us in a house would be like.

My Favorite Fall Activity: Running Through Spider Webs

Spiderweb

 So… that’s totally a lie.

Running through spider webs is the one part of Fall that I absolutely dread and I am guaranteed to run through a few before winter sets in.  The joyful experience usually goes something like this….

Up at o-dark thirty… find some running clothes, dig through gym bag or purse to find my iPod, get a few things situated and head out the door. Hit Play on the iPod, get my Runkeeper app going on my phone and start off with a slow, dreadful pace and wonder how I will get through all the miles ahead of me. At this point I am on high spiderweb alert with eyes strained looking for any faint glimmer of light reflecting on a web. After a few miles I usually find my groove, tune into my music, zone out of reality, and then bam… face first into a web and instant karate chopping, skin crawling, and sprinting all occur at the same time. Why… why, why, why does my face always come in contact first????

Long after a run is over and I’ve taken a shower and made it to work I still suffer from the creep crawlies. Should a hair graze my shoulder or a piece of lint touch my arm, I will jump as if the spider had been hiding all day, waiting for the perfect opportunity in the day to jump out and freak me out one more time. Ugh.

karate-master

 

On the less creep crawly side…. there are a few things I do love about Fall.

I love running in the cooler temps.

I love that Fall marks the beginning of marathon training for me.

I love hunting for the perfect pumpkins and having a family fun carving day.

I love Black Friday shopping (even though I almost never make it out to shop).

I love seeing the seasons change and the way the leaves fall when the wind blows.

 

What do you love about Fall?

10 Triathon Tidbits This Mother Has Learned in Two Years of Triathlon

In May 2012, I was reading through a copy of one of my favorite magazines, Women’s Running. At that time, I had my leg propped up on my desk drawer, my slacks rolled up and ice on my shin. Yes, I was battling through another shin splint. I stumbled across an article and training plan to do your first sprint triathlon in eight weeks. Needless to say, I was sucked into the article and came home that day and told my husband I had a great idea….. I was going to do a triathlon. I’d love to tell you his response or his facial expression, but I honestly didn’t pay attention long enough to see his response…  I was already off writing a list of stuff I needed and found a calendar to start mapping out my training plan.

In August of 2012, I did my first triathlon. This month marks two years of my love for the sport. Over the past two years, I have learned a few things…

GA Veterans 2012

1. Race Day… To wear a sports bra under a tri top or not?

Before my first race, this question had me stumped for months. When I decided to do my first triathlon, I knew no one who enjoyed the sport and therefore no one to direct this question to. So, I decided to look up race photos of the race I was doing from the year before and check out all the pictures of the ladies who had raced. After searching photos of mid distance finishers and back of the pack finishers, I noticed lots of ladies raced with a sports bra under their tri top. I decided to do my first triathlon with my favorite running bra under my tri top and have raced every race this way. I like compression with NO bounce.

2. Race Day… Swim will not go as planned.

I grew up in Southern California in a surfing family. I have swam in shore break in Hawaii and this stupid confidence carried over into my first lake swim in my first triathlon. No matter how many laps you swim in a pool, and no matter how many years you jumped and played in the waves, none of that prepared me for a grimy, warm water, lake swim. During my first race, I panicked after the first buoy, panicked more as I saw the other swimmers getting further away, and panicked even more when the people were cheering from the dock at the end of the swim. Clearly they were yelling at me to hurry up because they had seen an alligator and were not just merely clapping and cheering. It took five more races before I learned to swim calmly and to stop worrying that I would be last out of the water. Being last means I still made it out of the water. Being last doesn’t mean I can’t be happy. Continue reading →

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