3, 2, 1....here we go

What an odd thing this has turned into.  Not wholly unexpected mind you, just odd.  I'm referring to  my weight.  Something that I haven't given a lot of thought to in my life.  I've always thought of myself as an athlete, as someone who could eat whatever, exercise whenever, and all would be fine.

Then I hit my 40's.....

My realization of this creeping weight gain and decreasing overall fitness level hit me in 2011 and I responded in the only way I knew how - create a training goal.  A big one.  I signed up for the BC Bike Race epic course (the full course).  A month before the race I fractured a rib mountain biking, then a week before I fell in my boat and bruised my back quite badly.  Limited confidence, gone.  Downgraded to the Challenge category.  I pushed through and finished every day, earning the coveted belt buckle.  This is something I am quite proud of.

Post-finish-line cry at BCBR

But there was this nagging element that I sorta sucked - 9th out of 9 in the Open Women category.  My partner reminded me that 15 started with 6 not finishing so I should feel good about this result.  I didn't.

This season I'm racing with the Muddbunnies and hoping that this will help to motivate me.  Ski season has just ended (although my brain is fighting that) so my first race is this Sunday. Strangely nervous although trying to convince myself that it's "all for fun"..... right?  My two main goals for this summer are the 3-day TransRockies in July, then the Tour de Victoria in September.  There will be others peppered in there.

My good friend Keps is my primary source of ongoing motivation and her blog is a good read.  She and her husband are my tech and training gurus, my go-to people for fitness and gear questions.  She's supportive and realistic without being overly cheerleader'ish - perfect for me.

Another good friend Moniera with a fabulous blog also continues to inspire me.  It helps that she's my age with a daughter who is similar in age and life path as my daughter.  She motivates me with her just get out there attitude.

So I'm trying to regain the athlete in me.  It's a time of transition in my life in a whole lot of areas.