IMMT Mar 2018 Lessons Learned - Morning fix

Training for Ironman Mont-Tremblant! 

❤️🚴🏽‍♀️🏃🏽‍♀️☕ 

"Life is all about balance. 

You don’t always need to be getting stuff done. 

Sometimes it’s perfectly okay, 

and absolutely necessary, 

to shut down, 

kick back, 

and do nothing." ~Lori Deschene

Another key lesson: Trust Yourself!

😍 ❤ 💘

Me after finishing the 10K run
3rd place in AG

Here's my recap for this month:

Things are starting to get really intense! Am I nervous? Absolutely! But at the same time, I am excited to be a part of this wild experience. I have learned so many great lessons in the short amount of time I’ve been a part of this amazing team. Never have I before have been equally excited and terrified of what obstacles I’ll face over the next few months. I constantly have to remind myself to slow down, and practice my yoga breathing - like I do on the mat. Over the years my teachers have taught me that the true practice of yoga begins when we leave our mat and take those lessons into our world. Learning to be calm and gain control over your breath is so critical in this role. Another key lesson - TRUST. I am so lucky to be a part of a group of people who I trust with my life, and I hope they have the same trust in me. I am thankful for everyone’s support. 

Some say that training for an Ironman the second time around is easier. This is not my case nor my experience. This time around poses additional challenges. I’m confronted with more “personal challenges” as I get deeper in the sport. It impacts other areas in my life. My focus is off. Trickles into my personal free time, impacts my sleep, dampens my spirit-and messes with my work. This time around continues to bring up old stories and similar experiences and conversations I had from my middle school years. Similar conversation, same old behavior pattern as a result. 

Not good… I’m trying to adjust, and react different, and it’s a challenge, but, it’s working.

My swim coach, is coaching me through it in the pool. I am hard-pressed to keep with it on the BIKE and RUN. The times when I get stopped or avoid coming to practice all together.  My swim coach wants me to be there to train. And when I’m there, to have my head in the game. Then, I get my act together, and do it. That’s all it takes, just get in the water, on the bike, to the trail and go!

As I train, and when I am struggling with a task, I remind myself of why I am doing this, and all of your positive encouragement. 

I have a long way to go and so much more to learn...practice, practice, practice! 

Trying a Healthy New Dish
Spinach Pilof

Recap of What I learned and BIG wins for me this month:

• Life doesn’t stop, keep doing the other things you love while training. It’s okay to do other things, like travel, my art, read, dance, create, produce, etc. Last year I missed out on a few opportunities to travel with friends because I was so worried about NOT training or my training schedule would get out of wack. This year, I have discovered that training for an Ironman is a lifestyle and I have learned to “fit it in” along with all of my other things I like to do in life. 
• It’s the small changes for a better life. Small tweaks can transform you. 
• Be aware of your dreams, learn through active dreaming. Writing your dreams down, can help you discover what’s going on in your training, what you are learning and guide and empower you to understand what you are dealing with and overcoming (a lot of times it is your fears and biggest obstacles).
• Enough with the Negative Self-Talk! Do not give negativity power. Make it a consorted effort to keep your thoughts Positive! You are rewarded by doing this.
• Empower yourself! Your head has to be in the right place, to keep moving forward. It is never too early, or too late, to add healthy habits, you have to choose each day, over-and-over and over every single day. 
• Don’t just accept where you are in life. If you want better, Do better. If you want to be more,  Do more. It’s all on you. Do It!
• All great achievements require time, energy and consistency. There's just something about digging down deep and going that extra mile and pushing your body to go longer and harder than you ever have. Just when you are ready to give up, go a few extra steps and see how it feels. It's not usually crowded where you're going…
• Do whatever it takes to get there. When People Ask Me, “What do you do? I say, “Whatever it takes.” You can’t build a reputation On what you are going to do.
• Carving out a little time each day, to make more clarity around what you want, outside of the Ironman training. Connect with the right people to support you as you go after it and then NAIL it.  To achieve “the next level” you have to have clarity. Start and Do Not quit.
• To win is not important. To be successful is not even important. How to plan and prepare is crucial. When you plan very well and prepare very well, then success can come on the way. Then winning can come on your way.
• Make it your business to know yourself; It is the most difficult lesson in the world. And this is one of the MOST intense lesson I learned this week. That is, I really like working out solo. I take my workouts seriously and need that alone time to really focus my energies on channelling my emotions. When I workout with groups, other people, they expect me to be chatty and social, but, it’s not easy for me. When I work out, I’m there to be serious and workout hard, put everything into my workouts. And I find it almost distracting and even irritating when others try to talk to me. I zone them and everyone, everything out. I’m very intense. It becomes very intense for me.
• Maybe instead of being here to get things right, we’re here to learn to love the mess that in our life. If that’s the one thing I get right this year, it just may be enough.
• Running has always been a relief and a sanctuary — something that makes me feel good, both physically and mentally. For me, it is as much about the health benefits as it is about the joy it brings to my life. I have to remember this, kind of get reground on this thought. Because at times I forget.
• Reach, Stretch and Grow! It doesn't hurt to go back and relook at something you learned, adjust, tweak and make it even better. 
• There's one thing I'm learning from this ironman training experience, is that I'm gaining great new habits, like swimming and this year focusing on speed on the bike and conscientiously eating. I have a more integrated day with great workouts; rather than "just" running. I swim a lot and use cork ear plugs and they have been working fantastic. A year ago, I had all sorts of problems with my goggles staying on the whole time and having problems with water in my goggles. No more. Today was an endurance swim, long easy strokes through the whole swim. I felt pretty good today.
• There will always be challenges, obstacles and less than perfect conditions. So what? Get started now. With each step you take, you will grow stronger and stronger, more and more skilled, more and more self-confident and more and more successful.
• I am learning, more and more, that leadership Starts with your individual example. If you are wondering why people are the way they are to you, it may be because of how you are to them. It begins with you.  This is something that resonates in my life, especially these past several months. How I act is how people treat me. Very strange concept in many ways; but, very true.  It’s always good to look in the mirror. And many times you don’t even know how strong your words are to others. Sometimes when you say something and see a reaction, I go to my bathroom, later, and say the same thing in the mirror to myself. I can really see how the words hit.  Words are strong! Words are also impactful (good or bad). This goes for the ‘words’ and ‘stories’ you tell yourself about yourself.  Crazy stuff, but it’s there. There is one thing I know is that “I’m a really good story-teller,” this goes to the stories I tell myself.
• And Then it Happens… This pretty much sums it up, a day in a life of a workout. One day you wake up and you’re in this place. You’re in this place where everything feels right. Your heart is calm. Your soul is lit. Your thoughts are positive. Your vision is clear. You’re at peace, at peace with where you’ve been, at peace with what you’ve been through, and at peace with where you are headed.

🏊🚴🏻🙏🏻🏃🏻‍♀️

Home is where your story begins!! 

♡

🍂☕🦋