It's been another crazy week. It seems like it always is. I was super exciting about swimming at the beginning of the week. I went both Monday and Tuesday and did almost-real sets. As in I took pieces of mini-sets I did in Tucson and stuck together some decent swim practices for myself. I was pretty happy. Except unlike in Tucson I don't have a designated injury lane and I feel like I'm always in the way. Anyways, I was feeling pretty good until after those two practices my shoulders hurt like crazy. I haven't been able to get in another swim for the rest of the week. This is frustrating. Next week my goal is to do three swim practices, except I will be alternating days.
I also went and got another MRI last Saturday. I still don't know why we didn't do this before. At least this time I wasn't nervous about it; I walked in knowing I was just going to be completely bored for about half an hour as I lay there inside that super loud machine. This time there were actually pieces that went over my shoulders, which felt like a good sign. We'll see what the results from this one bring.
This past week was DNTT, definitely not the tour week. So while half the school was off in New York playing their band instruments or singing, the non-musically talented half of us did random fun activities all over the city. Stuff like scuba diving, bowling, hot yoga, car maintenance, rock climbing and go-karting. I felt like I did so much driving whenever it worked out to have the car. Good thing that while I am not musically talented, I am directionally competent. Unlike many people out there. I should add that to my list of talents. It's not a huge list. One time my mom asked my if I was doing anything in the school talent show. Of course I wasn't, I asked her what talent I could possibly show off. She didn't know but said I was very talented. I asked her to name one of my talents and she asked for some time to think about it. A day later she still didn't know what to tell me. True story.
I will admit triathlon does take some talent. But it's mostly being mentally tough enough to give it everything you've got and more. But this week while we practiced some transitions and mounts on the outdoor track some random kids commented that it took talent. I'll agree with that. This time of year we're practicing lots of the small technical things which can be kind of fun. Even though I don't think it was supposed to be a super hard week it felt like we still put in some solid work. Tuesday night only three of us showed up to the garbage hill and it was pretty miserable because the weather just kept getting worse. But I still felt good about my run that day. I descended my splits for the loop we do: 5:35, 5:30, 5:23. We returned to the hill today and did some bricks. Three times biking up the hill (easy, mod, hard) followed by transition and the same run as before. Comparing my run splits to Tuesday's practice I felt like I put in another solid practice: 5:29, 5:27, 5:40. I guess I was tired by that last one. Anyways, it felt like some good practice for the Duathlon series coming up. The week after next is the first race and I'm kind of excited. For five weeks in a row we'll head out to Bird's Hill for what I think is a great way to get prepped for the season. I wouldn't feel ready heading into Junior racing without having done the duathlons.
I think that's about it from my crazy life at the moment. I know it's basically just more random updates but I hope it's still appreciated. I also am going to start working a bit less which should be good. Now I'm going to be doing only 5 to 6 hour shifts, starting after 4pm and never working past 10pm on Sundays. Probably to most people this seems like a no-brainer based on the amount of other stuff I do. But I'm not most people. What do you mean it's not normal to work 15 hours each weekend on top of training, coaching, church, homework, and sleeping? So yeah, I'm cutting back just a bit, at least until summer. Apparently soon race season will finally start and I will finally be done high school. Sweet. Ok sorry I kept rambling. That's it for now, really. Thanks for continuing to read.
OK, maybe you don't have a "song and dance" talent that you can take up on a stage ... but you have many amazing talents. Triathlon is definitely a talent, although you might not consider it one. Your writing skills are another talent. And to think ... I once worried that you would never learn to spell or use capital letters properly!! You have special talent with younger kids, especially with your patience and gentleness. Think of the way you are able to coach younger kids to feel successful. Definitely a talent that not everyone has. Your time management skills are another valuable talent. I still don't quite know how you manage to fit so many different things in one day!! So yes, you have talents. No, you can't perform them on a stage at a talent show. But you are filled with talent! Never let anyone tell you otherwise. You've been blessed with enough energy, power, and talent to create the life you want!
ReplyDeleteThanks Auntie Sylvia! Don't worry, I'm not still worried about it! And I for sure have way more fun with triathlon and everything else I do than some talent show act :)
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