Busy? No Complaints.

Ever think you can't get busier? Oh believe me you'll always find a way. More so than ever did I live the word BUSY this past week. Let's just say my week started with a 4hr delayed flight out of Missouri, CrossFit, Ironman training, HHHealth, complete household move Thursday and Friday night and then a Triathlon to polish it all off today. No complaints.

I think as humans we often assume there are more hours in a day than there actually are. It's unfortunate because there is a fine line between drawing yourself too thin and being busy. I like to think I'm good busy. I don't dismiss opportunities. I find that when you start sacrificing things that you enjoy you begin to take yourself out of the game. Busy? No complaints. Read on...

Race: Festival of Flowers
Place: Ninety Six, SC
Conditions:Light to Heavy Rain
Distance: International

Swim: 29:45 (35th)
T1: 0:43
Bike:1:06:30 (58th)
T2: 0:34
Run: 40:30 (11th)

Overall: 2:18:04 (25th)
Age Group: 2nd

This race marked my second ever international distance and man was it a great arena. The swim was an awesome 1500m loop point to point, bike one big loop and the run finished by overlooking Lake Greenwood we charged up a steep hill to cross the line. I wasn't expecting rain at the race start, but just before they shot the air horn officials mentioned that it was pouring just miles away from us. Turned into a rainy day, but man another spectacular experience.

#1 - I learned today that I need new holsters for water bottles on the bike. It happened again that I lost my fuel source during the bike portion! I wanted to test the SFH in race protein, but unfortunately after one sip it popped right out of the holster. Before Ironman I'll be looking into some more secure options.

#2 - Try not to zone out on the Swim or the Bike. I caught myself a few times getting too comfortable on both portions. I think what separates the pack is athletes who know how to push the pace the entire race. I felt like at a couple points I zoned out and got a little lackluster with my strokes and cadence. Always have to expect more.

#3 - Run technique felt strong, FOOT WAS NORMAL. Very conscious of my posture and pulling of my feet. Additionally, there was no pain in my previous stress fractured foot, which is encouraging. I believe if I continue to think technique first just like I preach I'll be all set at these races and injury free!!

Coolest Race Highlight - Chatting with Nico Felix, Dan Carhart and Chip Collins pre and post race. Just like CrossFit every sport creates a community. When you start attending the same races and have the same dedication that others have you naturally start to bond with them. These are three cool dudes that are double my age, but living the same life and loving the same things. Triathlon is about experience, it's about knowing why you're there and sharing that with others. To sum up the coolest race highlight though I have too quote Nico when he said "Your bike-run transition was a Total Mind Fuck" ... this was him referring to how quickly I got out on the run course (we both go there the same moment, apparently I was so quick it messed with his mind haha) Also need to thank Chip for going "Jeff Ford Style" referring to shirtless for the entire triathlon :)

Anyways, back to the "being busy topic" ... this is where I think CrossFit Endurance gets a few paleo brownie points. Like I've mentioned in previous posts, CFE is far less time, but much more intense when it comes to the workouts. We've discussed how building anaerobic capacity improves aerobic capacity, but what about the benefits to your lifestyle?? Balancing work, kids, training and ally our other responsibilities can be a handful and frankly impossible at times. This is the beauty of the CFE protocol. YOU DO HAVE MORE HOURS IN A DAY and can still get the same results.

I see this type of training as sustainable.It's more manageable for my lifestyle. I like to hang out with friends, I enjoy getting my "me" time and finding that lucky girl wouldn't be at all possible working at HHHealth full time running H3@Home, leading my CrossFit Endurance team "Less Miles, More CrossFit" and now Interning for CFE. Sometimes people ask me how I get it all done. The reality of people that are busy is that they figure out how to be efficient. Do you ever find that you're more productive with a plan? A set of appointments or a bunch of To-Do's? What happens on your least productive days ... notice anything?

This week, I found myself getting close to the spreading too thin line, but I know that things are fine and that it was a result of simply not feeling fulling prepared. Sunday's are key for this. Folks: write down your To-Do's, Hit the grocery store and take the evening to relax because if you're doing things right when Monday hits it'll already feel like Friday.

With that said, I caught myself saying "I'm busy, I'm busy way too much this week", but the fact is I can't think of anything else I'd rather be doing. It's a simple equation here. Do what you love, love what you do. There will be plenty of time to take a rest, but for now what's your life calling you to do? Who is it telling you to think about, care about it? Busy-ness will never take you away from the people you care about the most nor will it stop you from doing the things you love. It doesn't work like that. What you have to do here is Answer the call. Find efficiency. If you happen to get a voice-mail make sure to return it. Busy is good and know that it means you're doing something right in your life. No complaints...