Be the Beast Triathlon Coaching

This blog started after I competed in my first bike race. I was tightly tucked between Kennett and the oval airline window. Kennett was updating his blog and like the little sibling I am, I decided I should be writing as well. After all, I had stood atop the podium in the dusty parking lot that weekend. The blog was entitled Racing and the tagline for the entire blog became Training and Racing. 

I did train and race all spring in 2014. Some of my favorite moments were riding behind Kennett’s friends, either as a 3rd, 5th, or 7th wheel. I enjoyed the draft and letting my mind wander as they carried on their own conversation ahead of me. Or, I’d ride next to someone, talking until I could no longer fake how hard it was for me. Then I’d shut-up and hang on until the pace backed off or I got shelled off the back. Instead of letting my legs warm up, I’d immediately follow the group up Lee Hill, nearly maxing on my power because I enjoyed the challenge. I placed well enough at several races to become a category 3 racer, but beyond that first blog post, races almost never entered my writing. If you haven’t read this blog since the beginning I’ll lay out some of my past feats in the last year or two:

• Living without a car and beginning a new job: Go Big or Go Home
• Promoting and directing a race: Gebhardt Automotive Cycling Classic
• Adopting our dog was hinted about here: No Car, No Kennett, No Dog
• Getting tightly controlled pain medications filled: Pain in My Ass
• Returning to triathlons after being hit: Return of the A

As I recently reflected and planned for what’s next, it came to my attention that this blog’s tagline needed to be changed. We’ll start with Taking on Monster Challenges and see how well it fits. To stay within those constraints, I’ve got some projects up my sleeve. As I mentioned in a previous post, I’m writing about the crash. While I anticipate the process will bring back a lot of emotions (it already has) I am not writing for therapy. I am compiling it on paper because the crash was/is chock-full of important lessons that need to be shared in the mainstream. There were grander stories and outcomes that cannot be expressed in a few blog posts about pain medication.

If you’d like to read some of my writing along the way to offer constructive feedback, please let me know. I’d also be interested if you’d like to share with me what the biggest impact (small or large) that my crash had on your life. The outside perspective would be very meaningful and helpful to me. I’ll be posting bits and pieces of my writing and about the writing process in the near future. As I continue with the book project, I won’t neglect the training and racing aspect of my life. Kennett wouldn’t let me, nor would I want to. My goals for training include getting strong enough to sit 3rd wheel on rides with the boys again. Upcoming races include Harvest Moon (anyone in Boulder racing this triathlon?) in the middle of September and Ironman Los Cabos at the end of October. Even more exciting, I’ll be watching the sunrise at Silverman 70.3, waiting to take Kennett’s flip-flops as he enters the water and standing, camera-ready, at the finish so I can capture his sure-to-be awe-inspiring performance.