A September to Remember

Time flies and in the blink of an eye we’re at the end of the first week of October. One of the reasons why I started this blog was to journal and provide a chronicle of my adventures that I could look back on and also share.

So, looking back on September… overall it was a great!  It is officially off-season for triathlon training so that means I have a lot more down time.  I try to use that time to connect with friends I haven’t seen in awhile, sleep in on weekends (and during the week – no early morning swims!) and just relax and go with the flow and flexibility in my daily schedule.

So here’s how I filled all that spare time last month:

1. Swam in the Crown the King Open water swim at Waskesiu – entered the 1.6km distance at the last minute. The weather was nice, the water temp was still decent and my husband had a round of golf planned so I had no reason not to enter the swim.
2. Went to a summer’s ending pool party with friends where I indulged in chips and drank too many alcoholic beverages…good thing I could sleep in the next day…
3. Met up with a girlfriend (she lives in London) and some other folks for dinner.
4. Joined up with some girls from my Tri Group for a Fun Run and a weekend of enjoying outdoor acitivities and a whole lot of laughter. I hope we can make this an annual event!
5. Started reading some books – so far I’m loving Peak Performance by Brad Stulberg and Steve Magness.  There are so many great tidbits in this book, my favourite quote so far…”Growth comes at the point of resistance.  Skills come from struggle.”
6. Started planning my races for 2018… well, not exactly planning, more like researching and agonizing… paralysis by analysis. I want to make 2018 a celebratory year since it will be ten years since I was diagnosed with dermatomyositis.  The more race reports and videos I watch, the harder the decision has become.
7. I joined up with four other Pedal Wenches for a fall bike ride to celebrate Bruce’s life and love of the bike. We followed it up with lunch (aka waffles) at The Berry Barn.  Yum-o!!
8. And after all the chips, cider and waffles… I got back on track with a LCHF diet (low carb, healthy fat).
9. I started strength training three times a week.  I decided to work with a trainer for the next few months to hold me accountable and to help push me to lift heavier weights and do the things I don’t like (lunges) or know how (pull ups) to do.
10. Watched my nephew compete in a Kilobots tournament – it was so much fun to cheer him on and watch him annihilate other robots!