5 Days: This is only a test...

It's been a while. In 5 days I race in ITU Chicago. Am I worried? To be quite honest...not really. It's a training day, except that pothole that is on the bike course which is when we come back onto Columbus Drive for the first of 4 loops on the Olympic distance, oh and the potential heatwave (Thank you Mother Nature...not). To be real, I have so much on my plate now that I'm lucky that I know the day of the week.

So, what have I been up to? Well, you know the usual: Teaching, training, coaching, working out, dealing with a lot of my own personal annoyances, working out some more, drinking copious amounts coffee...you know, the usual. The not so usual: well I became a USATF (USA Track & Field) Level 1 Certified Coach and a USAT (USA Triathlon) Level 1 Certified Coach. Getting back on track....

Now as I reflect on racing this weekend (not including the clients that I am coaching, my athletes that I am training, my Pilates Clients that I am training), I'm using this as a training day. I'm in a very competitive age group (go figure, but the men have it worse) and I'm just seeing how thing are going to pan out. I have a race plan in effect (A, B and C), I can still fit in my wetsuit and I'm just going to have fun. Anyhoo, I have IMAZ in November.

I have used all of my workouts as my stress reliever. See, I don't eat when I am stressed, upset or anxious. I work out. Sometimes, a little too much. Today, for instance-I had a very bad case of insomnia. What did I do about it? I ran 10 miles before I did some work before I had my last performance review. Did I forget to say that the run happened at 3am and that I am a Fitness Professional? Yeah. I have a fitness problem, but I'm looking at Sunday's race as cheering on my friends who are racing, having fun with my teammates, cheering random folks on and making more friends. What? You don't make friends when you race? Shame on you. But, I also get to work the expo and network.Who wouldn't want to work in at an outdoor expo by Buckingham Fountain.

So bring on the sunshine, humidity and race day. Hey, if you aren't doing anything on Sunday, come to Grant Park in Chicago and check out ITU Chicago. You might be inspired to do something EXTRAORDINARY. I'm going to sign off so I can go home to do laundry (the struggle is real y'all).

I will let you know how Sunday goes.

Peace out to you and you and yours! Later!