My Day:
I woke up in the morning extremely groggy and tired, with a headache and my whole body hurt. I'm sure this is all attributed to turning 30 and has nothing to do with the sprained ankle a week prior, the intense hours of training, my lack of water intake, my irresponsibility when it comes to getting to bed on time and getting proper sleep or the few tears I shed the night before about turning 30. Either way, I woke up not so happy but I also woke up to many facebook messages, emails, texts and even a few phone calls from around the world wishing me Happy Birthday. Throughout the day at work I started to feel better and it was a bright shiny day. I was also quite excited for a night out with my girlfriends, one of which I had not seen in nearly 3 years.
After work I went home and hopped in the lake to swim to the other side and back (first time in that lake since I was probably 14), a good 38 minute open water swim with no wetsuit. As I came out of the water my mom was so kind to greet me with a giant blanket and we turned to see the neighbors standing along the shore with binoculars. They said, "We couldn't figure out what that was out there, it took us awhile. We've never seen anybody swim in this lake like that." I smiled and told them it's surprisingly not that cold but you probably will not see me doing that much longer, as the weeds are already growing and later in the summer will likely have taken over the lake. I walked up to the house with my mom feeling pretty good, it was a nice feeling that they showed interest in what I was doing, the crazy neighbor girl that recently moved home lol! It's amazing how just acknowledging and showing interest in what somebody is doing can truly make that person feel good (we should all do this more often, even for the little things). I quick hopped in the shower, got dressed and joined my mom, dad and brother in the kitchen for my cake. It took all four of us to light the 30 individual candles my mom found funny to put on the cake. All the while my brother was cracking jokes about how the cake would be covered in wax with all those candles, how the cake might be crushed with all those candles...ok Jesse, I get it, I'm old haha! We finally got all the candles lit and guess what, I BLEW THEM ALL OUT in one big breath. I'm positive I had more breath to blow out another 30 too! I guess all the training pays off, healthy, high capacity lungs, time to get this 30 year old's VO2Max tested I guess! After demolishing some cake I went and joined my good friends at Blue Lake Tavern (BLTs). It was wonderful to see them and we had a delicious dinner and some drinks.
The Lesson/Blessing:
I cannot express how fortunate I feel to have such a wonderful family and group of friends. They are always supportive of my endeavors, though many of them think I am crazy and I am sure they get sick of me constantly saying, I can't I need to train or I will meet you after my ride etc etc. But, they are still there to support and laugh at me! In all honesty I kind of like being the one that is a bit different, I don't think it's a bad thing at all!
I think back about all the goals I had set for myself. A major goal was to complete an Ironman by the time I was 30. I may not have done it, but at least I am training and ready to complete one within my 30th year! I also look at some of the goals and think, maybe the first 30 years just weren't the right time or maybe those goals weren't the right goals for me. Priorities change, people change, and we become more aware about what is important in reality. I am back living near my family and the good friends I have had my whole life. I am healthy. I am working toward accomplishing something wonderful, becoming and Ironman while giving back to the community with an amazing team of triathletes. I have learned to be more realistic about what is important in life. All in all it's not so bad being 30. The best part is the very next day after I turned 30 I was finally able to get registered to volunteer, after 5 months of searching out the right fit, I finally found it. I am thrilled at the opportunity to start volunteering with the Isabella County Commission on Aging - KOKUA!
30 and Thriving!
Next step - Keep using the heck out of the first birthday present (my lovely Specialized S-Works Prevail KOM helmet) and get out and use the second present, SKY DIVING...who's with me? I can't wait to jump out of a plain. When I was little I thought jumping off the deck onto the trampoline was a big deal, then in my 20s my big rush was jumping off a 50 foot waterfall in my favorite town of Montezuma, Costa Rica. NOW it's about jumping out of a plane at 10,000-14,000 feet...Can't Wait!
Sky Diving's Next!
No comments:
Post a Comment