For the better part of 8 years I raced and traveled all over the world. At the time I was incredibly busy. Training took a lot of time. I was working a lot when I wasn’t training. Travel takes time as well. I loved my busy life. I relished the adventures and knew how lucky I was to see so much of the world. I photographed my favorite parts and I documented some of this life on my racing blog. But I really didn’t have a lot of time to ever go through the photographs, pick out my favorites and process a lot of what I experienced.
It’s been nearly 3 years since I raced my last professional Ironman in Sweden. Since then I had foot surgery for Hagland’s deformity, as well as surgery for lymphadema. I had several attempts at running a fast marathon that were not successful. I got married and had a baby. Life is incredibly different now than it was a few years ago. In many ways life seems more full and busy, but in a good way. My world got smaller with a baby, but it also seems more complete. I still love to run. And bike. And (gasp!) even swim. I’m looking forward to some fall cross country racing and hopefully racing my way back to fast running.
There are some days when putting my baby to bed at night I feel more exhausted than I ever did racing Ironman. But the tiny hand that grabs my hair and the little smile that melts my heart somehow makes me realize that my crazy day is special. In my world right now I am kicking ass at getting up at 5am for my run, managing to feed the baby when she was hungry, going through 3 outfits (for both baby and myself), and continuing to work.
So whether you are training for a big race, or training for life – keep on keeping on. We get one life, might as well enjoy it!