W O R D S
Singing Sea Otters
Somehwere in the midst of our COVID lockdown my husband and I found ourselves making dinner wearing bike helmets, trying to convince our 15-month-old that wearing her new owl helmet was fun. Ever since she was about six months old I had dreamed of taking her on bike rides, since this is something I love and have probably spent more hours of my life doing other than running.
Thankfully it didn’t take long for her to realize bikes are fun and thus began our new commuting routine. Every morning we get on the bike with waffles and Mr. Sea Otter and we ride to Grandma’s house. However, we do not just ride the bike. We ride while singing. I never realized how fun singing while riding a bicycle is!
Next time you find yourself in the midst of a global pandemic with a crashing economy (or perhaps just having a bad day), I urge you to go ride your bike and sing loudly. Any song will do. Christmas songs, Itsy bitsy spider, Wheels on the Bus, Sound of Music songs, etc. Also – don’t stop singing when you pass people walking their dogs, or stop next to someone at a light with their windows rolled down. You will make them laugh and might spread some of that happiness around.
2020 has definitely been a strange year so far, but I am enjoying trying to embrace the new routines and things we have found joy in that we otherwise might not have discovered. This list includes gardening, more ocean swimming with fish (and the unnamed creatures), farm boxes, more home cooking, and getting creative with take-out picnics or any activity with a 1.5 year old. I hope everyone is hanging in there. I miss friends a lot, but I am grateful for health and the little things that bring joy. Like singing with otters.
Revisiting Travel
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!