Building My House.

When we were kids, my mom gave my sister and me a huge tri-fold piece of white paper.  We used a ruler to draw lines for the different levels of a house, for the rooms, and for the roof.  Then, we drew our "perfect" house.  I remember I made one of the rooms in my house a pet room, since I was obsessed with cats and fish at the time.  Another room had a grand piano in it.  And the bedrooms all had bunk beds.  My sister and I cut out small cardboard people to play in the unique houses that we each created.  I bet those paper designs are still saved in a box at my parent's house...

This past training weekend in Tahoe was eye-opening.  The course, coupled with the altitude and the distance will make for a very long and hard day come September 22nd.  But the fact that I felt much more smashed than my training partners made me panic.  Sometimes in sport, it is easy to compare yourself to other athletes and judge your fitness (or lack thereof) based on everyone else's.

I voiced my concern to Coach, and he reminded me that as athletes, we each have our own ebb and flow- we all peak and dip at different times during the weeks leading up to the event.  But the goal is to all be at our prime for the event.

And his email today reminded me of that very fact in a poignant way- 
"Relax Shadow, let all the building blocks fall into place race week.  You cannot put a roof on the house until you have the foundation and the walls."

And just as I worked on creating my ideal house that was different than my sister's, so I shall continue to build this 'house,' albeit not on white tri-fold paper, but in the sport of triathlon.

This is my PowerBreathe cram session on Friday.
I am now committed to REALLY using it for the next 10 weeks to
strengthen and build my lung capacity!

My fake PMA pose after a really mentally and physically tough climb x 2.
Building stronger climbing legs and attitude are in the future!

The gorgeous view from the Ironman run course.
I admit, if you're going to suffer, at least you have an awesome backdrop!

For me, successfully building my house includes-
Taking the time to build a solid foundation.
Not comparing.
Enjoying the process.
Trusting the architect.
And looking forward to the finished product.