Love...?

Right now a big debate in my head is whether or not to train professionally for triathlons in addition to my professional running career. There are many positives to do doing both yet there are a few negative thoughts running through my head as well. The main one being, "can I LOVE triathlon like I love running?". Running has been my "thing", so to speak, since I was a little girl and finally at 14 I devoted all my time to focusing on running, instead of swimming, which I had also had a lot of success doing. My talent with running showed from a very young age and I have had some ups and downs for the last 16 years. Thankfully I haven't been victim to many serious injuries yet the past year my heel spur and pain associated with it, has tested my "love" for running. Physically I could run through probably anything, even a broken bone, yet emotionally, the stress, heartache and sadness I felt everyday was too much to handle after 12 months. During this time off I have missed my running a LOT, yet I have had the opportunity to test my love for the pool and Mr. Specialized :)

Needless to say, the true love for the other two sports just isn't there. Yet I ask myself, "Sally, have you truly opened yourself up to even the possibility to LOVE the other two?" Or am I afraid to eventually love triathlon just as much if not more than running, abandoning all the dreams and goals I had as just a runner? Running is my comfortable sport. I know it's always there for me, will always make me happy (if I'm injury free) and just in general I enjoy it more than the other two sports. Do I have to LOVE swimming and biking to be among the best in the world in triathlon? Well, probably not, but I need to at least get myself to the pool and get out on the roads. I need to give my body the chance to get in a groove, improve and go race, ..... and maybe I'll fall in love with the sport. It's not a guarantee that being good at something means you are going to love it. Yet with me, if I train really hard for a very long time, I might be hating the sport at the time but then traveling to a race and going and pushing myself incredibly hard to get a fantastic result leaves me feeling happy, accomplished and so proud that I "stuck it out" and didn't just quit when the going got tough.

I have always been a risk taker and love just giving myself a shot, because I figure if you never try, you will never know. With this situation, there are financial aspects to consider, a whole new set of things to learn and just in general there is the complete unknown. I KNOW how great I can be with my running already, and I know there is even more for me to accomplish with running. With triathlon, I have no clue....and it scares me. I guess I am afraid to "fail", to not do as well as I expect and hope. I know I need to seek out others who are more experienced, get advice, take it one step at a time, try to simply enjoy it as much as I can and take some risks. After all, "with great risk comes great reward" :)

GU sent me an awesome package of great goodies recently. My favorite GU Brew Recovery and Electrolyte drinks (Strawberry Watermelon, Raspberry and Blueberry Pomegranate) were in there, as well as some boxes of a new flavor they are bringing out!! It's going to replace the Orange Burst, and it's called Mandarin Orange. I tried it yesterday and it's yummy!! :) It would be so good to eat part of one and also eat some of a Vanilla GU, kinda make it taste like a creamsicle haha...try to manage that on a run or ride....might have to be at a stop for that one ;) Keep an eye out for the new Mandarin Orange...definitely going to be a new popular flavor.

Less than two weeks left until I can try running again, and I am continuing to enjoy everyday of my break. This past holiday weekend was SUPER fun and going to parties, meeting new people, hanging with great friends and eating and drinking great food, etc. was awesome. There is nothing better than being around people who just make you happy to be alive :)

Tonight I am excited to cook a delicious meal. I have to say, cooking and baking is one of my favorite things to do; it's really fun to spend hours making delicious food from scratch, seeing and tasting how amazing it is after all the time spent on it. It doesn't even have to be something super fancy, yet so many people these days just get frozen foods, bagged foods, pre-made cookie dough, etc. and it grosses me out, haha. Tonight I am making delicious burgers that have been marinating in a teriyaki sauce for two days, sweet and salty brown sticky rice, some type of veggie (not sure yet) and then dessert is homemade banana pudding and I'm going to make homemade whipped cream to put on top! :) yummmm I cannot wait. The banana pudding at Magnolia Bakery in NYC is my favorite in the whole world, so I'll see how close I can get mine :) I have fresh blackberries and strawberries in the fridge, so I'll have to make some whipped cream for those too.

I had a gorgeous, although a bit windy, 25 mile ride this morning. Now it's time for some core work and then getting ready for dinner..woo hoo! :)

Quotes for today: "Happiness is a choice. You can either choose to be happy or not" and: "When the going gets tough, the tough get tougher" :)