Tribute Tuesday - Week Two - The Athlete's Edition

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Tribute Tuesday - Week Two - The Athlete's Edition

I haven't always been an "athlete" - I use the term loosely.  If you remember from last week I talked about how uncoordinated and awkward I was during seventh grade volleyball.  In 8th grade I ran track....I am not a sprinter, nor was I long distance runner (why did I run track again? It got me out of off season basketball) So the track coach thought I may be a good hurdle-er.... umm.....I'm a small skinny white girl with the ups of an elephant (did you know that elephants are the only land based mammal that can't jump? See you are learning things here at triandfinish.)  She put me in the 300m hurdles.... I tripped and fell in front of the stands at our district meet, in front of the boy I had a crush on and all the other spectators (they didn't really matter - the boy was the only one that mattered) Since then my "athlete" status has been in question.

When I found triathlon I was reluctant, not only because I was a terrible swimmer, hadn't been on a bike since I was 12, and ran at the pace of slug - but because I didn't know ANYONE who had done this before.  No one to ask advice to, no one to bounce ideas off of, and no one understood why on earth I wanted to attempt to swim, bike and run individually much less in one day.  I found a training program online and began training for my first triathlon.  Thank GOD Cayla is an awesome friend and jumped on board with me.  We began this journey - geared towards weight loss - and that Sunday, April 19, 2009 my life changed....

I couldn't do what I do without the love and support from some very special people in my life.  (Don't worry Bill is going to have his own Tribute Tuesday post soon enough) Between my family, my friends, my coach, and the blog world (that means you reading this right now) there are plenty of days that I wanted to quit and you kept me going.

But this post is not meant to be generic in nature - it is meant to highlight someone special...so....who will it be this week?  She is probably not expecting this - and probably would never think that I would feature her on this installment....but her inspiration to me is so motivating and moving it deserves recognition. (Not too mention she is about to pop any day now and maybe some extra emotion will help that baby come out quicker)

Christy - of Christy's Catastrophes

Christy and I have known each other for quite sometime. However, we always attended different schools and had different friends - we still knew each other (does that make sense?) We did go to college together but again had different circles of friends but ran into each other occasionally. I found her blog a long time ago and started reading.  She cracks me up - seriously - you should follow her - HILARIOUS.  But beyond that she inspires me every day.  Just the other day I was feeling anxious about NOLA and I went back and read her posts leading up to her IMCOZ debut.  I thought - if she can hammer out a freakin' Ironman - I can hammer out half of it.

(she's in the lime green)

Christy always leaves me sweet comments on my blog and super sweet FB messages and I know she is always there for a quick email advice on different things be it a bike, bike shoes, gear, gadgets, etc. I remember when I first was thinking about buying clip in pedals and wanted to buy used ones off of Craig's List..... she sent me a super informative email on what to look for, the different types of pedals, etc etc.

She really was my only resource for all things triathlon for quite sometime.

Christy - your hard work, dedication and love of triathlon over flows and inspires me each day.  You will never know the role you have played in me becoming a triathlete and the continued progress I make toward my goal.  You are a dedicated wife, a loving future mother (I would love to be your kid FYI), and a triathlete that I strive to be like.  Your dedication to the sport you love is admirable and I only hope to compete with the grace that you show each and every race.

Thank you for continuing to motivate and inspire me and helping me become the best triathlete I can be.  You are truly the best! I wish we lived closer so we could swim.bike.run together!

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