New Friends

February 23, 2010

"Ironteam, You guys are so inspiring, and I am so very proud of you. Way to Iron up this weekend!" - Mike K

"WORD!!! You all were a force to be reckoned with! Enjoy your recovery week...it is well deserved! Great job! GO TEAM IRONTEAM!" - Sedonia

"Great Weekend!!! Training for Vineman has been my first experience with TNT….and it has been amazing!! I want to thank the coaches, mentors, honorees and my teammates. You are all very inspiring and I couldn’t imagine traveling this road with a better group of people. Thanks….and bring on Wildflower!!!" - Jim

"I smiled all weekend too. You guys were there with your game faces and your positive attitudes all tuned up. You rocked it!" - Coach Dave

"I just want to say thanks! Thanks to all of you for reminding me why I do this. Your commitment, determination, and enthusiasm makes every moment brighter. You guys rock!" -Tony


These were a few of the responses from emails floating around yesterday and today after our hard, hard, hard bootcamp weekend. The last quote from Tony really sums it up for me. Seriously, going through that weekend with all these amazing people around me, reminds me why I do it also. We are all dying, yet we are dying together. We push each other, we help each other up, we laugh with each other, we yell at each other, we cry with each other, we lean on each other. Although come race day I will technically be out there all on my own, the journey wasn't done alone. Not at all. I couldn't be doing this with each and every one of my teammates. I never never felt such an amazing connection to a team entity before in my life-- and this is after years and years of being a part of sports teams. There is something so special about this group of people that I can feel it within my grasp. Even all our little facebook messages brings a smile to my face and has actually got me to go on facebook more. They help me with every moment of the day. I cannot wait to go through the next five months with them. When I was out there on Saturday and Sunday, smiling away like I do, I couldn't stop thinking about how much I love being a part of this group and how I really cherish being here. I used to be the person who loved to skip practice and try to get out of things. Not anymore. Now, I'm the person looking forward to every practice! I can't believe how quickly this transformation has been and I can't believe how quickly I feel like I have become good friends with such extraordinary people. But, it's true.

When I talk about all these new friends, it's fun because I'm actually friends with both North Bay and South Bay and love them all. Of course they have different vibes and different personalities as a whole, but they are each special in their own way. On Saturday's "North Bay" workout, I told the north bay people what to expect from South Bay's workout. On the "South Bay" workout, I got to hear what they thought of north bay. It's kind of fun in a way because I'm the middle man-- but, I never have to choose sides because I love them both. I'm the luckiest girl on this team for having the opportunity to be a part of two teams.

I went to the South Bay spin practice tonight... Although it's "recovery" week, these recoveries are getting harder and harder. We did a good 50 minute spin-- pushing hard and sweating hard and breathing hard through all the hills. Then off for a 35 minute run-- which was pretty miserable because it was rainy, windy, and freezing cold. Believe me, I didn't particularly want to do that run, but you know what, I did get it in and it went by quick enough. Of course, it went by quickly because of the company I had around me.

As I was leaving the practice, a few people asked me if I would show up for tomorrow night's track workout. Of course, I told them. To me, it's not really an option of skipping these practices ever. Why would I? They are the part of the day that I enjoy more than anything. I enjoy being with my new friends and pushing through this journey with them by my side helping me along.