Melissa - Vain Triathlete

While talking to other triathlete women in the transition area at my last triathlon it had become pretty clear to me that I'm not the only one who is concerned about looking good. There were three other triathletes next to me while I prepared my "T" area and we were chatting lightly about the day and what we were wearing. One of the women mentioned, rather glumly, that she was wearing the same race outfit that she had worn in her last triathlon. I immediately responded to her comment because I, that day, was also wearing my same race outfit from REV3 and could feel her pain. My race outfits are really important to me. Maybe more important than to others. Maybe it's because I studied fashion merchandise for four years and have a keen eye for what's in and what's out. At least I used to be trained in that capacity. When I buy a racing outfit it must be unlike all of my training outfits. Good quality, very pretty, and fits like a charm. The first time I wear a ne...

After driving from Falmouth MA to Middleboro MA at 6:AM by myself I was psyched to meet up with friend Linda. After taking care of business we got in a 10 minute run. At the start of the swim we parted ways. She to the right and I to the left. The swim went out about 10 yards then took a sharp right. Linda definitely positioned herself better than I. I was in the back of the swim pack because I didn't want to get in anyone's angry way. Still, it was a pretty rough start. All the relayers, aquabikes and ALL women started in this wave. After getting into a groove I, for the first time ever, had the need to pass some swimmers. I found it difficult to pass people. It took a lot of strength for me to get going fast enough to actually pass. That was all fine and well except for the fact that they would inevitably pass me back or swim next to me. I felt crowded. At one point t I felt as though I were glued to the hip of another female swimmer. We had the exact same stroke. I was squis...

I've said this before and I'll say it again. SLEEP is critical! Especially to your relationships, training, working, living. I don't like to get too personal on my blog and I'm finding that it's the personal issues that keep me from blogging. I don't feel the need to disclose my personal life on my blog. However, at the same time, I sometimes feel the need to explain why I haven't blogged very much. So without getting too personal I'll tell the world that I've been struggling with sleep issues. The more I tell you about it the more I realize that half of America probably struggles with sleep as well. So how personal can this issue really be? After trying several natural sleep aids I finally broke down and took Ambien. Nothing was really working well enough even though I would tell myself that "waking up 3 times per night isn't THAT bad". It's amazing what we tell ourselves to rationalize not doing something such as take medication. ...