July is my birthday month! On July 8, I turned 58 years old this year. 😎 Somedays I feel 58, but most days I wonder how I got so old because I don't feel that old nor see myself as that old. 😂😁 I'm thankful to still be here enjoying life with my family.
Started the month off with a 4th of July Freedom Run down at Gulf Shores with my girlfriends. Man it was HOT! Thankfully it's just a short 4 mile fun run. We enjoyed visiting with each other and enjoyed the beach for a couple of hours before heading our separate ways. Here are a few pictures: |
| Fab! Love her! |
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| Me and Michelle with our cups we got for placing in our age groups |
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We hung out on the beach for a bit after the race... no one went far in the water! It's been shark city lately at the beaches this year! GRRRRRR
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My kids drove down to met me to stay the rest of the weekend for my birthday. We had a blast at The Lodge at Gulf State Park. It was Lydia's first time on the beach. She LOVED it. I love watching her and Neely play in the pool, the sand, and just anywhere basically. They are both a joy! Some times they do fuss like sisters and try to grab toys from each other, etc. But overall they LOVE each other. It was a fun weekend... and a HOT one. We had to wait like 2 hours for a table one night to eat and the only place to wait was outside around their outside dining and I was soaked with sweat by the time we sat down to eat and didn't really feel like eating. I'm OVER summer. 😃 It was kind of tough trying to get 2 kids under the age of 2 to sleep at night with us all being in one hotel room, but we made it work. It was like kind of like a camp out. 😁😂 here are a few pictures: |
| Brett, Me, Lydia and Neely chilling... both girls in my lap! Whitney went and got me a Miami Vice drink at the bar. YUM! |
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| Girls being silly... looks like Lydia is saying... oh no Neely.. what now.. 😂 |
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| girl loves her FRUIT! Check out them curls! Erin had curls just like that has a child! |
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| Mommas with their babies! |
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| Lydia's first time at the beach! she LOVED IT |
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| me and Lydia watching waves...she was so fascinated by them. |
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| Brett, Whitney & Neely at Colbalt |
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| Neely had just woke up and was not ready for pics. |
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| girl loves to swim! |
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| Ice cream so good! |
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| my two grown kids chilling at the pool ... LOVE THEM |
So I made a decision recently. I have pulled my registration for the Ironman race in September in Chattanooga. Way back in December 2023 when I registered, I told myself that I'd see how my base training went for the first part of the year and since I registered early with the Flex benefits I had options. When you register with Flex benefits you have deadlines in which you could transfer your registration to the next year, totally cancel your registration, or even transfer to another race. I've had a lot going on recently at work with more layoffs due to the merger and some family stuff going on that I went ahead a few weeks ago and pulled my registration. Now (June, July, August & September) is the time that I need to be really dedicated to training if I was going to do the race in September. I would basically need to give up every weekend for long bikes and long runs until race day. Not to mention the swimming, biking, and running during the week that would need to be done. I kept thinking about all the time I needed to commit to training and knew deep in my heart I did not have it in me this year. I stressed over this for weeks. Finally one of my friends said to me.... "D, why do you want to do the race so badly". and my first thought was I want to prove I can do it. She reminded me I had already done it at Ironman Florida. I told her I still had this sense of failure because I didn't finish the full at Chattanooga. She was like look at it this way.... ~~ Most consider Florida the harder race. Everyone says Chattanooga is the easy race with the downstream swim and fast bike. Most fear Florida due to the ocean swim and the long flat bike with no downhills for speed. 😁 You've proven you can do a full ironman because you have finished Florida! ~~ After that conversation, and reading about all the congestion on the bike course at the half ironman race in Chatty back in May this year where several bike wrecks happened. I did a lot of praying and one day I was driving to work and it was like the good Lord said to me.. D, pull your registration. So as soon as I got to work I sent an email to Ironman asking what my options were... I had not looked at deadline dates...but knew there were some. It was the last day to get a refund! Talk about God showing up! So I took it and got my refund and pulled my name from registration for the race in September.
I feel as if a heavy weight has been lifted from my shoulders since I made the decision. I don't have to worry about having a bike wreck and missing my marathons later this year. Lordy knows I'm clumsy and even some very experienced riders had bike wrecks at the half ironman in May due to the congestion on the course. Chatty has become one of the most popular Ironman races because of the fast course. AND I've had to work a few weekends lately due to changes at work AND my family needs me to be around so I just don't have the time to commit to the training. Training for a full ironman race is very TIMELY. I remember last time I trained for the full, I barely had time to clean my house I was so worn out and tired all the time. Maybe one day I'll do another full. I would like to. Penny tells me now that she's retired she would train with me and do one... so who knows.. maybe in the future! Or maybe I'll stick with half ironman races. They are much more fun. 😃😍 I do know if I do attempt another full, I've got to cut down on all the marathons. You can't do it all. Or I can't. This body of mine has a limit. To be able to do a full Ironman properly, you really need to commit to the training and gear your mind up for it. You don't need a lot of other things going on in your life... like going to work everyday wondering if it's your last day because they keep saying they done with cuts and a few months pass and they come in and cut again. It's been a very difficult 2 years in my career. Your mind needs to be able to focus on those 140.6 miles that you must cover to complete a full ironman. And right now my mind is all over the place.
So for now.... I am looking forward to our Detroit marathon in October where we will cross over into Canada briefly. And then in November me and Penny are going to Athens for the Athens Marathon (talk about a dream!). 💓
AND>>> we just both found out we got into Tokyo for March of 2025 where I can hopefully finish my 6 star races. 🙏 Exciting travel days coming up and I'm so looking forward to them!
So I'll keep training... keeping a base in swim, bike & run. Try to survive all these work changes since the merger and spend as much time with my family as possible. Life is short and grandkids are the BEST! Having a grand child run to you and give you a hug is the most wonderful thing in the world! 😍💓💓
