Checking the Rear View Mirror

Every now and then I find it beneficial and very satisfying to take a look in the rear view mirror of my life. It's a good way of taking stock, seeing just how far I have come and appreciating what I have achieved. It is also a way of staying grounded. Remembering that once it was all I could do to muster a run to the corner of my street. That riding a bike was something that I did in my childhood with a basket on the front of my bike and spoki-doks making my wheels make a happy tune. Swimming was with a bubble on my back, totally humiliated in Primary school.

My parents aren't sporty. They don't even go for evening walks. The thought of sweating is insane and only happens while you are at work. Not that mum worked. She stayed at home and took care of us kids while dad brought home the earnings and handed over her housekeeping money on a Thursday night when he got home from the pub. We loved when he came home from the pub. We would be sitting on the floor eating our fish and chips and he would come in with a packet of beer nuts for us to share. It was a typical Aussie household, 3 bedroom house, white picket fence, 3 kids and a dog scenario. Hobbies were horses for the girls and football for my brother. Mum and Dad did the dutiful drive us everywhere job. But never participated. 

So sporting endeavours would have been supported if I had have chosen to do running or netball or something other than ride my pony. But it was never role modelled. I have never seen my dad run.

Where the joy of triathlon came from I am not sure. Finding the pleasure of training and being active and being a part of competition is foreign to my family but it is something that I really love. For me it's all about seizing life by the throat and running like hell! And Triathlon is just one of the ways I can validate myself and provide to the judge (whomever that may be?) the evidence that yep, I grabbed every opportunity in life to be the best of my ability and gave it a bloody good crack!

So here is my rear view mirror shot of the moment.

3 x running photos taken over the course of the 7 or so years I have been doing triathlon with a goal of improving my overall health, adopting a healthy active lifestyle, eating healthy and moving ever increasingly towards a plant based diet. (But that's another blog at another time :)

Left - 70+kgs. I had stopped weighing myself. Pinkies triathlon 6 years ago. Trying to finish 3kms and struggling big time in the heat. I realised at this point that just running, swimming and biking occasionally was not the end of it. Other things had to change too. Diet, attitude, training.

Middle - 65kgs. Port Mac 70.3. 2 years ago. I was training but not consistently. Sugar, V drinks, chocolate and the whole "I train therefore I can eat what ever I like" mentality still strong. I did my run in 2hrs and 40mins. I walked some due to the ITB issue. But mostly I walked because I wasn't fit enough to run the entire distance.

Right - 59.3kgs. Last weeks Port Mac 70.3. Done in 2hrs 15mins. Ran the whole way except to walk the aid stations. Could have been faster if not for the blister on the arch of my foot. But most importantly is recognising that so much has changed for the better. My diet, my attitude, consistency in my approach and training.  

There has been a constant need for adjustment, attention to detail, commitment and reaching a realisation that being fit and healthy is so important and integral to me leading a happy and fulfilling life and I believe that those people who I love and have in my life are better for it as well.
I am soooooo less grumpy lol.