Two Steps Forward, One Step Back...

I feel like I'm doing the Bunny Hop. For every 3 hops forward, one goes back.

It's been a good week. I ran with some good friends on Sunday and we easily knocked out 18+ miles.

Lizzie, Adam, me and Tiffany and McDonald's

I mean easy until my IT Bands decided to rock out on their own. I got them worked on Monday by Renee and already schedule some additional appointments with her before race day. I love being able to bend my legs at will.

Monday night I had date #2 with a guy. I had actually been out with him about 8 years before. It was a one and done meet up. I completely floored him with the details on our first meet and greet. Meanwhile I had been avoiding getting set up with him for about 3 years. Eventually a different friend handed off my number. (This was fine, I'm not protective of my contact information.) I'm sure he's a great guy: good job, educated, getting ready to run some marathons; but he's just not for me. I'm sitting across from him at dinner looking at him and thinking: Do I want to kiss him? The answer was no. Even the hug good bye felt less than platonic. I'm not really wondering anymore why I'm single.

Tuesday a Facebook group was created for female triathletes: Ironwilled: Women Who TRI. My friend Janie created it and I was all in. In less than 24 hours we have more than 200 members and the response has been terrific. We had our first male request access to which the response was:

Thank you for requesting admission to Ironwilled: Women Who Tri. Your application has been denied as you do not meet our minimum qualification.

It's all good, he was just seeing if we were serious or not. We are. The topics have been great and the sense of community is already well established. I'm feeling good about being a part of it.

Remember the boxes that were taking up space on my floor? I now have a dresser and bedframe! Take that IKEA!

Still deciding on drawer pulls

Not only did I finish assembling my dresser I made a spaghetti squash pizza casserole. It was a productive night.

I seem to have gotten a reputation for baking cookies. So much so that Kevin got me this cookie cutter from Augusta:

Yes, I do actually have hair!

Anyway, a friend suggested I sell prepackaged cookie gift plates for Christmas. The thought was I could platter and do the presentation for ready made teachers' gifts. I just don't know the legality of it all, but it sure would be fun to investigate. Maybe friends would just want to buy so that they don't have to trash their own kitchens. What do think? Would this be a viable idea for the holidays?

3 hops forward, 1 hop back.

But life doesn't revolve around triathlon training and baking cookies. This morning I had to admit I'm back to having issues tracking my food. Why do I have such a disconnect with entering my food into an app? I do the training. I just can't wrap my head around the food. So I'm stagnant. I'm not up more than a pound but I'm no closer to race weight today than I was 6 weeks ago. I was told I was self-sabotaging. I couldn't argue.

This whole training thing has taken a toll on my bank account. Beyond the investment of trying new products and clothing, etc.; it dawned on me that I had to give up my weekend work of refereeing because it is physically demanding and I need my legs to train. If I was tired from training, I couldn't give it my all on the field (not fair to the players/coaches they deserve my best). So money out AND no extra money in. Looking forward past IMFL I've been asked to be part of 2 late fall tournaments that I can work. Yipee!

I don't think I've worn this uniform since June.

Then there is some other stuff going on that I just can't share yet. I know I'm being vague, but I'm also being a grown up. Some stuff just shouldn't be shared on the interwebs.

Thank you to the friends who have reached out. If I'm this emotional now, lord help me while I'm tapering.

Back to being happy in 3....2....1....