What would YOU say?

First, thanks for all of the lovely, lovely well wishing from everyone!! Mighty M and I are very happy and still gliding around on air. He's managing to get away with murder at home ("honey, can you get me a glass of water?", "babe, thanks for doing those dishes"...), but I'm so happy I just don't care.

Cause I'm getting mawweed.

_________

Okay, back to my original post. Geesh.

_________

So, as y'all know, I've recently gotten myself hooked up with the smallest, baddest coach out there. And you'd imagine she'd have some questions for me to get the coaching ball started. And LET ME TELL YOU...filling out her Athlete Questionnaire was an eye opening experience for me.

It was the first time -- evah -- I had put my goals, strengths, weaknesses, conflicts, hopes, and fears all down in one place. One ten-page long place.

Cathartic. Informative. Exciting.

And I thought to myself, "you know...self...everyone should do this before their next season!" So, I'm going to share my honest to goodness answers -- in no way shape or form edited for audience -- to some of her questions.

You want all of the questions? You hire the Elf.

But in the mean time, here's an example of what she would need to know (and likewise what everyone racing out there should know) about you...

Today's Question: Using SWOT, what are your mental strengths and weaknesses?

My Answer:
Strengths:

· I love this sport. No, really, I love this sport. It is my daily key to stay healthy and I never forget that.

· I’m motivated for myself. My first year of tri was about learning about the sport. My second year was about raising money for others and trying new (long) distances. This year? It’s about me wanting to race. I want it for me and, somehow, that makes it less complicated.

· Knowing thy limits. I’m sensitive to my limits, usually before I reach them and can sometimes avoid a meltdown of epic proportions.

· I know that I can talk myself in and out of things very well, and that’s half the battle. I know when I’m justifying bad decisions, so I know what lines of logic to stay away from.

Weaknesses:

· I’ve always created plans that are too ambitious, so I rarely hit 100%. I think this is because I’ve never really understood what each session is attempting to do, so skipping was easier than it should have been.

· When I feel overwhelmed, the first thing that suffers is training. Queue anxiety overload and I start skipping sessions. I have to always be on the lookout for balance in life and training.

· Discipline. This is my work in progress. Two years ago, I never would have believed I could maintain the training schedule I did this year. And I’m sure that I will develop more discipline this coming year, but it’s something I struggle with – matching my goals with my daily decisions.

· I try to eat the proverbial elephant all at once. So, I’m always checking myself to focus on short term goals first, allowing long term goals to come later.

Opportunities

· Michael is intimately involved in this whole process and has raced (Cat-3 cycling) in the past, so he understands the demands of training.

· Michael is intimately involved with me and he knows when I’m blowing off training and being lazy. And, when he thinks it’s important, he’ll call me out on it.

· My job, including my boss, is supportive of a work/life balance. I have available vacation for recovery days following big races and can adjust my work hours in advance for things like open water swims in neighboring states.

· My blog tends to be a great way for me to vent about training, as well as get support from other triathletes. It’s become an invaluable support system for me.

Threats

· My job is flexible, but it’s full time and stressful.

· I have only a limited amount of spare cash to throw at my training/gear/registrations, so I try to be really careful picking what to invest in. Sometimes it means that I do a $20 organized ride, with a run afterwards, instead of a smaller triathlon that may run over $50. Sigh.

____________

So, what would YOU say?