Yoga, Triathlon and Challenges

Yoga 

Thursday morning started out with a trip out of Midtown Park, across from Metropolitan, for some morning yoga.  It is only the third time I have ever done yoga.  The first two times I took an indoor yoga class and this time being out in the open air seemed like it would be more relaxing.  One of my clients met me out there to take the yoga class with me.  I parked my car across the street and we walked over.  Yoga was put on by Lululemon and Yoga Shala.  Not even 5 minutes into yoga a security guard was riding around where we had parked so half of the class took off to move our cars before we got towed.  Nothing like a little sprint and excitement to start out the morning.
The beginning of the session started out with a lot of three-point, down dog, and low plank.  I will admit that after a while the same movements got a little tedious.  And with the class being outside my mat got really slippery so I was hanging on to the outside of my mat so I wouldn't slip.  Luckily one of the assistants brought me a towel to use to wipe of my hands and mat.  After about thirty minutes moved started to get more relaxed and fun, and I felt my muscles started to relax.  We did moves in a handstand and the teacher came and held my legs so I could stay up.  I tried other poses such as crow, which was kind of fun to try because it reminded me of breakdancing.  At one point we tried to go from a crow, to headstand, to crow on the other side.  I almost had it too, but it was fun to try.  We also just relaxed by laying on our backs and stretching out our hip flexors.
I like the fact that there were 3 assistants there to help out the teacher.  Two of the assistants I liked when they came around and helped out and the other guy I liked because when he rubbed my feet it felt amazing even after he was done, but his breathing was so loud that it was distracting.  I know that breathing is a big part of yoga but I think his was a little too much.  

North Myrtle Beach Triathlon

(East Coast VolksWagen Triathlon)

This triathlon is very memorable because it was not only the first triathlon that I ever did, but this year it was my mom's first time taking part in one.  This triathlon was formerly the East Coast VolksWagen Triathlon.  I headed down on Friday after I had gotten off at the pool and made it down by 2pm.  The first thing on my agenda was to hit the beach and I did for a good 2 hours.  Right around that time my mom had arrived and met me down at the beach.  We realize that it was getting close to time for packet pickup to end so we headed over to McLean Park where it was locate, also where the race finish would be.  This year were brand new shirts, light yellow with a old VolksWagen van and surfboard logo, and 100% cotton.  They are completely adorable.  The original plan for dinner was to go out and eat pasta with all my neighbors, my neighbor has a house at the beach.  I really didn't see a since in going out for pasta since we were only each doing one leg of the triathlon.  So mom and I went to Duffy Street Seafood Shack.  I wanted to get some carbs in so I at some of the mom's hush puppies (I'm a sucker for), and decided to order some fish tacos.  I traded in my fries for a side salad and cole slaw.  The fish tacos were huge, so I only ate one but it also helped that they weren't any good.  Mom ordered the fresh fish, tilapia, and it was two huge pieces.  She only ate one piece because they were huge. Mom took her other piece to go and tried to take my other taco but I had to take the taco back out of the to-go box and really convince her that it wasn't any good.  

Race morning finally came and we arrived at the OD Pavilion at 6am.  I got my bike set up with my numbers since I didn't take it out of the car since I had arrived at the beach, filled by tires and racked my bike up and was set to go.  This year the racks at place cards with the person name for the bike, their age, and hometown.  It thought it was kind of neat.  We got body marked and i started to pick up a chip strap and realized how flimsy they were and we ended up buying one so it wouldn't come off when my mom first hit the water for the swim like it did my first year I did the race.  We walked down the beach 700m so that all the swimmers were swimming with the current and at 7am the waves for the race started to take off.  My mom was in the 2nd to last heat and the worst part about the whole swim is always getting past the waves breaking.  And to no avail every year the water seems to get rougher and rougher the day of and always calm the next day.  As mom went out she got stung by a jellyfish and by the time she was done with the swim had been stung 5 times.  But apparently a lot of people were getting stung. Swim time - 17:06

My neighbor Ron put the timing chip on me since my mom was exhausted and that way I could put on my helmet while he transferred the timing strap/chip.  I got out on my bike and felt like I was making good time on the way out toward Cherry Grove, but I felt like the gears on my bike could have been higher so I messed with it a little bit on the way out trying to get my chain on a bigger rung and in a higher gear on top of that, but that attempt failed.  It was for the best though because on the way back down the headwind was extremely strong and sometimes the crosswinds blew me sideways a little bit.  I was glad when I hit the turn around point and started headed back toward the transition area because I knew the headwind would be less and I could  push it back to make up some ground.  The goal was just to try and keep my time close to the previous year.  Bike time - 47:42 (two minutes slower than the previous year, but I'm happy with it considering the winds).

I flew into the transition area and my neighbor met me there to take the strap and set out on the run.  While we waited he was out on the run we all walked to the park to wait for him to finish - me, my mom, his wife Linda, and long time friend Karen.  While they waited on the other side of the finish line I walked to the front of the finish line coral to cheer him in.  His goal was under 27 minutes but by the time we got to the run it was starting to get hot and humid.  I finally saw him coming around for the finish line and started to cheer him on and run with him on the way in.  We got SCTS glasses this year as our finisher prize.  Run time - 28:17

Our celebration lunch was at Bumz Beach Cafe, a tradition when we go down with the neighbors.  We always sit outside and it has a great view of the beach.  It is somewhat hard to find because it's between two resorts.  My and I shared the lunch special, tuna wrap on rye with cole slaw and french fries.  I also ordered steamed veggies so that I had something healthy to eat.  It was good, but the tuna got a little dry and then flavored back up.  We were there for a good two and half hours.  

Challenges

This past week has been rough.  Two of my best friends are closer to each other than they are with me and I get left out a lot.  I got fed up this week with the whole situation and tired of trying to put effort into a friendship where it doesn't feel reciprocated.  I have to realize that my friendships and my life half to make me happy and at times I have to put myself first.  Although these two probably won't notice I'm am backing away so I can get things straight with myself, and get back to my happiness.  But I feel their friendship will haunt me for a while since they seem to show up somehow in my life.

Although while at the triathlon this weekend, my thoughts were mostly back home that day and how I wished I was at the CrossFit throwdown, not only watching but competing.  I have been longing to coach hear recently and am going to start looking at finding a place to coach.  Yes, some options have been given to me, but I want to explore my options.  This past week my lack of training in CrossFit has made me realize how much I love it and miss it when I'm not doing it. It has been hard not being in a box to workout.  I feel the lack of motivation to push myself harder, but I always tell myself this is probably not a bad thing right now since my knee is still in recovery mode, but it would be nice just to have that little extra push.  Hopefully I'll be in town for the next one and can compete. 

So next weekend is my trip to Texas.  It started out as a surprise trip to visit the guy I am talking to for his birthday, but I keep telling myself that it is going to be a me trip since I might not get to see him while I am there.  I thought my feelings wold fade for him once he left, but they have only gotten stronger.  I almost feel like at times I'm denying how much I really like him but it's only best for now.  I just hope that I get to see him at least once while I'm there.

With all this traveling this month I feel like I am being pulled away from my relationship with God, and with all the things my mind seems to be focused on - not positive - I'm being pulled down.  I know that as long as I turn to God everything will be okay.  And not to mentioned that I got caught up in this weekend and I'm behind on my reading.  I don't want to get behind again!  I'm going to need prayers I can feel it for my relationship with God this month, staying mentally strong as well.