The Reveal

Once upon a time there was a little girl who dreamed of things that were pink, sparkly and fast. 

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She told her husband on each of the last two Valentine's Days, that the only carbon she wanted was in the form of a beautiful bike-forget diamonds.
The old saying "Diamonds are a girls best friend" did not fly with this girl.
Her best friend was her bike. 





And she longed for a pink Quintana Roo cd0.1 for an eternity
(or so it seemed).
As much as the little girl loved the pink camo Quintana Roo cd0.1, it's majestic beauty was far, far from her (budget) reach.
But the little girl BELIEVED that some day her "prince(ss) would come" so she continued to hold that deep, deep love for the pink QR.

Then one day, not too long ago, a glimmer of hope sparkled in the distant waters and she thought that maybe--just maybe--she could make yet another dream come true!!
..and with that hope, a new dream started to form.

A dream that was flat black, silver, white with just a dash of pink. 
Could it be that this NEW Quintana Roo would steal the little girls heart?

As fate would have it, she was able to ride this beautiful steed for several weeks and it was LOVE LOVE LOVE. They fit perfectly and the little girl could go so much faster!!
But with a sad and heavy heart, the little girl had to give back the loaner steed and it was back to reality.
No pretty, fast, beautiful Quintana Roo to ride in the weeks that followed.

She rode several other bikes but nothing was like that QR she sooo loved.

Then the little girl's Fairy-Godfather, Fairy-Godmother and Fairy-Uncle (yes-all three. It's my fairy tale!) appeared one day and told the little girl that because she had been very, very good girl they were going to help her make her dream come true.

And so it was meant to be.
A little tweak here and a little more carbon there....and it was perfect.

I am so grateful and thankful for all of the wonderful people who have made it possible for my dreams to come true this year.

First, my Mom and Dad (Rick-O Racing) , I love you and I could not do any of this without you both. Thank you to my husband and my in-laws too! I am so lucky that my entire family supports my crazy triathlon dreams.

To my amazing Coach Sonja- whom I just adore and appreciate so much. Thank you for everything and for  helping me raise the bar on my own dreams. You inspire me daily and I still wonder how I made into your stable :) xo

To Kompetitive Edge and Ryan, thank you for being the dream weaver and artist behind my beloved bike. You will forever be "Uncle Ryan" to my second baby.

To Rev 3 Triathlon, I am so happy and so proud to be a part of the REV3 Family. Being a part of the Rev 3 Team is a giant dream come true!! Thank you for believing in me.

2011 Rewind

What can I possibly say about 2011?



So much awesome in one year.

January started off great and I welcomed 2011 with a run with Dawn. I remember the weather was amazing for January in Maine...

But just days after that run, I was dealing with some terrible knee pain (PFPS) and ended up in physical therapy for a couple of months. But that little set back actually turned out to be a blessing. Jared at OA fixed me right up, we made some changes to my run and I've running pain free since (knock on wood!)

In January, I introduced my readers to Tough Chik! Tough Chik would be with me during many miles of training, at every single race and even hanging out with triathlon royalty (see March).

I am so happy to see how much Tough Chik has grown in the last year and I am excited to follow the Tough Chik team through 2012!!

February brought all kinds of great news!

I decided that 2011 was the year of BELIEVE!
I welcomed Tiger to the family (thanks to my Daddy) and I made it onto the Dailymile Team.

I was over the moon! I was (and am) so honored to be a part of the Dailymile Team!!

I was profiled on Another Mother Runner

In March, Dawn and I ventured to Boston for the MultiSport World Expo where I saw Jamie but he ignored me, so I hung out with Dave Scott instead.

He shared Chrissie's training secrets with me (and a thousand others) and got me stoked for an awesome 2011 racing season.

Oh, it was there and then decided that I was going to do my first half iron distance race in 2011. My pick was Pumpkinman - but who would have guessed that a snafu later on would turn out so awesome??!!

In April, I had my first overall podium finish-3rd overall female-at the Nor'Easter Reverse Triathlon! Then I did a crazy little #bikestreak, #runstreak and #swimstreak. I had some fun giveaways working with Outside PR, Tommie Copper and I was ready to get Tiger out and on the road!! Half iron training would commence!

Road from home to NewHampshire and back to Maine

May was aMAYzing!! I had my longest bike ride with Tiger since getting her (64 miles) while participating in the club event, The Budgetman 70.3! This is also when I started training with triclub buddy, Marc. Who knew I would literally drag Marc all over the state of Maine and New Hampshire on my swim/bike/run adventures!!

May is also when I discovered the now world famous tee shirt from Triathlon Rocks "I PEE ON MY BIKE". Later this year, this tee shirt would literally open doors for me.

June brought me into heavy training volume outside, a new 5k PR at The Run for Cash, and fun times at The Pirate Triathlon!! Summer was here in Maine!

The KBTC Crew

July was a month of learning, fun and a time I will remember for a long time to come! 

I got to work at The Tri for a Cure with MANDY and talk about her IMLP awesomeness!!

But, things fell through for my planned Pumpkinman half and for about 12 seconds, I was devastated. But then, Dawn, being the calm and cerebral one of us quickly handed me her iPad, in the middle of gym shift where I swifty registered for Timberman 70.3-I was scared, I was nervous and I was excited. The Pumpkinman course is flat, Timberman is not. But who's afraid of a couple (dozen) hills??? NOT ME!! And Dawn reminded me that Chrissie (yes, Chrissie Wellington) usually did Timberman. Now it was time to really focus on training and get ready for August!! I'd be doing my first half ironman three weeks sooner than planned!!

And I got to run this little Maine 10k race called The Beach to Beacon with friends Stephanie and Dawn!
Jamie was there but he ignored me again (actually, I could not find him in the sea of 10,000 runners)

Are there really words to describe August??

I trained, I was ready and I was excited.
Oh, and I hung out with Chrissie.

My favorite tri tee shirt would get noticed by Chrissie's photographer and get me into a private event where I got to hang out with her one-on-one. She was so nice AND funny!
We talked about pee'ing on the bikes and I asked her if she gave those behind her warning before she'd go. Her answer? No, if they get sprayed then they were drafting and deserve it.
LOVE HER!!

There was a pre-race meeting and Q&A with the pro's~Chrissie, Rasmus Henning and Cait Snow.

Damn! we're a good looking pair!!

Then it was here! It was race day. It was ups and downs-literally and figuratively-but each moment was amazing, awesome and in hindsight, downright comical! I got my medal and a hug from Chrissie when I finished!!

Dream = Reality!!

Sweet September!!

I got to race with Dawn, Meg, Melissa, Allison and many friends from my local tri community! I got to meet Jason face to face finally and it was a great way to end the season. The beginning of September I was high on my Timberman awesomeness and Chrissie tweeting a pic of us and writing on my FB page. See, we are BFF's...anyway, it was time for my my favorite sprint tri, The Mainiac and I placed 2nd in my age group and finished 7th overall female. 

Then the post race letdown happened. I felt lost and a little lazy. But I started teaching group exercise classes at my Y, I was getting ready to get ready for 2012. I still had lots to do before the end of 2011~

It was time to start thinking about those REALLY BIG DREAMS that I wanted to come true.

October aka RockTober!!
brought Lola's 3rd birthday-my baby is not a baby anymore. 

I got run the Harvest Half with friends, I got to meet Porter and hang with Mandy again.

I had been thinking of getting a coach and after a couple considerations, serendipity stepped into my life once again and I was going to be coached by Sonja, an amazing woman whom I'd been stalking following for quite a while. I was so thrilled that she agreed to coach me!

Coach and the feet that brought her to a 10:08 Kona finish.



It was KONA time and I was GLUED to the computer all day!! My girl Chrissie just crushed it with an amazing win and Sonja simply rocked it.

The applications to the Rev 3 Team had gone live at the end of September and I knew I had a long couple months of waiting ahead of me. I had been following Team Trakkers/Team Rev 3 now for about two years (after following Sonja) and I knew that someday I would be on that team. I BELIEVED. It might not be this year or next but some day, I would be on that team. The only person on the face of the earth who knew my hearts desire was Dawn. We talked at length heading into 2011 that this is what I would spend the next year (or two or three or four) working towards.
Even if they only accepted me because they were sick of my application coming in year after year.

November
November made my head spin-
I was asked to be an Ambassador for FitFluential!!


I won an INSPIRATION contest on GOTRIbal!!

and got news that would change my entire year. 
I had made the Rev 3 Team.
Mere words cannot even describe the emotions I felt and still feel about this.
AMAZING.
I am so happy and honored to be a part of the Rev 3 family. And yes, they are already like family to me.

December
I started training with Sonja and had some great breakthroughs in the pool.
I logged some serious laps, some nice trainer miles and started enjoying track workouts.


I embraced HR training and enjoyed the last month of the year with a birthday celebration, an amazing Christmas and time with family.
I enjoyed this year so much.
It has been amazing. wonderful.

2011 by the numbers:

• Swimming: 71.46 miles (22 of those in December alone)
• Biking: 2,814.2 (502 in December)
• Running: 971.84

add in some miles walking, hiking and on the elliptical and per my Dailymile account, I had a pretty active year in 2011!!

TOTAL: 4,032.07

2011 was awesome and
2012 will be EPIC!!


What were some of the exciting things that happened for you in 2011??


What are your 2012 goals??

The Power of BELIEVE

BELIEVE...

I had an entire post written and planned around BELIEVE but I have scrapped that and I am, instead taking it in a completely different direction. I also want to dedicate this post to a couple people

This amazing collage was a gift from my gal, Dawn

Colleen-may the power of BELIEVE bring you all your heart (rate) desires in 2012! BELIEVE in the process.

Dawn-because you, my dear friend, I will always BELIEVE in and I thank you for being by my side for every step of 2011's unbelievable year!!

Mandy-who knew that a day in the sun with friends would set the ball in motion the way it did. You are amazing and there are no thank yous big enough.

Jason-because you are just a giant ball of energy, motivation, inspiration and perspiration. Thank you for being my long distance cheerleader!!

Big Daddy Diesel-BELIEVE, always...thank you to my invisible twin brother. Go get it in 2012!!

Last year I set sail into 2011 with a long list of very specific goals as well as a handful of dreams and "what ifs".
The most important lesson that I learned on my journey from FAT to FIT is that you must believe in yourself. You must know with your heart that you can achieve what you set out to achieve.
Some of my goals were simple-PR's, complete my first half iron distance tri, etc.
Some goals were more complex and some did not have a time limit.
And some things were unexpected opportunities that turned out to be amazing!!

My "word" for 2011 was BELIEVE.

I wore it on a chain around my neck.
It was written inside my little planner.

I made a promise to myself to BELIEVE~
To BELIEVE in me.
To BELIEVE in the process.
To BELIEVE that your dreams can become a reality.
and to BELIEVE that 2011 was going to be an amazing year of learning, growth and new friendships.


2011 delivered more than my little heart ever could have asked for. Goals were achieved, dreams-BIG DREAMS-became reality and every single day was just jammed packed with awesome.

After living in the dark for so many years, to finally be living in the LIGHT and having learned to LOVE myself, to have the ability to BELIEVE that I can do this has changed my life tremendously.
in 2011 I chose to BELIEVE and it delivered tenfold.

What amazing things can happen to you once you BELIEVE??

Weakness is a Choice! (review/giveaway)

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One thing that I have learned on this amazing journey of Fat to Fit is that life is about choices.

You can choose to change your life for the better

 or 

you can choose to sit around and do nothing about it

I am generally an upbeat & happy person, I tend to have a very open heart and try to give the benefit of the doubt to people. However, the is one thing I don't have any patience for-
that is excuses.

So-what does this have to do with anything??

Let's back up:
Several weeks ago, I was lucky enough to win a super fabulous giveaway from The Athletarian (go, check out her blog) from Fashletics. The tank top that I won was awesome-super cute AND super soft!!

The GORGEOUS Athletarian in her tank from Fashletics!

I was pretty excited about the win and spent some time hanging out around the Fashletics website. Having recently started CrossFit'ting, I was super intrigued by Sarah, the owner and creator of Fashletics. 

I liked the message that her line conveyed and she has got to be a NO EXCUSES kind of girl.

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Fashletics is a collection of handmade jewelry inspired by a passion for fitness, competition, and a strong desire to empower others who have made a commitment to a fit and healthy lifestyle. Each piece of jewelry serves a badge of honor and an expression of strength.

Fashletics is based in Miami, FL. All pieces are designed and created by Sarah Wilson who is a certified CrossFit trainer at South Florida CrossFit Endurance. Sarah is also a nationally ranked endurance athlete who competes for Team USA at the World level in the sport of Duathlon. One of the only things that rivals her interest in athletics is her strong desire to design and create. Sarah is an established jewelry designer and has been working as a metalsmith for nearly 10 years.

Ultimately, Fashletics is the result of the combination of two distinct interests. Sarah is as much an athlete as she is an artist. She takes pride in the craftsmanship of her designs and works hard create jewelry pieces that celebrate and inspire the athlete within. 

 Athletic Background:

• Certified Level 1 CrossFit Coach- South Florida CrossFit Endurance
• Certified CrossFit Endurance Coach - South Florida CrossFit Endurance
• Nationally ranked Duathlete Member of Team USA 2009, 2010
• 2010 Duathlon World Championships • Edinburgh, Scotland 

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I was also equally impressed by some of the inspirational jewelry items available, like:

• BELIEVE was "my word" for 2011
• I just love the YOU vs YOU (perfect for you Ange!)
• That kettlebell is bronze!

I got to chat with Sarah via email about a review for the Miles, Muscles & Mommyhood readers!!
She was more than happy to participate, LUCKY US!!

Sarah sent me the kettlebell and tag necklace that read "weakness is a choice"

Perfect.

The kettlebell is hand carved and cast in pewter and the accompanying charm is pewter as well. The 16" bead necklace is stainless steel.

The necklace is sturdy as are the charms. That kettlebell is heavy duty!!
It is a lovely piece that reminds me that I have a choice with each workout-
I can choose to be strong or I can choose to weak.
I am sure you know what I CHOOSE to be.
I have been wearing this necklace for about a week now and it's very comfy and Lola proof. She has not managed to break this one and I have a feeling it'll take her a while too.

As for the tank I won? I love it. It's soft, lightweight and very comfortable. Of course, it's cute and easy to wash!

I am very pleased with the items from Fashletics and I know I can take care of some of my Holiday gift shopping right with them!

Now for the exciting part-how do you get a chance to win your very own Fashletics  $25.00 Gift Certificate??

Leave a separate comment for each entry

Mandatory: You must be a follower of Miles, Muscles & Mommyhood. It's easy, just click that blue botton on the right side of the page that says JOIN THIS SITE with the little Google symbol.

• Visit the Fashletics website and tell me what you are going to get with your winnings!
• Like Fashletics on Facebook
• Follow Fashletics on Twitter
• Follow ME on Twitter
• Share the love! Tweet, Facebook, link on your blog. Tell all your friends about this awesome review and giveaway. Earn ONE entry per share per day!!
• Visit the Fashletics blog and tell me something awesome you learned.
• Tell me about a time you made a CHOICE to be STRONG.

Entries accepted until midnight on November 30, 2011 and then a random winner will be selected from all eligible entries. The winner will then be announced shortly thereafter.  

DISCLAIMER: All products that are reviewed in this blog post were provided to me for free from Fashletics. My review is my honest opinion, I am not paid for it.

I believe

I believe that the mind is more powerful than the body.


I believe that you can do anything you want to do, you just need to believe it too!


I believe in God and the power of Faith.


I believe in love at first sight.


I believe in pushing your limits.


BELIEVE.


Such a powerful word with some many connotations.




When Sport Girl Jewelery was hosting a ONE WORD contest to win a necklace, I knew exactly what I was going to get-

The package was so pretty, I did not want to open it! Ok...I did but-

Top Tag: BELIEVE Bottom Tag: I was born to do this

The bottom tag says: I am not afraid (it is on the reverse side of I was born to do this)

Words really cannot express how emotional I get some days thinking about all that has happened in the last couple of years--It brings me to tears, happy tears. One of the biggest changes for me was how I felt about ME. I never used to believe in me. I never thought I was good enough. Now I know I really can do anything I want to do and that I do deserve to be happy. Not because I lost weight and physically changed but because I found the strength to struggle, to learn, to get back up and fight, to push myself, to accomplish...these are the lessons that changed me. These are the lessons that shaped me into the fighter I have become.
So I believe-

This necklace is very special to me and I plan to wear it all the time. When I am having doubts creeping into my head on a long run, I will let the gentle tinkle sounds of the tags be a reminder to me to believe. When I am feeling less than motivated, I will let my fingers wander to my neckline to feel each tag and remember what my goals are.

A BIG thank you to Sporty Girl Jewelry for this beautiful and very special piece!
If you have something special to celebrate of just want to wear your love for the sport, please visit their website!

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Speaking of BELIEVE--
can you believe this???

Yours truly is on Run Like A Mother this week in their recurring feature Follow This Mother!

I am so humbled and honored to be chosen and I hope you will check out their site.

It is a great resource for the active Mom: fun & fabulous giveaways, recipes, inspirational and motivation tidbits with a ton of funny stories!!

 If you run and your a Mom, I am sure you already have their book, right?? If not-add it to your reading list.