This Post is Brought to You by the Letter B!

 The Letter B: Balance, Balls, Banana Seats, Baseball, Bronchitis

...guess what, it's already near the end of August. Rev3 Maine is this weekend and I once again have a crew from across the country coming to Maine for the EPIC race. This is truly my favorite race of the year and I am so excited to once again have a blast.

3rd Place overall, 2013 "Team Small"

with Angela, who will be back this year! 

Scott (Train Fat Boy Train) returns to Maine this year! 

This year has been one of transition and struggle for me. Trying to balance all the balls in my life: work, family, clients, nutrition, and training. It has proved difficult, and it has been a bit of a struggle for me to put my own needs aside for time to train and work so many hours. SO much of who I am is tied up into training and racing and triathlon. I'd be lying if I said at times, I feel lost and incomplete without hours of riding, running and swimming. I miss it so...and as Cedar Point rolls around, I am engulfed in plans for one of my athletes racing the full there. I recall last year and remember with fondness the training, the chats with Coach Sharpie and the excitement building to perform. And I simply miss it.

CP 140.6 2013 at the finish with my INSPIRATION, Lola

However, I refuse to let the family ball drop. I am getting to the small amounts of free time I have with my daughter, who is growing up way to fast. I am so lucky to have been able to witness so many firsts with her this year. No more training wheels. Swimming like a fish. Running her first mile. Reconnecting with my childhood best friend, Beth, and watching OUR kids play together.

my little fish

I have always loved biking and my Dad saved my very favorite bike from my younger days in hopes that someday I would have a child and he or she would ride it.

Hello 1978-The Cactus Flower, complete with banana seat.

We had an amazingly relaxing family vacation at a lake house this summer, with lots of swimming, kayaking and canoeing. It was a little slice of heaven!

not a care in the world...laying on the dock

Family time was a big theme this summer and we had a blast at the local baseball games. Lola also won a heated game of "musical chairs".

I also spent a majority of the summer with a bronchial infection that just would not go away! Three rounds of antibiotics, inhalers, allergy meds, chest x-rays...you name it, they were trying it. Finally, I am getting some relief and things seem to be clearing up. I certainly lost a ton of fitness this summer (isn't it usually the other way around?). It is what it is...perhaps this was the Universe's way of shouting "SLOW DOWN JEN"

So with Rev3Maine weekend here, I am racing the oly and I will have fun. I will enjoy the swim in my beautiful Maine ocean, ride the rollers of the country bike course and will smile and cheer others on during the run. I don't care about the clock, PR's, Podiums or anything else. I will stay at the finish line and cheer until the last finisher of the day crosses (because it is my favorite part of the race!!).

Lola and her friend, Bella doing tires flips at one of my bootcamp workouts

I have been able to help so many OTHERS this year and that makes it all worth it. I am able to give back in ways I never imagined. Sharing my own story and journey is inspiring others to change their own lives. Through coaching, personal training and nutrition, I am helping others reach THEIR goals.  I love being able to do that and believe that is my mission in life to help others feel awesome. Just like I do every day.

I know what it feels like to be the before...and I know what it feels like to be the after. Every person deserves to feel amazing in their own body and to have the confidence to chase their dreams! 

Moving Right Along...

random thoughts today

Today is Lola's last day of pre-school and I cannot believe it is here. This year had gone by so fast...if you have been reading for a while, here is a little snippet of how my girl has grown since starting this blog.

There is no doubt about it, she is MY girl!! While I am sad that these years are passing so quickly and she is no longer my "baby", I am so proud of her and what a beautiful little girl she is on both the inside and outside. This child has a heart filled with love and I hope she stays this way for many years to come.

Quassy is just around the corner and this year the entire family will be traveling down with me. I am so excited to have my "new" husband there with me, by my side and along for the journey. I am so proud of all he has accomplished in the last several months. I look forward to cheering HIM on as well :)

As for the Quassy half race itself, the only thing I really have as a goal this year for the race is to execute a solid run. I know I can bike and I can bike the hell out of those hills but I need to put my ego in my back pocket and focus on the run this year. That run kicked my biscuits last year and I intend to do things a little different this year. After all there is no such thing as a great bike and a shitty run...right??

As for the swim, this should be interesting. I have not even been in open water yet this season. It has been a very long and cold winter here in Maine so that's the wild card. I am hoping to get into the local pond this week now that the air temps have been up a bit but the nights are still really cold--last week we even had frost. So...

Last years finish, so happy to be DONE that run!

It will be interesting to see what the weather brings too. Last year we had massive rain on Saturday so the Oly was a mess. It was sunny and beautiful (and kind of hot) for the half on Sunday and the finish line was still a mud pit the next day.

I am looking forward to seeing my team mates and having an amazing weekend!! 

13 months

Did you know that I missed my very first Bloggerversary?

Yeah...July 20th of 2010 was my first blog post!! Go read the end of that post--then come back.

The goal of doing an Ironman someday was just a little seed that had been planted and I was not ready to share it quite yet. For some reason, I held this little "secret" very close to my heart and felt that if I shared it, somehow it would end up tainted or damaged.
Sometimes, saying it out loud or putting it out into cyberspace makes it just too real.
Maybe I was not ready for that little dream to be reality so I kept in protected.
Or perhaps, other more experienced athletes would laugh and say
"no, YOU cannot be an IRONMAN"
or maybe was it actually ME questioning if I was IRONMAN strong??

Of course, I am no longer afraid to share that goal and we all know that I have 140.6 on the horizon  But let's get thru my first 70.3 first, kay?

I also have seen first hand what I can do -- mentally and physically -- and I have been able to surround myself with like minded individuals. It's amazing what this little blog has done for me-I have been able to connect with others all over the world.

People who inspire me, motivate me, make me smile and keep me on reaching for the stars!
I am so lucky to have been able to meet some of the fantastic bloggers in "real life" and there those of you I have yet to meet but I WILL (even if it means a road trip to Texas and Arizona!!)

So now 13 months and one day after my first blog post (hmmmm a different kind of 13.1?)
I will be at Timberman doing my first half Ironman

70.3

It's been an amazing year and I thank you for being a part of it.
So many of you have touched my life in ways you may never know or even understand, but please know that on Sunday, August 21st while I am swimming, biking and running through the lakes and mountains of New Hampshire, there will be a piece of you with me!!

and I will smile

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I was brought to tears this winter when someone came up to me at the gym while I was working and said that they had read my blog. This person did not realize that I used to be fat.
They then opened up to me about some of the "demons" they were fighting when it came to their own well being. I have been able to connect with this person and help then recharge their own fitness goals and become a much healthier person in the process.

I started writing this blog as a way to document how I was progressing on my own journey. I thought that if I could reach just ONE PERSON and inspire them to make a healthier change with their own life, my goal would be accomplished.

So lets celebrate my "Bakers Dozen" Bloggerversary-
Happy 13 Months Miles Muscles & Mommyhood!!

I look forward to the next 13 months and cannot wait to see where the road is going to lead!!

If you are a new reader, or even if you have been here since Post #1, here are some fun early MM&M posts to revisit!!

Beach Babe Belly Flops

Yoda's Wisdom

My F*UGLY Feet

Lessons from Lola

Fat A$$ Friday

Weekend Wrap-up and a Winner!

Saturday: the last race simulation training day before Timberman.
1.2 mile swim. Excellent, I was pleased with this. Paced well but most importantly, I kept calm and cool the entire swim. I am a slow swimmer and at this point in the game the amount of energy I would expend getting a faster swim is not worth it. Save myself for the bike and the run. Now to just execute this come race day. I need to stay calm and not get sucked into the frenzy.
43 miles bike. Ahhh. My training partner flatted twice so the ride got cut short by 7 miles. No worries. Lots of climbing and hit up Range E Road which is an awesome climb. One big steep hill and just when you think you're good-bang! another steep ass climb. LOVE Range E!!
6 mile run. The first two miles were awesome I felt great but I went out too fast (8:30-8:40 avg pace for both). I need to really pay attention to this come race day, stay in my target pace and heart rate zone. Mile three I started getting really, really hot and asked what the temp was on the bike computer. 95*...DAMN! Threw some water over my head and kept going. Slowed down a bit and kept a good head space. Smiled when I felt I needed to smile. Mile 5 presented it first walk break when my HR spiked to 170's. Got that under control quickly and kept at it. Finished strong and jumped into the pond to cool down.
Learned some things and I just gotta remember to stay in my own space come race day and not worry about what anyone else is doing. I need to keep my conservative pace when planned (the entire swim, first 1/3 of the bike and first 2/3 of the run).

I got to spend Sunday at the Tri for a Cure with none other than Mandy!!
aka: Caratunk Girl or as I like to call her now, IronMANdy


Talk about a little package of happy dy-no-mite!! I never thought I would meet someone as hyper and spazztastic as I am (in a good way) about life in general and triathlon--guess what folks
I have met my match

Mandy is just a (little) big ball of positive energy and rocks this vibrant smile that is just super contagious!
We immediately got down to business discussing the important things in life-
Ironman Lake Placid (read all about how LP adventure-THE SWIM, THE BIKE, THE RUN) Team Trakkers, her coach, Ange (who I am currently "girl crushing" on big time! Even more so after killing it in LP and getting a spot at Kona!) racing, training, triathlon this and triathlon that...
We got the SBR Sports Inc PIT STOP flag up and started getting ready to spray the TriSlide and get those goggles Foggled!

It was an amazing day and I am so glad that I finally got to meet Mandy after reading her blog for so long! Hopefully her plans workout to make it to Timberman to watch the race and hang out with me, Chrissie (Wellington) and Chris (Leito) after. Yeah, that's how I roll.....
**dreaming**

Ok, ok so now for a winner on my GUtastic Giveaway!!

There were 92 eligible entries for this giveaway.

Each eligible entry was entered onto a list in numerical order and then random.org picked the winner for me:

Which was #71:

L'Averie: I would like to try the Island Nectar or Pineapple flavors in Roctane. I would also like to try the Brew.


There isn't a contact links for you so please email me at jsmall14(at)maine.rr. You have one week to contact me :) If I do not hear from you, I will have to pick an alternate winner.