2016 Look Ahead - A New Year, Same Old Plan

Just recapped 2015 yesterday and it was fun looking back and seeing how far I've come. It was really just a big year for me and I'm so blessed when I look back and think about what I was able and lucky enough to do.

(Photo credit: http://www.fggam.org/2015/12/2015-2016-restoration-of-losses-by-stephen-young/)

But now we're 2 weeks into 2016... so what's next?

Well, it may be a new year, but I'm going to use the same ol' plan: be better! Be better than yesterday, keep striving for greatness, and most importantly, Race for a Cause!

(Photo credit: https://www.pinterest.com/explore/be-better/)

I'm happy to say that 2016 is going to be a great year! And one reason I can say that is because of all the wonderful organizations I'm apart of in my triathlon journey!

(Picture from my Instagram a few days ago)

I've been apart of the LA Tri Club for almost 3 years now and it's been a wonderful community of fellow triathletes who are similarly just doing the sport because it's their passion! They swim, they bike and they run. But then the last part of the group's motto is to PLAY! Have fun with it and this group definitely does that!




My next longest group has been Honey Stinger as they've been kind enough to sponsor me through their ambassadorship program for the last 2+ years now! It's been great using Honey Stinger products and to be a brand ambassador and also get some discounts has been so helpful for keeping the training costs manageable while still being fueled up! The best part is that my group of triathlete friends have dubbed ourselves Team Honey Stinger Picnic and it's a great family of triathletes who really support each other!



The newest group is Team Nuun as I've been lucky enough to also make the cut with their ambassadorship program in 2016. This is my first year with them and I'm excited to try more Nuun products and similarly promote another great brand for staying hydrated!






The last, and to me most important, group is the Children's Tumor Foundation. With them, I was able to check the box on my personal bucket list to one day finish an Ironman. But part of getting to that point was partnering with this great organization and their NF Endurance Team to learn more about NF and to meet a wonderful little girl who's fighting it. Meeting Ava and being able to say that I Know A Fighter has been so important in changing the way I look at life, the way I look at my challenges and struggles and really has just made racing all that more rewarding. It's really a great group and hope that more athletes try and find a charity to get behind, to get involved, to make people aware and just give them another reason to keep doing what we do.

Well all that being said, 2016 should be great! I'm excited to tackle new goals and challenges and to be better! And there's no better way than just getting out there and doing it! So get out there today and join me in choosing to be better :D

(Photo credit: http://www.primermagazine.com/2012/live/today-i-will-be-a-man-one-reddit-users-manifesto-for-being-a-better-man)

2015 Year In Review

This post is quite late (I mean we're 2 weeks into 2016 already!!!) but I still wanted to do it anyway. I think it's a great way to take stock of what has happened in the last year and really think about your successes and failures and what you could have done better in addition to what you should be thankful for. And putting it in words is a first time for me so...

(Photo credit: http://www.quickmeme.com/meme/3s4hto)

2015... Probably the biggest year of change in my life to date...

-Finally became a full time employee after months of "transitional" status
-Lucky enough to get my ambassadorship with Honey Stinger renewed
-Completed my first half Ironman (or 70.3) triathlon at Wildflower (basically crawling to the finish)
-Raced the same course as the Special Olympics Athletes and got to help motivate many of them to the finish line
-FINALLY podiumed (albeit at Castaic so kinda doesn't count)
-Finally left my tiny 2 bedroom, 1 bath apartment of 7+ years
-Made the biggest purchase of my life to date (aka bought a house)
-Finally figured out my cramping issue with the help of Salt Stick
-Paid off my student loans and am (student loan) debt free!!!
-Raced for a cause, The Children's Tumor Foundation
-Completed my first Full Marathon, my first Century and my first 2+ mile Swim
-Completed my first Full Ironman (or 140.6) triathlon (YOU ARE AN IRONMAN!!!)
-Had a pro (in anything) congratulate me and call me a "rock star"
-Set my PR in every running and cycling category (5K, 10K, Half/Full Marathon times, Farthest Run Distance, 40K cycling time, Farthest Cycling Distance) and other things not recorded (like Farthest Swimming Distance)

And that's just the things I could think of this morning from scrounging on Facebook and past posts as well as Garmin. There's just got to be so many other things that have happened this year as it seems like a long and yet life defining year for me.

I think if I look at those things, I'm most proud that I "Raced for a Cause." Life isn't about sports and one's life shouldn't only be about personal accomplishment. Triathlon in and of itself can be just that though. To be great, to be successful or sometimes just to do one, it takes hours and HOURS and HOURS of training! And when you think you've done enough, you could have probably done more! And in all that time spent, there's a lot of selfishness to this type of dedication. You can become vain, self centered and too focussed on the "me" aspect of life. But Racing for a Cause helped fight that battle. Not only did it help me to keep pushing in my training, but it helped me to remember that there is more important things in life than this or even than just me. And racing and fighting to get to that finish line or get that last mile pales in comparison to the fight that children with NF or other people with other challenges go through in their lives, often daily. And it really just helps to put things, to my measly struggles in perspective. I'm blessed. I'm blessed with health and the capability and capacity to do more and to make a difference.

I was going to then write about my failures or maybe what I could have even done better this past year. But after writing that last paragraph, it doesn't seem to matter as much. I know there's a lot that I could have done different and in some ways I could have definitely been better. At the end of the year though, I think I did alright and will definitely need to make sure I have a similar, life defining year in 2016!!!

Well, I'll end the post with some of my Garmin Stats as well as some random tidbits about them as that has been a little bit fun in looking at the site... :D NOTE: these stats don't account for distance on the treadmill, bike trainer or anything I forgot the watch/HRM for... LOL

Interesting tidbits:
-I did something active more than once per day on average!!!
-Walked over 5.9 million steps!!! That's over 2831 miles!!!
-Total time exercising is equivalent to more than 2 weeks and 4.5 days (or 5% of my year)
-Burned enough calories to feed the average person (2kCal daily diet) for over 121 days!!!
-Covered over 6733 stories in elevation gain

-And here's a distance map of how far other cities are from Los Angeles to give you an idea of just how far I could have gone
---In total, I could've walked to Anchorage, Alaska or wound up just short of Honolulu, Hawaii
---I could've ran to Salem, Oregon or Santa Fe, New Mexico
---I could've biked to Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
---I could've swam to Rialto or Oxnard, California
-Definitely thought that this distance map site was pretty cool as there's also a table that shows every distance to major cities around the country and world!!!

(Photo credit: http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/distances.html?n=137)