Triathlon is my Paris

I have an amazing friend who has a passion for Paris like no other. Paris is her happiness. It is her strength and her dream. She amazes me with her restraint – skipping a coffee or a meal out, all in order to save for that next wonderful escape to a place that makes her feel so complete.**

I came to the realization when I was shopping for my new bike, that triathlon has become my Paris. It is my passion (some might even say - my obsession). It is my escape from reality, my stress reliever, my strength and my confidence. My relationship with triathlon definitely isn't something that everyone can or will understand, but that doesn't matter, because it is mine. It is, and has become, such a large part of what makes me tick and keeps me happy… (and while I rarely skip coffees or meals out, any bit of spare money I have inevitably gets channeled toward something tri related).

That said, I guess every relationship has a rough patch now and again. I say this, because while my love affair with triathlon is growing, at the same time, I have been battling a bit of a love-love/hate relationship during training recently. I feel so great about my swim and my bike right now (the love-love part), like everything is clicking and is where it needs to be, and yet, on the run, all I feel is discouraged... and discouraged is not a good feeling.

This struggle with the run has been brought on by a resurgence in calf pain. On every run lately, it takes about 20-30mins for my calf to flush out and feel somewhat normal. It’s so hard to describe, as the pain isn’t so bad that I can’t function, but it is an extreme discomfort that not only bothers me physically, but wreaks havoc on my mental state as well.

I know I will overcome this and move forward - that my calf will heal or I'll get to the point where I can block out the discomfort - but in the meantime, it's an interesting place to be. Discouraged by my Paris? [or at least 1/3 of my Paris]. That just doesn't seem quite right, but well, hopefully it won’t last long :)


** If you ever need a Parisian fix, follow along the adventure of my wonderful friend on her blog “All Things Paris - the Fabulous Adventures of CountessLV”