Two Ears One Mouth

I figure it's about time to put this out there and I'm pretty sure if you know me really well, you won't be surprised by any of what I have to say. I've been having a lot of issues lately. I've been working hard with my counselor to determine who I really am and what brings me true joy in life and it's been surprising, frustrating, difficult, fun, exhausting, enlightening, exciting and hard....to sum it up in a few words. I spent some time in Puerto Rico back in March and finally got back into doing some writing while I was out there. It wasn't anything long and certainly not anything particularly newsworthy but it made me feel good. I enjoy writing. When I was young I used to write short fiction stories on my mom's computer whenever I had free time and though a lot of them remained unfinished, they were always fun for me and surprisingly effortless to compose. Blogging has never quite been the same as my true writing and I've been working hard t...

The other day I sent a text to my sister that went something like, "Remember when I used to write a blog? That was fun." I spend a lot of time nowadays watching my head movies (as RER calls them) and when you have tons of time to think you can come up with all sorts of things to write about. What I'm saying is, my absence isn't due to a lack of material. Since today is my last day as a 26 year old I thought I'd at least throw something together very quickly for the sake of...I don't know, 26-ing. Also yes, tomorrow is my birthday! Here are 26 things I've learned or thought about since beginning Ironman training:  My laundry is finally being done regularly. I only have 4 sports bras and 1 bathing suit so laundry needs to be done all the time . I truly don't have time for things. You know how you say you'll call someone or write that blog or watch that show but you never have time because you're too busy doing some equally unnecessary ta...

Hey there! How are things? Hangover Classic 10 miler complete with my sister this morning! It was cold but the sun was beautiful, the route was right on the river and I like the cold anyway so it was perfect! Last year I did the 5k recovering from a femoral stress fracture and this year all 10 pain free! #happynewyear #2015 #roadtoironman #futureironman @ponyabands #sweatysheep A photo posted by Rennay Cooke Marshall (@rnay225) on Jan 1, 2015 at 2:59pm PST I've just been swimming and biking and running and eating and stretching and getting strong. Or at least trying. The great Swim Bike Mom wrote about the similarities between Ironman (9 months of training) and childbirth (9 months of ...uh..training?), you go into labor/race day and it's almost total misery especially towards the very end but then the moment of glory comes and you have a tiny (or huge) little (or big) baby (or medal) that makes you forget everything you just went through. Moms....is that ...

Anyone who has ever "properly" tapered for a race has to know the feeling(s) I'm having right now. Everything seems off somehow. I can't keep my focus, can't make a decision and can't really answer any questions about anything other than my fueling plan. In case you missed it, I'm running the Indianapolis Marathon in 5 days and however long the little countdown clock on the sidebar says. My training got all out of whack from that little wedding and I've been quietly stressed about it for at least a month. I got in every long run (except for the 2nd 16 miler, I just jumped to 18 and went on from there) and added lots of 10 milers to make up for the mid-week runs I just could never seem to get to but I still feel undertrained and not quite ready. I'm beginning to think that's a normal feeling for anyone who races so I'm trying not to let it bother me. Hopefully writing something, anything  will help me empty out my cluttered little head...

What a week! Does anyone else feel like this month just flew by? During every day this week I've been dragging and then out of nowhere it was Sunday. But I can't let another moment pass without gushing one last time about Ironman Louisville . As you may or may not know, this was the last year the race would be held in August and also the last time there would be a pro field. There will definitely be a big difference in the way the race feels next year which is sad but change isn't always bad so we'll just have to see how it plays out. Two guys from church were racing and a few others I knew so we went all out making signs for them. The night before was really rainy so we had to get up super early to place them along the run course. This year my sister and I volunteered it up again and worked in T1 and then the bike special needs station up in Buckner. There was a heat advisory all weekend which is pretty normal for August in Louisville but we've had a...

It's been busy busy around these parts lately so I apologize for being a bit sporadic. Of course there are tons of life happenings but none of those things matter right now because it's IRON WEEK in Louisville and this is the biggest week of my life. Seriously. For no real reason other than excessive fangirling. It's no surprise that I'm thoroughly obsessed with fit people and when Ironman Louisville comes to town my composure runeth over and I geek out to an extraordinary level. Last night began the festivities with a Night with the Pros event hosted at PCUSA  with Angels in Disguise and Sweaty Sheep Ministries (which also happens to be my church). 5 pro triathletes showed up to do a fun Q & A and tell us more about themselves and it was an absolute blast! My only negative from the night is that I wore a shirt that does NOT photograph well but I don't even care because I was in the presence of greatness! L to R: Mike Hermanson , Guy Crawford , Kate Bevi...

Let's Tarentino this report. I finished the swim! Our cyclist finished the ride! Our runner finished the run! We finished the race (and in less than 7 hours!) So how did it go? Let's go back...and I'll warn you, it's a long one. Much like every race report. I bought new goggles with better tint since everyone in the Muncie Facebook group who had raced before said if the sun was out it would be blinding after the second turn. I drove to the pool and did a quick 20 minutes to make sure they fit and shake out a little energy. Thursday night I got everything packed up since we were leaving Friday afternoon after my much needed massage. As usual I had a little help getting things together. But he's generally more into directing since he doesn't have thumbs.  Friday afternoon my sister and I hit the road for the 3 hour drive. We opted against using the highway the whole way since construction is crazy and unpredictable. The winding country roads kept things int...

I came here to write my very last blog post. This will  not be my last blog post, but I did  have a bad moment recently...like an hour ago. Allow me to explain. Do you remember this post  when I explained the ever-present inferiority complex I often find myself battling? Well it's been rearing its head more and more often lately and I'm blaming the stress fracture (which is hurting less and less each day! hooray!). Today was a bad moment. After spending most of my afternoon watching Ironman videos and putting a mere 20 minutes in on the bike I was feeling down. I've been obsessing over Ironman Louisville for the past couple of weeks which you likely know if we're friends IRL. For some reason it crept into my brain that I should go for it in 2014 instead of my original plan of 2016...which turned into 2015. Long story short, I've asked my lovely friends and family repeatedly to talk me out of it. Tell me why I shouldn't do the Ironman! I even googled it. ...

That pretty much sums up my weekend. I'm a big fan of being inspired. I love watching documentaries and becoming obsessed with the subjects and their relentless pursuit of whatever random feat despite their randomly difficult circumstances. There's nothing like watching someone overcome something. Anything. I would watch a documentary of an aspiring hand model getting rid of a hangnail in order to compete in the World Amateur Hand Modeling Championships and start googling nail technician programs so that I could someday be equipped with the necessary tools to aid other aspiring hand models in the future. Not only am I easily inspired, but I also like to be involved. The problem  with my obsession with inspiration is that it always leaves me wanting more. It makes me want to go harder, faster, longer! *insert our collective immature giggles here* As I sit here fresh from watching 10 hours of coverage of the Ironman World Championships on Saturday and 2 hours of the Chicago M...

Remember when I said I was old because I drive slowly now? Well I had another old moment last night at the track because I realized it had been over 10 years since I ran track! Where did the time and my skinny little frame go? Wait, wait, a track?! Yes my friends, I have completed my very first Track Tuesday speed workout! Yesterday I was considering doing a BRICK with our local triathlon club in an effort to be more social and start getting my feet wet over this whole 70.3 thing I'm on right now. Don't worry, we'll get to that in a second. They were going at 5 and I ended up not being able to make it which was disappointing. Luckily I saw on Facebook that one of our local running stores was holding speed workouts at a high school track at 7 pm which worked a lot better plus made it a little cooler out. Turns out the track is only a mile from the new house! How perfect, right? So I jogged the mile to the track and nervous as all get out made my way over to the group. T...

Well my friends, I am suffering from a serious Ironman hangover! A wise person once said the Ironman is like Christmas but the days after are like a New Year's hangover and truer words have never been spoken. Although I didn't race (um, duh) I still managed to keep busy all weekend. Saturday morning Autumn and I got up for a 14 mile run at 6:30 and it was largely uneventful until the end. We tried a new hydration product we got at the Ironman Expo called zipfizz . Jury is still out on it but I may do a little product review after this week's training. The last 3 miles started to get tough and something about passing up that 13.1 mark hurts a lot. But it wasn't until the last half mile that I wanted to lay down and cry. Oddly enough, I never ended up terribly sore from that run and actually felt recovered pretty quickly afterwards. Funny how proper (ish) training works. Anyway, after the run I took The Colonel to pick up the moving truck so he and his friend cou...