Planning in Threes

Do you ever try to figure out what life will be like three years from now? I used to do that all of the time. I had plans for my life... big plans.

When I was 15, I was planning on what college to attend when I turned 18. I assumed I would go to Point Loma Nazarene University because that is where I attended surf camp with my best friend. We were going to surf every day. I was going to start my own surfing magazine. She was going to start an orphanage. We were going to marry cute surfer boys and live side-by-side on the beach. We were going to "save" each other on our wedding nights by kidnapping the other one before she got to the hotel. It was going to be a good life. A perfect life.

Well, I turned 18. My best friend got married. In fact, four out of five of my closest friends got married that summer. I was dating a guy my parents didn't approve of, so when marriage came into the plan, they sent me away to Bible school in Colorado. Life was not as I had planned. So I made a new plan: By the time I turned 21, I was going to be married to a handsome, strong, Christian man. I was going to attend a private Christian university in Southern California and aim toward teaching high school health.

My twenty-first birthday rolled around. I was out of shape, didn't have a boyfriend and wasn't entirely sure what I wanted to do with my Kinesiology degree. So, I made a new plan: At the age of 24, I hoped to have a husband, a house on the beach and two kids. My suitemates from college would all live in my neighborhood and our kids would play together every day. I would be teaching high school health or something along those lines. Life would be good.

Now I'm 24. As you can probably tell, my husband and kids got a little lost along the way. For the first time in my life, I am satisfied with where I am now. I love my jobS (yes, the S is capitalized because I  have so many darn jobs, as the man who flirts with me every day after my cycle class likes to remind me), my house is conveniently located, I do live on the beach (or close to it) and I have great friends. Life is good. What will I be doing three years from now? Uhmm... probably writing a blog that says, "At the age of 27, I hoped to be married with two kids and a dog, living close to my best friend, working as a sonogram technician. Now I'm 27 and I do triathlons for fun, teach cycle classes and go home to my cat every night." Uhmmmm I need to start taking a different direction with my life.

Thursday evening, it was time to swim. My friend Matt joined me at the pool and we did our drills.

Friday morning, I was blessed with Drea's class. Oh, my entire body ached going into it. Was it the Pure Awesomeness class? Maybe it was the epic cycle classes I've been using to overtrain myself. Possibly, it is a combination of all of these things. But... ow! Drea, stop kicking my butt! My glutes are on fire! Oh wait, don't stop! Make it hurt more! Try to make me sore! I can't even explain how awesome Drea is! And now we are friends; we have conversations about work and cycling and husbands and flat tires...she is pretty much amazing.

After Drea's class, I got to meet up with Lauren because she came to my class at Fit Buddha! It was so fun! She was the only one there, so she got her own private class. We followed the cycle class with breakfast at Jeannine's, which is always delicious.

Saturday was filled with cardio burn classes and Pilates. Despite the fact that the weather was incredible, I still went into the indoor pool to swim for an hour. After my swim, I stopped by the front desk and Jameisha and I made plans to go on a trail run. Then, I made some very poor decisions. I had not eaten since 6am. A friend had said he was going to buy me lunch, so I picked him up from the airport instead of stopping by my house and grabbing a snack. I was starved. I decided I could either go home and get food or I could grab some veggies at Whole Foods. Well, I got to Whole Foods and, being the day before Easter, it was crazy in there! I grabbed some protein bars and a pear, paid and walked out to my car. Well, so much for lunch. I decided since I planned on running, I would treat myself to my favorite meal: A portabello mushroom sandwich. I walked to the restaurant, waited for my sandwich and took it home to eat. I knew I should stop when I was halfway through, but it was sooooo good. So I finished the entire thing. Then I received my Easter package from my mom, which was filled with coconut and almond filled Hershey's kisses. I sat down, turned on Scrubs and ate almost all of the kisses. I have this problem where I eat way too much food. When it was time to meet up with Jameisha, I could barely move because I was so full. The entire run, I could feel my stomach bobbing up and down. Blech.

We tried a new trail today. It was pure hill. But it was the best view I have ever seen. Beautiful, gorgeous, wish you were here.

Sunday was Easter, so I met up with Katrina and Anne for a trail run before work (yes, I worked on Easter). It was a fantastic run! I stayed with them for the first half, then took off on the second because I wanted to make it to the top before work. I love the fact that most of the women I spend time with are older. They are settled, have husbands, real jobs and kids. These types of relationships are so meaningful to me because through our conversations, I learn so much about life and love and spirituality. I discover the traits that I want in my life. I am so grateful for these women.

Anyway, I made it to the top of the trail in 45:57.0 then ran back down on my own. It was a beautiful Sunday morning and the sun was beginning to send its warmth through the forest trees. I may have turned into a five-year-old and started imagining that I was a contestant in the Hunger Games. I ran faster than I've ever run before. I skipped over the babbling streams, leaped off of rocks and dodged fallen trees. I imagined that those big dogs were on my trail. It was exhilarating and I loved it! Playing make believe is not such a bad thing. It totally helped my training. Plus, I prefer trail running to road running. WAYYYY more exciting!

This is where I want to run one day:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=sipCFJMe-Bc