by Amy Woods (team member)

I have three clear “mom-athlete” memories from when my kids were little. I remember squeezing in a 20 minute run on the treadmill while my daughter slept in her car seat next to it (no judging about sleeping in the car seat please…she is now 16 and barely ever sleeps in a car seat). I also remember getting up at the ungodly hour of 4:30 AM to pump before I left to teach my 6 AM spin class. And I remember coming back from runs or rides and pulling up my sweaty sports bra to nurse my son as soon as I walked in the door. I was hungry and wanting a shower, but his needs came before mine.

Until I was 40, I was a recreational athlete. What I mean by this is that I exercised without specific competition in mind. I ran and lifted weights and rode a bike (mostly indoors at spin class), but I didn’t really consider it “training.” I wasn’t racing. I didn’t even wear a heart rate monitor or track my workouts at all.

Feeling unsettled lately? Perhaps a little more anxious? Trouble sleeping? Or perhaps you feel like you are in a funk. Like you are walking around in a fog.

7 AM: Wake up to no alarm. Sweet Mother of All Things Triathlon, it is nice to not have to wake up in the dark to train today.

The word Mantra comes from a Sanskrit word meaning a “sacred message or text, charm, spell, counsel.” And if I’m being honest, I need ALL of that and more when I am racing. When the going gets tough, I am looking for ANY message, charm, spell, hocus pocus, magic beans, OR advice from a spectator to keep pushing.