Last Training week and a Question

This week represents the home stretch for my very first Tri. I will start my taper week next Monday since my race is just 12 days away. I have the advantage of getting to spend the 4 days before the race at my Aunts house which is about 3 miles away from where the event will be held. A mini Vacation and plenty of time to drive, ride, or run the course =) Yay for the home team advantage. I know that I have worked very hard to get to where I am today in my training and I hope it shows during the race. I am trying not to focus so much on the time since this will be my first race and I just want to have fun and enjoy the fruit of all this labor. The swimming portion is still going to be my biggest challenge but I am beginning to get the hang of it! I sucked it up and asked a buddy of mine, who happens to be a swim coach, to swim with me one day last week. He pointed out that I was working twice as hard as I should be because I was not relaxing my body esp my arms. So he went over a few drills and off I went. I am happy to say today I swam 1300 meters and my arms were not tired! I have to constantly remind myself to relax and the motion just clicks into place. Had the pool not have closed I would have swam all day and normally I am glad my swim is over. So that's where I'm at now. Just getting in a few more workouts and waiting till May 21st with anticipation and the eagerness of a child on Christmas eve. I can't wait. I'm ready! I would also like to say thanks to all of you that have dropped me a line of encouragement and advice! Your support has helped me greatly on my journey!

I hate to change the topic so drastically but I have a dilemma and I am curious of how others have dealt with the same issue because I know I am not the first. First, I guess I need to provide a little background history. Pre Tri training I spent 5 sometimes 6 days in the gym each week weight training. Now I have always been a runner and I would run 3-6 miles before each lifting session just to clear my mind and appease my inner runner but weight training was my main focus. I began seriously lifting right after I became an officer (4 years ago). I have always been on the smaller side and I was afraid that I did not have enough physical strength to get myself out of situations in which I was dealing with men people that would be two too three times bigger than me. So that started my lifting. And like many others I fell in love with the strength I got from lifting. After a while my friends began telling me that I should not lift so much because it was not natural for a female to look as if she lifts weights. This is one of the nicer comments I would get I am sure you can imagine some of the other comments. I don't care to rehash them. Anyway, I am 5'8 and the most I weighed during the peak of my lifting was 134 and that is with no fat on my body. I had to consume large amounts of protein and take creatine in order to get the "size" which in all honesty was not big by any means. But I did this for my own peace of mind. I needed to feel like I could handle myself in dangerous situations.

 I was not as large as they made me out to be. I think its just because I do have a little definition.

I have been involved in several fights since becoming a LE and I know for a fact if I had not been strength training things would not have turned out the way they did. I have walked away from each fight with no broken bones just very minor injuries and the same goes for the other party. For example: about 3 months ago I was involved in a fight with a highly intoxicated soldier who had just gotten back from Afghanistan. I was alone on what should have been a simple quick please turn your music down call but the soldier, having only been back in the states for 2 days, was still in war mode. In his intoxicated state of mind he decided I was the enemy. I am fortunate that I have been blessed with the gut feeling that something was about to go terribly wrong and I keyed up my shoulder mic to ask for help seconds before he took me to the ground and we began literally fighting for our lives. I had long hair which I wore in a ponytail that he got a-hold of and used as a means to control my head I have since then cut off ALL my hair. Somehow I was able to get control of his arms and place him in cuffs then used my body weight to lay on him till my backup arrived. This is why I lift for days/nights like this. The comments tend to sting but I try to talk myself through the negative banter and focus on what keeps me alive. (Please don't misunderstand why I am writing about this. I don't want anyone to feel sorry for me or to thank me for what I do or even think I am bragging. I just want to make it clear the motive behind my madness fitness)

Then I started training for this Triathlon. I still weight train just not as much and with lighter weight. Therefore, I have slimmed down and now I can't seem to go a day without someone telling me I'm too small or asking me if I have an eating disorder. I have been told I am addicted and obsessed with working out. That I had a problem and should consider seeing a professional. Its a constant joke to others, at my expense, on how small I am. I am still 5'8 and currently 120 pounds. From the outside looking in I guess I do look very small but I know for a fact that I am healthy. Heaven knows I don't have an eating disorder. It seems that there is no middle ground. I know I should just disregard these comments but I its hard sometimes to not let the words of others take up residence in your mind.

Anyway I am just very curious how others deal with this type of treatment. For now I am just constantly reminding myself no one knows me better than me and I don't care what I look like to anyone other than my wonderful husband who supports my fitness "obsession".

Hope everyone has a good training week!

Think Strong, Be Strong, Finish Strong!