Saturday was a very pleasant, long day. My friend Deb Elliott and her husband Bryan came up to Boone to meet the group, along with several others from various places across the state. We rode a nice modified BSG route in Boone, and then I swam in the lake when I got back from the ride with a few other people. The evening was spent laughing and eating and laughing and eating some more. 

Apparently I’ve got some pretty dirty bikes, because I was made fun of when my bikes were being run over. Oh well. I’ve always said, “I ride the bikes, I don’t clean the bikes.” You know, if it rolls, that’s all I care about. (and not necessarily the best policy, but I can’t seem to break this habit)

Sunday I woke up and hit the Overmountain Victory Trail… running this time. I did my first long run in a few months. I’ve been careful to not aggravate my left hip, an injury that caused me to double over in pain after Long Course Tri Worlds last year. It was a great run. No pain, and that made me really happy.

I went for another swim in the lake afterwards, and then Joe came up to the cabin in the afternoon. We went on a nice mountain bike ride together. The Burn 24 hour race had just finished up, and people were leaving the trails. It was really nice to go in and just follow the marked course loop for the race and not have to worry about looping things together. We just rode, and it was wonderful biking with him.

Symba stayed in the car in the shade while we rode, and afterwards all three of us took a short dip in the lake before driving to my parents’ house. Symba was really funny trying to swim out to us. He’s got pretty short little legs, but managed alright in the water.

We ended the day with a nice family cookout and TCBY for me. YAY! I had been craving some frozen dessert all weekend… and it was nice to finally get my fix. I’m spoiled. 

The ride this afternoon was AWESOME… just like I expected.

We did a loop of the bike portion of the Bandit’s Triathlon course, and then I went off to explore on my mountain bike… <insert heart <3 here!>.

Sonni felt good today on the bike. Which means you have to pedal your heart out to stay on his wheel. And it also means that not many people are left in the group anymore.

It’s cool watching him ride, especially when he feels good. Sonni always bikes really smooth, but I could tell today he felt particularly good. I asked him at one point, “Hey Sonni… you feel good today?” He was like, “Oh yeah.” Ha, then the group got real small.

After one loop, I went over to the Dark Mountain Trails. They’re having a 24 hour race there tomorrow, so I just biked the loop they are going to be using for the race course. Those trails are SO awesome. They aren’t very technical, although it’s all single track and there are some rock gardens and really fun swooping downhills. It’s FAST and FUN!

Then I headed over and hit the Overmountain Victory Trail. I loved it. More fast downhills, swooping turns, and gentle switchbacks. There was an ocational obstacle but not very much.

I ended up riding my bike a lot longer than I really had planned on… much like my run this morning. I was too busy having fun to realize that I had been out that long.

I can’t wait to ride these trails again on Sunday!

I’m up in Wilkesboro, NC with Studio 7’s Epic Camp. The weather is perfect, and it’s awesome being here with other people who are all training and in for some fun.

It never ceases to amaze me how I feel every time I see the North Carolina Blue Ridge Mountains. As I was driving up from Raleigh last night after a long  day at school, the first glimpse of the mountains in the distance on highway 421 was so… well, it’s a very deep sensation that I can’t really describe. A wave of comfort washes over me… every time. It’s like I’m coming home.  No matter how many times I see those mountains, and no matter how many months it’s been since I’ve seen them…  there honestly are no words to describe it.

I woke up this morning refreshed, and I had a wonderful, relaxing run on the Overmountain Victory Trail along Kerr Scott Lake. It was a perfect, crisp mountain morning. And the trail… OMG, all I could think about the entire run was how I couldn’t WAIT to get my mountain bike on that trail this afternoon. I managed to contain my excitement about mountain biking later and just focus on being in the moment and enjoying the run. I actually set my watch at the start of the run to keep track of the time, since I was just doing an out-and-back run… but I still lost track of time. I was only going to run for 30 minutes, and I ended up running out that far before even looking at my watch to see how long I had been out.

I had something to eat when I got back and immediately headed down to the lake to swim with the rest of the group of athletes here. Sonni was already in the water, so I jumped in and we swam out 1k together and then I swam back to the dock on my own while he went to work with some other athletes. I swam back out to the bouy, met up with Sonni and the group of three he was with, and then we came back in together. Sandy canoed back and forth to keep an eye on everyone, which was really nice. My dad would be relieved to know that I didn’t go swim out in the lake alone. I was always in sight of someone, dad!

It’s been a relaxing morning, and the day is moving along quick.

All I can say is, this year, more than ever, I needed this. And I know I’m in the right place, at the right time, and with the right people to move forward.

There’s something in these hills of North Carolina… I tell ya’ what.

Student says flat out across the room during lunch: “When are you going to get FAT Mrs. Lion??”

Sunday I went up to ride at South Mountains State Park. I haven’t been here since I was a little girl. My dad ran these trails a while back and told me how hilly it was. Of course, a mention of a hill, and I’m instantly intrigued. Dad said he had to walk some of the hills because they were so steep. Well, stubborn me, I had to figure it out for myself.

When I mentioned to Deb that I was thinking about going to do this ride, her comment was, <chuckle> “That’s a hard ride!” I wasn’t sure if I was actually going to go over there and ride until I woke up on Sunday morning.

I was so excited as soon as I pulled in the parking lot. There are so many hiking and running trails… and there’s separate mountain bike and bridle trails on top of that! Needless to say, an off-roader’s dream.

The mountain bike loop was 17 miles. And boy did it live up to the hilliness! There were times I literally thought I would eat my stem because of how much I was having to crouch to keep my bike from toppling backwards.

Here’s a picture of the trail… this was NOT a steep hill section either….

And one of the many hiking trails off the side of the mtn bike trail…

I can’t wait to go back here.

Later that afternoon, Dad and I went up to visit my mom at Lake James. We hung out and grilled out with a couple of their friends. The weather was nice, so I went for an open water swim before we ate. Lake James is so clean and clear, unlike most lakes, you could see everything while you swam. It was like I was swimming in a clear pool… very blue and green.

The only eerie thing was seeing the downed trees underneath the water. That kind of freaked me out. And the fact that I was alone too… my dad about had a heart attack because, of course, I was way far away from the dock that I started from. I was completely out of sight, which is not the best idea with boats and all that, and, well, you’re in the middle of a huge lake all by yourself which can lead to any sort of bad things.

But ya know, I’m stubborn, as mentioned before, and I had a really nice swim in one of the most beautiful lakes in the world… then I got to spend time with people that mean a whole lot to me. What could have made a better Sunday?

I met my good friend, Deb Elliott, for a mtn bike ride Saturday in what I’ve come to refer to as, “the Gorge.” For those of you who don’t know where that is, it’s Wilson’s Creek Gorge in Morganton, NC. The weather was perfect on Saturday. If you didn’t get a chance to get out and enjoy it, you really missed out!

Rocky…

Rooty….

Wet…

FUN!!! ….

*I accidently rode down this boulder a couple weeks ago. I walked it this time, but I’ll ride it next time… this trail is really technical, but a lot of fun!

Most all of us know that adjectives are describing words. Describing what? A noun.

Well, as a start up to my classes, we do what is called a “focus activity” together. These activities generally take about 10 minutes of class. They’re very short and recall basic grammar, math skills, science, history, ect… basically whatever Mrs. Lion can think of off of the top of her head.

One focus activity was on adjectives. The task was when I write a noun on the white board, the students were to take 30 seconds and list as many adjectives as possible to describe the noun.

I started out with “school.” Of course I got adjectives like, “boring, hard, difficult…”

Then we moved to “Oreos.” The students listed, “crunchy, sweet, yummy…”

As we were ending that list… the students started yelling, “Do you! Put your name up there!!!”

I contemplated for a minute, and I said I thought it was a bad idea. But they kept begging, so I finally caved in. I slowly wrote, “Mrs. Lion” up on the board.

The students came up with a huge list of adjectives for me. Here’s a few:

smart
helpful
funny
nice
organized
happy
athletic
healthy

It was a brutal revealing of the perception my students have of me. But when looking at the list of “words that describe me” on the board, I noticed that athletic was one of the last adjectives that the students had chosen for me.

For once in my life, I’m not defined by my athleticism. I’ve always been seen as athletic… pretty much that would be the first word spilling out of anyone’s mouth to describe me.

But not to my students.

It’s refreshing to be seen for all the other qualities and things that make me as a person, instead of always my sport.

<student sheepishly approaches>

student: “Mrs. Lion… can I ask you a question??”

Mrs. Lion: “Sure.”

student: “Mrs. Lion… do you wear eyelashes???”

Mrs. Lion <laughing>: “No… these are my normal eyelashes…”

student: “Oh really?? Wow, they are really long!”

So. It’s been a while.

First, I want to apologize for the length of this post. I don’t normally like to get so personal on my website, because, well, it’s my life and it’s personal… but I feel for some reason that I need to post all this. So if you don’t want to read, just delete from memory and move on to your next website.

I’d like to thank everyone for all the emails I’ve received, asking about how I’m doing, when I’m racing, what I’m up to, and just, in general, giving me continued support.

I know a lot of you have been wondering where I’ve been and if I’m even still alive (no kidding, I got a message on Facebook from some one that saw me race Eagleman last year asking me if I had died because he heard from someone that I was dead… I guess that when I responded back he got his answer).

So the short answer is, YES, I am still very much alive and kickin’ (as we say ‘round these parts). And well. Actually, I’ve never been better.

A lot has been going on in my life. And I think it’s finally time that I’m honest- with everyone. I’ve been honest with myself for quite some time, but that doesn’t mean that you can read my mind and just know what’s going on. Hints why I’ve gotten emails asking if I’m alive.

I’ve needed a break from a lot of things these past several months. Especially from training and racing. The sheer thought of racing repulsed me. And, living the dedicated professional athlete lifestyle for so many years now… I wasn’t really sure what to do with myself.

Things started to fall apart mid year last year, and I finally figured out after I was hit by a truck and forced to NOT train why exactly that was… I was burned out.

And it wasn’t like I was burned out just a little and needed a month or whatever off and take my off season break… I was burned out to the point I didn’t know if I would race again. Heck, I didn’t know if I would touch my bike again.

I feel like my burn out actually began my last season as a professional cyclist. A lot of things were going on with Joe being in Germany and my shoulder being separated. Sometimes I thought it was the injury that was causing me to second guess my career as an athlete, but I was actually “broken” at the Tri Peaks Cycling Challenge that year. I didn’t really want to ride, I didn’t want to race, all I wanted was… well, I didn’t know. I did know that Joe was really far away, I was not liking the bike, and that was messing with my whole reality because, well, I’ve always loved my bike ever since I learned how to clip in.

I transitioned to being a professional triathlete last year, which I thought would fix my lack of motivation because I wouldn’t be traveling near as much and that would keep me closer to Joe… fixing the anxiety I felt being away from him months at a time.

Well, the key difference, in looking back, to my “big tri training” at the beginning of the year compared to the “big bike training” I did at the beginning of my last season as a cyclist was that I really needed to meet up with people to go train. I needed someone to be there to make myself go out and do that 5 hour ride on the bike, I needed to have someone hold me accountable for those long workouts. Not really so much on the run and swim… but definitely on the bike.

Last year started off great. I jumped head first into the pro ranks with a provisional upgrade due to my results as a professional cyclist. I had a solid finish in my first 70.3 in California, went on to a win at Powerman Alabama, and then racked up second at Memphis in May. But then the nagging injuries flared up. Workouts didn’t feel great, which they hadn’t really in over a year. Sure I could push myself when I had to, but I hated it. It felt bad, just making it not very enjoyable. I never really told anyone this… even myself. I did what most athletes do… ignore the way I felt and just kept on going, HOPING that it would get better.

Well, it didn’t.

The injuries and imbalances I developed on my left side (however I managed to do that… who knows!) really got the better of me. To the point where I could barely get power to the bike much less propel myself through the run at long course tri worlds last year in France.

I took time off when I got home. Six weeks. That should make it better.

Well, it didn’t.

I still felt awkward on the bike and in the pool. But I trudged on.

During this time at home, surfing the internet for hours and checking my email until I was bored to death, I decided that I needed to get out of the house. I needed more to my life.

That is when I decided to start substitute teaching in Wake County. It was a great way for me to get out, make a little money, and stay flexible for training. I could also use my degree in education, which of course made my parents happy (after all, they paid for me to get through college).

I really enjoyed getting back in the classroom. I was kind of surprised… I don’t know why, but I was. Every day I would call my mom and tell her about my day. It was a great opportunity to figure out what area I really liked teaching. I subbed at elementary schools, middle schools, and high schools.

Then, the first day I was going to do a run after my time off, I was hit by the truck out in the middle of no where while riding my cross bike.

WHAT?

So that really helped my mental motivation state.

I again faced more forced time off, but this time I had the substitute teaching to fall back on to keep me occupied during all my unwanted “free” time. It was during this time that I really fell in love with teaching all over again, and I discovered a curriculum in Special Programs called Curriculum Assistance (CA) that helps all of the learning disabled and ADD/ADHD students. I never knew this program existed until I subbed at Athens Drive, but from the moment I subbed in that area, I knew that I’d LOVE to teach it full-time.

I was asked by our department chair if I’d be interested in teaching full time because one of the 9th grade CA teachers was retiring. I jumped at the chance. My parents were shocked. Joe was shocked. But ultimately, they were supportive of me, as they always are, unconditionally.

Not only was my family supportive, but my coach, Sonni Dyer, was also extremely supportive. He could tell that I needed some sort of balance in my life, and that the many years of one-sided training and racing lifestyle had just completely flipped me upside down. He wasn’t only supportive, he pushed me to go forward with my desire to teach… and he didn’t push my workouts.

I’ve done a lot of reflection the past 6 months. It’s taken a lot to find myself. But I’ve done that. And I’m amazed at the change I’ve seen in myself.

I’m now happily teaching full time at Athens Drive High School in special programs. This year I am teaching 9th grade CA, but next year I will be the Behavior Support Teacher and work with all the emotionally disabled and behavior challenged students. I am SO excited about it, although I know most people think I’m crazy.

I’ve went from not wanting to touch my bike for months on end to I can’t keep my hands off my bike for more than a day. I wake up every morning before school to run (and our school starts at 7:25am, so you do the math to figure out what time I actually wake up). I count the hours until I can get out to do my second workout of the day… whether it be a swim, bike, run, or a lift… or a combination.

I know part of finding peace with myself was transitioning from the road to the mountain bike this winter. It kinda makes sense that I’d find peace and tranquility in the heart of the woods… and every time I ride my mountain bike there’s something deeper I discover about myself. I suppose it’s a lot like running, being alone and on a trail in the middle of the woods has always been my calling… just like on the road bike I like to be climbing and surrounded by mountains. There is a pattern here that I’ve discovered… it takes the mountains and the purity of nature to help me find myself when I need it most. That is why it was so hard for me the past 6 months when I couldn’t find joy in those precious and sacred moments.

This season, because of my love of the mountain bike, I will be racing Xterra’s and several endurance mountain bike events. It’s yet another challenge and transition that I look forward to. And I know that I can master.

Looking back, I see the events of the past couple years and realize that all of those things added up have brought me to where I am right now. Would I change anything? No. I’ve become a stronger person mentally and physically. I’m more balanced, and in a way it’s helped me to see “who’s in, and who’s out” in supporting me unconditionally. I love teaching. I love training and racing. Now I can do both… and kick ass at both.

All of that said, I would like to thank all of my sponsors who continue to stand by me, especially Sonni and Studio 7 Multisport.

Soon I will be posting a more complete schedule for the season. And I’ll be updating regularly again.

Sorry for such a long post, but hopefully that didn’t bore you too much and you now have a better understanding what I’ve been going through the past half year.