It's not much, but it's a start!

I spoke with my Team in Training mentor yesterday. Her name is Meredith and she will be answering my questions along the way and helping me out with fundraising ideas. She said that I chose a great triathlon for my first one. I decided if I was going to train really hard and finish a triathlon, I would reward myself with doing one in an amazing location. So, I signed up for the Lavaman Waikoloa Triathlon in HAWAII! 

The Lavaman swim starts off with a beautiful 1500 meter (.9 Miles) Pacific Ocean swim that starts at Anaeho'omalu Bay at Waikoloa Beach

  

The bike portion is a 40 Kilometer trek on a portion of the Ironman World Champion Bike Course. 

And the run portion is a 10 kilometer run that boasts to be one of triathlons most scenic.

If you want to learn more about the Lavaman Waikoloa Triathlon, check out the website: http://www.lavamantriathlon.com

 My mentor told me that the coaches will not be reaching out to me until November. So, in the meantime, I need to come up with my own training plan to start working towards the intense training series that I will have with my team. I'm going to look up different training schedules for beginners and create something that will work for me. In the meantime, I'm going to try biking to work whenever possible. It's not a far commute, but it's better than nothing. Here's this morning's ride tracked with the Strava app on my phone:

 

The Newest Adventure!

I absolutely loved the Peace Corps. I learned so much about myself and about the people and culture of Burkina Faso. I did not blog on here as often as I would have liked, but that was due to my circumstances in village. I did not have electricity, so I was only able to blog when in large cities. My time in Burkina went by very quickly in the end, and I never had the chance to write about coming back home.  

I will admit that I was afraid to come back home. I was afraid of readjusting back to life in the states. I had become so used to the extremely simple, yet meaningful life I was living in my village. I knew that for me to successfully transition back into American life, I would need to really throw myself into it, headfirst. And that’s exactly what I did. While still living in village, I accepted a full-time, temporary position at the company I worked for before Peace Corps. I started working full-time only a few short days after returning home. I didn’t give myself any time to think about readjusting. I knew that if I did, I would miss Burkina more. I would stress out more about fitting back into American life. I would feel lost and confused. Starting work right away didn’t allow me any time to feel…well, anything. It was absolutely exhausting, but I somehow flipped a switch and went right back to being a typical, working American.

I’ve since accepted a full time position at the same company, working as a Training & Development Director. I’ve succeeded a little too much in what I once thought was ideal at the time of departing Burkina…I am a typical, working American now. Sometimes I work too much. After work, I often want to do nothing, but feel like I have so much to get done. I dream about travel. I dream about adventure. I need something more in my life. 

So, I signed up for my first Triathlon! A new challenge. A new period in my life. A new, healthy and happy me! Well, that is the goal at least. 

I am going to use this blog to share my experiences during this new adventure! I have never done a triathlon before. I’ve been exercising since I got home and eating somewhat well, but there have been maybe one too many burritos in my life! My body is going to be in shock and I’m sure I will have a lot of crazy stories along the way…they always seem to find their way into my life!

So, I hope you enjoy the chronicles of Hayley’s Adventures in Training! 

More to come soon…