Overloaded

I am acutely aware of the knots in my back as I sit and type this latest post. I feel guilty that I have not been able to write in a long time and I am hoping that once I hit the publish button a sweet sense of relief will wash over me as I check one more thing off of my "to do" list.

These past few weeks have been absolutely nuts. Between attending a couple of weddings, flying to Chicago, keeping up with the increasing workload from my day job, having my car broken into, my family being in town, re-organizing my garage, planning activities and fitting in all of my workouts, my head has felt like it was going to explode on more than one occasion. But I am here. Still alive. Still enjoying the entire process.

When I feel overloaded, I find that the best thing to do is to focus on ONE thing. Right now that has definitely been my workouts. I am in the crux of "Phase 2" and as the distances have increased the importance of my sanity remaining intact is crucial. No matter how stressed out I get with all the other things going on in my life, every time I train I feel recharged. When I'm out on the road for a five hour bike ride (which I've done twice this month) all of my worries seem to disappear and I am ready to face the world.

Yes, those are whiteout marks--->
There are days when the scheduled workout does not go according to plan so instead of crossing it off with pen I white it out ;)

Illinois.
My time spent back home was amazing! As always, it was a jam packed trip that had every hour accounted for. I got to spend some quick quality time with my sister and future brother-in-law. Had an amazing time at my college roommate's wedding with my old dorm mates. Ran a 5k with my best friends from high school. I even got in a half-marathon distance training run. All of this craziness was possible with a lot of help from my sister and friends. As some of my fellow mid-western transplants can relate to, I love California but nothing like going home for a few days.





Family Time.
Fitting in my workouts while my family was here proved to be easier than I thought it would be. They were extremely supportive of me in that we planned all of our activities around my workout schedule. Was I burning the candle at both ends? Absolutely. Was it worth it? Of course. Great dinners, lots of laughing, story telling, crazy dancing, some crying, introducing them to my friends, cleaning and re-organizing, planning. Everything you could hope for when you spend time with those who know you best.




"Balance is key," yeah yeah I know. When you are training for an Ironman, I'm not sure how you can ever balance it all out. But as you can see, this month the scales were definitely even. I nearly went insane in the process, but I had a blast doing so.

CONTEST!

I would like to invite you to participate in my

Kona Crew T-shirt Photo Contest

Get active and use your imagination 

For a chance to win some cool prizes.

Contest runs from July 1 - September 1

Here is how you can win:

1. Buy a Kona Crew t-shirt  http://www.maddenenterprises.net/KonaCrew
2. Take a picture of yourself wearing the Kona Crew t-shirt while doing something active
3. Email the picture to me at l.goeckner@gmail.com

I will pick the top three most creative pictures

and announce the winners via the blog on

Monday September 2, 2013 

Prizes will be awarded on a per picture basis. 

While I love the idea of many Kona Crew participants in one picture,

I only have prizes for three different picture submissions.

The men's shirts run true to size

The women's flowy shirts run true to size

The women's v-neck runs small so buy a size larger than you think

This is a women's v-neck size L
Fits me perfectly

This is the flowy style size L
Does not come with cutouts
I did that for my shirt :)

Have fun snapping pictures

Thank you!