Because they're worth it

I started this blog post 10 days ago, then we went on vacation to Mt. Tremblant where hubby participated in his first full Ironman. You will have to wait for a future blog post to read how it all went down, because for now I want to finish this one... So time shift your brain to 2 weeks ago, then read below...

I had a very rewarding week, and not from beating any records or piling miles in crazy workouts, but from spending quality time with my family and friends. And it felt really good to be able to arrange my life around these moments.

As I was saying in the previous blog post, on Wednesday I gave up my Taekwondo workout for a trip downtown with my older son to watch the Blue Jays game. Not only the Jays won, but the evening delivered another surprise in meeting Kari and Dorothy, my IM Muskoka finish line friends who were in TO for their honeymoon fun filled activities. Can you tell how happy I was?

Kari takes awesome pics. How do you like my 'do?

I am totally crashing their girls' night out

The next day, on Thursday, I gave up my Taekwondo class again (I hope my instructor does not read this), this time for a friend of mine, Amy, a runner who signed up for her first try a tri in a couple of weeks and needed a bit of confidence building in open water. I suggested Professor's Lake as one of the best places to try, since we have lifeguards and a manageable 750m loop, and a lot of people around to help with encouragement and tips. Besides, I had planned to swim with her and make sure that she is as comfortable in the water as possible. If I can say, my mission has always been to help people fall in love with open water swimming the same way I did a few years ago. I know it's a tough task because humans are not natural swimmers, but I'm always up for it.

The lake was warm and quiet and we beat the storm by a hair. Moreover, I think Amy enjoyed herself in the water and I truly hope that it helped her for her upcoming race. I swam a loop with her and one by myself, and managed to find my zen at the end of the day, which is always my goal.

The next day I tried going to Taekwondo again (I swear!), but just as I pulled in the school's parking lot, Zin called me and asked that I pick him up after getting two flats on the bike. He was stranded somewhere in Caledon and like a good wifey and sherpa, I drove there right away and rescued him. Yep, he was also worth it.

On Saturday I fulfilled my sherpa duties again, by driving Zin to Cambridge where he picked up his race wheels after having them serviced by Chris from 3Sixty5 Cycling (and one of our club founding members if you didn't know). Zin's plan was to ride back home from Cambridge, a total of 100km, but his plan eventually got aborted after a monster storm hit our area and he had to be picked up again. Poor guy he was soaked to the bone and survived dodging tree branches flying across the road. I knew this was going to be a bad storm as soon as I heard tornado warnings on the radio and indeed, it was pretty scary out there. So glad that I could help though.

In the afternoon I finally made it to Taekwondo!! YAY ME!! It was a super hard workout which made up for the sessions missed during the week, and gave me additional confidence for the upcoming belt grading on the 27th of August. With each of these classes I learn a little more, so hopefully it sticks for long enough to become muscle and brain memory.

Weather wise, Mother Nature ended her temper tantrum on time for us to go back to Professor's Lake on Sunday for another open water swim with the club. At the last minute, Phaedra decided to join us as well, and she suggested that we do a bike ride together afterwards. I could not be more excited since we had never ridden together before and it was definitely time to catch up on life, etc. As for me, catching her up on the bike... that was another story, haha. She isn't an AG champion for nothing.

The swim was pretty awesome, as usual. Did my two loops, then had some fun trying to fulfill my social media duties by capturing the moment. No iPhones were harmed in this picture, but it was close. Above is Phaedra's version, below is mine. Isn't it fun to see different perspectives?

We then headed to our place to start the ride. Zin did a tube change on Phadra's bike because it had suspiciously leaked a lot of air, then we were on our way, direction Erin for butter tarts.

As I had anticipated, I had a lot of fun, in a torturous kind of way, leading most of the time because not only I was scared to let Phaedra pull me above my abilities, but also because it was a new route for her and it was polite that I showed the way. It was super hot and since we started the ride pretty late, we struggled at times, but we still enjoyed ourselves, especially on the downhills. Phaedra is a girl after my heart, taking off at times to HAMMER DOWN (then she had to wait for me, with enough time to have pizza delivered). I hope she beat enough records that day. I know for one that I got a few Strava PRs and an Extreme Suffer Score. What?? Not EPIC?? I must be getting better... I should ride with them fast girls more often. ;-)

You can read the suffer scores on our face. And I tried competing for the craziest 'do, but Phaedra still won.

And that's about it for the week before the last. All in all, I chose to spend quality time with those close to my heart and at the end of the day, I had zero regrets. No workouts are worth more than friendships. I even Face Timed with my best friend from France, but I know she'd kill me if I posted here the great screen shot that I took during our call. These moments always bring the best smiles, the smiles that make our jaw hurt and remind us that we are not alone. A good friend is never too far, you just have to pick up the phone or send a text. You never know how the stars align and you get to spend the best of times. To many more like these!! <3 Thank you my friends!