This is my triple threat for 2020. How do I refresh, recharge and repeat?
I set out with 10 massage sessions at a spa within a mega-gym. Said gym has a pool, hot tub, sauna, spa, healthy eating arena, and all the gym equipment you could ever want to use.
If you pay for a service at the spa you are entitled to use of the facility for the day. I’m specifically not naming the mega-gym because I love this feature as I am a non-member. Now that $100 massage has a lot more value. I also bought a block of massages in volume thus lowering my cost to less than $80.
I make sure to get in some cardio, get my deep tissue massage, head to the pool for a swim then into the sauna as many times as I can. Over and over again from cold to hot. It’s amazingly refreshing.
This type of day is more of an active recovery session for me but it’s full of many benefits. If you have a facility near you that offers a similar option, take advantage!
I will spread my 10 visits over the year to give me the right amount of recovery from massage that works within my budget and time constraints.
In this scenario I unplug from technology as well for about 4 hours. It’s a great opportunity to recharge. Obviously this works for me. This is the repeat feature. Also if my investment is $80 for the massage but I spend four hours at the facility I am definitely getting my money’s worth.
Just another healthy hack for you in 2020 from 2 Chicks and a Pen. Recovery is part of staying healthy. Me time to reset my mind is equally beneficial. Don’t forget to flip your recharge switch.
Tag: sports
I Came for the Cocoa
Participate in what you ask? The Hot Chocolate 15k road race in Atlanta, GA on a cold day in February. 02-02-2020 to be exact. When I say cold, the temp was a mere 33 degrees. It did warm up tad bit during the race for me to shed a few layers but of course the 60-degree temps didn’t hit until well after the race was over!
The random fun fact about the date of the race is it’s the same forward as it is backwards. Pretty freaky. I can’t take credit for the fun fact as my friend Sarah gave me the heads up on it. Even funnier is I finished the race in 2 hours and 2 mins…which is the the date (2/2). Crazy if you ask me, but also confirmation that I was in the right place with the right people.
We are a little over ten people deep for the event. A few newbies and a few who ran the half marathon a few months back. None of us are true runners per se but we get the job done. We cross the finish line at our pace.
Our pre-race list included some self preparation in the cardio endurance arena vs. traditional running due to the elements outside and maybe a bit of laziness. It also included outfit planning of course. Then there was the bib pick-up. The carpool. The porta-potties. And who can forget the group text messages up until bedtime the night before.
What corral are you in? F: well then many chime in with words that begin with f. Frigid. Frightening. Fucked. Flatulence. Hopefully you get the gist. Another is in c and the process repeats. Catastrophic. Cute. Cuddly. Comatose. And so on. Sounds dumb but it got everyone giggling before bed.
Sleepless. Anxious. Ready. Those are a few of the words I heard as night fell and the runners entered their sleep stage. And I caught the bug of no sleep. Finally falling asleep at 2:30 am.
I’m up about at 4:00 am and definitely tired. Met up with a group a crazy friends ready to conquer the course and the cold all while sporting flashy tutus and stylish tank tops. This is not only an athletic group of crazy women but a crafty group. One made the tutus while another made the shirts. The rest of just showed up😂.
Not expecting a great run time due to the elements, but that was never the goal for me. The goal was crossing the finish line with friends. Tackling another event that many won’t even attempt. Checking off an adventure in another month of 2020. Adding some miles to the mileage log for my lofty 2020 goal. Starting my birthday month off with fitness, friends and fun. And how cool is it that I finished in 2 hours and 2 minutes on 2/2/20.
Good fun. Amazing friends. Tons of memories. And another race adventure that I can say I did with my oldest son. This might be one of the greatest things to celebrate. Staying fit with my people always puts a smile on my face.
Another great bonus of this race is the snack pack at the end. A warm cup of hot cocoa, marshmallow, pretzels, hot melted chocolate, and some other sweet treats. A great way to end a cold morning.
This race was also dedicated to a very special person in my life who is knocking on death’s door. May our strength in the race be channeled to him as he finds his peaceful resting time / place. What a great tribute idea from one of my good friends and adventure buddies. #buddy❤️
The Offer
The offer came with sacrifice. The offer on one side looked good. The offer on the other side looked rather different. How does one decide to accept or deny the offer? One decides with careful consideration I hope.
Now the offer type doesn’t really matter. It could be a new job offer. It could be a promotion offer. It could be a relocation offer. It be an offer to buy a home. It could be an offer to buy a car. At the end of the day an offer is just that. An offer!
An offer can be accepted. An offer can be rejected. An offer can be counter offered and/or negotiated. In any offer there are various parties involved. It’s a transaction of sorts.
For my example here I will use the sports team offer. I coach a competitive-level team thus I extend offers for kids to play on my team based on skills, talents and overall spots available on my team. Not everyone gets an invite. The main reason being there are normally more applicants than available spots. Just like the job market. More candidates than openings.
When offers are extended one person could be overjoyed by their offer and another could feel like the offer is not reflective of their worth. If one accepts the offer and one denies the offer, should there be any negative feelings toward the one who denied the offer?
In my mind the answer is a big fat no. An offer is made and the other party has a choice to take the offer or decline the offer. It’s pretty simple.
I recently had a property for sale. I got an offer to buy it. I didn’t like the offer. I provided a counter offer. This is customary in a real estate transaction thus it’s noted as generally acceptable to deny or counter offer. This also reflects my perception of my property’s value. It may even have some emotions involved in the decision if I had owned the property a while.
As a person, if I applied for a job and I received on offer but the compensation wasn’t enough to pay my bills, meaning it wasn’t a good fit, would my friends be disappointed if I didn’t take the offer? It would 100% be my choice so I would think not, unless one of those friends was assisting me financially. In that case a friend may think I should take the offer as some money is better than no money. If the company was disappointed, I would just be honest with my reasoning and let them know if budget money frees up to call me back. This 100% has to do with my personal value and how I would not settle for less than what I thought I was worth.
Circling back to the sports team example, if I was the coach of a high school soccer team and I offered a slot to boy A on varsity and a slot to boy B on junior varsity should there be any worry that one may deny my offer to either team?
I wouldn’t think so because as a coach I know I made offers to the players I thought were best for varsity. If the varsity player declined their offer, I would have a runner-up or next-in-line person to offer the open slot to. If on the other hand, the junior varsity player didn’t accept their offer what would I do?
Nothing. I would do nothing unless that person asked what they could do to get better for the next tryout. I would only provide those details if I was probed. The offer was denied thus I would move on until the next review of open slots next year.
At the end of the day offers get made in so many areas of life. The sooner we all learn that we can’t win all the time the better. Finally the Patriots football team/fans learned that lesson before another Super Bowl this year. It is also important to learn that we should never judge another until we have lived a day in their shoes.
The emotional aspect of the house sale could have to do with a family member being deceased and the only memories left were made in that home. How do you put a value on that?
The emotion involved in the job scenario could be how hard the person worked professionally to reach a certain pay level yet the job offer was below the minimum threshold that person set for themselves.
The emotion behind the JV offer could be that their best friend made varsity and the other person didn’t think the game would be fun without their bestie. Or maybe it was a set of identical twins and one made varsity while the other made junior varsity. How tricky would that scenario be?
Life is tricky. Balance is important. Understanding and valuing the other side of an equation and offer can sometimes get missed especially when emotions are high. Remember no good decision is made when emotions are high.
Always take time. Maybe 24 hours to evaluate offers to see the pros and cons before making a rash decision. I know when dealing with real estate offers they are time sensitive yet the time allows for consideration.
This post spurred from a couple of online articles relating to high school sports, the value of a coach and also the lack of sincerity of coaches who make cuts! I’m a coach. I make cuts. It’s not easy but I normally have reasons. Some may agree with me some may not. That’s life.
When I read negative articles I often try to put myself in the other person’s shoes and wonder how this situation has impacted them. I then reflect and take action as needed. I wish more people did that vs. casting judgment.
I also took action after reading the articles and let my daughter’s basketball coach know how much I appreciated her time and coaching of my daughter. A good coach can help grow confidence and further passion of an activity or sport. A coach who only cares about winning can knock down a player’s confidence in a pinch and simultaneously instill a dislike for the sport once loved.
Just a night of reflection and writing time for me. It is my hope that this blog reaches someone who needs to hear this message:
You define your personal value.
You are a reflection of yourself, make yourself proud.
You say yes or no to all things in life.
You can grow from adversity.
You can win if you choose to win. It’s all about choices in life.
We all make mistakes. We all have the ability to bounce back after crazy times ensue. Will you take the next offer if it’s lower than you hoped for? What would you gain from taking a subpar offer?
In home sales if an offer seems inferior you may have to step back to evaluate deeper. If you have to pay x more dollars for three months while you get a new offer was the first offer that bad? Decisions, decisions.
Life is full of decisions, opportunities, curve balls, and offers. You will never make all the right choices. But one can always learn from missed opportunities. Life is a gamble.
Keep gambling!
Just Show Up and Jump In
“Our third teammate unexpectedly dropped out at the last minute with a sick kid. Can anyone make it?”
A post to our gym community in the wee hours of a December Saturday morning. I thought about it, but plans were already in motion for a day of chasing my daughter and her friends as they volunteered to help with a younger girls’ lacrosse team. I sent my good wishes…hope someone can step in!
Then the text came in, just to me: “Can you do the comp today and then come get the girls?”
A pause. A stomach clench. My only job was transporting my kid and her friends and and now a friend was offering to take all that over so I could help on the team. So how could I say no? More stomach clench, I texted back.
“Ummmmm ok. If that’s the best solution.”
(Inner voice of doubt saying: “There must be a better solution!”)
From that moment, the whole day took a turn. What are the workouts? Do I need a shirt? I was already on the way to the gym…thank goodness I wore black shorts.
I turned the car around to head toward the competition site. The doubting voice crept in again…I haven’t eaten well! How many burpees?? One rep max complex?!? I haven’t showered and shaved! I can’t do those weights! I haven’t practiced!
WHAT. HAVE. I. DONE?!?!?!
Well, I was helping friends. I could do at least something and I would give my best. Just show up and jump in, I told myself. Just show up and jump in. Every time I wanted to turn the car around, I’d tell the doubting voice to pipe down. Just show up and jump in.
And so, I got there about 15 minutes before the first workout. Quick chat. Waited in the bathroom line, switched shirts, did a few stretches and bam, jumped in and competed. Looking back now, it is awesome to be fit enough to just get there and give it a go. Granted, I couldn’t lift as heavily as I would have liked to, but I jumped in and did what I could. My two Ginger Thruster teammates did the heavy lifting, and lift they did! It was awesome to watch and be a part of.
By the time our first workout was over, some people were just seeing the early morning SOS post. My friend Milagros asked if I needed anything – extra coffee and water, really. She showed up with all that, plus some snacks and some needed encouragement. Another part of the network coming together to solve a need.
We pushed ourselves. We laughed a lot. We fought for all the reps, strained for every pound. I’ve never done so many jumping pull-ups in my life. It was a great day.
One great thing about this competition is they have a box member who is an amazing photographer, Davison Wheeler. He generously shared nearly a thousand photos of the day, including the ones in this post. It’s equal parts amazing and humbling to look at the people competing – their stamina, their strength, their skill. When scroll through to find I the pictures of me, what I noticed is that I am often cheering for my teammates. I may not be able to lift a huge number of pounds, but I try to lift spirits when I can.
And a lot of that comes from just showing up and jumping in.
What I Learned from Coming In Last
“It’s not a big deal to me how we do, as long as we’re not last.”
These words came from one of my amazing teammates at a recent competition. I nodded in agreement, and I’ve said them, too.
Flashback to my very first 5k “race.” Run Your Cookies Off – a fundraiser for the Girl Scouts. I was probably 80 or 100 pounds heavier than I am now, maybe more. I had no idea what I was doing. I was a slow walker / jogger as I approached the start line in terror. But as long as I am not last I’m ok, I thought.
I wasn’t last that day, but I was close. I could see the last person behind me by maybe 30 yards most of the time. I kept looking over my shoulder, fighting to stay ahead. I gasped and choked as I stumbled across the finish line, maybe 5th to last out of a few hundred runners. But, not last.
Fast forward eight years or so to only a few weeks ago, the line comes into my head again. A CrossFit competition. Looking around at some of the fitter people I’ve seen in recent memory, our direct competitors. Some twenty or more years younger. But, we will be fine as long as we are not last.
After the first workout, we were second to last. So, not last – a win! And then, after that, for the rest of the day, workout after workout, it happened. We. Were. Last.
Yup, I was finally on the other side of the “as long as we’re not…”
And I looked at my teammates, two fierce, fit, incredible women, working their ever-loving asses off. All three of us had been sick that week, with some of that sickness lingering on competition day. All three of us were super nervous. But we showed up, and we brought our best. And we cheered for each other. And we pushed as hard as we could, pushed beyond what we thought we could do. We pulled together and fought like heck for every rep, every lift, every jump and burpee and pushup and calorie.
And with all our fight, all our heart, all our effort, we still came in last. (We actually tied for last with some of our good friends who made up another rockin’ team from our box, which made it all the more sweet.)
So, you may ask, what are the after effects of coming in last? Honestly, not much different than coming in higher on the board.
I’m proud of my teammates, as I should be. One rocked her first competition ever, conquering move after move, challenge after challenge. The other overcame huge obstacles to PR her snatch not just once but 5 times that day. 5 times!!! I still smile when I pull out my team shirt and shorts. We had a great and memorable day for our squad. Weeks later, no one remembers what place we came in.
I’ve held onto a line I heard once many years back when I was just starting to get my health together. It still serves me on crappy running days, and those inevitable afternoons when I just would rather not go to the gym at all:
As long as you show up…”you’re lapping everyone on the couch.”
No matter what place we finished in, we showed up. There are many who are less fit, and even many who are more fit, who didn’t have the guts or the gumption to just show up, put themselves out there, and see how they measure up.
There’s an old saying that nice guys finish last…now I also see that good people, people who work hard, train hard, and put forth tons of effort still do finish last sometimes. In fact, that effort may represent a huge personal triumph no matter what the leaderboard says. One that should be applauded. Still, for better or worse, it’s just one day. One memorable day full of proud moments.
The real after effects of coming in last are what we choose to do moving forward. What matters most is what comes next. Nothing stops us from continuing to train and get better and cheer for each other. We’re already signed up for more races, more challenges, more adventures. Who knows where we will turn up next?
2 Chicks and a blog 