16 going on 17 (x2)

Goodbye 33.

Yesterday I woke up singing “I am 16, going on 17” from Sound of Music, stuck in my head from some Instagram video I saw the night before. Annoyingly, those are the only lyrics I remember so that one line was on repeat in my head for hours. Well, twice that age is what I actually turned yesterday. Happy 34^th birthday to me! I’m not one to make a big deal out of my birthday. All I want out of the day is to not have to cook, to eat chocolate in some form and to have a fun day of hard training.

I rarely drink coffee before training these days and when I do, more often than not it’s decaf. I decided to treat myself to an espresso to prep for the hard birthday swim I had planned. My favorite type of birthday training is a swim that incorporates my age into a hard set. This year I decided after a warm up to include a 34x100 set with mixed efforts, toys and strokes. It’s been a while since I’ve swam IM so naturally, I cheated with some fins. Afterwards, I met Bill for breakfast at Exchange Co for delicious vegan crepes and a latte. All the caffeine! I’ve seen couples split one crepe but we like to split a savory crepe then each get a sweet crepe like the little piggies we are.

I originally wanted to spend some time riding in the mountains but last week I decided it would be a good idea to sign up for a half distance aquabike race that’s this Saturday. So, I played in the mountains for four hours last Friday to train for the race and opted for a shorter ride on my birthday with some hard intervals. Half way through my intervals, my rear tire got a flat. I’m fairly certain the last time I got a flat mid-ride was in New Zealand so after that whole situation, I was due several years of no issues. Since I have changed very few tires, I’m still very slow at the process and it was driving me bonkers that I couldn’t find where the hole was in the tube (found it when I got home). After that I decided to ditch the intervals and cruise home. I followed it up with a 20-minute run off the bike which felt pretty crappy and with a high heart rate.
 
I then proceeded to spend the entire, and I really do mean entire, afternoon on the phone with my family. What started as birthday wishes turned into hours of listening to complaining and talking about mentally draining topics. By dinner time I was drained so I had Bill pick up a vegan sushi platter so I could sit on the couch and numb my brain with TV. For the amount of caffeine I consumed, I still don’t understand how I was so tired by the end of the day. Overall, my birthday was ok. I received lots of birthday love which I greatly appreciate. I checked all my boxes of not cooking, chocolate and training. I didn’t technically get a birthday cake which has sadly become a trend the last few years. I made a cake last Friday for someone else’s birthday and they decided to throw my birthday into the mix as well. Given I ate at least a third of the cake, I guess that counts.
 
When I went downstairs at 4:30AM, there was a birthday card from Bill sitting on top of my pre-swim banana and peanut butter container. He learned early in our marriage that I think it’s a waste of our money to buy a card with someone else’s words so instead he often hand writes a card. Part of the card said the following:
 
Another year around the sun and your last year in the 30-34 age group, exciting and terrifying! This has been a packed year with lots of life changes from *meeting big financial goals*, to starting your own business, to quitting GE, to qualifying for 70.3 worlds and all the fun and exciting things we regularly do.
 
It’s sad that it took someone pointing out to me what I’ve accomplished in the last year for me to recognize it. I honestly didn’t realize how big of a year it has been until I read what he wrote. I also recently got my personal trainer certification. The bonus room was renovated to become a gym and the kitchen renovation has finally started. We traveled out west three times, to NJ twice for weddings, to the beach, and Chattanooga countless times. It’s been a year of lots of growth and struggle. Lots of debating what direction I want my life to go in and having a hard time pulling the trigger. Lots of doubting my abilities and questioning my decisions. But like any big life change, it can take a while to settle in, find a rhythm and feel like you made the right choice. Sometimes I feel like I’m aimlessly wandering. Sometimes I feel like I’m thriving. It’s all part of the game of life. While I don’t think I’ll have another year of my life like 33 any time soon, I’m open to whatever the future holds. Here's my final farewell to 33, and what a year it was, as I welcome 34.