Inspiration II

There's no way I would be exercising so much if it wasn't for my mother in law who really got me started with all this. My husband and I live in Germany but he is originally from San Diego in Southern California where my in laws live. That means I don't get to see my mother in law a whole lot but somehow we connect through our shared interests. My mom in law is one fit lady as she has always been working out and you can tell by the way she looks. It must have been around two years ago now that she got into the p90x workout routines and when we talked on the phone she would always give me updates on her progress. She would let me know that she was doing 50 push ups in one workout but that this number was supposed to increase as she went on with the program. "That's incredibly impressive!" I thought and that I would not be able to do that. As the months passed by, my husband's mom continuously let us know how she was improving and I finally went online to look up the dvds she was talking about. The next thing I knew is that I had ordered the program and was out to buy the dumbbells and other gear needed for the routines. I still vividly remember calling my mother in law after I finished my first p90x-week, telling her that I couldn't even do many of the exercises. She was very encouraging and told me that it was fine to do less repetitions or to do a slightly different and therefore lighter version of the move. It was fun to have somebody to talk to about the workout. And it turned out to be a big encouragement for me to know that she had done the program as well. I didn't want to quit and have to tell her so. After I finished the 90 day program we visited my in laws this summer and my mother in law and I jokingly compared our results while our husbands were just rolling their eyes. While it's not easy to  live extremely far away from family I am grateful for having such a good relationship with my in laws. Despite our different cultural backgrounds we just connected and our shared passions don't end with exercising. My mother in law and I have found that it's much easier to stay slim, if we feed the calories we're not supposed to eat to our beloved pets!

My super fit mother in law and her Corgi

 My belly cat

Inspiration

Q: How do you come up with doing triathlons if you're a person like me? 

A: You need to spend time watching your younger brother racing!

I would assume that not many people just go out and say "I am going to do triathlons!" if they have never done endurance sports before. I think that I wouldn't if it wasn't for my brother who did his first marathon in 2010 and has been racing in triathlons since. He is actually 6 years younger and contrary to me seems to just have that gift to be very good at endurance sports. Of course he is training hard and our mom always worries about him going a little too crazy with the running, cycling and swimming.

This season he did two Olympic distance tris. He finished his first one in 2:30 in July and last Saturday he came in 14th in his age group and 64th overall (out of over 500) in 2:18. It was a really hot day and his wave started at 2 o'clock in the afternoon. Poor triathletes! 

Before the start

Off they go

It is so much fun watching him and I am always very very nervous when I am at his races. My husband tells me that he's doing fine, which - of course - he is, but I just wish I could be out there and make sure everything is a-ok the whole time. When he came into T2 on Saturday (transition from bike to run) his calf was cramping and I think I had bigger issues with this than him.

Cramping

T2

I was such a wreck that I ended up taking pictures of a fence when I was trying to capture him. 

Happy finisher!

What is great about him being so involved with the sport is that I always have my personal go-to guy for any type of questions and concerns. He is more experienced with all aspects of the sport ranging from nutrition to stretching and I am extremely happy to have my personal advisor. He is also tremendously encouraging and patient with his older sister. He would never tell me that I am too slow or doing bad. I am looking forward to being in races together with him next year. It will be great to have him standing by the course after he finished to see his sister do the rest (read: major chunk) of her race. So this post goes out to my favorite little brother! I am so proud of you and I love you more than you think!