This blog will return to regular programming next week, please enjoy an appropriately timed break in the wellness-talk for something a bit bigger than training & nutrition. And if none of you read this, that’s ok, it’s something I’ll save for my kids someday. If you do read…thanks!

Ten years is a long time- that seems to go by in the blink of an eye. While it often feels like 10 years ago was ‘just yesterday’, I know how I remember the events of 10 years ago – Sept 11, 2001 – but I wanted to pull out my photo albums from that time period to see if it was as I remembered it. In ten years that seem to have flown by, things have changed that happened so subtly that I didn’t notice them, until there I was, looking at those pictures and what was different was staring me in the face.

The pictures I have of myself & my friends in the time around 9/11 show not-even-21 yr old college kids who are so care-free it’s ridiculous. Every day was a day filled with adventure & excitement. What constitutes the ‘adventures’ of each day are different now…10 years later. Sure, everyone grows up sometime – but I’d forgotten just how much we’ve grown since then.

Since we’re always living with who we are ‘right now’, it’s easy to let little pieces of you shift & change over time without realizing you’re doing it.

What if you could keep the absolute best of who you are from each decade & carry it to the next one, never forgetting it? So as you “grow-up”, accumulating decades, you become this ‘only the best of the best’ version of yourself? 

You can. But not by accident. To carry the best-of-the-best of yourself forward, you’ve got to remember it & cultivate it regularly. Most of us try to be youthful & fun even though we’re not idiot 18-year-olds’ anymore, but if you look back at your last 10 years, I bet you’d find some things that you forgot you used to do/be like/love.

I took a look back to 10 years ago because I wanted to remember the moments of 9/11, but I found things that inspired me. In fact, some of the photos that inspired me will be framed & hung up so I never forget exactly who I am (& who I can be no matter the circumstances or location I am in this world). Here is my story of where I was 10 years ago…

I didn’t live in this country on 9/11. Studying abroad at Cambridge University in England – a decision my college roommate & I made the minute we read the email that the deadline to sign up was approaching. We’d never discussed studying abroad before, but it sounded like fun so we registered, then let our parents know what we’d be doing come August of that year.

Cart before horse  - yes – but what did it matter? The things we truly wanted to do, we didn’t have to think too much about. We just made it happen. Making decisions confidently and quickly – something both my roommate & I still excel at.

On Sept 11, we’d been in England for 3 weeks. We’d already travelled by train to parts of the UK, and were comfortable hopping around the UK and over to Europe via mass transit. My roommate & I had walked on a sunny, warm, fall day down to the train station on the other side of town. Our house was on one end of Cambridge, all the colleges, markets & pubs were in the middle, then the train station was at the other end. We walked the 30-ish minute walk to check the train schedule for that weekend’s trip to the Continent.

On the walk back, I wanted to stop by a cafe that looked fun right in the center of town. We walked over the cobblestone side street up to the menu board on the outside wall & looked at the food offerings and, more importantly, the entertainment menu for the pub that opened in the evening. The doors were closed on that side, but a large crowd was gathered on the other side of the cafe, the whole wall of doors flung open.

We made our way around the corner to see what the crowd was all about – and saw two TV’s blaring in the cafe- the 1st tower of the World Trade Center smoking. The crowd was buzzing about a plane hitting the tower & terrorism. I remember grabbing for my roommate as it dawned on us what we were looking at…& just then, the 2nd tower was hit. I remember terror creeping across up my arms, making my skin tingle. I’m not sure who let out a yelp, but tears immediately sprung to my eyes & quickly turned to shaking sobs. “What was going on?!” “Why is this happening??”

“They are Americans!”, the crowd heard our accents, “get them your phone, let them call home!” Cell phones were thrust in our hands as we tried dialing home. The lines were already down, we couldn’t get through. I don’t know who we thought we’d reach – all of our parents would have been at work. We desperately wanted to hear voices we knew tell us it was ok.

We ran to a convenience mart up the street to buy phone cards to use in the little red phone booths. Somehow, those land lines worked. There still wasn’t anyone home though. We both left frightened messages for our parents (which probably scared the sh*t out of them, what with their daughters an ocean away & nothing they could do about it).

We collected ourselves, walked back to the cafe to watch the TV’s & get as much information as we could. A few hours passed – we drank coffee that I think was on the house given the situation – and watched. Nobody really knew anything, everything was unconfirmed, and we didn’t want to leave that TV for fear of missing some ‘thing’, anything that would let us breathe easier, that would connect us to home…anything.

We finally headed to home when we realized the rest of the house would likely be wondering & worrying about us. All 18 housemates laid/sat/crouched on every piece of furniture in the living room, watching the TV, waiting to hear from family back home…& wondering how this had just changed everything.

And while we cancelled our Germany trip for that coming weekend, we were right off to an extended travel trip on the Continent the weekend after. Because we were 20-year-old college students who naturally assumed that each day was fully ours to do whatever we wanted with it. Somewhere inside us, we knew we had one shot at the day laid out before us, so we didn’t stay upset for long, we relaxed into whatever situation we were in, & we made sure we wasted no time – even if ‘wasting no time’ meant laying on your backpack in the grass of a town square at lunch on a Friday simply to take in the world around us. We were present – saw every detail of the world going on around us.

Youthful innocence? Sure, maybe. But even with more ‘adult’ responsibilities that come as you get older, I know it’s possible to carry the best of your last decade forward – so long as you remember that stuff. I had forgotten just how joyous life was 10 years ago, my life is happy now, but now that I’ve seen the pictures of my life from 10 years ago, I remember that life & will remember to bring the very best of that life into the life I have now.

And what a rich life it would be if we could do that every time we complete another decade….look back at the best of ‘us’ in that decade & bring it forward. Maybe you need to go pull out some old pictures of your life 10 years ago & pull forward the best of yourself.

No, I do not do  triathlon, but I do train many triathletes, and the Tri coach that I coach for strength invited me. So I’m going, and I’m going to workout with this group. And this group can run the “RUN” portion of an Ironman, which is either a 1/2 marathon or full marathon depending on the distance, faster than I can run either of those distances without doing the “SWIM” or “BIKE” portion first. Right. Well, at least I will get to school all of them on the TRX while there!

While at camp, I’m going to train with this group – all except the bike portions…just not safe to be on a road bike if you’ve never ridden anything but a mountain bike – and there’s no way I’m going to keep up with all of them. But I’m pumped for the opportunity to try to do the endurance workouts they do! Not since junior-high and highschool sports camps, where really, your goal was to sweat it out for a morning and afternoon session then hang out in the college dorm rooms talking about what sweaty boys each girl found ‘cute’, have I had the chance to go somewhere where the full intention was on improving performance. And in the interest of improved performance, I will be using my expertise to help these triathletes improve their strength training program to improve their functional strength! What fun!

I welcome the chance to ‘dive into the pool’ and throw any nerves out the window. Nerves are awesome, they fire you up, they make you know you’re fully alive and ‘in the moment.’ Nerves make you not need coffee you’re so amped up….ok, maybe by day 3 of early morning workout coffee may be in order…

Truly though, when’s the last time you ‘took a dive into the pool’ – kicked off your shoes, jumped in & splashed around? Tried something new? Did something that freaked you out just a bit? Said “what the hey” and went for it? Take a look around for an opportunity heading your way and grab it! You never know what you’ll get out of the experience!

In a few days, I’ll have my recap of just how it all turned out. But really, what’s the worst that can happen? I get my ass handed to me by the Tucson sun? I drink enough chlorinated water to drain a pool? I find my new ‘hurt zone’? <–already found one last weekend so that doesn’t scare me in the slightest…Let’s dive in!

**freaking hilarious – I spent a good 30mins trying to fix the formatting that was a wreck on this post, and I type the apology above, hit update, and poof, the internet decided to show my post the way I intended. Good thing I didn’t throw my computer out the window in frustration! I’m thankful for that!!

In grade school, right before Thanksgiving break, we’d do an art project or a show-and-tell session on what we’re most thankful for. And most of them went something like this (in sing-song kid voice): “What I am thankful for is my mom because she packs my lunch and makes sure my clothes are ready for me to wear.” Yep, mom’s are good like that. Consider today’s post a show-and-tell of what I’m most thankful for, minus the kid voice.

I’m thankful I’m able to explore other parts of this world & have created a healthy body for myself to be able to enjoy all these adventures!

I’m thankful I have a great friend & partner who is as much of a purist as I am when it comes to exercise, nutrition, & taking the best care possible of the body God gave us!

I’m thankful my family is not ruled by a psychotic toddler & a talking dog…we may be unique but we are not weird.

I’m thankful that I love to run and have the outlet of running to keep my mind and body fit – every one of us chooses how we are going to liveour lives & how much we’re going to get out of it. Get up and get going so you can get the most out of your life!

I’m thankful for people who say inspirational things because those things motivate me to reach higher, be better, do more.

I hope this holiday finds you with family & friends, enjoying food that is all too scarce for many in the world today, and making memories that you’ll cherish long after the day is over.

Just a friendly Fit for Real Life reminder – your family will still love you if you decide against the 2nd round of desserts. Happy Thanksgiving!

What are you getting THIS pumped up about these days? Are you getting yourself  THIS excited about your results in your given sport/goal/endeavor in life?

We’ve all seen the re-useable bags that everybody & their brother sells or gives away with their logo plastered on it. BO-RING. Why carry those when you can carry these!

Ladies – check out those super chic prints! Wouldn’t it just make you smile to come home with your groceries in these? Guys – you WILL receive bonus points if you brought home a “just-because” or Mother’s Day gift like this. They come in a bag of multiple prints & are made of nylon/polyester that folds up easily into its’ own little carrying case that buttons closed. The pack of bags come in a larger case that fits perfectly into the compartment on the side of the driver’s seat. Check it out below!

It’s the little things in life that make you smile, isn’t it?

Watch his hands! Seriously! Watch his hands because you know something is happening here & he’s got to be doing it with his hands – but I can’t figure out what it is! Making sure you have a good PMA (Positive Mental Attitude) is partially about taking a moment to let someone amaze you. And bonus points if the thing that amazes you is something tiny, simple, not likely to change the world but still wonderful to spend a moment enjoying. Card tricks may not change the world, but positive people will – so nurture your positive mental attitude so you can keep on changing the world.

I woke up this morning to scroll through my feeds & blog faves & was so thrilled to be one of the “daily inspirations” to Abbie over at Simple Creative Inspiration!

Abbie writes beautiful pieces weekly about all the lovely things in life that inspire her. Ladies, you want unique finds on clothing, jewelery, cards, furniture and so much more? She finds them and then posts about them. I would want her to be my personal shopper if I ever had one…she finds the stuff I don’t even think to look for and knows how to make anything look glamorous (her interior design talent is amazing!) Check her out!

Linking to someone on the internet is the same as complimenting in the conversational world – remember, compliments go a long way to lift someone’s spirits – give someone a compliment today!