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Thursday, March 19, 2009

Long Lost Friend Found

When I was in junior high and high school, I was incredibly shy (my husband doesn't believe it, but it is true). I had very few friends, but the ones I had were gold.

One of them, Michelle, was one of my two best friends and we did everything together. I remember riding in the back of her dad's Ford Crown Victoria. I remember getting caramel sundaes at McDonald's while staying at her parent's vacation trailer in East Harbor. I remember making milkshakes with vanilla ice cream and her parents' tropical schnapps (as far as I know, they never realized we did that). I remember joining the gymnastics team with her even though I was a terrible gymnast (who does a free roll/forward roll as an acrobatic pass on the balance beam?!). I remember her standing up with me as one of my bridesmaids in my first wedding. So, how did it happen that we lost contact with each other? I honestly don't know. It didn't help that we went to different colleges or that I got married so young or that she moved to Minnesota after she got married. I'm such a dork that I didn't know her new last name.

One of the reasons I joined Facebook was to find her. Unfortunately, she wasn't on there. Then, just a few weeks ago, I got a friend request from one of our mutual friends, Noel. She told me that she and Michelle had been looking for me for a long time. Noel updated me on what was going on with her life and also told me that Michelle was still in Minnesota and was an Ironman triathlete. What?! Wow, I wish they'd found me earlier. How cool is that?!

Michelle and I finally connected via phone soon after that. She filled me in on her triathlete adventures, including doing Ironman Wisconsin this past September in quite a respectable time. She trains under a coach with a team. Like me, her best event is the bike, but she holds her own on the other two events as well. She called me the other night and suggested a couple races we could pick from to do together in Illinois. Sounded like a good idea to me, so I looked them up. They're both half-Ironmans.

Typically, this wouldn't be a cause for concern for me, but as I mentioned in a previous post, I am trying to get pregnant. Being in the kind of shape I'd need to be to do a half-Ironman is not recommended by the fertility doctor. So, I had to be lame and tell her that I'd be up for meeting for the one that has a sprint distance attached to it. She could do the half, while I do the sprint and cheer her on afterwards.

I have to admit to being a little frustrated right now. I've put on 10 pounds since Ironman (5 of those in the last year). My clothes don't fit right and I'm not nearly in what I would call good shape. I know that it is necessary to have a little fat on the frame to get pregnant. I really miss training hard though. I know I shouldn't complain and I know this is only temporary. It helps to write it here though.

My swimming is coming along quite nicely though. I'm way faster than I was last year. And, today, in a Clearwater, FL swimming pool, I did my fastest 100 IM ever at 2:02.37 (my previous best was 2:14). Focus on the small things, right?

5 Comments:

Blogger KimZ said...

Glad you found a long lost friend. A couple of months ago I found my old best friend, too (after she moved away from Ohio around '89.) I had been searching for her, but didn't know her married name. I'm glad I put my maiden name on Facebook because it's how SHE found me. :) It's so much fun to catch up.
As for trying to get pregnant, I really hope you and Matt can be successful. It's difficult when something like that doesn't go as planned. I wish you the best.

9:07 PM

 
Blogger Charlie said...

That is very cool. It amazes me how some of my best freinds from earlier life have followed like paths.

1:11 PM

 
Blogger Kate said...

That is so fantastic! And good work on the IM- that's impressive!

12:52 AM

 
Blogger Mnowac said...

That so great that you found a long lost friend! And what are the odds that she's an IM too, wild. I'm sorry it's tough right now to train less, but you look great and you are still in good shape!

5:58 PM

 
Blogger Jen said...

Wow! How cool that you and Michelle are back in touch! And leading similar triathlete lives!! Tell her I say "hi" ...

While you may not feel you're as in shape as before, you are still amazingly buff! Your doctor likely knows what's best, and you're right, it's short-term and for a good reason. Keep your chin up! Love to you!

6:33 PM

 

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