Thursday, December 6, 2012

Hi there my name is Andrea MacDonald and I am a stay at home mom and triathlete. I'm not a pro by any stretch. In fact this past year was not a good racing year for me and it was only my second year racing. Let me explain how I got here...
Spring 2011 my good friend invited me to be the swimmer for our all girls team to do an Olympic distance race in Shawnigan Lake BC. I fell in love with the sport immediately. Next up was a low key Sprint Triathlon at Fuller Lake BC. I placed 3rd in my age group. I am now hooked!
2012 was going to be a great year. I had 3 races planed maybe even a 4th. In February I fell off my mountain bike and ended up in the ER. Not only did I have broken ribs, separated clavicle and who knows what else. I needed knee surgery and got the call to have it done 1 week after the accident. Those who know me well, know that when I go out, I go out big. I figured I'm already out of commission I might as well be completely out of commission.
Fast forward to July of 2012 and a week from my first triathlon of the season. Only 3 1/2 months after accident and surgery I completed my first 5 km run since all of this. Then a week later I competed and I got second place. I didn't feel great but I did it. 1 month later I had another race, The BC Provincial Sprint Championship. I didn't know what to expect. I wanted to do well but I hadn't been able to put the time into training. I surprised myself. I placed 3rd. I was proud.
Why does all of this matter? I am a stay at home mom. Triathlon isn't my priority. My family is. Don't get me wrong I love triathlon and I would love for it to be my top priority but I have two wonderful little girls, a pretty amazing husband and a black lab and a great dane who are also considered my children.
I want to blog about my ups and downs. My struggles to find time to train but maintain adequate family time and everything else that goes on in our day to day lives. I hope to inspire people the way some have inspired me. I want people to know that life is busy but we still need to make time for things we love. Please join me in my journey.