40....

Hmm.  Feels like just another day.  I remember when my mom turned 40.  She got a bunch of stuff regarding being over the hill - a coffee mug and balloons.  I remembering think "Wow.  That is old".  Typically people see this as middle-age.  Your life is half over.  Funny - my mom's life was more than 1/2 over.  I guess 30 was mid-life for her.  I was 7, Jen was 5 and Nick was a newborn at her 1/2 way point. We never know what is around the corner.  I always wonder if my mom would have done anything different had she known her life was going to end at almost 60.  Would she have quit smoking - would it have mattered?  We make conscious choices all of the time.  I was brought up with a lot of bad choices around me.  How did I choose an athletic lifestyle?  I'd like to think that my kids are seeing us choose athletic endeavors even at "middle-age" and that they will get bitten by the healthy bug.  I'm not a gestapo when it comes to their diets.  They play video games and watch stupid cartoons that I swear will make you a little less smart.  But yesterday, they also rode their bikes with me as I ran an hour.  Mel did complain about her butt hurting, but they did it.  They both enjoyed the kids triathlon they did last month.  We try to involve them in this lifestyle and I think that they enjoy it.  I'm enjoying my training, but I am looking forward to being a little less rigid.  I swear also that some days my legs are 80 not 40.  I am so blessed to have the things that I have.  To be able to train for this event.  To have the body to be able to do this.  I have many blessings.  My husband, my kids, my family, my friends.  All of this is a gift.  Thank you everyone of you for supporting me in this journey of seeing what my body can do.  At 40.  Here's to 40 more...maybe :)