I finally finished Triathlon for the Every Woman: You Can Be a Triathlete. Yes. You.
by Meredith Atwood. I was excited for this book. I jumped on her preorder based on her blog posts, which are incredible. I knew this book would be just what I needed. The frustrating part is my schedule has been so crazy, I’ve been reading it for about 6 weeks now off and on between my training and finally sat down yesterday to finish. I am glad it took me until yesterday to finish it because it was the part of the book I needed to read right NOW as I count down to 68 days left to my first 70.3 Ironman. As I finished her book, I cried. I cried not because it’s sad, but because her inspiration, humor and vivid description as she recounts her first 70.3 Ironman made me reflect about what I am about to do for the first time on May 4, 2013. I cried because I felt her incredible accomplishment and enthusiasm for triathlons, her husband, her family and being a woman. I felt like I was doing that Ironman with her. You can feel her genuine love for bettering her self through triathlons.
I LOVED her personal stories and dialogue through out the whole book. Her writing flows is as if she is talking to you like you are her best friend. I don’t know Meredith (I would love to have the honor of meeting her!!), but I felt as if I knew her and we’ve been best friends for years. I laughed, cried, and learned so much from reading this book. It was a great supplement to my training. I wished I would have had something like this when I first started doing triathlons.
It doesn’t matter if you have done a dozens of triathlons or are just thinking about one, you’ll get something from this book. You’ll appreciate her spunk and spirit as a women, mom and wife. As a more seasoned triathlete, her tips reminded me of things I have gotten lazy about doing. It reminded me of my initial training experiences as well. I love her checklists, reminders, what to do and what NOT to do and her emphasis on putting in the hard work. She is honest about her struggles with food and her weight. I know I can relate to her feelings, frustrations and my issues with weight and food.
Meredith is the real deal. She brings in other “experts” to discuss various topics, which I enjoyed and learned a lot from. Meredith doesn’t claim to know it all, she shares her trials and successes, shares her tips and tricks, while motivating you along the way. I bookmarked and marked up my copy with highlights and notes. She’s been there done that. I was giggling through the entire book. While traveling to my Ironman training with my husband last week, I read him her first experience with a wetsuit & swimming in open water. I couldn’t even read it was I laughing so hard because I am about to have my first experience with a wetsuit this week.
I have been a follower of her blog Swim Bike Mom for about 6 months. If you do triathletes, run or bike, you’ll enjoy her blog posts, they are straight from the horse’s mouth. She doesn’t always paint a pretty picture. She shares it all!!
She’s inspired me to document more of my Ironman journey in these last 68 days.
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