Fair Trade

You wanna know the best way to spend your free time while your toddler naps? How about getting a massage? Yep. That's the ticket!

Today Jennifer came over during Moana's nap time and brought her table and went to work on me... for over 90 minutes. I'd say it was pure bliss, but it was actually quite painful at times, which is what we as athletes expect when we're getting massage. Poor Jennifer was appalled at the fact that I have not had a real sports massage in, um, about 6 years... I've had a couple of feel good swedish massages but nothing that was directly aimed at fixing the tight spots I create while I swimbikerun every week.

Anyway, the best news is that this at home massage is going to become a regular thing. You see, Jennifer is a swimmer (and turning into a triathlete!) and she is planning on celebrating her 50th birthday this year by swimming the Maui Channel- 9ish miles from Lanai to Maui in September. Yeah, I know. She's a stud! (And you'd totally think it was her 40th birthday, NOT her 50th!) But the good news for me is that she has asked me to coach her through it... which is awesome and I'm super psyched to be part of her support team through her channel swimming journey. And through our initial conversation we decided to trade services rather than cash... so she will use her skill as a Skilled Massage Therapist to help me and I will use my skill as a Studly Swimming Coach to help her. ;)

It feels like such a fair trade to me, and it got me thinking about how rewarding it is to have relationships with other athletes that are mutually beneficial like this. We, as athletes, can really help each other get better. Get faster. Get stronger. Enjoy the sport more. I think each of my athletes could/would say that they are enjoying their season more this year because they are working with me, and when Nalani asked me the other day if I felt like the time/energy I spend coaching is draining away any of my own passion for the sport, my answer was No Way! In fact, I think that if anything, working with athletes has actually solidified my passion for endurance sport. So it's a total win/win.

Anyway, I guess I just wanted to take a minute to recognize so many of the people (mostly women!) who make this sport (and lifestyle!) so much more enjoyable for me. Triathlon may be an individual sport, but we really do all have to work together to make it more fun and rewarding. So here's a big thank you to all my training partners and teammates and athletes and fellow inspirational bloggers who are making this year so great. I'm hope I'm providing a Fair Trade and making things great for you too. :)