Over the past four months, I’ve neglected the Live Loosley blog. I grew tired of posting about training and talking about me on Instagram all the time. This summer I just focused on trying to fit everything in and enjoy the present moment… rather than worry about an instagramable post every day. Between unexpected work trips and planned holiday’s, this Summer has been one for the books… I’ve traveled to Majorca, Barcelona, Amsterdam, home (Canada),  Turks and Caicos, Frankfurt, Northern Ireland, New York, Dublin, Dubai and back home again. Yup. I’ve never been in transit so much in such a short space of time. Oh and managed to move house in between all that…

It has been an unbelievable journey but one that’s been a little disruptive to my active lifestyle.

Despite the lack of photos on Instagram of living an active lifestyle, I have been training. With Dan training for Ironman Wales this year, I was able to piggy back on his momentum and his training schedule. But since starting triathlon two/three years ago this will be the first year where I didn’t race – not even once!!  It’s a strange feeling… Especially coming from a Rowing Ontario background where you race nearly every other weekend in the Summer.

I guess I assumed I’d find a race this fall and it would all be worth it… all my training this year (which hasn’t been much) would pay off with a result that was at least not worse than prior years and which saw my swimming improve significantly…. but I haven’t had that. Suddenly waking up at 5AM for a training set on the bike is less of a priority. The dark mornings now, don’t help either!

Without a race to train for, I’ve lost focus in both training and in writing.

I always knew I had a few things wrong with this blog… it’s not all me. Yes this is my honest approach to healthy living but I’m not your average healthy living blogger. I like competing more than I like the gym and avocado. I train and fuel my body for a race and I train hard so I can essentially eat whatever I want. I don’t do balance well…

With hindsight, here’s how I’d breakdown the past few years on Live Loosley…

Year One was my first year of triathlon and a year fueled by fear… fear of my blog failing and fear of not being able to perform in the sport of triathlon. I was focused like no other to avoid embarrassment.

Year Two was the year of “balance” and trying to fit in with the other bloggers out there… it wasn’t me and I think that came across in my content.

Year Three (this year), this has been my binge year for lack of a better word… the year where I have thrown myself into my career and prioritised spending time with the people I love. Basically saying “yes” rather than “no, I have to train/race/write”. I haven’t focused on a race or on fitting in with other bloggers out there, and it’s been refreshing.

What will Year Four bring?… Yes, there will be a Year Four. I’m not giving up on this space. I love writing and I miss writing. And even though it can feel overbearing at times I honestly do appreciate what it does for me. Even if nobody reads it; it slows me down and gives me a chance to reflect on the crazy things I say yes to in life. So next year I want to make sure I don’t make the same mistakes as I have in the past. I want to race. I want to be me – and I want my content to reflect that. And I want keep making great memories with friends and family. Think I can do all that and be a bad ass women in my career? I don’t see why not… Just need to put all the puzzle pieces together.

That being said, I plan to re-categories my blog:

• Life (personal bits, recipes, work and travel),
• Train (goal oriented training posts + reviews)
• Race (race reports and bucket lists).

That’s me. Life first. Training for something in the background, and Racing on weekends. That’s my kind of balance. I’m not a fitness junky or fitness blogger, I have a genuine interest in nutrition and cooking but I’m not qualified… I’m just a girl with a competitive mindset, that needs and outdoor active outlet and is too uncoordinated for any other sports.

If you’ve been reading all this time – thank you so so much. Tuck in, this year is going to be fun!

Some highlights this year…  🙂