Six months ago, I walked off the platform with zero numbers on the board. On Saturday, I walked away with first place Women's Masters division. I could stop writing there, but that's not how I roll. Six months ago, I competed in my first sanctioned powerlifting meet. I bombed out. Three heavy attempts for one lift. Three red lights. I didn’t walk away with a medal or even a number on the board. I collected my doubt with my gym bag as I hustled out the door. Unlike running events that I've DNFed, I left before they transitioned into the second stage of the meet. It was humbling AF after doing fun meets where I excelled to tanking. One of the strongest memories of the day was the loudest break of silence you can receive from a disappointed crowd. The other one was community, particularly people who didn't know me but encouraged me to keep going. In the running space, that voice tends to be my own to another person. This time, I was in the receiving end in a fairly new space. In turn, I kept showing up. I used my experiences from multiple sports in the endurance space into the weight room. In between that time, I had other highs and lows, including missing the Miami Half Marathon after having a 101+ fever, coming off an almost 7 yr partnership w/ HOKA, successfully training hubby for his first marathon and running with him as we earned our medals, his 1st, my 31st marathon finish. I brought in Pride Month with a local powerlifting fundraising event, feeling invigorated after lifting over 1,000 lbs collectively with all white lights. On Sat, just after turning 40, I took first-place in the Women’s Masters division. I'm allowing that to sink in. I realized during the pandemic that I don't take enough time to celebrate my wins. I do the work and quickly move on, not processing the wins from fear of the next failure or coming off egotistical - fckthat. Today, I'm exploring and expanding my possibilities. I'm carrying this feeling with me as I enter my first week of marathon training. You can be disappointed with not reaching a goal AND opt to press forward. Let your failure be a comma, not a period. What are we trying to accomplish this season? Let's chat.