I am on the other side of the world right now, and when this happens I have this rare chance to stop and reflect on my life from an outsider’s perspective…sort of, as I am removed from my usual routine. I guess there are some significant changes I have been going through, including but not exclusive to: getting married, moving out of the city, and starting the season with a new team.
Sometimes I wonder how I ever got so lucky–blessed with good health, family, friends, work that I actually love. Now I have the chance to be part of Timex Multisport Team and all I can say is that IT IS AWESOME!!! I showed up at camp a rookie and not knowing anyone in the team except for kiwi Keegan Williams but he wasn’t even able to make it to NJ as he was racing (he won 1st overall btw!). Before meeting everyone I had this insecurity of not being good enough for such a solid group of athletes and a real winning team…but I was reminded by Tristan and the other girls at camp that we were chosen to be Timex Ambassadors for various reasons, athletic performance being only one of them, so I relaxed a bit more. Timex took such good care of us (i.e. we were well-fed) and the venues we had were topnotch…Timex Performance Center and NY Giants Stadium–seriously!
Leaving the camp, I wrote an email to everyone in the group, wherein I said:
….I would just like to say thank you to Timex and the entire team for such an incredible weekend! I must say that I was not really sure what to expect coming here and on my looong flight back home i hope the passengers beside me will be asleep as I will be smiling to myself the whole time (this, and maybe inspecting some of my swag) recounting the whole camp experience in my mind.
I am very happy to be a new member of this family, and if any one of you ever considers racing in my part of the world, you have a homestay with us. Have a safe trip back home everyone!
Love Ani
Special thanks to Gemma, Avi, and Jewel of Timex Philippines for helping me get in the team and supporting me always. And to Princess and Neville + et al for taking care of the Ironkids Run Race on my behalf and to my sister Sinag and Waya for taking care of wedding stuff while I was away. Pasalubong for you guys! And to Dan–on my way home soon, promise!
To learn more about the team, visit: http://teamtimex.timexblogs.com/
Filipina Ironwoman 
Congrats Coach Ani! Sounds like a great start to the year!
You certainly deserve to be in the this great team Ani! Love and kisses from the Philippines 🙂 see you soon
You’re a woman filled with strength, compassion, love and most of all? humility and sincerity.
Welcome back home and congratulations!
P.S
Let me fix your bachelorette or bachelor’s party! Haha 🙂
Congrats Ani! Yehey! 🙂
Hey Ani, I am really happy to see you enjoyed the camp. It does sound like an amazing experience 🙂 congratulations on becoming a member of the Timex Multisport Family!
Godspeed!
congrats! to your new team!
so my wisconsin friends (dave o., gwen and tristan) are all trying to figure out if we are related…i had to explain to them that there are lots of deLeon’s….congrats on your success! be proud, be pinoy!
oh that’s so cool! yes that could have been confusing for them 🙂 thanks alain hope to meet you someday!
hi ani. my wife and i met your ate when we took a T.I. swim class a couple of years ago. i have been following your blog since i started having ‘tri’ ambitions 🙂 we recently moved to rutherford and we always see the timex performance center to and from work. congrats and good luck
wow that’s great! it’s a nice place to be in 🙂 thanks so much for your message, maybe i will drop you a note when i get to visit again! 🙂