Connection

I think I may disconnect in an attempt to connect to the real. The constant noise of news, stories, social media has had an adverse effect. However, I do not believe ignorance is bliss. Where is the balance? The spin has made me weary. OK- here goes my attempt...one week- no news, no msnbc, no fox, no facebook. Goodbye connections....or noise. We'll see.

Day One- CCTT

So- here we go. Today is day one. Stats- 155.5 lbs. Goal- 140 by end of June. I need to ride, focus, and eat well. It's hard to go into a race (even a time trial) without a goal. I need a time to work towards. My worst time two years ago was 36:18. That was after a season of triathlons was behind me. So- putting a random time out there....I would like to beat 38:30. Yikes. There it is, a goal. A lot will depend on the wind. I am hoping for a calm day and good legs. But- this is day one. What happens from here on- that becomes my season. Season #1.

Reconciliation & Perspective

I read a report today that said the only hope for reconciliation between the Jews and Arabs is Jesus Christ. Which reminded me- the only hope for any reconciliation- between Jews, Gentiles, among family and friends- when there is any rift, the only hope we have is in Jesus.

How can I say that my situation is bigger? I don't want to feel that I am justified in holding onto my anger. I need to let it go. I am still sad. I give it up. And to look at this and compare it to the divide between the Jews and Arabs- Ha! It just does not come close. Thank you Lord for perspective.

ps- if Bears and Bees eat together- can't we all just get along?

Wow- this is what has made me want to blog again

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So- this weekends weather was not desirable. I spent A LOT of Saturday reading other moms blogs- homeschooling blogs. I found this poem and just had to put it in a safe place for later.

What Can I Teach you about being black?

Not much,
Because I'm not.
But I can teach you about pain,
And how to forgive peoples foolish words.
I can show you how to endure suffering,
So that through it Truth will be proclaimed.
I can love you and cry with you,
I can be the she-bear when you are threatened.
We can live where there is a rainbow of people,
and we can learn to love them together.
We can seek out the truth of history,
And not be afraid of the ugliness.
I can open your heart and your eyes
To the painful reality that comes clinging to the back of sin.
And in the end,I can release you into your destiny,
And wait for you to come home,
With a fuller understanding of who you are
and what you are to be in your life.
Then I can listen as you teach me,
What it means to be Black.

--Dorothy Bode

Here It Is

My off road tri is this weekend. It is upon me. Do I feel some anxiety- yup. Probably a good thing. But I am more nervous cause I have to go by myself, race, and then drive myself home. That is not appealing to me. I like the conversation on the way to the race...working out last minute jitters and such.

Mike and John will be racing Winter Park at the same time. I will miss out seeing Mike when I cross the finish line. I love that. And I won't get to talk about the race on the way home.

But, back to the race. It's an off road sprint....at altitude. New for me. I do the swim at 9200 feet with the water temp measuring 61 degrees. Wetsuits are mandatory. Then I have an 11 mile mt. bike ride and a 3.1 trail run. Sounds fun. But again about the altitude. That will change things I'm sure. I haven't ever swam at altitude and in water that cold. Oh- and it's a time trial start. Different again. All new things to look forward to. I can't believe it's this weekend, and I just want it to get here. My mt. bike skills have improved- I am stronger. My running and swimming are better- but any given Sunday. Anything can happen. And I guess that's what I love about this sport. The different disciplines add a leveling power. It's better to be a good biker than a super fast swimmer. But to be good at all three...ahhhh, what a combo. As I go into this tri, I will learn for next year. The harder I work, the more I understand that I have to work harder. But smarter. Whatever, whatever...the weekend will be a good test of the months of training behind me.

Over and Done

So the Danskin was two weekends ago. It was a bit of a mess. I planned to arrive at my pre-racked bike (mandatory) an hour before my wave started. The event organizers decided to have us rack our bikes the night before and bus us to the event. Duh. It was chaos. Instead of an hour before warm up time, I had about 10 minutes to get my transition area ready, pee, and start. I was able to swing my arms about 3 times to loosen up my shoulders before starting. It was tough to start that way. My swim was 2 minutes slower than last year, but I truly believe the course was marked incorrectly this year. Every swim was 1.5-4 minutes longer this year???

My bike was much better. I averaged 18.1 mph on the hilly course and came in 109th overall out of 2300 in the bike. I shaved 2 minutes off my bike time. And it was totally climbing. I felt strong. Then, I had to get off my bike and run. Ha. I felt sluggish and slow, but still shaved 4.5 minutes off my run. I moved up from 100th last year to 40th this year. My goal was top 50. Overall, I came in 261st out of 2206. My end time was 1:34:38. I have decided to get coached for each of the three sports now, so I hope this will help with my remaining tris this year. I bought a wetsuit. Good god it's tough to put on. My next tri is an off road tri and I am really looking forward to it. I just hope I don't get stuck in my wetsuit!

Anticipation

Ok- so here we are. 3 days from my first triathlon of the season. The Danskin was my first tri ever and it's finally here again- 1 year later. I had high hopes last year. When I first contemplated doing the race, 2 months pregnant with a 3 month old son in my arms, I had high hopes. I split the field, looked at things realistically and chose an ultimate goal. I wouldn't beat myself up if I didn't quite make it; it was my stretch goal. I wanted to come in at 1:40.

I stayed active through my pregnancy but put on some good feeling baby weight. I gave birth to Luke at the end of September and wanted to begin right away. Although, I had to catch up on some sleep and wait for my chest to decrease to a reasonable size. I was HUGE! So, in December, I started boot camp and did that through mid-March and then began swimming and riding. I substituted roller blading for running most times, but ran some to.

The Danskin was on July 16th 2006 and I was so excited and felt ready. I completed the race in 1:40:32. My swim was 18:20, bike was 41:13, and my run was 34:57. My transitions were good. I felt like I left everything out on the course.

And here we are- 2007. I am about 10 lbs. smaller and training harder and smarter...I think. How did I choose that time last year. Now I have a base to go by and I have no idea what I'm going to do. I hope to be 5 minutes faster on the run. I hope to be faster on the bike- I mean I am racing mt. bikes this year and did the Cherry Creek time trials. That should help. I swim with the masters now....I should be faster. I hope. Ugg. I am questioning my race wear. What about my pre-race breakfast? So silly, huh? Any advice...probably just shut up and race, right? Well, we'll see how it out shakes out. Faster hopefully.