In Austin

Hi all! I know I've been very absent from my blog. Brian and I have been in Austin since last Thursday and it's been a very busy, very fun trip. I promise several posts soon. We are heading back to Gainesville tonight. Here's a teaser of posts to come - a new bike for me, a half-marathon PR, Brian's birthday present, winning my age group at a race, and who knows what else. Stay tuned and hope everyone is doing well!

Near Misses and Simple Pleasures

Ok, so this post is a little on the sappy side, but I do have my sappy moments from time to time - it happens. Besides, I'm sure a little sappiness is more desirable to most of my readers than hearing about hocking up phlegm and blowing my nose into my hand during runs or my ruminations on whether or not Nuun gives me gas. Also, it's pretty long, but I guess it'll keep everyone busy for a while.

When I was writing my previous post on Happiness, an essay that I had read in a book popped into my head. It was somewhat relevant to what I was writing, and also to some moments I had experienced on my long run on Sunday.

• I came across a girl who had wrecked on her bike, she wasn't wearing a helmet, and had escaped with a scraped hand and some minor road rash. I know a few of us that can relate to that. She was sitting on the sidewalk talking to her boyfriend on her cellphone - he was coming to pick her up. I made sure she was ok and continued my run.
• There were at least 4 times when I put my foot down on some item in my path that could have resulted in a messed up ankle or me ending up on my ass, but I managed to keep my balance and keep on going. Is sweetgum ball surfing an extreme sport? If not, maybe it should be.
  
• Don't even get me started on the impaired driving abilities of people on their way to church. Let's just say that people on their way to work are much nicer to pedestrians than church goers.
  
• The traffic lights were all in my favor. Translation - I didn't have to stop at an intersection.
  

At any rate this essay, from what I could recall, was on near misses. I tracked it down, reread it, and thought "That might be nice to share at some point." Today I was talking on the phone with my sister, and she was relating to me that she and her husband had made an important financial decision in an incredibly timely moment, and so the essay came back to mind and I figured "What the heck, I don't have any thing else to write about at the moment." That's entirely untrue, but let's just pretend I don't have three or four unfinished posts in the works.

Anyway, the essay is from the book All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten by Robert Fulghum. I'm sure many of you recognize the title. I think my mom got me the book when I was in college, but I don't remember. It's full of essays about life and the human condition, and it has a tendency to be overly emotional and a bit over the top, but the author is funny and writes a lot about his own personal experiences so it's interesting and enjoyable. He grew up in Texas so maybe that's what draws me. I was going to summarize the essay or take an excerpt but then I decided that was too much work so here it is.

My Grandfather Sam called me up last Tuesday to ask if I'd take him to a football game. Grandfather likes small-town high school football – and even better, the eight-man ball played by crossroads teams. Grandfather is a fan of amateurs and small scale. Some people are concerned about how it is that good things happen to bad people, and there are those concerned about how bad things happen to good people. But my grandfather is interested in those times when miracles happen to ordinary people. Here again, he likes small scale.

When a nothing team full of nothing kids from a nothing town rises up with nothing to lose against some upmarket suburban outfit with new uniforms, and starts chucking hail-Mary bombs from their own goal line, and their scrawny freshman tight end catches three in a row to win the game – well, it does your heart good.

Murphy's Law does not always hold, says Grandfather Sam. Every once in a while the fundamental laws of the universe seem to be momentarily suspended, and not only does everything go right, nothing seems to be able to keep it from going right. It's not always something as dramatic as the long bomb or the slam-dunk that wins ball games.

Ever drop a glass in the sink when you're washing dishes and have it bounce nine times and not even chip? Ever come out after work to find your lights have been on all day and your battery's dead but you're parked on a hill and you let your old hoopy roll and it fires the first time you pop the clutch and off you roar with a high heart? Ever pull out that drawer in your desk that has a ten-year accumulation of junk in it – pull it out too far and too fast – and just as it's about to vomit its contents all over the room you get a knee under it and stagger back hopping on one foot and doing a balancing act like the Great Zucchini and you don't lose it? A near-miss at an intersection; the glass of knocked-over spilled milk that waltzes across the table but doesn't spill; the deposit that beat your rubber check to the bank because there was a holiday you forgot about; the lump in your breast that turned out to be benign; the heart attack that turned out to be gas; picking the right lane for once in a traffic jam; opening the door of your car with a coat hanger through the wing window on the first try. And on and on and on and on.

When small miracles occur for ordinary people, day by ordinary day. When not only did the worst not happen, but maybe nothing much happened at all, or some little piece fell neatly into place. The grace of what-might-have-been-but-wasn't, and it was good to get off scot-free for once. The ecstasy of what-could-never-happen-but-did, and it was grand to have beat the odds against for a change. Or the bliss of just what-was-for-a-day when nothing special took place – life just worked.

My grandfather says he blesses God each day when he takes himself off to bed having eaten and not having been eaten once again. “Now I lay me down to sleep. In the peace of amateurs, for whom so many blessings flow. I thank you, God, for what went right! Amen.”

Happiness is.......

• thinking I am on mile 3 of a 10 mile run and looking at my watch and discovering that I am actually on mile 5 - wohoo! It was 98% humidity so this discovery was the high point of the run, the rest pretty much sucked.
• a phone call with my sister
  
• chocolate cookies
• breakfast with my husband
• the NY Giants beating Dallas to advance in the playoffs
• soaking in the hot tub
• meatloaf and mashed potatoes
  

These were some of my happy moments today. Tomorrow is the opportunity for a whole new list. Hope you had some good moments today too!

Still Here

I realize I haven't posted in a week. I actually have three posts in the works but I haven't been on the computer much lately. We are having absolutely beautiful weather and I have been trying to pack in lots of outdoor time. Tomorrow will be more of the same, and I am looking forward to yet another afternoon spent at the campus pool. As far as this week goes, it's been one of those weeks where I can't figure out where the time went. Oh well!

My training is going well, although I was quite tired on Wednesday. I resumed my stadium workout on Tuesday after a two week break and realized immediately why running hills had been harder than usual on Saturday. The stadium workout went well, but I was wiped after. Usually I ride the bike at the gym for another hour, but I opted for home and some evening yoga. After nearly falling on my face while doing balance poses - much to Brian's amusement - I opted to get down on the floor where I very nearly fell asleep.

Speaking of yoga, I started teaching my class this week. I have 28 people signed up and it looks like I may have two more joining next week - 30 people, that's crazy! The last time I taught a fitness class with 30 people in it was the aerobics classes I taught at the University of MD - that was many moons ago. This is a beginner's class and everyone has such a great attitude. I love teaching beginners - it is both easier and more challenging than teaching more advanced students. Beginners typically know very little about yoga so they are very open to instruction, but they also don't know any of the terms, poses, and concepts so there is a lot more explanation required. All teachers should teach a beginner class - it helps to keep you familiar with the fundamentals of the practice. At any rate, this session is for six weeks and if there is enough interest, I'll continue offering classes.

That's all for now. More soon!

What's Next?

That was the question that I was asked several times during my Christmas visit so I figure I should answer it. I might as well tie it in with a year in review and New Year's resolutions - although typically my New Year's resolutions are goals I set for myself so the resolutions and "what's next" are essentially the same. I tend to avoid resolutions like be a better person, spouse, or friend because I always try to be better at those things - I may not always succeed, but I do try. I'd like to think that achieving the goals I set for myself help me to be a better person, but that's just my opinion.

So here's a quick recap of the year. I won't make any judgments on whether it was a good or bad year. I'm an optimist and I tend to think that the good outweighs the bad, and that even the bad things tend to look better over time. Yes, I am a silver lining kind of gal. I also think that each year is better than the last, and I try not to dwell on the past too much - it happened, it's over, moving on. That doesn't mean I don't enjoy reminiscing - I definitely do - I just prefer to not live in the past.

This year has definitely been a year of progressively improving health and fitness. Last year at this time, I was taking heart medication, having blood pressure issues, and dealing with plantar fasciitis. The majority of health issues cleared up and I was given a clean bill of health by my doctor in May. The plantar fasciitis took much longer to improve, but was pretty much gone by September. I ran the AT&T Half-marathon in February, started my triathlon season in March, did the Tour de Pain (3 races in 2 days) in August, and completed the NY Marathon in November. I did six triathlons this year: two sprint distances, one sprint distance tri turned duathlon, one quarter-iron distance (not quite an olympic distance), one half-iron distance, and one olympic distance - that is the most I've ever done in a year. I completed my 2nd half-ironman tri and set a PR for both that distance and the Olympic distance. I also set a marathon PR. Overall, I'm pleased with my racing accomplishments and healthwise I'm feeling really good.

My goals for 2008 are to complete Ironman Florida in November - that's the big one, to PR in a half-marathon - I have to beat 2:08, and to PR in a half-iron and olympic distance triathlon. I am racing the 3M half-marathon in a few weeks so I'm shooting for the half-marathon PR soon. If I don't make it, I will try again a month later. I'd love to break 2 hours, but I'm not quite sure I'm there yet. I'm doing the Gulf Coast Triathlon in May - I'm already registered so unless something major comes up, I'm definitely there. This is the half-iron distance. I set a PR last year with plantar fasciitis and on a harder course so another PR is looking good.

The other thing I have in the works is teaching yoga. I'm starting to teach a class next week and I would really like to get a few regular classes going. I worked really hard to complete my yoga certification and it'll be nice to put it to use.

That's all for now. I'll keep you updated on my progress. Happy New Year!

Happy New Year!

In the New Year, may your right hand always be stretched out in friendship and never in want.
-Irish Toast

May you always have walls for the winds,
a roof for the rain, tea beside the fire,
laughter to cheer you, those you love near you,
and all your heart might desire
-Irish Blessing