A Pep Talk to Myself

Got my third triathlon tomorrow. It's a 'super sprint'. Yeah, whatever. ;)  There's a 300m swim (in a pool, glory hallelujah!), 11 mile bike and 3 mile run.

I would happily, HAPPILY, move a couple of running miles or 100m of swimming over to the bike portion.  Now here's a perfect triathlon for me: 100m swim, 25 mile bike, 2 mile run. See? Perfection. No one else seems to see it that way. Hmmph.

I have to choose my triathlons based on the swim. When people ask, "What triathlon are you training for?" I answer, "The one with the shortest swim." But I'm getting better peeps, slowly but surely, I'm getting better. I only have to stop once now on my way down Barton Springs and once on my way back. It was not so long ago that I stopped three or four times each way. I think I can tread water for a full 15 seconds too without begging for Christ's second coming.

Most of my triathlon training energy has been spent on learning how to swim and overcoming my phobias anxiety in the open water. This means that my running, the thing I've done with the most consistency the last few years, has had to take a back seat (think: back seat of a Greyhound bus). Second to swimming has been learning how to bike with clips and gears and the "big ring" and "small ring" and all that sort of complicated stuff.  Complicated or not, if I knew how much I'd enjoy cycling, I'd have started a long time ago. Not that I'm so terribly speedy, but that's fun stuff. Heck, if I knew how much I'd enjoy all of triathlon training, I'd have started that a long time ago too.

I read an article about Phelps recently and in regards to the 4x200 relay, in which the American team won gold, he said, "It shows that hard work pays off." Okay, I'm a nobody learning how to swim, but he's darn right. So simple. So difficult. Whether it's for the Olympics or just a suburban mom learning how to swim, the same principle applies: consistent and persistent work will get results. Hard work is the "magic bullet" for which so many people quick answers.


It's easy to want to hop around to every boot camp, TZPQX workout and barre-pole-dance thingy hoping that I'll see instant results and sudden prowess in the water (and/or on the bike). Honestly, it can be frustrating to see people gliding up and down Barton Springs while I can't. I was sorta-kinda hoping I'd be further along by now. I have to remind myself that my best bet for getting better is to really stick with my goal -- and give it some time. Centimeter by centimeter, my swimming is improving. Mile by mile, my cycling is improving. 


Didja know that bronze medalists tend to be happier than silver medalists? I looked it up on a hunch after watching the Olympics, and lo and behold, it's been documented. Apparently, bronze medalists are just happy to have won a medal at all. They had to have worked their tail off, and they felt satisfied about their results. Still in the record books. Third in just the, you know... whole world. Wouldn't you be happy? I hope I would.

Viktoria Komova after winning silver (source)

Reese Hoffa after winning bronze (source)

You and I are probably not going to win a gold medal nor a triathlon (if you do, message me, because we need to be better friends ;)).  But I'd like to have the attitude of a bronze medalist tomorrow and in everything I do. (Not that I'm coming in third in the triathlon tomorrow. That would be plain silly.) I've done the math, and here's the equation:

 hard work  

+  grateful attitude 

=  a happy outcome 

Bronze medalists sleep better at night. I'm sure of it. On that note, I should go to bed soon. It's rise and shine at 4:45a.m.  :-)


No one has ever become poor by giving. ~ Anne Frank

Bucket List (Part I)

Notre Dame: crossed off my list last March

I've been keeping a small, mental "bucket list" before I even knew what to call it. Childhood history nerd that I was, most of the items I added to my early list were historical things to see, like:  Pompeii, the treasures of King Tut's tomb, and Ford's Theater (check, check, and check). As I've grown older, the list has expanded to all sorts of categories - fitness, spiritual, vocational, mental, etc. Although my list has grown, changed, and matured, my love of keeping a bucket list is still going strong.

If you're into creating bucket lists, I've come across some interesting blogs and websites on the topic that you might want to check out. This bucket list blogger gives helpful tips on starting your own list. I think 'thinking outside the box' is my favorite piece of advice. And mah voyeuristic self loves looking over his own list, too. Here's a website where you can publish your list if you want accountability, don't care to blog it, and want to have 3 million of your closest friends to cheer you on. The bucket list of this 16 year old girl with terminal cancer wins the "Most Deserving" award, and I'm inspired by some of the quirky prospects this guy has on his list. (Playing in the Rock, Paper, Scissors championships? How fun is that?!)

Here are some things *I* try to keep in mind when I'm making my list:

1.) Keep it active. My list is never meant to be definitive or complete. It's okay to add, erase, and alter. Life changes, goals change, and goodness knows I change. Go with the floooooow.

2.) Make the list my friend. This is not school, and I never want to let it get me down. If I never accomplish or become some of the items on my list, that's okaaaaay. Good gravy, it's better to make a list and work towards something than to never make a list at all. I need to remind myself of that.

3.) Make it ME. Wow, this is a big one. I don't care to skydive. Even though I think I read this on a million people's lists, it's just not one of my goals.  So be inspired, but don't not be you. Oh, and don't use double negatives. 

4.) Let it scare me. I purposefully choose a couple things that rattle my core. You know those things that seem crazy, but you deeply and secretly long to do?  I list 'em. Yeah, perhaps that's not just me nudging my oh-so-awesome micro-fine gel pen towards them in my handy-dandy-Moleskine.

5.) Search all aspects of life. I love to travel, but there are far, far more things to add to my list than just travel. I try to think of at 3 things to list from various areas of my life. It rounds me out.

6.) Never let age define the list. I'm trying to learn things at 42 (hello, swimming and cycling) that many learn at earlier ages. I try to push age aside and forge ahead on goals. As Mark Twain says, "Age is an issue of mind over matter. If you don't mind, it doesn't matter." Amen. 

And, without further ado, here's the first installation of bucket list items I've been writing in my (beloved) Moleskine. (So sorry, did I just mention Moleskine again? ;-)) I'm not numbering them, because there is no set number and there never will be.

- Swim 800m in open water (without holding on to anything, I guess I should add) - I have the buoyancy of a lead anvil and a deep-seated fear of putting my head under water and not touching ground. (I love the ground, you see. It makes me very happy. Freud would have a heyday.) You guys who can swim forever absolutely amaze me. This is, honestly, the bucket list item that I most fear will never happen. "Fear" is the operative word in every respect of this list item.

- Go to the Olympics - I'd prefer summer (because track and field is my love, go Usain and Kara Goucher), but I'd take watching the winter Olympics in person in a heartbeat. This has been a dream for decades.


- Get a tattoo. Sho' did -- last week! And if another person tells me I don't seem like the type to get a tattoo, I'll get a third. (Oops, Mom, did you see that? I actually have two. I know you still love me. :-))


- Work in the fitness industry. I don't know how, and I don't know where.  It's just something I know I love participating in, and I'd enjoy helping others gain strength and confidence through exercise.


- Hand-make every Christmas gift - This isn't so much about about frugality as it is about putting my heart and time into every gift. I'm not on a good trajectory for finishing that by this Christmas. Lord willing, I'll have more Christmases to try.

- Blog more - You know you enjoy something if it doesn't matter whether anyone knows about it or not. Writing is that way for me. (Go, introverts. :-)) I simply enjoy it, and I'm fulfilled by it.

So, there you have it. What are some of your bucket list items? I'd love to know!





Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.   ~ Mark Twain

Commitment

In all my running wisdom, with a half-marthon in November and a (first, Lord willing!) marathon in February, I've decided it was time to "up" my running routine.  So, this morning I met with a group of runners to run intervals on a local track.  Intervals are the (relatively) easy part.  The time of day?  Not so much.  What was difficult was the meeting time: 5:15 a.m. Now, 5:15 a.m. is usually closer to when I go to bed than when I wake up.  To say I'm not a morning person is an understatement.  But I did it. This morning I woke up at 4:50, picked up my neighbor at 5:05, and was huffing and puffing on the track by 5:20.  Whew, that even hurts to write. I wish there was an award for that kind of dedication. I'm all for accolades. :-)

As I was making my zombie rounds on the track this morning, I reflected on the past days' thoughts about my upcoming anniversary.  In about a week I'll be married 22 years.  More than half of my life.  (That does not hurt to write, thanks be to God.) In reflecting about my marriage, the idea that keeps coming up in my mind is:  commitment. Commitment to keep my vows.  Commitment to see it through.  Commitment to guard my heart.  Commitment to forgive.  Commitment to love.

Lest ye be decieved -- my marriage is not the stuff of Hollywood.  It's the real deal. Roses and warts. Feelings are fleeting, but commitment in marriage has produced an abiding joy that I treasure more than I could have imagined in August 1989. C.S. Lewis has a book titled Surprised by Joy.  I loved that book, and I understand that.  My life's title would be Surprised by Commitment. 

To bring it full circle (oh, how I love colons): marathons are like life.  No one bakes a cake for waking up at unholy hours to train.  And there are no laurel wreaths for years of commitment to a spouse.  My reward is to know it's right and best, and that's the best sort of peace.  I've committed and I'm going to see it through, to the best of my ability. Both marathon (short-term) and marriage (life-time).

I love you, Mr. Husband!

Don't use words too big for the subject. Don't say "infinitely" when you mean "very"; otherwise you'll have no word left when you want to talk about something really infinite. ~ C. S. Lewis