Hanging out with rock stars

Yesterday I had the honor and priviledge to hang with these chicks.  All ran and PR'd the Richmond Marathon.  I like to think I had some little part in their success--cowbell in hand, I cheered them on at miles 7 and 10.  I then changed and hurried to meet up with Lynn around mile 20 to pace her last 10k to an incredible 4:23.  She and I caught up with a struggling Kelly at mile 21 and talked her into hanging with us for the next few miles.  I am so proud of Kelly for sticking it out, and crossing the line with a very respectable time.  I am insipired:  these ladies have been training and racing all year (one race number per month!) and finished the year in style.

It is time again for me to work on my 2011 goals.  There is still so much I need to figure out: prep races, interim goals, what to do after June.  Life has been in such limbo, but I'm hoping by Thanksgiving I'll have a good sense of how far out I can plan.  In the meantime, I am trying hard to get back into the workout swing.  I have the run test behind me, the bike test coming up, and a rest week next week to look forward to.  The hard part is just balancing that with the work load I have right now--I'm a juggling fool!  I am loving having a close friend on a similar workout plan, and look forward to our once or twice a week sufferfests in the basement.  TRX is kicking my butt, but in a good way, just the way Jen would like it. 

10 Things that Make Me Happy

1.  My Handsome Guys:

Joey is our comic relief in this family and oh, do I love him so.  He has some great signature dance moves, and will on occassion come and snuggle with me in the morning.  That is the BEST way to start the day.  Soon he'll be too old for that, so I grab every chance to love on him.  He is a nice kid, and tries hard to be responsible about his diabetes. 

My husband is my greatest cheerleader and best friend.  It's funny how we as girls tend to choose guys very much like our own fathers for husbands (although mine has MUCH more fashion sense than my dad!); my dad would not deny my mother anything.  My mom was right when she told me my father was the one that would love her always and regardless of anything--and Joe is the same with me.  He can be really goofy at times, especially with the kids, which makes him the best kind of dad--engaged, loving, and thoughtful.   

2. My Beautiful Moo

Every day I marvel at what a smart, beautiful girl I have!  She is a far better student than I ever was, which I credit to her love of reading.  She is an adventurous sort and is usually willing to give new things a try, from food to sports to travel.  I am so glad that she has some very close friends--girls that have been in her life since before preschool!  I know she will grow up to be a confident and independent woman.

3.  My friends--both near and far, old and new

My friends challenge me:  to do new things, to push myself, and to reach for things I want.  I love that they see things in me that I can't and believe in me when I don't.  Without you guys I would've never become an Ironman, much less tried a triathlon in the first place.  Peer pressure can be a good thing!  (Although that fourth vodka gimlet was not a good idea.) 

4.  Sophie

Wouldn't it be nice to wake up everyday in the same "Gee, I'm happy to see you!" mood?  It has taken a while (4 years) for her to get over the piddle-in-submission greeting, but Sophie is always ready to go for a run or snuggle on the couch.  She absolutely LOVES the beach in any kind of weather which makes her my kind of dog!  Now, if only I could break her annoying habit of carrying shoes around in her mouth. 

5.  Cupcakes

Now, I'm sure you thought this was a given, but it's not the cake itself that makes me happy (although I am a total sucker for that coconut/lime flavor YUM!)  Cupcakes to me are about making other people happy because shared indulgences are the best, especially with folks from #3.

6.  The Beach

Like my dog, I love the beach in any kind of weather.  We are so lucky to have our house at the beach and it has become our "happy place."  There is no clutter, no demands on our schedule, and no hassles (other than home repair issues.)  It is a time to read, do puzzles, lounge on the beach or in the house, go for runs or bike rides if the mood strikes, and generally just hang out.

7.  A Clean House

....and preferably one I didn't have to clean myself!

8.  A Good Book

I am the type of person that gets easily sucked into a good book.  I will ignore everything else, and just read read read.  I've been known to stay up waaaay past 3am to finish a book.  It doesn't happen very often, which I guess is a good thing, since then the house would be a total wreck and my children would be dirty and starving.

9.  Nice Hotels and Flying First Class

I don't do camping.  I don't like to be cold, sleep on the ground, or have to use a flashlight to find the bathroom in the middle of the night.  I much prefer a bed that is freshly made every morning, down comforters (love the fact that more hotels are going in this direction), and clean towels every day.  My husband has spoiled us--we have stayed in some pretty swank places on our travels and been able to cobble together some good itineraries on flights that let us fly in style.  The days of tighter budgets will be a sad thing when and if we get to go overseas again.

10.  Tulips.

Tulips are my favorite flower, but I especially love parrot tulips that are variegated and have the raggedy edges.  Joe knows birthdays are better with tulips!

Races and Race Reports

What could be better than swimming, biking and running through some of this country's most gorgeous wine country? Why, eating and drinking your way through wine country with great friends too! Time to plan your summer vacation with a little 70.3 thrown in for good measure. Sign ups for Vineman open this Sunday at midnight (is that 11pm or 1am with the time change???)

Jen C and I have been scheming and this is what we've come up with:

• We have a couple of ideas on houses to rent in the area, all that would accomodate 6-10, and all have a pool.


• Jen has her professional chef friends lined up to prepare an awesome post race meal, complete with wine pairings!


• We were also thinking of organizing a little barrel tasting too (can you say carb load???)


• Thank you Molly for offering to be our sherpa and cheerleader extraordinaire! She's done this race twice so she knows how this whole point to point thing works. Yey Molly!

Race day is July 18th. I figure we'd need the house from Friday, July 16th to Monday the 19th. Let me know if you're in and I'll get working on it. Ideally I'd like to keep that cost down to about $100/night per person. If we have fewer than 6 we MIGHT be able to just horn in at my in-laws house which is just 20 mins from the race start, and 5 mins from the race finish, but I have to clear that with them. The chef's meal would run about $75 (that includes wine!) Who's in???

On a less fun note, I guess I need to talk/blog about the Marine Corps Marathon. For all my chatting about getting faster, I didn't deliver. I posted a disappointing 4:55, 4 mins off my current best time. It was a beautiful day for the run. You couldn't ask for better weather--sunny skies, breezy, and about 60 degrees. I was able to make it to the race start in plenty of time, and seeded myself in the 4:30 to 5:00 time corral. I looked all around for my high school friend's husband and he found me just after the gun. I was so glad to have someone to run with! Thank you Tony for the company. The first few miles went by really quickly, with the first hill up Lee Hwy and then down Spout Run. 30,000 is a lot of running company, and it was very crowded (yet only 21,000 finish). There was a lot of people dodging and maneuvering.

Running up Canal Road was beautiful and shady. We made it up the second hill to the reservoir fine and I took in my first gu at the 7 mile point. The downhill back into Georgetown was steep! I knew we'd fly down it, but kept in mind that such steep hills make for owie legs later on (thank you IMLP for that lesson). Lots of crowd support all the way down M Street, and then another downhill and around to the Kennedy Center. This part of the run is familiar since it follows roughly the same path as the Army 10 Miler. Joe was hoping to be at the Lincoln Memorial around mile 11, but didn't make it. There were TONS of spectators around there, which really helped, and I doubt I could've found him in the crowd anyways.

Then came the flat flat flat portion of the race out to Hains Point and back. Nice views along the Potomac and more shade. Aaah. Around the corner, beep beep over the 1/2 way timing mat. At this point I was hanging in there with the 4:30 pace group and doing ok but then I lost Tony at a water stop. And between here and mile 16, the wheels came off the bus. Maybe I should blame that Russian dude that started running with me and chatting up a storm (see pic below and can you believe his name was Boris?). He had been a professional volleyball player in Russia, moved to the US and took up beach volleyball, and now was getting into IM training. He seemed nice enough, but just kept talking my ear off. I wasn't sorry to lose him at a water stop. I knew these miles coming up (18-20) would be the toughest since you loop out to the Capitol and back along the Mall and didn't want to talk about how he should train for Ironman Nice.

At mile 18 I checked my phone and sure enough Joe had texted that he and the kids were waiting for me at mile 22. Not close enough! I found Tony again, poor guy was massaging out cramps just before the Capitol turn around. I asked if he wanted me to stick around and he said to keep going! I finally made it to the 14th Street Bridge and knew if I could make it to Joe, I'd be ok. That bridge is long. It's the last 2 miles of the A10M course, so I know the feeling well of running running running (along a freeway, no less) feeling like you'll never get to the Pentagon. The guy dressed as the Grim Reaper had it somewhat right: he was holding up a huge sign that said "THE END IS NEAR" which 22 miles in is technically correct, but it still feels impossibly far. I was so glad getting off that ramp into Pentagon City, and then saw Joey looking out for me! Yey.

I hit my goal time of 4:30 at the 24 mile point. For a few moments I did consider just stopping at that point. I had just seen my family (for the first time during the race) and the car and hotel were just behind me. Ahead lay 2.2 more miles of pain and frustration. Luckily the handsome young Marine with a bullhorn started talking to ME ("Hey, Ironwoman, get your ass moving! Just 2 more miles!" was about what he was saying) and motivated me to finish it up. I did find Tony again (he must've passed me as I was in the Cosi bathroom at the turn around at mile 23), and he used the phone to call his wife to let her know his expected finish time. He urged me to run it in if I could, so I took off, cranked up the ipod and tried to ignore my legs.

Coming up the final hill to the Iwo Jima memorial was bittersweet. Tons of spectators, lots of young marines, all cheering you up the hill (it's a steep one!). You can't let them down and not RUN up it. Ow ow ow. And whew, the finish line. The medals they give you are impressive--big hunks of metal of the globe, anchor, and eagle. I immediately called first Joe to say "come get me!" and Jen to weep into the phone, and tell her I finished...but.

I have been training for long distance racing for over a year and a half--I started training for IMFL in May of '08. That's a long time to be devoted to distance training, with no emphasis on speed. In talking with Jen H, we agree that my goal time is in me, somewhere. I need this coming year to see if I can translate my improved shorter distance PRs (Shamrock and the Army10Miler) into more consistent speed. Until then, I need to keep ahead of Joe. He's thrown down a challenge that he'll beat me in the Turkey Trot this year. I'll give him a run for his money!

Eating Vegetables (it's good for you!)

Poor Jen, I called her last night and started complaining. About being alone at my races without my family, about how slow I'm feeling. She must've said something to ELF, because I was later instructed on Facebook to pull on the big girl panties and EAT MY VEGETABLES. And they're right. It's time to HTFU, realize that I signed up for these races ostensibly for a reason (like maybe because they'd be fun? or maybe I could set a new PRs?) Neither Jen nor ELF can do that for me, and neither can my family. And while it would be nice to have a familiar face meet me at mile 20 and say "Let's get you to the finish line sooner rather than later," I shouldn't rely on that. Just like in an IM, it should be ME that gets me to the finish line. That little voice in me in Placid was really annoying, telling me how much better I'd feel if I slowed down, how easier it was to walk than run. It almost had me convinced I didn't even need to finish, but I knew better on that score (Jen and my husband would've killed me!) I don't think I've tuned it out yet either.

I have a hard time with that voice. It is the voice of self-doubt. It can be very persuasive. It is the voice that says the hurt will stop when you do. It can easily wipe out months of hard work and progress with just a little whisper of "what if..." or "you don't need to do this..." or "ouch this hurts." I think this is where people who grow up athletic have it a little better in that they learned to tune out that voice back in high school or college. How do you reprogram that voice when you're just finding that athlete inside yourself at age 41? Ha, Jen, there's a question for your blog!

On the way to dinner I was doing some math. I was trying to remember my pace for the 2007 Monument Avenue 10k which I ran in just over 52 minutes, a 2 minute PR. I wasn't running that race with a specific time goal, but I was running with a friend. She had pulled away from me at the 3 mile mark, and I remember how I push push pushed to find her again and cross the line with her. Where was the voice then? Who knows. But I wanted one thing, and that was to not be beat to the line by much. My fitness has only improved since then, so I have no excuses but damn I still feel slow! Someday I want to run a sub 50 min 10k. Right now though, my 800m repeats that have me dying by the end are not far off that 8 1/2 min/mile pace from 2007. Is IM training really THAT damaging to your speed?!

While at dinner, Joey asked how much I'd pay him to eat his vegetables. I told him he better get used to being hungry, because I won't bribe him to eat. I guess I better figure out what I'm craving, and how badly I want it. No one is going to eat those veggies for me, and even if I have to choke them down, they're good for me.

The Countdown has Begun

This is the ticker on the TriGirl ironman Weekend Workout description. Now imagine me, running around in circles screaming like a chicken without a head. I knew it had to happen sooner or later--that sickening revelation that "HOLY CRAP I'M DOING AN IRONMAN....SOON!!!" And not just any IM, but the (from what I've heard) hardest course in North America.

So far, my workouts have been very manageable--averaging a total of about 11 hrs each week. That is going to change, especially with the advent of outdoor bike riding three days a week instead of our current one. From here on out, I get to look forward to 5+ hour bricks on Saturdays and long bike rides on Thursdays. Thank goodness Fridays are family game and movie night, because getting up at 6am for Marco Diablo's yumminess after staying up too late is no fun. But that also blows Saturday nights too since I am then too tired to do anything except sit on the couch and veg.

I'm trying to compartmentalize and not freak out too much. To that end, I've been focusing on the positive aspects of all this training we'll be doing. Among them are:

• Time with my peeps. In the saddle, in the pool, on the run. Lots and lots of time...
• Great legs. Hills, hills, and more hills = a great pair of legs (right?!)
• Some fun weekends (of hills...) up on the Blue Ridge Parkway and in Lake Placid. I promise I won't drink 4 vodka gimlets this time.
• A chance to race (and party post race) with Jen C. and Jen H. at Eagleman the weekend before I leave for Europe.
• And finally, some new and exotic training locales--the Blue Ridge, Provence during lavender season, and southern Spain (I know I know...shoot me now.)

Hopefully all that will add up to being ready by July 26th. I know I can do the distance, albeit a relatively flat, head-windy version of the distance. If nothing else, I am looking forward to those two monster downhill bombs where I really don't have to pedal at all....

Let's get started.

A lesson in courage

We all remember middle school, don't we? The name of the game was conformity--don't stand out or make yourself different in any way shape or form. Because if you do, you'll get laughed at...and that is a fate worse than death.

Now, for Maddy, the beginning of middle school has also meant the start of cotillion. Cotillion is where kids go to learn social graces and dancing. Girls wear white gloves and the boys wear ties. It seems to me a very southern thing. Luckily they engineer the dancing so that there is no being "asked" to dance. You are paired with whomever you promenade in with--girls on one side, boys the other. Older kids act as helpers and fill in partner gaps. There is never the embarrassment of being left sitting against the wall.

Not being a native Richmonder, I didn't understand the importance of cotillion and its associated rituals when we went through this process with Jim. Among these: that cotillion carpools are best established while the kids are still in utero; that you need a posse of friends to go cruise the mall with afterwards; and finally, that even when you dress kids up in nice clothes and white gloves, the boys will still act like they're too cool and the girls will be giggly. We moved to Richmond too late to get Jim into a fun carpool, so he missed out on all that.

Maddy's cotillion carpool is made up of 5 girls who have been her good friends since preschool. They don't all go to the same school now, but have managed to stay close. My first experience driving the carpool was enlightening; on our way to dinner afterward, the girls all talked about which boys have sweaty palms, can't lead, or lead well. (The boys who do know the dances and lead rank high on their list of desirable partners!) Each dance has a theme, so in early November the girls wore "patriotic colors" to coincide with the election, and in December they have a Holly Ball which they attend with their dad or Mom (or in Maddy's case with Jim. This past weekend was "Disco Fever."

When Maddy got home from school on Friday, we started working on her "disco" outfit, and I must say we came up with something worthy of Studio 54. Black slinky pants, a silver lame camisole topped with a black bolero sweater, and dangly earrings. But the piece de resistence was the afro wig Maddy insisted on wearing (it had been part of Joe's halloween costume). To be safe, I put her hair in a bun so if she decided not to wear the wig the whole night, she'd still look good.

That girl worked the outfit!!! She wore the wig for the whole evening, and received quite a few compliments to boot! I didn't think she'd have the guts to see the outfit through for the whole evening. I told her if she could have fun with it and laugh at herself for doing it, all the better. And she did. I never would've had the balls to do that in 6th grade. I'm so proud of her.

So, put yourself out there! Don't be afraid. You might surprise yourself.

Posititve Thinking

My Halloween Pumpkin

Is it time to panic yet?

Does anyone remember that scene from "Diamonds are Forever" where Sean Connery and Jill St. John are on this oil rig and some guy keeps counting down, "SEVEN SECONDS AND COUNTING" while all hell breaks loose? I've got that voice stuck in my head, but it's saying "17 days and counting...."

I must say I'm doing alot of visualization--of myself running down the finish chute whiles Michael Reilly says, "Kate Oliver, YOU are an Ironman!" But that has also been tempered by dreams of being late to the swim start because I haven't organized all my stuff or pumped up my tires.

After last night's brick--our last out at West Creek for the year--Sharon and I went to Mojo's for a small "circle of happiness" hour. Our coaches say we're ready. I'm not sure I quite believe it. I felt more ready just after ChesapeakeMan than I do right now. Maybe part of it is the crash, or maybe it's that feeling that I think many people fall victim to of "oh my god, I haven't done everything I can to be ready." It could also be that I think I've caught whatever virus Maddy had at the beach last weekend, so I'm feeling run down and tired. Thank goodness this is our last long workout weekend, and it's just a 50mi bike/10mi run!

Brick by Brick

...is how you get to Ironman. This weekend was my first weekend (long) brick workout since last October, when I biked 50 and ran 10 with TriGirl Lynn in her last pre-IMFL workout. I am not counting the indoor cycling/run workouts of early this year, why, I don't know. Outside workouts count differently in my mind; they're just different than riding inside and running outside. Maybe just I didn't have my trainer tight enough. But I digress...
I had done a track workout (again, my first in a long time) on Friday since I can't seem to get my lazy ass out of bed before 7am on Thursdays. So those TriGirl morning speed workouts at the Vita course aren't happening yet. I guess I should shout out to some of my fellow IMFL trainees and TriGirls, to arrange some carpool situation, or something, to really motivate me to get me out of bed. OK, I'm still digressing here....
So Saturday morning rolls around, my legs are tired, I'm tired since it's cheeks on seats at 7am or I ride/run alone. I was a good girl Friday night and came home from dinner with my grad school friends early, so I did get enough sleep and I've been eating copious amounts of food for two weeks now. But I just can't seem to keep up with my fellow Florida girls. A dropped chain at mile 23 didn't help. By mile 25 of 30, coach Blake catches up with me. "Keep your cadence at 90," he says. "But then I spin like mad and go nowhere," says I. "Easy work over sustained time," he counsels me. "But what good is that if I'm riding ALONE, miles behind my friends?" I ask. Coach Blake is good--he seems to know almost every TriGirl's A race, and what races she's done so far, and pretty much the right thing to say to get her to do what she needs to do. Have I told you that he's finished Ironman Lake Placid, the toughest IM course in North America? He has been where I doubt I could ever go--but he is able to instill a quiet calm and confidence in me that makes me think that maybe, just maybe, I could. "They've already done a half iron and a century ride this year, where your attention was rightly focused on graduating. Of course they're in better shape. But you WILL get there. Patience," is the gist of what he then said to me. So I put the damn bike into an easier gear, upped my cadence, and tried hard to spin my way back into the pack. Luckily I finished the ride just a couple of minutes behind my friends. Then it was time to run.
Have I said that summer has arrived in Richmond? That the temps the past couple of days have been in the high 80s, with some thick humidity, even at 9am? The run was going to be HOT, and we were supposed to do it in a negative split.
I've come to rely on dropping a cooler w/ water, ice, and sports drinks at about the halfway point in our 6 mile run loop out at West Creek (where we usually do our Saturday workouts). I'm so glad I planned ahead this weekend too. I've had water bottles and coolers stolen/taken on those long brick workouts--so I've labeled my litte red cooler for "TRIGIRLS ONLY--DO NOT REMOVE." Thank god for that red cooler. 2.5 and 5 miles into the run, the only thing that keeps me going is knowing I can pour cold water on my neck and stuff my bra with ice. Last summer it was a life saver, and Saturday was no different. As we look ahead to August, I'll be packing two coolers, so on 10-12 mile runs we can have a "water stop" at every 4 miles or so. We finished the run in a little over an hour, which included two water stops, and for me a sit in the grass (Love those quick-dry skorts!)
The good news from this week:

• I've pretty much made it back to full training mode, including several bike/run workouts, without any knee issues. PT said that they will discharge me next week if I'm still pain free. I guess that means no more massages from Kent...but also no more dragging a 90lb sled down a corridor. I'll have to pick up strength training again at Maramarc instead, but I'll be in good company.
• I need to keep up w/ yoga and my foam roller to keep those IT band issues at bay.
• Time also to focus on getting in the pool at least 2-3 times per week to swim (lounging at our pool working on a tan apparently doesn't count. Damn.)
• Our fearless Brazil folks are back stateside! Time to celebrate!

Finally, I'd like to congratulate all the TriGirls who finished their first triathlon, the Shady Grove Sprint this weekend! I wasn't able to be there to cheer them on (sleepovers and golfing husbands), but from what I hear all had a good time and raced well. To my blogger friend Marit, kudos to you too for your first post-injury ow swim. I hope it went well. And best wishes to Jen as she heads off this week to kick some butt at the ITU Worlds in Vancouver--you will rock!

"Eye on the Prize"

The talk Wednesday night in the locker room after Master's was focused on this weekend's race. I think there are at least 10 TriGirls running various distances, most the half marathon. I will be sitting it out. As other races come up this spring, especially White Lake with over 30 TriGirl and Maramarc folks running, it will be hard to be on the sidelines. I won't be the only one sitting out Shamrock--I just learned of TriGirl Cyndi's diagnosis and won't be alone in my misery. Walking Joey home from school today, I stopped to chat with a neighbor--she's a great athlete, runner, mom, and full-time OB-Gyn. She asked why I'm persuing an Ironman. "It's so hard on your body, and you run the risk of serious injury," she said. But then I talked about the inspiration of my friends, watching them all cross that finish line last year, and she knowingly nodded. "It's out there and you want it," she said then warned me to be careful and listen to my body.

Coach Blake has offered me a new perspective on my position (and now Cyndi's too) being an opportunity, rather than an inconvenience. I can make a very deliberate and careful choice--to keep training, risking worse injury, or to take the time to heal properly and come back stronger. His exact words to me were, "Keep your eye on the prize." And Ironman Florida is my prize. The focus I can afford to give now to my physical therapy, will pay dividends this fall. Yes, Kent (my physical therapist), I will try to back down on the spinning and running....and I promise I will quit when I feel pain.

With spring break ending this weekend, and under orders to take training more easily, I am once again going to be spending all my free time in the studio. Our outside critique last week went well, but there is much refining to do on my design, models still to be finished (or just made), and many, many drawings to produce. On Tuesday I was able to go up to the design center in DC to hear Roger Thomas, the design director for all Wynn hotel properties, talk about his inspirations. The man, like many talented designers, takes a sketch book everywhere. He made the point that even if his sketches aren't perfect, they capture and convey more about the time and place he was, than the actual detail of the object he hoped to draw, enough so that the detail of a stone wall he saw flying by in a car in Italy is transformed into a mosaic wall in a restaurant in Vegas. Later that afternoon, in perusing old pen and ink drawings for sale, one that was smaller than 3" caught my eye. It was a masterful little drawing of the piazza San Marco in Venice, complete with people sitting in a cafe in the foreground and a crowd in front of the arches of the Doge's palace in the distance.

Time and patience....and practice. If I wasn't trying to train for an ironman, I'd want to learn how to draw like that.

"What is your Antarctica?"

The beautiful Susie Q sent out an intriguing post from Kristin Armstrong's blog about Lynne Cox's book, Swimming to Antartica, in which Armstrong asks her readers "What is your Antarctica?" http://milemarkers.runnersworld.com/2007/12/your-antarctica.html

As endurance athletes, we encounter pain in many forms, both physical and mental. There is the pain of pushing ourselves during our 1/2 mile repeats, the pain of tight IT bands, the pain of failing to conquer a longer distance race, and the pain of having to drag yourself out of a warm bed at 6 on a Saturday morning to face....more pain. There is also, like Fave's recent post, the happy pain of sore arms after conquering a particularly grueling weight training session, or in Susie's experience, the joyful pain of becoming an Ironman and qualifying for Boston both in the same week!

Maybe our coaches Mark and Ed are on to something (but don't tell them that): how we incorporate pain into our training is what makes us better athletes. Kristin says that in her experience, "resistance to pain is such an inhibitor to actually being in the moment (pain and all) and enduring" through long races such as a marathon. Since 2004 when I started running triathlons, I have struggled to meet my pain threshold and overcome it. I am more likely to back down, walk a bit, skip reps, or just pack it in and go home. As I go through this year, I'll have ample opportunity to meet that threshold--I hope I can cross it and learn to use it to build my strength, both mental and physical. TriGirl Shawn's fortune cookie said it all: "The pain you feel today will pay rewards in the future." We will PERSEVERE.

Resolutions

For the almost 15 years we've been together, my husband has always been the one to take time in the new year to set goals for himself personally and professionally, and review his accomplishment toward of the previous year's objectives (or lack thereof) in a very systematic way. I have never been so disciplined, but instead stuck to what until now have seemed pretty generic "life goals," such as "this year I want to get pregnant" (1996 and 1999), "this year I want to go back to school" (2006), or "this year I want to finish Eagleman" (2007). On the whole, I guess my resolutions were achieved without what seemed like an inordinate amount of work on my part: I guess you could call me fertile-Myrtle on the pregnancy front; I was pretty confident that I could get into grad school again; and training for Eagleman in good company and with good coaches made it possible for me to finish.

Now it's 2008 and I do have two major goals looming on the horizon for this year (thus the blog for one of them). However, I feel there are several important aspects of my life that could use some improvement. I hope that by declaring those goals here I will not lose sight of what's important in my pursuit of either my MFA or an M-dot tatoo. To it, they are:

• To be a good friend, head cheerleader, and active listener to my husband, children, fellow grad students, and TriGirls. There is more of me I can give to them, despite the every day issues (school work, grocery shopping, etc) that can take over my life.
• Over the past year I have lost touch with or become distant from friends that don't fall into the "grad student" and "TriGirl" categories. Many of these women have seen me through some hard times and I miss them. I feel that I could lose their friendship entirely. I haven't figured out how to fix this yet, but it is something that bears working on.
• I have always been one to skate through school and still manage decent grades. The first half of this past semester was a bit of a wake up call on that front. This spring, I have the opportunity to push myself academically. Maintaining a light race schedule is only the first step, much harder will be to become more disciplined with my time in the studio.
• And finally, to apply myself more to my athletic training. Like the beautiful Susie Q, I need to take joy in what my body can accomplish, but also ask what more I can do. I need to face those workouts without whining and without complaint (which will take some of the fun out of it!), but with a serious sense of purpose and a "what can I learn from this?" attitude. Anything less and I may not earn that tatoo.

Per TriGirl40's blog, our coach has asked us to think of a word to motivate us and help us attain our goals for the coming year. I think mine will be "persevere," which Webster's defines as "to persist in any purpose or enterprise; continue striving in spite of difficulties, etc."

Happy New Year!