Ponder This:

Greetings friends:) I have always been a big fan of Snoopy. Our entire family has, actually. Many a snoopy lived on our beds, in our beds, and sadly I dont know if i have any of them anymore. My parents will likely be showing up with a box at my doorstep this afternoon:)

These words really made me think alot about my goals for life, my goals for triathlon, and of course what really matters. I know i tend to be all deep in my latest posts, sorta where my head is, but read thru this and i think you may think deep for a second or three too! 
Enjoy!

The Charles Schulz Philosophy

(Scroll thru slowly and read carefully to receive and enjoy full effect)

The following is the philosophy of Charles Schulz, the creator of the 'Peanuts' comic strip.

You don't have to actually answer the questions. Just ponder on them.

Just read this straight through, and you'll get the point. 


1. Name the five wealthiest people in the world. 

2. Name the last five Heisman trophy winners. 

3. Name the last five winners of the Miss America pageant. 

4 Name ten people who have won the Nobel or Pulitzer Prize. 

5. Name the last half dozen Academy Award winners for best actor and actress. 

6. Name the last decade's worth of World Series winners.

How did you do?

The point is, none of us remember the headliners of yesterday. 

These are no second-rate achievers. 

They are the best in their fields. 

But the applause dies... 

Awards tarnish... 

Achievements are forgotten. 

Accolades and certificates are buried with their owners.



Here's another quiz. See how you do on this one:


1. List a few teachers who aided your journey through school. 

2. Name three friends who have helped you through a difficult time. 

3. Name five people who have taught you something worthwhile. 

4. Think of a few people who have made you feel appreciated and special.

5. Think of five people you enjoy spending time with..

Easier?


The lesson: 

The people who make a difference in your life are not the ones with the
most credentials, the most money...or the most awards. 

They simply are the ones who care the most.

Pass this on to those people who have either made a difference in your life, or whom you keep close in your heart, like I did. 

'Don't worry about the world coming to an end today. It's already tomorrow in Australia !'

''Be Yourself. Everyone Else Is Taken!"

Now I may be the only one reading this who cant tell you who won The IM World Championships before Chrissie Wellington came on board, and seriously I dont really know the difference btwn Macca and Crowie. Maybe how some of you dont know the difference btwn Roger and Rafa, but my point is i cant even tell you how won the US OPEN in 2011. ( I suspect i supressed it)

So dream big, dont give up but as a wise friend told me the other day, dont lose sight of the what really matter, the journey. I think i appreciate this more and more when i know what a gift it is to be healthy and to be able to just get out of bed to do stuff and train at a high level. Somedays i want coach to push me harder. I dont want to sit at the wall and rest for 60 seconds, that is silly. WORK ME, make me suffer. Then i realize that getting off that wall in 10 seconds or 60 seconds isnt really what has me worked up is it? It's that I feel like i am in a hurry, like I dont want to miss anything. Yet at the same time wouldnt 60 sec allow me to really appreciate what i am doing, doing it with purpose, not just getting it done?

My point to myself  ( and you if i havent lost you) is to not rush the rest, dont rush the "boring times with your family," and as always keep on plugging away at your goals, but dont lose sight of what matters. The Gang:) Your gang maybe family, it may be friends, it may be pets, and it may be random people you see at Nina's coffee shop that know your drink order ( oops, is that a bad thing?) But you have a gang, dont forget about them!

=

New Friends and Bous Video's!

Today i slept till 8:30 am. I stayed up last night till midnight. I went for a walk today, with Rich. We walked slow. We went to get coffee, we sat there and didnt leave till 11. We shared a muffin, it was all cake like. Not grainy or good for you at all. Then i came home and had some halloween candy.

This is NOT my normal MO.

I was out last night with these fun ladies:

Kortney ( 2 kids down, one heck of a nice person and a magnified Vo2 max, hmm pregnancy anyone?!) Suzie ( lovely Suzie, who has the cutest dogs and a fabulous smile ..oh and dont mess with her on the bike), Hannah ( the nicest, and best Gear West staffer/manager/friend, dog mom who is hosting the next party in her sauna..who looks very serious here but i think that is bc the host was taking like 5 minutes to take the picture), Your's truly, and Marta( who ended up with a $52 salad after the parking ticket) Blah on that.

We kept it tame, good Greek eats and one bottle of greek wine ( for 5 of us, i would say we kept it tame!) These are my fantastic teammates. I am so lucky to have friends that are also people who love multisport. But best of all is that i think we genuinely like each other even if we werent swimming biking and running too. That is what this sport has come to mean to me. Friends, people that have a life outside of the sport, and despite our odd quirky love to tear ourselves up, I have gotten to know these women more off the race course/ training course than on. Pretty cool.

It took me a while to remember that I had these: Our group pic..I am in the middle

straight down from the E in "Best"...

As for the video they are not in order, but it goes T2, Run finish, then some swim video.

I may or may not have gotten cabin video in there too. oops. My biggest fan, Rich, took these video's and as you will hear, has a very loud voice!

I have another week of no structure coming up. That is just fine as i am taking my time getting back into the swing, searching for a pool that isnt 83 roasting degrees, biking outside on my road bike while its still above 40 and easing back into runs as my posterior allows. Not sure on that one really and since the A game doesnt need to be in full swing until next spring, why rush it? ( Easier said than done as i saw runners out today on the trails and ached to be running, not walking! ) Seems i am a huge wuss walking. I can envision running miles and miles but walking seems so long and hard and boring at times.

Anyways enjoy the video!

Gear West Du Race Report..and Butt Names!

6k-30k-4k format.


Sunday started out cool. I was up early...I dont usually like sunday races. I am usually a ball or energy and excitement + + nerves the day before and to have a saturday with nothing but a tune up and lots of time to kill often = my nerves just escalating. I handled it pretty well and since it was once again windy and actually COLD saturday I was happy to wait it out.
Still saturday night when Rich called from the north woods I was all "I wish i were there, I wish I werent here. I wish i was chopping wood and clearing trails and cleaning up after all the boys ( My dad, my brother, my 2 nephews) plus a work force of 40+ at the work weekend at the cabins..wait a minute. Did I really want to be up there and missing this race? NO. But heck when you are ready to go and you are waiting..can anyone say "pre-competition anxiety?"

And why does she have a tennis court on this blog entry? As we racked our bikes next to the Orono High tennis courts it did give me a sense of calm. On our first calm day ( wind wise) I was taken back to the times when i would enter those courts and in the bright cold sunshine, work myself into a trance of repetitive motion. For now the sound of clean hit on the sweet spot of the racket, and the crunch of a well returned or hit serve has been replaced, for now, with the woosh woosh woosh of the disk wheel. Or of someone else's disk passing my disk:)

On to the race report...I havent found any official GW pics but the following were taken by Pharmie, Speedo Steve's great wife, who i found out is ALSO doing Liberty Half. YEA!

Starting "sprint"..I am tickled that i am 1/2 step in front of the great Dave Dow. I have to give him crap for that. He is just to me left and a fantastic coach at SPA, chemist at 3M, and super biker as well. And a nice guy. This is the only section of the 1st 6k that is on terra firma. Then we head to the uneven terrain. fun fun. I worked the 1st run as best i could and didnt totally kill myself. but as this went on and on, and we had 90 deg turns, 180 deg turns, uphills, bridges, soggy wood chips, cones to run around..I was thinking how tough the last 4k run would be. LATER, not now, stay here, Julia.

Leaving T1 after my T(ea) party. For the life of me if i could not waste at least 30 seconds getting my Aero helmet buckled. I mean come on...what is my problem?! Once I got out i was good to go. 1st mile was hard, but that isnt news. I took a gel about 3 miles in and washed it down with some infinit that was too strong since for the next 8 miles i had my first episodes of reflux on the bike. Check, need water, and need infinit less strong for a fast paced day. I was passed by my buddy Dave at the only hill that I needed the small ring for, a quick incline up to 24. He flew by me as I was spinning my wheels up that stinker. Back into the big ring and I was on the TNT course, the same one that less than a week ago nearly blew me over.

I love this course and the subsequent turn to 19 up to the cemetary and Hamel Road. Lots of rollers with rolling hills in between those rollers. I had a few tough spots ( read 13 mph spots) going up a few rollers but with the rest I had the week before my legs just followed as I cranked the shifters down and took the descents as a fun and sorta fast effort, all the while pedaling with as much resistance as my legs could handle. I was passing some women, mostly young-uns from the Junior team, and then came upon a woman in my age group on Hunter Road. I know Wendy, she is from chippewa falls and is a very strong runner. She was about 30 seconds ahead of me on the 1st run so I kinda hung out beside her for a bit bc I knew that Hunter road was a short road and i didnt want to try to pass her as we were turning onto a busier Hi 6. So just as we turned she got out of her saddle and started hauling. Then she sat down. Ok now, 6 had a bit of wind and some long rollers. The kind i love to grind out. So off i went. I went by her with an "on your left, good job Wendy" and off i went. I also passed a Run and Fun gal who looked quite young. She didnt smile, and didnt look to pleased to have me ride on by ..I didnt look back I just kept riding. And when we turned back towards T2 I could see that they werent close to me. Likely 20-30 seconds back. Woot woot. Keep on going. Wendy will catch you in the run but MAKE HER CATCH YOU.


T2 was alot better, and yes I took my helmet off. And yes i was not sure where the run out was even tho i had been told before we started. Thanks Marti for showing me AGAIN!

So that last 4k felt like 6k. Or more. I mean really. I dont know the last time i hurt like that. And that includes doing a 50 mile TT in hilly northern Wi, and that includes running a recent 10k ( which i think are the HARDEST races ever...) and...so i just didnt look back. I knew Wendy was there as there are all these turns, 90 deg, 180 deg so when we went around some baseball fence and on some grass ( really I mean, you run in circles) all i could think was "SHE GALLOPPING towards me." Ok so I was at peace with it really. Pretty soon Run and Fun gal comes sprinting by me. I mean ALL OUT...And kinda gives me the stink eye. Ok maybe not but...it felt like it:)
And i figure if i can keep her in my 10 foot range maybe i can pick it up a bit so I can hold this a bit longer. In and out, weave, wood chip, up and down and finally i can see the hill that is short but steep. WOO...Maybe i can scurry up that hill and MAYBE I can hold on. So i scurry. afraid to wipe out....someone is yelling nonstop for someone behind me but it is for a guy. Not for Wendy. So I do recall passing a guy along the way too...as I scurry up the hill wondering if anyone face plants after that hill...I see the track. OH man. I forgot i had to run a 100 yard dash before i can get to the finishing shoot. So off i go. Not looking back. Just ahead. dont look back. PICK UP YOUR FEET.
And all the sudden Nice Erik Hull is taking my chip off and I am wheezing like someone that needs an albuterol fix.


I dont look all that bad but trust me, this is what the Pain Locker looks like.

Dave ( who passed me on the bike!) and Marti ( who got me out of T2!) Thanks you two, Fun to see you at the races. Dave is the one who I TT with and then we run. He says he is done with the craziness of T runs, hee hee. Back to TT's for Dave.

Me and Speedo steve, who got his bowl full of sunshine shorts out and did a super job in the relay. He and his brother in law improved their time by over 3 minutes and got 2nd place ...I tell ya the guy that ran for the winning relay team was hauling. He passed me both times on my run and he was moving. Good job Steve!

I managed 2nd in my AG but since Jeanne Fleck ( who has her name on her butt!) got 3rd OA I got moved up to 1st. And actually we were talking at the awards that we all wanted OUR names on our butts. Sorta. With a butt name comes expectations...hmm....and then a lively discussion of how we would alter our names ensued. fun times!

I think i was 12th female OA and with the line up of Yndebutts, Mcgaverbutts, Hullbutts, Hoagbutts, Fleckbutts...etc...I am pretty happy with the effort. But Ouch. The MCL is a bit sore today...off camber = extra stabe needed by those supporting ligaments.

Disclaimer: As i said, to have your name on your butt you have to EARN IT. right? So those chica's aforementioned EARNED IT! I am not calling them names, really!