Believe It

While traveling last week, I took some time to read Triathlons for Women by Sally Edwards. The book is very well written and an easy read, but I'm not sure it had the intended response from me. The intro to the book specifically states that the goal of the book is to get women motivated and excited about triathlons. I think I got scared. I'm not going to let it get to me, but I didn't feel excited about the triathlon when I put the book down. I really felt a bit mortified.

As hard as I've been training, and as much confidence I have in my ability to finish the event, I still have the huge fear of the unknown. I've talked about signing up for another triathlon five weeks after the one I'm signed up for now, which might sound just crazy coming from someone scared of the one race. My thought process really isn't that crazy though. I've been thinking that the first race will be harder because it will be foreign and new, not because I won't have trained enough and be ready for the swimming, biking, and running. If I were to do the second race, it would be the exact same course and I would have a better idea of what to expect and I think it would be a lot easier. Reading about what to wear and how to transition from one part to the next are the pieces that have me wondering what I've gotten myself into and I know those are the little things.

Yesterday, I swam 18 laps and took small breaks after each two full laps. It was hard, but I could do it. I've made huge progress in the swimming since I started swimming everyday (and had to rest after every length) six weeks ago. Yesterday, I also ran intervals with some at 6mph on the treadmill. My rest on the treadmill is jogging slowly instead of walking now, and that progress has been in the last four months. I'm amazed daily at the progress I have made and the abilities I'm cultivating. I'm also learning that I can do things that I didn't think were possible even six months ago. Most of all, I'm seeing the power of setting a goal and believing in myself. I've had plenty of people tell me I could do something like this, but I'm just now starting to believe it.

Sally Edwards may not have motivated me the way she thought she would, but I'm on my way to being a triathlete.

Overheard

I promise I did not make this up. You may know that I'm swimming daily, which means spending a lot of time at the gym. I show up, strip to my suit, swim several laps, then shower and move on with my day.

Yesterday, while I was showering, I overheard the following:

Brrring, brrring, brrring...
pause and the sound of water running (it was in the showers)
Brrring, brrring, brrring...
another pause and the sound of water running
Brrring, brrring, brrring...
Hello? Hello! I'm in the shower, so I can't talk now. Can I call you back in half an hour?
pause...
Where are you? Oh, really? You have the day off? Well...

And then the conversation continued for about three minutes.

Who answers the phone when they're showering? I mean, really? It's not like you could get to an emergency from the shower any faster than if you heard about it when you got out. You'd still have to dry off and get dressed.

I know I have issues with disconnecting from technology, but that was even worse than I could imagine.

Catching Some Hapiness

My good friend Layla over at The Grass is Greener is doing something fun for her birthday. She maintains that Happiness is Contagious and I think she may be onto something there. She asked everyone who reads her blog to send her a Happy List. I didn't want to limit the viewing of my Happy List to her readership, so I'm putting it here on my blog. It's all good stuff.

Happy List:

• cool breezes on a warm day
• feeling really strong
• the last few minutes of the day lying in bed with the DH and talking (or listening to him snore)
• clean sheets on the bed, especially when they're just a little warm from the dryer
• chocolate
• fresh cut flowers for no reason
• watching antiques roadshow with the DH
• sleeping in
• road trips
  
• lavender
  
• vanilla ice cream
• no socks
• trips to boise
• new clothes (especially when I have to buy a size smaller than I thought)
• cute squishy babies
• purses
• going out to dinner
• clean house
• shoes
• teaching the youth sunday school class
• singing, especially to oldies in the car with the DH
• long hot shower after a killer workout
• reading great blog posts

Thanks, Layla, for suggesting the Happy List. It made me happy thinking of all these things.

Random Thoughts

This morning, on the way to work, the song "Life's Been Good to Me So Far" by Joe Walsh came on the radio. It's one of those songs that just feels like it's always been around. The thing it made me think of was taking baths as a little kid. There's a part in the song that sounds just like the drain in the bathtub would when I put my head under the water. I'm not sure why, but hearing that just made me smile on my drive.

Star Wars Day

May the 4th be with you! I'm just enough of a geek to care that it's Star Wars day. Click here to see the DH and me starring in our own Star Wars movie.