On Wednesday Kevin and I are taking off for Hawaii! I am so excited to have 10 days alone with my honey. No blackberry, no facebook, no connection to work, NOTHING....just us! We made a pact to turn off the phones and disconnect for the entire trip. Only available if mom needs us for the house or 4-legged kiddos! I am so thankfully she agreed to come out and keep them. I hope she enjoys the Fall weather and beautiful changing leaves.
I'm just hoping the Fall colors are in full bloom down here when we return and I don't miss it entirely. One of our Aspens in the yard is turning but it's the only one so far. Fall is my favorite time of year here in Colorado, hands down. It's just about peaking up higher but I think we have some time down here yet. I rode my bike up to 9,000 feet yesterday and got to see a few changing trees on the way.
See ya on the flipside. Hopefully a shade darker and a bit more relaxed!
Kevin and I always get a chuckle out of athletes, ironman athletes in particular, who bitch and moan about how HARD race day is going to be or was! It's going to be SO hot. It's going to be SO windy. It's SO hilly. The swim course was SO long. Or they cheat and draft off someone on the bike to make it a tiny bit easier. Blah blah blah! We find it very amusing that people signed up for one of the hardest events of their lives yet they want it to be easy! It's not SUPPOSED to be easy, that's why you signed up right?
Kevin learned in Canada even more so that weather is the one thing that you can not change or influence during a race. So, let's not waste nervous energy on it. Then I love after the race you start to hear "if it wasn't so windy I would have had a faster time", "last year was cooler so of course my time was slower this year", "my time would have been an hour faster on a different course", etc.
There was an article in Triathlete Magazine that talked about how athletes today are too focused on a fast finishing times instead of enduring the challenge. Not that fast finish times don't matter-we all want them! As a result, athletes blame weather conditions, courses, etc for slower times instead of understanding that times vary course to course and year to year. The article says, it is the CHALLENGE of the day that makes the title of being an IRONMAN such an honor- the challenge of fighting the heat, persevering through the rain, pacing up the hills, pushing through pain. Each course offers unique challenges, and each year offers varied challenges depending on the conditions. Times are relative on that given course on that given day! Whether it takes 9 hours or 16:59:59! It's an accomplishment to be proud of!
So stop bitching and get out there and race YOUR best on THAT day!
On Monday, which started off with a beautiful cloudless sky, quickly turned around and the sky over Boulder filled with smoke. A wildfire started just up Boulder Canyon off 4-Mile Canyon. Rumor has it a RV backed into a propane tank but that hasn't been confirmed yet. The conditions have been so dry lately and the winds whipping around like crazy. This of course was a recipe for disaster!
It's tragic. Already over 1000 residents have been evacuated. Numerous structures and houses have been lost. 7100+ acres have burned and as of today there is no news on containment. We can only hope the winds stay down, the tankers can fly again, and the firefighters can continue to do their jobs! My boss owns a home in the evacuation area and I'm still waiting to hear if it's still standing. I do know that a structure next to them has been lost. I'm in shock!
This weekend as we walked around the race expo in Penticton we saw allot of silly athletes wearing compression socks, walking with their chest puffed out like they were Gods gift to man, and we heard allot of people talking about how great they are as athletes. And there were some amazing ones there for sure! Then on Monday as I stood in line for 2.5 hours only to have the privilege of giving Ironman $603 a year in advance to torture myself for 10+ next year (great deal huh?) I met another guy who ONLY wanted to talk about himself the entire time. He told me about how is the fastest runner in his town, he wins every race he ever does, this was his 3rd IM in a year, blah blah blah. For every comment I had, he had a better one-about himself! He stood there for 2 hours blabbing like that and then walked away. I was really confused, I thought he wanted to sign up. I think he just wanted to find someone he could talk to that couldn't escape! Ugh!
What's my point? I realized something that I feel like I've known for a while but it really hit home even more this past weekend. Triathletes (and many other people and athletes) are selfish, self absorbed SOBs! Man, they like to talk about themselves and brag about their results, how good they are, that their $5,000 bike is the best thing ever, etc. It goes on and on. I can't say I'm not guilty of this and I do think a healthy amount of pride is OK. It helps drive us forward, establish goals for ourselves, and makes us strive for something more. Ego, not so much.
I defined the two. Notice the difference!
Pride: a feeling of self-respect and personal worth Ego: an inflated feeling of pride in your superiority to others
Talent is God given. Be humble. Fame is man-given. Be grateful. Conceit is self-given. Be careful. - John Wooden
I got to thinking about how I can use the talent in sport that I have and some of my free time to turn it towards someone or something other than myself. Triathlon is such an individual sport. I/we train mostly alone, I/we race by our self (opposed to in a team), I/we strive to better our PRs, I/we spend allot of our extra income on fancy new gadgets, I/we sacrifice special moments in our friends/families lives because we have to train or go to bed early, etc. I know because I do it!
There are so many great things being done in various sports arenas like raising money for cancer and other diseases (Team in Training, Lance Armstrong Foundation, Susan G Komen), the list goes on forever. I think there are so many athletes out there that are all about ME ME ME and sponsor ME, give ME something for something I did and never use the platform they've been give to do something good for someone else! Chrissie Wellington and Lance Armstrong (LiveStrong Foundation) are perfect examples of athletes that use what they have to give back. The way Lance uses his fame, talent, time, and money is a phenomenon like we've never seen before-It's the Lance Factor. And I see Chrissie in the beginnings of doing the exact same thing. OK, maybe some people thinks Lance is a jerk. I've met him a couple times and he was always friendly. It doesn't matter though, he is using his platform to change the world in one giant way! Kudos to him.
Anyways, I've always been overwhelmed, inspired, and touched by the paralympic and disabled athletes. We all take for granted our health and limbs daily I think, whether we're in sports or not. I find it incredible that when these disabled athletes are faced with such drastic life changes, they don't let it stop them. They get right back up and keep going. I'm not sure I'd be that strong! When I'm racing and I'm suffering and I see these athletes out there it humbles me and makes me realize just how damn lucky I really am. I also have a desire to help get kids involved in sports and more active. The obesity epidemic is staggering and if kids would just play outside more, get involved in sports at a young age, and not eat junk food we'd be setting up future generations for success. Obesity in children is an entirely different post for later.
I'm inspired to make a difference, even if it's a small difference I don't care! I want to give back to the sport. I do a little already by volunteering my time to coach the CU Triathlon team but I want to help those that are less fortunate that me. There is an organization called the Challenged Athletes Foundation with a fantastic mission to help the challenged and disabled athletes. I want to get involved! I'm not sure how yet but stayed tuned! I've also had a desire for a long time to be a guide for a blind athlete! I think that would be such an incredibly rewarding experience.
"Be the change that you want to see in the world" -Mahatma Gandhi
Watch this, you will be inspired, I promise! Jim McLaren just passed this week (RIP) and I really hope there are allot more people in this world like him! What can you do to make a difference, big or small?
I have a follow up to this coming shortly, but here is a little prologue. Chrissie is absolutely incredible, and truly one of the nicest people I've ever met. She inspires me to inspire others to get involved in sports. I love her happy go-lucky attitude and pure joy that radiates from her. Enjoy!
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I'm just hoping the Fall colors are in full bloom down here when we return and I don't miss it entirely. One of our Aspens in the yard is turning but it's the only one so far. Fall is my favorite time of year here in Colorado, hands down. It's just about peaking up higher but I think we have some time down here yet. I rode my bike up to 9,000 feet yesterday and got to see a few changing trees on the way.
See ya on the flipside. Hopefully a shade darker and a bit more relaxed!
