Thank god for recovery days!
I didn't feel today as though I physically needed to recover, but it's an indulgence to spend some time taking care of home basics.
Since last I wrote, I've had one good OWS in the quarry in Verona, and a couple of good pool swims, though I haven't been in the pool now for several days. The swim in the quarry was especially sweet because friends joined me there, and I had a personal swim escort in the daughter of a friend---she's a college swimmer and very easy-going; knows I've been having OWS issues, and just came along as a comforting presence. She swims so gracefully that it was relaxing to swim with her. It took me a long time to warm up and to relax, but once I did, the swim went well. So: I can swim in a wetsuit w/o having a respiratory issue; now the question is whether I can swim in Wingra and/or Monona w/o it, or whether I'm allergic to something there.
I've also been attending to the bureaucratic details of IM preparations...two more bike fittings, more rounds of visits to various docs, experts, consults, etc. If I could put as much time into training as I do into talking about training, I might see some progress.
This weekend, I went on a beautiful 25 miler that was supposed to be followed by a run. Somewhere in the last four miles of the ride, I felt a sudden sharp stabbing pain in my thigh, as though a very sharp thorn had impaled me. Would that it were so. I still don't know the true identity of the little bugger who got me, but when we collided, it wasn't good for either of us. Friend Monica, my ride companion, put up with me neurotically monitoring myself all the way home for signs of anaphylaxis. I did have a local reaction to the poison, but the neurotic panic was definitely greater. In some ways, it may have been a good thing---this kind of incident is on my list of Top 5 Things That Can Turn A good Bike Ride Bad so to have it happen and not result in a fatality is somewhat reassuring. It did bring me, however, to pan my run that evening.
Sunday, I did two loops of the IM course, per special instructions of The Coach after a consult on Friday. Friend Judy met me for this adventure, thank heavens, which made it a lot easier to get it under way. It was a beautiful day for riding. First loop went well; second loop was harder (gee!). We gave ourselves the liberty of several leisurely stops, so it became a long day. My pace is perhaps just enough to get to T2 by the cut-off. I had hoped for better this year, and will remain hopeful that there are still gains to be made. The hills the second time through were more challenging than the first; on Timber Lane, all I could do was put my head down, shift into the easiest gear, and count my breaths until I discovered the grade give way; on Midtown, I was see-sawing my way up to the top. Still, after that, I felt strong and happy, and arrived at Verona again feeling fine.
I was amused by how my diet went out the window on this training ride. I ran into my bike fitter and my running teacher, who are buddies, and who both live to bike, at the Kwik Trip in Mt. Horeb the first time through. They both had chocolate chip cookies in their hands. "Hey, is that your fueling strategy?" I asked. You betcha. Hey, I'm no fool. So, a Kwik Trip cookie it was for me too at each of the little towns on the second pass of the loop. Throughout the course of the day, there was also: a banana, three or four gulps of hammer gel, a scone at the Cross Plains bike store, a salted nut roll, a few gulps of perpetuum (ech.), some peanut butter pretzels, some ham (yes, two decades of vegetarianism are currently out the window!), and a handful of gorp. The Garmin says I burned maybe 5500 calories; I think all of this stuff didn't actually balance the scales, though I wasn't hungry at the end of the ride. Stopped at the local grocery and got a protein smoothie cause that's what you're supposed to do; drink half of it because the whole thing is 450 calories, and that became dinner because of what happened next.
I felt mighty fine after this ride, so decided to do the run I had missed the day before. Came home, did some transition stuff, and headed down to the bike path around Lake Monona for the run. As I was doing a walking warm-up, I came across a goose who appeared to be very sick and/or dying. Thinking that the police could have animal control transport her to the Emergency Clinic for Animals, I called them; they told me I was the third call, and that someone was on their way and would be there in half an hour. As I was finishing this conversation, two women approached---they had already called and were wondering what was happening. They were international visitors here to hear the Dalai Lama---good Buddhists with lots of compassion for our poor friend, who now was coming around a bit and munching hungrily at the grass. Every once in awhile, she wowuld try to move, and would stumble, fall, roll, lurch, and get still again. I wasn't certain whether she was poisoned or injured or otherwise sick. I did notice that she didn't seem to roll just one way or another, so the problem seemed less and less like a foot injury. This observation, conversation, and phone research with the police and three other entities went on for at least an hour, after which the police said that animal control would come in the morning...definitely unacceptable to me and the Buddhists, given that this creature could flop into the path of either a car or a cyclist at any moment. More conversations ensued--including devising a plan by which I would drive Maria, the Columbian, to the emergency vet with the goose wrapped in a blanket---as the goose became more animated and began to stagger around a bit more. She was heading toward the lake and making hard-won progress when a police officer arrived. It's Madison, so the guy has an undergrad degree in aquatic ecology. He studies the goose, taking a tenuous step or two and then falling down on her face, and offers the opinion that the goose is...well...drunk. And somehow this analysis seems to fit---for me, and for the two Buddhists, who have been keeping an eye on the bird for three or four of their precious hours of vacation. As she makes it past the mucky edge of the water, into which she goes face down momentarily, and gets into water deep enough that allows her to swim, the goose appears to do better. By now, the city calls and says they think a volunteer can come and get the goose. I tell them she's water-borne now and likely that's good because she'd have to be cited for under-age drinking if she came back around. We all feel somewhat relieved that the bird is swimming, and by the idea that it's "just" alcohol that's causing the problem. The party breaks up.
It's nine o'clock. I have been playing "drunk, drunk, goose" for an hour and a half...and I have enjoyed it. IM training teaches you ever more who you are, and it was clear to me last night that I am not the kind of person who will ignore a dying duck because I have to get my run in---and I don't want to be. I did do my run, but for only an hour. I felt fine, though I would have liked to say I ran 1.5 hours. I told my coach about this today and he laughed and said, "let's hope there aren't any drunk geese on IM Day." Right: or other cyclists with issues or kittens up trees, or spectators from out-of-town who need directions cause I am just the kind of Type C athlete who will attend to these issues the Type A athletes just ride on by.
Monday, July 28, 2008
Friday, July 18, 2008
Full Moon Run: The Lunatics Are Loose!
Last night, I participated in Movin' Shoes' annual Full Moon 5k. Several kids from my running class showed up, and I enjoyed chatting with a couple of my fellow back-o-the-packers before (and during) the race. My pace was about 11:20 per mile...I'm not quite sure why I'm not getting faster, since my training runs in class allow me to go faster than that...but it's a long way from the 16 minute miles I turned in at my first 10k., and definitely moving in the right direction.
An extremely nice thing happened during the run. I had been chugging along in the dark, listening to the voices of a pair of women behind me...I'd passed them early on, but hadn't gotten very far ahead of them, and had been hearing snippets of conversation f rom them most of the run. I caught something about somebody having a nice pace and steady rhythm the whole way shortly before I took a scheduled walk break and allowed them to pass me. As they came by, one of them said to me "You have a really nice stride." I was quite taken aback, and it made my whole night. Maybe working on my form in running class is paying off. Maybe this is just what kind people say when they pass someone! Either way, I'm holding onto it...the first shiny compliment I've received about my running, and one that balances out the not-so-encouraging words of my college running class instructor 25 years ago...amazing how words can shape one's perceptions--in both directions. That moment was definitely worth the discomfort of a hot and sticky run (though the pint glasses, socks, and blinky lights in the goody bags were pretty damned fine, too). Thanks, stranger.
An extremely nice thing happened during the run. I had been chugging along in the dark, listening to the voices of a pair of women behind me...I'd passed them early on, but hadn't gotten very far ahead of them, and had been hearing snippets of conversation f rom them most of the run. I caught something about somebody having a nice pace and steady rhythm the whole way shortly before I took a scheduled walk break and allowed them to pass me. As they came by, one of them said to me "You have a really nice stride." I was quite taken aback, and it made my whole night. Maybe working on my form in running class is paying off. Maybe this is just what kind people say when they pass someone! Either way, I'm holding onto it...the first shiny compliment I've received about my running, and one that balances out the not-so-encouraging words of my college running class instructor 25 years ago...amazing how words can shape one's perceptions--in both directions. That moment was definitely worth the discomfort of a hot and sticky run (though the pint glasses, socks, and blinky lights in the goody bags were pretty damned fine, too). Thanks, stranger.
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
The Emotional Road to IM is as Hilly as the Bike Course
So, I did not want to swim tonight and I did not want to bike. Repeat. You could not make me, Sam I Am.
But I made myself go.
Since when do I say, "I had to cut my swim short; I only got in 2,000 meters?" Since today, 7/15/08.
I had a good time at the pool, actually. When I arrived, a water aerobics class was still going on, so I needed to wait about 10 minutes. I fooled around warming up in the "open swim" section of the pool, trying out my sculling and rotation drills. I enjoyed listening to the music for the aerobics class, and, at some point, asked the lone kid in the pool if he wanted me to throw rebounds to him from the basketball hoop set up in the shallow end of the pool. That was a blast---and it totally relaxed me for the swim, when it started.
Given all the dramarama around the swim lately, I decided to go back to Swim Coach's last written pool workout for me, instead of a long continuous swim, and instead of my Tri Coach's swim assignments, which I find undoable still. I got through about 2,000 meters of the Swim Coach's drills it before it was time to get on the (stationary) bike so I could get in an hour before the Y closed.
I experimented tonight with a new way of breathing---exhaling only through the nose...which actually seemed to work well. Of course, the evening's festivities were not without their usual dose of humility...I was cruising along, from my perspective, when I was joined in my lane by a woman who did a slow, graceful, breast stroke...and totally lapped me w/my freestyle pull. Just when I was congratulating myself that, for the first time ever, I was not being lapped by the free-stylin' guy in the lane next to me, the universe sends me this effortlessly smokin' breast stroker. Confidence is short-lived, young tri-athlete! Training is this perpetual roller coaster, it seems...not just one long uphill climb. Again and again, I learn to stay in my own race from all of these teachers of mine.
Tomorrow, I'm going to wear my wetsuit in the salt water pool at a local gym to see if the Weird Symptoms come on that way...variable by variable, I'll try to figure out the root cause of that particular form of suffering....and eliminate it.
I only swam 2,000 meters today.
But I made myself go.
Since when do I say, "I had to cut my swim short; I only got in 2,000 meters?" Since today, 7/15/08.
I had a good time at the pool, actually. When I arrived, a water aerobics class was still going on, so I needed to wait about 10 minutes. I fooled around warming up in the "open swim" section of the pool, trying out my sculling and rotation drills. I enjoyed listening to the music for the aerobics class, and, at some point, asked the lone kid in the pool if he wanted me to throw rebounds to him from the basketball hoop set up in the shallow end of the pool. That was a blast---and it totally relaxed me for the swim, when it started.
Given all the dramarama around the swim lately, I decided to go back to Swim Coach's last written pool workout for me, instead of a long continuous swim, and instead of my Tri Coach's swim assignments, which I find undoable still. I got through about 2,000 meters of the Swim Coach's drills it before it was time to get on the (stationary) bike so I could get in an hour before the Y closed.
I experimented tonight with a new way of breathing---exhaling only through the nose...which actually seemed to work well. Of course, the evening's festivities were not without their usual dose of humility...I was cruising along, from my perspective, when I was joined in my lane by a woman who did a slow, graceful, breast stroke...and totally lapped me w/my freestyle pull. Just when I was congratulating myself that, for the first time ever, I was not being lapped by the free-stylin' guy in the lane next to me, the universe sends me this effortlessly smokin' breast stroker. Confidence is short-lived, young tri-athlete! Training is this perpetual roller coaster, it seems...not just one long uphill climb. Again and again, I learn to stay in my own race from all of these teachers of mine.
Tomorrow, I'm going to wear my wetsuit in the salt water pool at a local gym to see if the Weird Symptoms come on that way...variable by variable, I'll try to figure out the root cause of that particular form of suffering....and eliminate it.
I only swam 2,000 meters today.
Wheels Coming Off
I have heard this phrase: "the wheels came off." For some reason, it's been running through my head as I try to juggle workouts and work and my flagging energy.
Here are the paradoxes currently making me crazy:
1) To get up hills faster, drop weight.
2) To drop weight, eat more protein.
3) To have the energy to get up the hills, eat more carbs.
4) Eat more carbs, gain weight, get slower on hills.
1) To lose weight---and get healthier and faster---stop eating refined sugar and junk food.
2) To not bonk, eat hammer gel, salted nut rolls, pretzels, and flat coke...the more glucose the merrier.
3) Eat a good diet on normal days, a sugar diet on race days.
4) Race as you train, train as you race.
1) To avoid dehydration, drink lots of water.
2) To avoid stomach issues on the swim, go to fluid carbs.
3) Drink lots of water and fluid carbs before the swim, and get swim-induced pulmonary edema.
4) Don't drink before the swim, get dehydrated.
5) Don't eat before the swim, bonk.
6) Eat before the swim, get indigestion.
7) Don't swim, get indigestion from not following plan.
1) I rode my commuter bike to work today and the hills felt easy.
2) Nobody rides a commuter bike in IM. ...Until Now.....
1) I had a new fitting on my bike to make myself more aero, faster, efficient and comfortable
2) The new fit seems to have caused me to sprain or break my thumb. Riding one handed while whining "ow" over every bump is not more efficient.
Can anybody help me solve these zen koans? Or better yet, offer up a plan?
Here are the paradoxes currently making me crazy:
1) To get up hills faster, drop weight.
2) To drop weight, eat more protein.
3) To have the energy to get up the hills, eat more carbs.
4) Eat more carbs, gain weight, get slower on hills.
1) To lose weight---and get healthier and faster---stop eating refined sugar and junk food.
2) To not bonk, eat hammer gel, salted nut rolls, pretzels, and flat coke...the more glucose the merrier.
3) Eat a good diet on normal days, a sugar diet on race days.
4) Race as you train, train as you race.
1) To avoid dehydration, drink lots of water.
2) To avoid stomach issues on the swim, go to fluid carbs.
3) Drink lots of water and fluid carbs before the swim, and get swim-induced pulmonary edema.
4) Don't drink before the swim, get dehydrated.
5) Don't eat before the swim, bonk.
6) Eat before the swim, get indigestion.
7) Don't swim, get indigestion from not following plan.
1) I rode my commuter bike to work today and the hills felt easy.
2) Nobody rides a commuter bike in IM. ...Until Now.....
1) I had a new fitting on my bike to make myself more aero, faster, efficient and comfortable
2) The new fit seems to have caused me to sprain or break my thumb. Riding one handed while whining "ow" over every bump is not more efficient.
Can anybody help me solve these zen koans? Or better yet, offer up a plan?
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Hill Repeats
Today, my run coach had the class do hill repeats up some long, slow hill a block or two from Camp Randall stadium. Five times up, five times down, in the heat. At the bottom of my fourth descent, I hollared to the two kids loitering at the bottom of the hill. "Hey, who is gonna help an old lady up this hill? C'mon, I need your help! I can't do it alone." One of the two took me up on it, and we climbed the hill together---her fourth repeat, my fifth. She didn't think she could do it, and her heart rate was maxing out at 190 at the top. I might not have done it but for the audience, the assignment, and the company, even though my HR was only in the 150's at the top...clearly I need to push harder. Still, I was very in touch with who I want to be, who I am...the person who hangs with the back of the packers and, there, can pretend to be brave. I jogged with this kid all of the way back, even when she was walking. I can't keep up with the front of the pack, but I am glad I am now strong enough to share some of my juju with the folks at the back when it's helpful. If only I could have a Little Friend on Ironman day, I could likely talk her through it. Hmm...maybe that Little Friend is me.
Monday, July 14, 2008
The Day After Ironman: Eight Weeks and Counting
Where did this year go? Some days, I feel the future hurtling toward me just as fast as my optimism is hurtling away. How the heck am I gonna do this thing? Eight weeks from now, we'll know.
Friday night, had to be towed from the lake for the third time in about as many weeks by Swim Coach, after the mystery malady struck again after about half a mile of swimming. Went home and googled "open water breathing coughing" or some such, and am fairly well convinced that I may have swimming-induced-pulmonary-edema in these episodes, on top of the vocal cord issue. Am I a hypochondriac? You betcha. And triathlon gives me three sports to worry about! But just because someone's paranoid, it doesn't mean they're not being followed, as they say. Trust me: I do an internship at a mental health center, and we keep a close eye on folks who suffer from paranoia.
I suspect my swim coach, whom I actually adore, thinks it's all mental---I also suspect he doesn't quite understand that it's normal to get concerned when you're having breathing trouble out in the middle of a lake. As he was trying to ferry me back to the beach Friday by having me clamp onto the underside of his kayak, he said "Are you tense?" " Dude, I'm on my back in the water clinging to a kayak running over me while I'm coughing and having chest pain. No, I'm not tense." I look forward to the day when these little adventures are just funny anecdotes I get to tell over Sunday brunch after sleeping in, like normal people do.
On the up-side: I got into the pool on Saturday and swam 2.4 miles...not fast, but if it were race day and this were my time, it would do. No issues...so, what's the difference? Did two hours of speed intervals before that. On Sunday, rode out to Verona and then did a loop with some of my favorite riding peeps, then did an hour on the elliptical at the Y as my run segment. The ride was great. I was surprised that our pace, according to all computers involved, was 13.1 miles an hour---so much for the increased speed promised by the aerobar guy....it was my slowest loop ever. Still, everybody has been saying the wind was wicked, so we'll just count it as a windy training ride.
Today was a recovery day, so Meghan and I went to the campus radio station and made our Doctors Without Borders/Plumpy'nut Ironman pitch. ..which was far more fun than being hauled around a lake like a barnacle on a kayak. Ironman: take the bad with the good and keep moving forward.
Friday night, had to be towed from the lake for the third time in about as many weeks by Swim Coach, after the mystery malady struck again after about half a mile of swimming. Went home and googled "open water breathing coughing" or some such, and am fairly well convinced that I may have swimming-induced-pulmonary-edema in these episodes, on top of the vocal cord issue. Am I a hypochondriac? You betcha. And triathlon gives me three sports to worry about! But just because someone's paranoid, it doesn't mean they're not being followed, as they say. Trust me: I do an internship at a mental health center, and we keep a close eye on folks who suffer from paranoia.
I suspect my swim coach, whom I actually adore, thinks it's all mental---I also suspect he doesn't quite understand that it's normal to get concerned when you're having breathing trouble out in the middle of a lake. As he was trying to ferry me back to the beach Friday by having me clamp onto the underside of his kayak, he said "Are you tense?" " Dude, I'm on my back in the water clinging to a kayak running over me while I'm coughing and having chest pain. No, I'm not tense." I look forward to the day when these little adventures are just funny anecdotes I get to tell over Sunday brunch after sleeping in, like normal people do.
On the up-side: I got into the pool on Saturday and swam 2.4 miles...not fast, but if it were race day and this were my time, it would do. No issues...so, what's the difference? Did two hours of speed intervals before that. On Sunday, rode out to Verona and then did a loop with some of my favorite riding peeps, then did an hour on the elliptical at the Y as my run segment. The ride was great. I was surprised that our pace, according to all computers involved, was 13.1 miles an hour---so much for the increased speed promised by the aerobar guy....it was my slowest loop ever. Still, everybody has been saying the wind was wicked, so we'll just count it as a windy training ride.
Today was a recovery day, so Meghan and I went to the campus radio station and made our Doctors Without Borders/Plumpy'nut Ironman pitch. ..which was far more fun than being hauled around a lake like a barnacle on a kayak. Ironman: take the bad with the good and keep moving forward.
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
My Mama Rides an Upright Bike (and) God Bless America Triathlon Race Report
My mother headed back to Ohio this morning after her annual visit...with a beautiful new Raleigh Detour 3.0 loaded in her trunk. Oh, yeah!
Mom accompanied me to the God Bless America Triathlon on July 4 (her first tri experience) and later that day bought this yummy new bike. My last two training runs have benefited from her companionship on the bike. I jog along and she keeps saying "I love my bike." I run ahead to see if the intersections are clear, and run back if they aren't because she's a little wobbly in the stopping department because she likes her saddle high.
What a delight to be out running around next to my mother on a lovely Wisconsin day. I am sorry to see her head back to Ohio, but am glad that bike is going with her. Next year, she'll be dropping me on the hills, no doubt!
As for the God Bless America Triathlon---well...last year, the thing was Over the Top: there was a doughnut aid station after the 200 meter swim; there were extra wide transition spaces whose numbers lined up with our race numbers; there were well-trained spectators; there were huge mile marker signs on the bike course, and there was a fabulous feed after. All of these elements were missing this year. In addition, there were no volunteers at the timing mats, and the mats seemed to be "strips," so it was hard to tell where each leg began and ended. People were allowed to ride up to the transition gate w/o being DQ'ed. Mom saw folks ducking under the transition flags to take shortcuts to get to their bikes--God Bless America!---without being DQ'ed. So--the lake was still clear and the courses still fine, but this wasn't the Amazing event it had been last year. I guess the economy is affecting us all!
I shaved seven minutes off of my overall time, even with adding a minute to my swim. WTF? Last year I swam with my head above water the whole way; this year I actually swam...I didn't wear a wetsuit, but you would think that would be irrelevant, given how slowly I went last year...maybe this year's focus on relaxing in the water introduces this element of drag! The worrisome thing is that if I keep that pace at IM MOO, I won't make the swim finish. Maybe I've become a little too relaxed!
I haven't done an open water workout since last week's Thunderstorm Swim, and my swim coach is nowhere to be found. I guess this is all part of the Mental Training....
Off to the pool.
Mom accompanied me to the God Bless America Triathlon on July 4 (her first tri experience) and later that day bought this yummy new bike. My last two training runs have benefited from her companionship on the bike. I jog along and she keeps saying "I love my bike." I run ahead to see if the intersections are clear, and run back if they aren't because she's a little wobbly in the stopping department because she likes her saddle high.
What a delight to be out running around next to my mother on a lovely Wisconsin day. I am sorry to see her head back to Ohio, but am glad that bike is going with her. Next year, she'll be dropping me on the hills, no doubt!
As for the God Bless America Triathlon---well...last year, the thing was Over the Top: there was a doughnut aid station after the 200 meter swim; there were extra wide transition spaces whose numbers lined up with our race numbers; there were well-trained spectators; there were huge mile marker signs on the bike course, and there was a fabulous feed after. All of these elements were missing this year. In addition, there were no volunteers at the timing mats, and the mats seemed to be "strips," so it was hard to tell where each leg began and ended. People were allowed to ride up to the transition gate w/o being DQ'ed. Mom saw folks ducking under the transition flags to take shortcuts to get to their bikes--God Bless America!---without being DQ'ed. So--the lake was still clear and the courses still fine, but this wasn't the Amazing event it had been last year. I guess the economy is affecting us all!
I shaved seven minutes off of my overall time, even with adding a minute to my swim. WTF? Last year I swam with my head above water the whole way; this year I actually swam...I didn't wear a wetsuit, but you would think that would be irrelevant, given how slowly I went last year...maybe this year's focus on relaxing in the water introduces this element of drag! The worrisome thing is that if I keep that pace at IM MOO, I won't make the swim finish. Maybe I've become a little too relaxed!
I haven't done an open water workout since last week's Thunderstorm Swim, and my swim coach is nowhere to be found. I guess this is all part of the Mental Training....
Off to the pool.
Thursday, July 3, 2008
Has Your Wetsuit Ever Smelled of (Dead) Fish?
If your wetsuit smells like fish, clap your hands.
If your wetsuit smells like fish, clap your hands.
If your wetsuit smells like fish and you hate fish as a dish,
If your wetsuit smells like fish, clap your hands.
If you don't know how to clean it, clap your hands.
If you don't know how to clean it, clap your hands.
If you don't know how to clean it, and you really, really mean it,
If you don't know how to clean it, clap your hands.
If you want to buy my wetsuit, clap your hands.
If you want to buy my wetsuit, clap your hands.
If you want to buy my wetsuit and you're ready to get to it,
If you want to buy my wetsuit, clap your hands.
I will throw some noseplugs in, at no cost.
I will throw some noseplugs in, at no cost.
I will throw some noseplugs in and won't bother you again,
I will throw some noseplugs in, at no cost.
God Bless America Triathlon is tomorrow. Can we tell that somebody has pent up energy when she "tapers" and carb loads for a super-sprint? What the heck are we in for in August?
If your wetsuit smells like fish, clap your hands.
If your wetsuit smells like fish and you hate fish as a dish,
If your wetsuit smells like fish, clap your hands.
If you don't know how to clean it, clap your hands.
If you don't know how to clean it, clap your hands.
If you don't know how to clean it, and you really, really mean it,
If you don't know how to clean it, clap your hands.
If you want to buy my wetsuit, clap your hands.
If you want to buy my wetsuit, clap your hands.
If you want to buy my wetsuit and you're ready to get to it,
If you want to buy my wetsuit, clap your hands.
I will throw some noseplugs in, at no cost.
I will throw some noseplugs in, at no cost.
I will throw some noseplugs in and won't bother you again,
I will throw some noseplugs in, at no cost.
God Bless America Triathlon is tomorrow. Can we tell that somebody has pent up energy when she "tapers" and carb loads for a super-sprint? What the heck are we in for in August?
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
Sacred, Profane, Profound, Mundane
I have decided to enroll in the Janus Charity Challenge at Ironman Wisconsin, and to raise money for Doctors Without Borders--and, specifically, for their work in delivering the high energy peanut-based medicinal food called "Plumpy'nut" to kids at risk of death from malnutrition and starvation---it seems a true revolution in addressing malnutrition. Check out this newscast to understand why, besides the Plumpy'nut name, I chose to put my fund raising energies here:
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/10/19/60minutes/main3386661.shtml
Talk about true endurance.
Check out my Janus Charity Challenge website to make a donation:
https://www.kintera.org/faf/donorReg/donorPledge.asp?ievent=250249&supid=225436667
Doctors Without Borders is a Nobel-prize winning non-profit (yes, your gift is tax deductible) that manages its resources well. $40.00 (yes, 10 Starbucks lattes, three or four pairs of running socks, two trips to the movies with a date..) buys them enough Plumpy'nut to turn around the health of a kid facing death from malnutrition and starvation. Through the Janus Charity Challenge, by pooling our resources, we stand to win another $10,000.00 contribution to Doctors Without Borders from Janus, an investment firm. How many children can we afford to save this summer? Let's get creative and make this happen!
My friend Meghan, who is adopting a child from an area in Ethiopia where childhood malnutrition is especially serious, is joining me in this effort to raise funds for Doctors Without Borders---she's asking folks to donate to the fund in lieu of baby shower gifts. Another friend is considering taking this project on as her Sedaka mitzvot as she and her children convert to Judaism. The possibilties are as great as the needs. When do we have the chance to do so much for so little? Please consider making a contribution, telling your friends, asking your company to match your gift, or making a donation as a gift in honor of a doctor, a care provider, an Ironman, a mother ..or in honor of the person who kept you in peanutbutter as a kid!
I feel GREAT about supporting Doctors Without Borders and about competing in the Janus Charity Challenge. I have my doubts about winning Ironman Wisconsin this year (LOL), but I think that, working together, we can win the Charity Challenge and that $10,ooo from Janus for Doctors Without Borders...250 more lives that will not be lost simply because of lack of access to food.
Oh, and, how's my training coming? Today I swam in Lake Wingra in a thunderstorm. Without boat support. My training pal Polly shared this experience, about which I will write more later, when I have stopped humming the lyrics to that song that starts "Thunder, lightnin,' oh Baby, it's fright'nin'..."
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/10/19/60minutes/main3386661.shtml
Talk about true endurance.
Check out my Janus Charity Challenge website to make a donation:
https://www.kintera.org/faf/donorReg/donorPledge.asp?ievent=250249&supid=225436667
Doctors Without Borders is a Nobel-prize winning non-profit (yes, your gift is tax deductible) that manages its resources well. $40.00 (yes, 10 Starbucks lattes, three or four pairs of running socks, two trips to the movies with a date..) buys them enough Plumpy'nut to turn around the health of a kid facing death from malnutrition and starvation. Through the Janus Charity Challenge, by pooling our resources, we stand to win another $10,000.00 contribution to Doctors Without Borders from Janus, an investment firm. How many children can we afford to save this summer? Let's get creative and make this happen!
My friend Meghan, who is adopting a child from an area in Ethiopia where childhood malnutrition is especially serious, is joining me in this effort to raise funds for Doctors Without Borders---she's asking folks to donate to the fund in lieu of baby shower gifts. Another friend is considering taking this project on as her Sedaka mitzvot as she and her children convert to Judaism. The possibilties are as great as the needs. When do we have the chance to do so much for so little? Please consider making a contribution, telling your friends, asking your company to match your gift, or making a donation as a gift in honor of a doctor, a care provider, an Ironman, a mother ..or in honor of the person who kept you in peanutbutter as a kid!
I feel GREAT about supporting Doctors Without Borders and about competing in the Janus Charity Challenge. I have my doubts about winning Ironman Wisconsin this year (LOL), but I think that, working together, we can win the Charity Challenge and that $10,ooo from Janus for Doctors Without Borders...250 more lives that will not be lost simply because of lack of access to food.
Oh, and, how's my training coming? Today I swam in Lake Wingra in a thunderstorm. Without boat support. My training pal Polly shared this experience, about which I will write more later, when I have stopped humming the lyrics to that song that starts "Thunder, lightnin,' oh Baby, it's fright'nin'..."
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