mrs-roboto's Diaryland Diary ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Dankin Triathlon 2004 Part III This was not an easy goal for me. I was not raised with an athletic attitude. In fact, I have a lot of issues with athleticism. I buy into many of the jock stereotypes. You know, big, stupid men (or women) running around with thick necks, snapping each others asses with towels in the locker room. I always saw myself as an intellectual and abhorred anything competitive. I never attended a sports competition at my high school or college. Neither Pete or I can stand to watch sports on television or even at an arena. We get free tickets to the ball games all the time but we never attend. We enjoy hiking and biking and swimming and sailing and camping but we always label these thing as pursuits of nature, not sports. "Athletics" is practically a dirty word to me. On some level, I feel as if it negates everything I hold dear like music and books and films. I know, I know. This is a stupid idea but you didn't attend a parochial school in Brooklyn where all of the extra revenue went towards the goddamn basketball team (which as a side note was led by one of the priests accused of molesting small boys - they sent him to the all girls school as punishment, nice huh?) despite the fact that the photography labs equipment was outdated and in poor condition. I'm thirty years old and still carrying a grudge over what my tuition funded. I really had to change my heart and mind to complete this triathlon. And those changes have been slow to take. I found myself feeling a bit angry at the Danskin Cheerleaders along the trail as they shouted out their words of encouragement. "Looking great," they'd shout and I'd think "No, I look like crap so shut the hell up!" Or "You're almost there," they'd say and I'd want to respond "Unless you can give me a precise distance, I suggest you keep it to yourself because what might be 'almost there' to you, may seem a ways off to me since I have been swimming and biking and running and your lazy ass has just been standing there on the sidelines, throwing out sugary lines of crap, mmmkay?!!" See, I'm still kind of a dark, pouting, agro teenager in ripped tights, a little plaid skirt, a Minor Threat t-shirt and Doc Martins. But damned if I ain't trying to change that. And each and every day I feel more comfortable in my skin. And the teenager within bitches a little less at the unfairness of the world. And the adult smiles a little more and appreciates all the things she has like a fantastic husband and wonderful friends and family and a beautiful home. And each day I realize that I can achieve all kinds of new goals and still be me. Let's face it, I'm in no danger of becoming Suzie Sunshine no matter how many miles I run. And I know this sounds ridiculous but I have to say a few thank yous here. Thanks to Heather who first put the idea to do this in my head and who answered a bunch of stupid questions I asked ("What color socks do triathletes wear?") without calling me an idiot. Thanks to Peachy for getting me to actually sign up and then lending me ridiculous amounts of gear and also putting up with more dumb questions ("Should I bring a towel with me?"). Thanks to all my girls who encouraged me and always acted as if there was no question I'd finish. Thanks to Judy and Jiri for just being awesome friends. Thanks to my family for being supportive and encouraging even if you were confused as to why I might want to do this. Thanks to Kaymess for leaving delicious muffins and fresh jam on my porch the day of the triathlon (I was so damn hungry and those were like manna from heaven). Thanks to my NY contingent, DQ and Ethel who pulled for me and left encouraging messages on my machine. Thanks to Pete who put up with me waking him up at the crack of dawn every morning so I could go train. He also put up with my mood swings, my manic need to always "work out," and my complete freak out sessions over nothing. I love you sweetie and I couldn't have done this without you. And finally thanks to all of you who read about this crap for the last eight months. I promise to keep my new pilates training to myself. Race Results ***Pictures to be posted later tonight despite my better judgement 12:44 p.m. - 2004-08-16 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
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