Things I am doing in the off season..

Well, it is the official off season although I am doing "Polar Bear Triathlon" on December 8th. Only because that is also the same day they give out the SW. Challenge Series awards. Hartley is out because of his foot so I am the only one in the family doing this sometimes cold, but fun race. Other than that I am suppose to be "recovering" but I have been continuing to bike, run and oh yes, I did manage a 3100 yd swim workout in the pool yesterday. That swim is the one in 6 week swim that should be enough for Polar Bear..:)
Other activities:

1. Shampooed all my carpets and washed all the tiles. I did have the housekeeper clean the rest. I am such a diva.

2. Had my windows cleaned..On a cleaning frenzy I guess before winter.

3. Finished all my Christmas shopping. Now this may be impressive however, it is only because we will have all 4 daughters, 2 grandchildren and 2 son-in-laws here for Thanksgiving and this year we do Christmas exchange then.

4. Trying to keep up my 3 times a week Josh's workout-that is so hard to keep at-I am telling you..

5. Another trying to do Yoga once or twice a week. That one is easy to blow off too.

6. Was going to go to some new groups to broaden my horizons. I did go to a philosophy group once. It was interesting but had a really nutty guy in it who insulted me by email so don't know about that one. i want to be around positive people. Also cancelled on the book club and the scrap booking club. I hate going out at night as a rule-geez I am getting old.

7. Trying to read more. Hartley got me this cool thing for my birthday:

It is a Sony Reader-i can download about 40 books on it. I think he got sick of carrying my luggage with books in it on vacations..

8. Catching up with blog reading, writing. Vickie is right. It is like talking to your friends on the phone everyday.

9. Yes-it is true. I am a reality TV addict so gotta keep up on my shows! Becca, my daughter calls me when one is about to begin and thank goodness for Tivo! How did we live without it? I mean it is one of life's necessities huh? And yes-I am a Dr. Phil and Oprah fan (and NO-Oprah never called-darn!)

10. Soduko everyday and sometimes I actually read the newspaper. The ABQ Journal leaves something to be desired though.

Mostly I wake up everyday and pinch myself. Is this for real? Am I really reaping the rewards of all those years of working, raising kids? Do I deserve this? Shouldn't I be working? This is too good to be true. As we were walking our dog the other day, Hartley turned to me and said "I just know it-the police are going to come and arrest me any day for not working. They will throw me in jail for not working the past 440 days!" I laughed because this is exactly how I feel sometimes. Our lives are amazing right now, the best ever. I just hope it lasts for a long time..

These are my people..my heroes..my teammates.

I am just so proud to part of a team, The New Mexico Outlaws. We have some major talent brewing in these parts. These folks will also be my roommates at Ironman Couer d' Alene. Not bad company, I must say!

These are my heroes of the day:
One is Brian. When he started he was an overweight newbie and over the last few years has taken triathlon by storm. I remember the day I realized he was faster than me on the swim-say what? Brian is a really smart psychologist, very organized, very enthusiastic and sweet. He is married to GeekGirl, who is also a gem. So he is S. Baboo to all of us in blog world. Here is his latest Ironman adventure. He is also, by the way, getting thinner everyday:

http://clydeologist.blogspot.com/2007/11/course-that-makes-ironmen-cry-silverman.html

Then there is Maria. She started running a couple of years ago and biking last year and has obviously found her niche. She runs faster than anyone I have ever seen. After this short time in the sport, she is already gotten herself ranked 8th in the World in the 70.3 championships. Now Maria is a very humble, sweet tiny gal, who just makes you feel faster looking at her. I have hopes for getting faster just looking at her times. Here is her latest race:

http://outlawstriathlon.blogspot.com/2007/11/703-world-championship-2007.html

These are my training peeps!

Love this quote..

I am having trouble coming up with anything original to write about this week so I will use a quote from someone who posted this over on the Ironman Couer d' Alene site:

This journey is no longer just about becoming an IronMan and finding where the path will lead us. It is also about Forging Iron Friendships. Understand, I do not use the term "Friend" loosely. I know we all use it to describe even a casual acquaintance at times when relaying a story. But, in my heart, a casual acquaintance is not where I find my friendships. I find my friendships in Likes. What I mean by that is "Likes attract Likes". That doesn't mean we are only drawn to people exactly like us. We are not drawn only to the people who we find our mirror image in. The "likes", that draw us together are the core things we find to be important. Our values, our beliefs in what makes another person "good". Our abilities to find humor in the same things and sadness shared in other things. It's what makes us pull together.We may have different spiritual beliefs, we may live in different cities or countries. We may walk such varied paths in our careers that others wonder "what could they possibly have in common?" What we have in common is drive. The drive to live our lives. The drive to give every day our best, even when some days our "best" is sorely lacking. What we have in common is the ability to extend our hand out in love and offer our heartfelt assistance to those in need. The genuine belief that our words of encouragement just might help someone through a rough spot in their lives. Our ability to rejoice in the victories, both big and small of those whom we visit. Maybe we visit every day, maybe we visit once a week, our schedules never allow us to predetermine that aspect of our friendships. The main thing is, we visit. We visit when we can and make the effort to do so. We care and we express that. That is friendship. Those are the sorts of friends I consider true. Those are the sorts of friends I consider real.

Very cool indeed. Now this is why I LOVE triathlon!!