race wisdom

From stv on Tri-DRS:

Also, this: At some point in the race, things will get hard. That's not a bad thing; in fact, deep down, most people are looking for that point. Approach it slowly & back off, or push right through it ... but just remember, it's supposed to be hard, so accept it when it comes and then deal with it how you choose ... ease back, ignore, accept & push more. It's your choice.

That's a part I haven't figured out for myself at all yet.

travel

Flying to Boston tomorrow, spending the night in Concord. My husband and kids fly to Boston Friday and I pick them up and we drive straight to Cape Cod. I am using a 12 speed bike at the house up there to ride in the Hyannis Triathlon, which starts at 7:30 Sat. morning, so I hope we get in before dark so I can ride it after I adjust it. I do expect to have internet access, so I will be posting and maybe even catching up on email once we are settled in.

weight and health

While I'm no longer overweight, I am still angry at doctors who blame all health problems on being overweight. I've lost 60 lbs. and turned myself into an athlete and my diabetes is no easier to control than it was when I started. I have to watch my diet just as carefully to avoid my blood sugar going too high. I feel a lot better, but that is mostly the result of controlling my blood sugar. My blood pressure and cholesterol panel haven't improved either, except a 10 point rise in my already high HDL.

Anyway, there is a useful overview article in Scientific American on the growing critique of the medical prejudice against overweight, which I learned about thanks to Alas (a blog). My experience certainly is that pre-diabetes causes weight gain rather than being overweight causing diabetes. When I started controlling my blood sugar I wasn't hungry all the time and lost weight without trying (even before I started intense exercise).

a picture

is here.
How did my helmet get so crooked?

Fletcher Flyer

I left the house at 6 am to go ride in a bicycle event in North Carolina called the Fletcher Flyer. They had a big crowd, and I had to park in overflow parking and then go back to overflow parking to put stuff in my car after I registered, so I got off a little after the start. I tried to catch up, figuring there would be some slower groups, but that only worked for a little while when a big group missed a turn.

Initially the weather was cool and beautiful, but it got really hot. The high was supposedly 85, but it felt hotter than that on the road. I ate peanut butter and jelly or banana and peanut butter at each rest stop and drank a full water bottle between most rest stops (12 to 15 miles) and took a couple of salt capsules. There were times I was miserably hot but at 25 miles (2 hours) I decided I would continue with the metric century route instead of switching to the 50 mile route but slow down to more of a touring pace instead of pushing myself. Then I began to enjoy the scenery and be less bothered by the heat.

I was pretty well alone for the next 14 miles, but at the 39 mile rest stop the lead pack doing the 100 mile route passed me, which was fun to watch. Then I saw more bicycles on the road, but didn't ride with anyone. It wasn't as much fun as the triathlon.

It took me about 5 1/2 hours to do 63.4 miles with a cumulative vertical gain of 3037 feet. The same club puts on a ride called the Hilly Hellacious Hundred, with 8035 feet of vertical gain in the 100 mile route and 5097 in the metric century. Today's ride is supposedly their flattest possible route, but outside of Asheville North Carolina that isn't very flat. No long climbs, anyway.

Summer is suddenly here. Yesterday was also a beautiful sunny day and I got a sunburn on the back of my shoulders just from swimming for 45 minutes in the lake about 1 pm. During the swim was the only time my shoulders were exposed.

training

I was hoping the Clemson Aquatic Team would have an open water swim practice tomorrow, but it has been cancelled because of the rainy weather (which was supposed to end today and didn't). I haven't tried swimming in my wetsuit yet, so I need to do it on my own tomorrow. I did run my usual 2.5 miles this morning and it felt good, so taking Wednesday off because of a sore hip seems to have worked. I'm thinking of doing the Fletcher Flyer bicycle ride Sunday, but not the full century because I haven't been training long enough distances and don't want to push myself too much a week before the Hyannis triathlon.

let God

One of the things I learned in my spiritual director training was "let God be the spiritual director." A current situation has me thinking about that. I really believe that my inner healing is following a path that God opens before my feet, and I want to work with people who trust that rather than trying to guide me. I believe in that approach very radically. I have a friend who has been struggling with very difficult medical issues and I try not to even wonder which course of action will be best or what outcome I hope for. I once ranted to a therapist that I didn't want to change, it was too hard to live in a different world. And he said "I will stay with you wherever you are."