Are You Living It?

A small excerpt taken from “Thinking Body, Dancing Mind” written by Chungliang Al Huang and Jerry Lynch:

It is going to be hard to leave the beach and the sunshine out here in California. It has been awesome avoiding winter. As my friends and training buddies have been layering up with clothes, I have just been layering up with sunscreen out here in SoCal. I have been down to the beach three times this week and tomorrow will be the last for awhile as I head back to the altitude of snowy Colorado.

Decided to cook up “the world’s best lasagna” tonight for dinner. After browning the meat I drained the fat from the bottom of the skillet into a precariously perched glass jar. One wrong move sent boiling fat all over the stove, dripping down onto the floor and much to Makiah’s delight, saturating my just cleaned kitchen floor. She’s still licking the stove as we speak - I need to do a little better clean job.

I remember as a little girl, watching my dad run in the Olympic torch lighting ceremony as it made its way through Eugene down to LA for the 84 summer Olympics. I watched on our huge wood paneled TV as athletes competed for the ultimate prize - to be crowned an Olympic champion. Mary Lou Retton stands out in my mind - Connie Carpenter and Rebecca Twigg as well. It sparked a notion in my mind that that was my ultimate goal - I wanted to be a part of something so extraordinary and meaningful.

Live Your Passion Gear made a donation today to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, on behalf of our good friend Lera Haines. 

As part of the Society’s Team in Training Program, Lera will be running in the Steamboat Marathon on June 1st of this year.  Lera’s dad was recently diagnosed with Leukemia, and her participation is an effort to knock out this terrible disease on behalf of her dad and other people who have been diagnosed with leukemia and similar types of blood cancer.  You can support Lera in this effort right now by donating at her official website…  RIGHT HERE 

What a concept and a challenge, try a triathlon!  It all started two summers ago, sitting on the porch with a friend.  He thought we should train for a local sprint triathlon in the fall.  My response was “you’re crazy, you don’t run and I don’t swim”.  So off we blindly went, not quite sure but setting training schedules for all three sports.  I was able to shed some light on running techniques, pacing and trails while Joe was the swimming “expert” and very persistent on getting in the lake twice a week.  Biking took care of itself.

This picture pretty much sums up the Valley of the Sun weekend in Phoenix. Basically we were cursed from the get go out there. Barely made the start times for the tt. Ben won the time trial, then lost the jersey only to be taken out in the crit with 5 laps to go. Ben ended up with a broken collarbone because some idiot (wont say who) took him out.. Then we get a blow out while passing a semi on the way home. A strange trip and one that I will have no problem forgetting.

Every year it seems like the race season can’t start soon enough. The lucky Californians start their short sleeve and short action long before us PNW can even think about shedding all of our layers. Early season races show who’s on form and did their homework and extra credit over the winter. Take Brooke Miller for example. She moved to Ohio, the land of the frozen, trained her ass off despite the sub freezing temps and shipped off to Cali only to start sweeping some sweet winter wins. An inspiration for sure - but is making me anxious to test my winter dedication. But for me it’s only a test - I look forward to the warmer spring and summer temps to really demonstrate my ability. That competitive side sure rears its head when you start viewing pics and seeing the passion that lives on cyclists faces - they’re already enjoying what I love!