Never Give Up-When You Believe

By this time next week, I will have finished my first sprint triathlon, fingers crossed.  This has been a long hard 7 weeks, I am looking forward to it being done.  I have learned that you train to race, not race to train and race day is totally different.  Check you ego and expectations at the door, do the best you can and aim to finish, anything else is a bonus.  This is especially true for your first race at a new event or distance, whatever you do will be a PB so don't worry and have fun.    I am a recreational runner and triathlete (I hope) and that is good enough for me. I might never qualify for Boston or Kona, I might never finish first in my age group, I might even finish last (and probably will next week) and that is OK. As long as I enjoy the journey and my body can handle the training, I will keep going, slowly going forward to new events, new distances, new goals... I will never give up because I believe.

"When You Believe" Music & Lyrics by Ken Ward

It's a long road and we each must find our way
set our fears aside and take a chance
and so it goes, in every generation
it's the strong that rise above their circumstance

When you believe in your mind and in your heart
it's there and then you start to set your course
When you believe you hold on forever,
to the dream that sets you free and makes you soar
Eventually, you will your destiny, when you believe

And when the odds say you will fall, 
but you face that uncertainty
With unrelenting will so strong, 
you go where you've never gone
and in that moment a hero dawns, when you believe

Sleepless in the Summer

It's been a hot and humid summer, as my son put it -Satan called and wants his weather back.  Usually I love the heat and sun of the summer after our long cold winters but not this summer, now it means I have to get up at what a friend calls the crack of stupid to do my daily training.  I know it might be hot on race day so I do some of my workouts in the evening but my long slow run, cycle and my brick workouts, I try to do in the early morning.  Getting up at 5:30am so I can get something to eat before I head out to train is not my idea of fun.  Generally I am a morning person but I like to enjoy my coffee and ease into my day not rushing to lace up my shoes so I can get an hour+ workout done before it gets hot.  

This lack of sleep is effecting my productivity at work, which is a bad thing when you work for yourself.  My daily routine now includes an afternoon nap, no longer a nice treat but a daily necessity to survive my training schedule and life in general.  In three weeks I can cut back my training and hopefully get back to a more normal sleeping schedule, I really hope so as I am tired of being sleepless in the summer.

Run Neale Run

So on Sunday I was not running, I was watching others run and had a great time.  Neale was running the Boilermaker run in Utica NY, a 15K race and I was standing on the side lines cheering the runners on.  We did not know there was a 5K event but I embraced my job as official photographer and got to the finish line at 7am.  There was already a crowd to watch the 5k runners and it was not long before they showed up.  It's interesting watching people run, you see people running with ease and other struggling but they all have a story, a reason for running and a joy of running that is infectious.  I saw young kids and seniors all running together, mothers and sons, brothers, team mates and friends.  Some wore costumes and almost all wore a smile, it was fun.

Then came the wheelchair athletes, zooming by at great speed, some in custom chairs and a few in regular wheelchairs, that must have been a tough 15K race with all the hills on the course. Finally the elite 15K runner came by.  They are a sight to be seen, so graceful and elegant, I feel like an elephant when I run and they look like a gazelle. By this time it was quite hot and the runners where feeling it as they neared the finish line.  Some struggled by and some sprinted to the finish, determined to get a PB at all costs.  The crowd was there to cheer these athletes on, looking for their loved one or friend in the crowd, ready to cheer extra loud for them.  I was watching for Neale, camera in hand and managed to spot his bright orange hat as he turned the last corner, a big smile on his face.  He finished with a good time and felt good, a successful run for him.

After the run the party started, the run is sponsored by a local brewery and the beer flowed like water.  There was food, beer and music and 14000 happy runners and their families all ready to have a good time. Ottawa really needs to have a run like this, it was such a good time.  We are looking forward to going back next year and this time I will be ready to run the 15K and earn my finishers pin and beer...lots of beer.

"Watching the world's best compete fires you up to achieve your own feats of greatness. When it comes to running, participation and spectating go hand in hand." 
-Kara Goucher