After a few years of going through the motions, I’ve finally decided that this phenomenon deserves a title all its own.  This weekend we’ll be heading to the bayou to kick off the tri season with New Orleans 70.3.  It sure does sound good on paper: meet up with a bunch of my ATL friends, have the original Ragin’ Cajun (MikeyG) himself give us the tour, eat crawfish, attempt to dance to Cajun music, score a beignet . . . slay myself in a half ironman.

There’s a reason why Club Med doesn’t include that last part in their vacation ads.  Nobody would call it a vacation!

And let’s consider our significant others for a moment.   They are whisked away to these fab destinations, only to deal with pre-race bitchiness (which has actually been a consistent theme the past two weeks), 3:30am race day alarm clocks, 8pm bedtimes, Powerbar breakfasts, and at any given moment may be expected to carry very heavy items, serve as bike mechanics, massage therapists, race day photographers, and short order cooks.   The pre-race bitchiness quickly transitions into post-race bitchiness, with an added pathetic theme of helplessness, as we are typically unable to do much for ourselves due to walking with a pronounced limp and extreme muscle soreness.

So to ease into the fake-ation season, we did a little fake-ation warm up.  Just a couple weekend trips — first, to San Diego, and then to Taos, NM.  San Diego was a good excuse to watch some friends race Oceanside 70.3, and to see Danny’s family, since he grew up there.  Taos, well, just because it’s totally awesome.   Here are a few of my favorite photos from the last two fake-ations.

In a real vacation, you might leave the “kids” at home. In a fake-ation, you bring the pup with you!  (We learned that Shaina is not a fan of triathlons, for what it’s worth.) Here were were enjoying the pier while all the studs were out on the bikes.  I could get used to this heart rate zone on race day…

Danny’s Dad and Stepmom were thrilled to see him.  And if Danny is half as cute and sweet as his Dad in 30yrs, we will be just fine.  (He has the same deal with me about my mom, so it’s only fair.)

We hiked around Torrey Pines and it was indeed as beautiful as I’ve been hearing about all these years.  And I ALMOST got him to take the bait on this dare…

We got lots of great pictures of the athletes out there, and I screamed my head off for Vanessa, Lauren, Nate, and some of my other buddies out there. It was pretty darn motivating to see them working their tails off and putting up such strong performances so early in the season.

Fake-ation #2: Taos, NM.  Taos is the magical mountain town in Northern New Mexico, home to the 1000yr-old ancient Taos Pueblo and once-home to famed frontiersman Kit Carson.  It’s hard to decide what I love most about Taos:   the amazing mountain views, the cool, crisp, and CLEAN mountain air, the simple, beautiful architecture, the colors, the kindness of the people, or the calmness with which people seem to go about their day.  Peacefulness.  I really loved it.

We checked out the Rio Grande River Gorge Bridge, and I tried to simultaneously enjoy the gorgeous views while remembering to breath– I was scared to death!

Don’t look down!

And a smaller, less intimidating bridge…

Love it here…

The Taos Pueblo was very cool… a 1000 yr old pueblo where people are still living as they did “back in the day” – no electricity, and no running water . . . but with that beautiful river running through their village, they don’t seem to miss it.

I will spare you the 500 other photos we took. I just love it. I love the peace, the calm, and the beauty.  So for a fake-ation, it was pretty good!

The real fake-ation action starts this weekend in NOLA, and it will be quite an event with some very strong talent racing.  I look forward to going out there and doing my very best, as always.  I had a good talk with my coach recently about believing in myself, and not worrying about who else is out there.  I am going to race with confidence, within myself, and celebrate the fact that I am out there among the big cheeses of our sport.  Nobody will remember placements, splits, or other race day details in 20 years, but I will remember that I stepped up to the challenge when I was able to do so.

Today’s parting shot comes from one very gutsy puppy we saw in San Diego at the race site. He jumped right into this big dog’s “personal space,” threw a few punches, and challenged the stranger a few times. It was adorable. The best part was when he actually took the big dog’s leash in his mouth, fearlessly, and stood his ground.

Kinda gives you something to think about . . .

Best wishes to everyone racing NOLA this weekend for a safe, fun, and challenging event.  And if you feel like you’re going up against the big dogs, well, take a page out of this pup’s book and jump right into the mix and have fun with it.  That’s what I plan to do… who knows, maybe I’ll hold onto a few leashes this weekend?

I am grateful for their friendship and humor.  Who are these girls? LJ and LH... and they may need to change their blog name now that they’re no longer officially “rookies.”

LJ inspired me last night with a little nugget of thought-provoking motivation.  She said that she’s reading a book about the Tarahumara Indian tribe of the Colca Canyon in Northern Mexico.  I haven’t read the book yet, but I have read articles about this fascinating tribe of endurance athletes that can run for miles and miles, usually barefoot.  It’s on the reading list now, though.  Anyway, LJ was talking about how this tribe does not see running as a chore; it is a joy and they soak up every second of it.  We need to ENJOY these workouts, soak them up and be totally engaged in the process.  Bottom line: CHANGE YOUR ‘TUDE.

19 and Clueless. But smiling!

This got me thinking back to college when I walked onto ASU’s xcountry team. I hadn’t run a 5k before and had been a total rookie to the sport. One of the more seasoned runners on the team, Allison, told me a little tip:  Always smile at the spectators during the race. You’ll find they smile back, and it’ll give you energy. She was so right! I have been scamming that smile for years now on the race course, and after a while, you start to believe that you really are having fun out there!

But training was another story. I am an analytical freak when it comes to my data. I can’t help it; my coach created this monster. I love the numbers and I’m constantly monitoring where I’m at and where I need to be. Of course I still do this on race day, but race day is more of a celebration of all the hard work, with no real surprises since I’ve tried to maintain consistency in training.

Essentially, this would require both sides of my brain (creative and analytical).  So this morning I tried really hard to follow LJ’s advice and try to “run like the Tarahumara”– fully engaged, totally enjoying it, and feeling blessed to be there.

Attitude really IS everything.  Blah blah blah — We all know this, but how often do we really apply these principles to our workouts everyday? Workouts, that I will add, we CHOOSE to do. This is not torture; we are 100% willing participants and have chosen this hobby as an outlet for our competitive drive, talent, and interests.  Sure it’s fun to complain about how much we are getting slammed by our coaches and how sore and tired we are and how hard it is to fit it all in some days . . . but come on– we CHOOSE to do this because it’s fun and it is fulfilling for many different reasons.  Let’s get back to that.  Keep the analytical side firing, but engage your creative side and don’t forget how blessed we are to be doing this.

Thank you, Lindsey, for the “kick in the ass” and getting me back on track!    Not surprisingly, it was the best run so far this year.

And as for my smiling college friend . . .  it looks like she’s teaching her son the same lesson at a very early age.  This was from his first 5k race.  He’s already workin’ the crowd –  I love it!