THERE IS A TRI GODDESS & HER NAME IS KIM

Yesterday was a good day. Back at the pool, I slithered in and began swimming, hoping to determine if the long swim the day before was a fluke or some sort of breakthrough. Much to my amazement, I was able to swim 3/4 of a mile with no warm- up and no break, save the long breath on the turn at the end of each 25 meters. If I can do this a third time tomorrow, I will believe that progress has indeed been made. Obviously, it isn't about an overnight improvement in conditioning, but about a mental shift...and about slowing down...and about letting go of the breathing-every-three for the moment. I'm okay with that...going the distance is the thing.

It was also a good day because of some great information I recieved earlier from an acquaintance, Kim, who is doing Devil's Lake and did it last year as well: that horrible serpentine uphill that I've been practicing in the park all summer before the big hill on highway DL *isn't actually on the race course!* Providing me with this information, and saying to me that once I'd broken through the previous swim barrier things would all get easier, elevates Kim to the triathlon pantheon for me.

My friend Nora J. also called and gave me props for the work I've done and results I've been getting. She reminded me that the event will be fun, that people go faster during a race, and that there will be people to chat with and to give encouragement to each other during the event. She speaks from the experience of marathons. Chatting with both Kim and Nora and some other people in the mix helped remind me to take a light-hearted approach...the training is sometimes hard and daunting, and it's therefore easy to get pulled away from the levity of the situation.

Today was a difficult day logistically, and I'm using that as a sign that it's a good day to rest; I will get back onto the intensive plan tomorrow. It's three weeks until Devil's Lake; I'm starting to think about the post-event soiree, as well as what I want to do activity-wise through the Wisconsin winter...back to t'ai chi? back to martial arts? back to violin lessons? all of the above plus swimming, running, and indoor biking? a spring bike trip in Europe? i'm thinking i will sell the 2200 soon after DL and have a bike custom built for next season. if i spend next summer in Hawaii, the new bike will get to travel. when i was a teenager, my Ovation Legend travelled with me; as a 40-something, it will be a bike. There's something funny in that.

Oh: on the analytical front...NJ thinks so many BB's are attracted to triathlon b/c of the cross-training. One more angle to contemplate.