Category Archives: Moving Forward
I’m Still Here1
This blog is my baby. It was my first blog and has a place in my heart. As life moved on I got away from blogging regularly and finally I stopped posting here at all. So much time has passed, life changes, I lost my Mom in January yet here I am today posting again. This year Lord willing I will turn 65. Woo Hoo!!!! To you young folks that probably sounds ancient. Perhaps but I’m happy as heck to be here. I still have a lot of goals and ideas and maybe I will fulfill some of them this year! I can’t promise to do this daily but you will here from me more regularly! Happy March! I’ll let you know when spring has really sprung. The darn groundhog that eats my garden will be seen soon. Then we know it’s spring!
Saturday Swim Practice
Another great swim practice. Right now we are working on improving our freestyle stroke. Coach Mike is a talker and that freaks out some folks. He explains the reason and mechanics for each drill. I like knowing why we are doing certain things so it’s fine with me. Many of us have spent years swimming incorrectly. Personally, I want to swim the best stroke that I can. Apart from competing I want to know that I can swim well and easily. I have to put in the work. I have a very weak kick. Drills are helping me improve. I love swimming and enjoy our regular Saturday practice. Happy Saturday everyone.
Brick City MasterSwim 2015
Brick City Master Swim meeting
Yesterday we had our first planning meeting for 2015. Took pictures of our 2014 medals (Roz Kelley in the pink with her New York Marathon medal) and made lots of swim and triathlon training plans too. We have lofty goals and invite you to join us at JFK pool in Newark, New Jersey. Brick City Masterswim is calling!.
Pause and Reflect
Yesterday morning I looked at my phone and saw a message from a college classmate who lives in Paris. The message was to let me know that one of our friends had passed away. As is human nature shock is followed by a sense of one’s mortality. I hadn’t seen him for years and unlike some of us he was not a social medial person so the news took us by surprise for sure. My college roommate who is the practical voice among us said well we are at the age where this will be happening. Cheery thought but true. It made me think that there is a lot to be said for Carpe Diem thinking. While tomorrow may not be our last, all kinds of things can steal our joy. Enjoy every day that you can. Don’t take any for granted.
Have a good evening.
A Blessed Day For Sure
Started my day putting air in my tires, voting and doing a three-mile walk. Along the way I ran into my girl Roz two days off of her New York Marathon run this past Sunday. She walked yesterday and today. Gotta love her! Warm and sunny just a day to feel blessed. Happy Tuesday!
The closest I’m getting to an NYC marathon metal. Thanks Roz!
Why Can’t Black People Swim?
Okay if you want to hear really stupid things google them. I looked out of curiosity and because we had a very unsuccessful swim event for kids last evening. Now without debating a myriad of silly issues about swimming I am going to say that the sports that get the least attention in some communities have the fewest participants. Who knows how to swim and how do they learn?
I grew up in Manhattan, the only child of a father who was afraid of the water and a mother who knew how to swim. I did not have a local Y to go to or any indoor pool that I can remember. Occasionally we went to public pools but not often. Yet I have been in the water my whole life. Probably because my mother loved the water and she passed that information on to me.
So dispensing with a lot of other theories, I think that you only know about swimming what you are exposed to.
Currently I am enjoying a Facebook page dedicated to Black Triathletes. Before you say why is that page necessary, it’s to offer support and spread the word about a sport that may still be unknown to many minority people with athletic aspirations. Swimming is often the topic of conversation because many people haven’t learned how to swim.
So much work to do. Pass the word, swimming is fun and may save your life one day. If you live in New Jersey and can come to Newark, let me know we have a beautiful pool, a Master swim team and would love to have you learn to swim!
Don’t Let Illness Force Your Fitness
So most of you know that I’m 63 and that this past summer before my birthday was my first triathlon season. And yes I’m proud and happy and all that good stuff. Yet every morning when I get my day started I have to take several pills that for now help to keep my situation in control. So I thought this morning as I was pumping it around the track in the park (I’m a walker), lots of things could have been better if I had done this my whole life.
Like many during my 20’s and 30’s and 40’s I was an episodic athlete. Usually it was tied to an upcoming event or something that I considered a tragedy at the time. Once the situation was over I usually fell back into my more challenging habits. Somewhere around 50 (it’s a blur now) I received an early morning call from my Doctor saying that my blood sugar was elevated. Dang I could see that one coming. Diabetic father and many of his family members combined with my over weight and bad eating habits. Hmn…. no surprise.
My point today is that perhaps I couldn’t have prevented the eventual diagnosis but I sure could have tried. A healthy lifestyle should be a life long pursuit. Kudos to those of you with family, and work responsibilities as well as pursuing a healthy lifestyle. I know the athletic part is tough and is usually the first to suffer. Tired and all. But I can’t help but think in the long run it is essential. Like I said, don’t let illness force your fitness.
Wetsuit or Not?
Do you wear a wetsuit for open water swimming (OWS)? This past season I borrowed a wetsuit from dear Roz and used it for my one and only open water training swim. I was so busy focusing on the process that I can’t say how the suit felt. I decided not to wear it for either of my first two sprints. Would it have made a difference? I’m not sure. My swim performances were less than stellar. Especially since I swim four to five says a week in the summer. But I wasn’t tired in either swim. Just slow. They both took longer than they should but I attribute that to poor training on my part. I was so freaked about riding that I concentrated on that and let my swimming kind of go.
The people who I know that swear by wetsuits see swimming as the necessary evil of triathlon. Like I feel on the bike, I just want to get it done. Don’t care how it looks just do it. So would the added buoyancy have made me faster? I doubt it. So will I get a wetsuit next season? Probably because I intend to do one earlier and one later that last season and the water may be chilly. We’ll see. What do you think? Read the rest of this entry
Maintaining Fitness in the Off Season
Today I went to the park for the first time in weeks. Actually, I’ve been lazy since Iron Girl on September 7, 2014. Once the day was over I had nothing to train for. My next event whatever it will be won’t be until next summer (if my knees cooperate). So I just haven’t had the urgency to get out there. So this morning I decided if it wasn’t raining I would take a quick walk and come home. My second round (1/2 mile track) I ran into an old friend and started walking with her. Did three miles and called it quits. Well I hate to say it but my legs have been sore all day. Wow! I know that I have to get back in the groove and put together an off-season schedule. I may not start formal Triathlon training until spring but there are lots of things I can do until then. For sure I can’t go weeks without walking again.
What do you do in the off seasons to keep fit?
People We Have To Get A Grip!!!!!
Today was the first really nice day we’ve had in this part of New Jersey this week. A crisp, clear fall day. After my morning swim I headed out on Route 22 to run some errands. As is generally the case at midday there was a lot of traffic. It was basically stop and go and people were attempting to enter the flow of traffic from the side roads which always slows things down. A gentleman in a red convertible decided to enter the traffic without stopping and caused a Mercedes to swerve. The Mercedes driver honked and gestured and we continued on for a few feet when in traffic, the convertible driver threw his car into park and jumped out yelling and waving his arms the whole time. Mind you cars were moving all around him. The Mercedes driver rolled down his window and yelled back and I was contemplating where the heck I could go since I was right behind them. The convertible driver jumped back in his car and proceeded to drive off throwing things out of the back of the car.
People we have to get a grip on our lives, our stress, our issues just get a grip period. We are so angry and high-strung that the simplest things can set us off. This ended safely but it could have been different. I wished that I could have made a video of the incident for the convertible drive to review in a quieter time. Maybe he could have seen how ridiculous he seemed. Maybe not though. My advice is start walking, running, riding or swim like me. Let that anger out in a positive way. Anyway think the next time someone ticks you off. Consider the consequences before you act. It probably isn’t worth it!
First Steps the Hardest 