File frenzy

Spent Saturday morning organizing my stacks of articles on sports and nutrition topics. I get Triathlete magazine and others occasionally on swimming, running, rowing, etc. Discovered I had some good stuff on workouts for swimming and running. I'll start putting these into practice on Monday. Spent the rest of the day outside, in the yard and at the Arboretum, celebrating Earth Day.

No Yoga, but other good stuff

I wasn't able to go to yoga this morning as I had a retreat with the YMCA Earth Service Corps Community Advisory Council group to prepare for the big Partner with Youth fundraising campaign coming up. I always look forward to this retreat as I get a chance to really catch up with some good friends, get a little sole food and lay out plans for another successful fundraiser to help YMCA programs. Outside of it being a major success for our group in planning and strategy, I also took away some things that will help in my pentathlon training. Particularly, it was the ropes activity that was really valuable for my. The activity was a low ropes activity, but still the teamwork, the ups and downs of trying to complete a difficult task and the ultimate success at the end really bumped up my confidence a lot and helped me to appreciate the challenges that face me ahead. The road to the 2004 Olympics will definitely reflect what I experienced on the ropes and I realize it will only be with the support of many people - coaches, family, friends, supporters and sponsors - that I will be able to succeed.

What's up doc?

Didn't go swimming this morning since I seem be be coming down with a cold again. I saw a chiropractor, Tom Goodwin, this afternoon, just to check in and see how my post-rowing back was doing - preventative maintenance I guess. He had a great holistic approach to overall health. Found out that I had 17% body fat and need to get that down to 10-14%. Also, discovered that because of my long 2nd and 3rd toes, orthotics are in order to help support my foot bridge. Dr. Goodwin suggested that I not run until I get the orthotics to avoind any further injury. In addition, I do have some issues with my sacrum not having a full range of motion, which could explain some of my challenges in my posting, as well as in yoga. Finally, we discussed some diet changes...more protein, less carbos and more fish. Back on Friday to do a little more work on my sacrum.

That’s Amore

After another long day at work, I helped out with our Salute to Cultural Diversity event. The event provided a much needed snack for the soul... for both myself and Lynnell, my assistant manager. Olympia Dukakis spoke along with the four awardees from the community. Olympia’s message about appreciating those who came before us seemed to set the theme for the evening, as it was echoed in the other speakers. I teared up on several occasions, which is usual for me. Stories of love, destiny and success seem to really affect me and make me cry much more than sad events, movies, etc. do. Not sure why that is, but I am sure a quick cry when someone wins an award or has overcome amazing odds to meet success. What a sap. Good emotional nourishment though.

The Sunset Girls

Bonnie Robbins invited me to an event after work with the Sunset Club. The Sunset club is made up of ‘established’ women shall I say? Basically a group of society women that hold a variety of social events. Bonnie is a member, Mari Jalbing, a fellow SYC rower, is a member too.

Tonight’s talk was on Global Partnerships, a group that does village banking in South America based on the Gramin Bank in India. I hoped this would be a soul development opportunity since the late dinner meant I wouldn’t able to do any training. Boy did it turn out to be just that. Started with cocktails with the Claps, the couple that started Global Partnerships. These conversations, about what you do, what I do, etc. always seem surreal at first, probably because I don’t have them often. I sometimes feel like people my age are trying to be intellectuals and fake these kind of conversations. But it quickly became apparent how passionate Mrs. Clapp felt about Global Partnerships and was sincerely interested in learning more about me as well. Same thing with Bart Fite and then the Nollans and Blacks. Mrs. Nolan was from Little Rock, AR and obviously came from a cultured background. What a fascinating person. The conversation was so stimulating, intellectually and spiritually. As we dined in this grand room we all talked about how much we take for granted here and what it was like to really live life. Mrs. Black’s daughter happened to be traveling in Nepal as we spoke so we had lots to talk about. She had just went to a symposium on mind, body and spirit so was really intrigued in my ‘motto’: developing my mind, body and soul to its fullest extent. The lecture on Global Partnerships was wonderful too, but is was certainly the incredibly rich (in spirit) company that made my evening.