Positivity, Sarah-style

When I woke up this morning, I was scowling, mad-at-the-world cranky. I'm tired, two weeks into a training block, and when I woke up, it was 12 degrees out (-11C). Furthermore, I would have to somehow muster the energy to get a bike and run workout in before 12, when I have swim practice. At this juncture, I had three options: ride inside on the Computrainer, feeling sorry for myself the entire time, ride outside and feel sorry for myself, or turn my foul mood around and make the best of my day. Since nobody likes a whiner (decidedly un-BAMFy), I resolved to make the most of the situation. Starting with breakfast, I mentally catalogued reasons to get into a more upbeat mood (I hear it already: "Oh Saucy, you are so American!").

Here are my reasons for being positive today:
-My spiced pumpkin pancakes with real maple syrup (so expensive out in CO that I might as well put gold flakes on my breakfast). I had to pull out the big guns, pre-ride.
-Raven's Nest coffee, times two
-My SRM's temperature function, proving that I'm not as soft as I previously feared (negative degrees Celcius at the start!)
-Coach JT's understanding of my love-hate relationship with numbers, specifying that I just do my hill repeats and not look at my watts
-Joe's box of cycling clothes that he has held onto for the past 15 years, providing me with ear warmers and lined vest
-My complete lack of wardrobe shame. Star-spangled Groff with pink leg warmers? Not a good look.
- Living within 30 seconds of Monument Valley trail
-Planning tomorrow's dinner (and, yes, I pulled out cookbooks in transition)
-No wolf-like dogs spotted (I'm in the middle of Sharp Teeth). I did see a black standard poodle, however, which made me think of Grovesy's obsession- always a reason to smile.
- Getting swim, bike and run workouts in before 1pm.
-The Flobots' "Handlebars"- my new, I-can-conquer-the-world song
-The realization that, while I willingly head out on my bike in freezing temperatures, I am a pretty lucky person to be able to do this for a living.

Happy training,
Sarah

Happy Valentine's Day

Many people dismiss Valentine's Day as being a creation of the card companies. If you are a kid (or quite a few adults), however, it is another opportunity to pump yourself full of sugar and run around like a tasmanian devil. And if you are me, you take advantage of the situation to mooch candy and a Cinderella pencil off the kids and to wind them up. They aren't coming home with me, after all...

A worthy mess

Even though I was disheartened that I couldn't find doilies in the art room this afternoon, the kids and I made some Valentine's Day cards. I didn't get the chance to make one myself, as I was too busy cutting out hearts for them and cleaning up endless paper scraps and glitter (glitter, while fun and sparkly, is a disaster waiting to happen). The most amusing part was how many boys were in the room, making big hearts for their "girlfriends". Since a few claim to be juggling more than one girlfriend, their hands were full with card-making!

Back to blog-land

The best part about jetting off to training camps is that you are able to completely absorb yourself in training to the exclusion of everything else. For three weeks in Maui, I was able to focus solely on swimming, biking and running (and eating and sleeping- the frequently unrecognized fourth and fifth sports that make up the triathlon) and actually checked my email daily. This singular focus that makes a training camp so wonderful, however, is also what makes a return from camp so difficult.

When I came back to Colorado Springs last week, I was inundated with tasks that I had pushed aside for at least three weeks (I'm an excellent procrastinator), the most engrossing entailing a move from the Olympic Training Center dorms to a house off-campus. Combine moving my stuff from Boulder, sorting through numerous boxes of clutter and setting up a house with utilities etc. with my training and re-acclimation to altitude and it should be pretty apparent why it has taken me a couple of weeks to return to the blogosphere. That being said, Lauren Groves/ Gunnison/ Gigi, knowing how much I normally avoid the computer, correctly predicted that the frequency of my blogging would drop off substantially upon leaving Maui, where everyone spent countless hours in the tubes (I still don't understand the appeal).

Anyway, I'm back in Colorado, busting out my cold weather clothes for training, and getting back into a regular routine, including hanging out with my kids at the Boys and Girls Club. I am happy to report that my skills at Connect Four have not diminished in my time away from the club. There is quite a few new members to the club, so I am presented with the daunting task of both remembering names and learning new ones- never a strength of mine.

As a side note, I've noticed that I have an overwhelming number of blankets and pillows. Our kitchen is also incredibly stocked with great cooking tools and utensils, especially considering the fact that we have no couch, kitchen table or chairs. Based on my possessions, sleeping and eating are extraordinarily high priority tasks for me (like I said before- they are the fourth and fifth sports in triathlon). Okay, back to packing. There will be more updates to come! Someday...

Sarah

Nature vs. Nuture

This week, the athletes of In the Arena have been given a questionnaire dealing with Nature v. Nurture in the development of expertise. I'm very interested to see how the answers of my fellow athletes compare to the ones that I've given. My answers are as follows:

1. What is the athletic background of your parents and family?
My parents and siblings are, and have always been, pretty active people. My father was a collegiate lacrosse player and still runs and relishes physical labor (moving boulders, landscaping etc.). My mother was a majorette (baton twirler) in college who took up running at the age of 40 and runs regularly. My brother and sister were very athletic growing up, playing soccer, swimming and running. They both participated in sports (Nordic skiing and rowing) in college and continue to be active.

2. When did you begin participating in your sport?
While I did my first triathlon in 1998, I didn't participate regularly in triathlon until 2004. From the age of 7, I was a competitive swimmer and ran competitively throughout middle and high school. However, adding the bike and doing all three sports in a row took a few years.

3. What were your early experiences with sport like?

My family was very supportive of my participation in sport, taking me to whatever games or meets that I had. It was a no-pressure situation, as they were more concerned that I enjoyed myself than with victory. I also grew up in a small town, where a kid could compete in many different sports and not worry about focusing on one sport. It was also easy to be successful in your sport (the classic “big fish, small pond” syndrome).

4. How instrumental were parents and coaches in the early part of your development as an athlete?

I would say that my parents and coaches were more important in my development in the role of emotional supporters than technical supporters. By the time that I started triathlon, the lessons of dedication and persistence had long been instilled in me.

5. How were you introduced to your sport and how many other sports did you seriously participate in?
While I knew vaguely of triathlon as a result of televised Ironman Hawaii, I decided that I would try a triathlon in high school, as I could already swim and run. My father drove with me from Upstate NY to Massachusetts in order to participate, as there were no races closer to our home. Although I competed in swimming in college, I wasn't ever part of a “serious” swimming program, so I would say that triathlon is the first sport in which I have participated seriously.

6. Is your success a product of nature or nurture?

Although nature plays a role in my ability to train and compete at a high level, I believe that nurture is 90% of the reason why I am successful. I don’t have the “ideal” build for the sport, but my stubborn persistence has proven to outweigh my natural limitations.

7. Are you an expert in your field? (by your own definition)
I feel that I will never be an expert in my field, as the sport is always evolving. I have picked up quite a bit along the way, but I still have so much left to learn!

Training Camp Survival Tips: How to Endure Three Weeks in a Male- Dominated Training Group

Prior to coming to Maui, my experience in training camps was limited to camps with Siri Lindley's all-girl squad. Here, however, Lauren Groves and I are the only women present at this camp. Needless to say, my introduction into the world of male triathlete training has been an eye-opening experience. While I've managed to survive the camp with body and spirits intact thus far, I've picked up some lessons on how to fit in with other testosterone-laden triathletes:

1. Eat lots of meat (aka “man food”), especially bacon. Vegetables are frowned upon and tofu is openly scorned.
2. Get a tattoo that reads “Don’t Worry- it is JANUARY”. Strangely enough, men get competitive with one another in workouts, even when said workouts take place in January. Since I’m not in a position to race anyone right now, let alone a dude, this phrase is very helpful to have on mental repeat.
3. Embrace your nickname. If I ever had any qualms about the nickname “Sausage”, I've learned to overcome them over the course of the camp. Even the coach, Notorious Joel Filliol (cue Biggie), hasn't slipped by on this one and is forced to listened to his new theme song on repeat.
4. On the bike, there are no photo-ops. Vistas normally are accompanied by hills. Use the opportunity to attack, not marvel at the view.
5. Show no weakness. If you complain, you will be subject to ridicule. While the boys have progressed beyond wedgies and swirlies (if only marginally), teasing is an acceptable form of abuse.
6. Don’t break the unspoken rules of conduct. For example, avoid sitting on and mistakenly tapping a training partner’s feet for the course of a 1.2 mile open water swim race. You may find yourself in an overly extended, heated debate with a strong-willed Olympic medalist.
7. Check the toilet seat. To avoid falling into the seat-less bowl and cracking your tailbone in the middle of the night, remember that some males (Dr. Jones!) frequently forget this small act of decency.
8. Non-training waking hours will be occupied with eating and the internets. I have no idea what they do online for hours, but I guess there are some cool forums and blogs out there that require constant vigilance. Maybe I’d understand if I had a hip Apple laptop like the rest of them, instead of my Toshiba tank.
9. Most importantly, bring your sense of humor. If you can’t laugh at yourself, you will be the target of increased jabs. Pre-emptive self-deprecation works quite well as a strategy.

In truth, I've really enjoyed training with this group in Maui and am a bit saddened by the prospect of returning to Colorado. While training with a group of guys has been very different from my previous training situations (alone or with all girls), I love the energy and intensity of the squad. That being said, I can’t wait to again have a bathroom that I don’t have to share with a herd of men!

Great article

With some courage, a love of working with kids and some patience, it is pretty incredible what one person can do in even the most difficult environments. Check out this article on an Australian starting a skateboarding school for Afgan kids.