Mark's 45th Bday (Just Kidding, Mark!)

This past weekend JZ threw a birthday party for her hubby, Mark.
It was a great turnout with lots of my cool buddies in attendance.
Jen Martinez took some great pictures - I'll include a few here...



Mark, JZ and me...



Brandon DelCampo and Jen Martinez



Mark, JZ, Monica Byrn, Lara Cooper, me, Laura Tingle, Cicily Tyson

Holy Cow! Only In Boulder...

I've been staying with my good friends, Lars and Emily Finanger, since I landed in Boulder.

The fellas (Leon Griffin and Gavin Scott) had returned to Australia after their usual summer of training in Boulder, and living with Em and Lars, by the time I arrived. I was bummed not to have had the chance to see them and say goodbye before they went back home, but I know they were both anxious to get back to their homes, their girlfriends, their life in Australia..... They are both such good guys. One thing living in Boulder and being a triathlete does for you is give you such great opportunities to make friends from all over the world. Most everyone comes to Boulder to train at some point -- so some great people to meet that you never otherwise would have.

With 3 guys in the house, poor Emily was enduring a high-octane testosterone fest. I was quick to point out to Lars "the shift" in energy: the hormonal change in the house to estrogen! :) Emily and I were laughing as I teased Lars that I was going to put fuzzy pink toilet covers on the toilets, and put boxes of jumbo-sized tampons all over the place. :) Lars was QUICK to defend, "If you guys start doing that, seriously, I am OUT OF HERE!" Funny.... :)

It's great living with Em and Lars as I look for my own place; they are both so easy going and welcoming, and could not do more to make me feel at home. Lars is building onto his great bike performance at IMCanada last month as he preps for IMAZ, and Emily is trying to ramp up again to potentially finish her season with the Soma 1/2. Last night we rode towards Jamestown when Em got done with work (I turned back early to make it to a dinner), and I continue to be reminded how AMAZING it is, and how lucky I am, to be in a place like Boulder, CO. Going on ALL rides from the front door (i.e., NO driving!) is something I don't think I will ever lose gratitude for.

So... my pot of gold at the end of my rainbow continues to become more full here.
My longtime friend, TR Maloney, accepted a job and moved to Boulder last week. He and I have been friends for so long, we decided we would be great roommates, especially both being newcomers to Boulder. The house hunting begins... (Ugggg, this process everyone can relate to, and no one likes it!)

I have the first good story to tell:

This morning around 7:30a, TR and I went for a little run before he had to leave for work. We ran to some trails and then were headed down the main street of Broadway towards our homes when, as we approached Amantes coffee shop (where folks typically gather to start their rides), I noticed the man across the street on the sidewalk.

He yanked down his pants and, buck naked, strolled down the street, a completely casual stroll as if nothing was wrong. WTF! I pointed him out to TR and we both started cracking up. I kept saying, "I am so glad you're with me to see this. No one will believe this!" This guy was really furry, too??? YUCK.

A bunch of roadies at Amantes were cheering, and people in their cars started doing double-takes, laughing, honking, etc. Crazy. As we ran by I yelled to the roadies, "I am not doing that!" and they laughed.

TR and I kept running, occasionally looking back to see naked man in the distance behind us, still walking.
Soon enough 3 cop cars went by us. The force was coming. :)

Only in Boulder.... (or NYC!)

:)

Later I couldn't stop thinking about the bizarre sight of naked man, so I sent TR an email. He wrote back, "Button on a fur coat. It was cold."

*LOL*!!!! I about fell out of my chair laughing at that ... and continue to giggle now as I repeat it in my head.

Good times.

Returning Home....

A few nights ago before I left Atlanta, I stopped by to see 2 of my best friends, Dorie and Drew Downs, to say goodbye. This picture is of their daughter, Nicole, walking over to toast my departure with her baby milk bottle. How cute is this kid?!

I think the hardest part of leaving a place is saying goodbye to the people you love, and with that, saying goodbye to the familiar. I am not one who thrives on change. In fact, change is torturous to me. I am the type to order the same thing at a restaurant each time; I go to the same shower stall at the gym; I sit in the same seat in a classroom week after week; I run the same route whenever I can, etc. I like routine and structure... and I have always done my best work when a routine of consistency, coupled with emotional support, was in place.

However, prior to this summer, I (and my closest friends) started to notice (or rather, finally mention) the distinct erosion of my spirit. I just wasn't myself anymore. I had my same routines, my same patterns ...and ultimately, my same results - which were not particularly good ones. It took a few years, but for a series of reasons, the fire to my spirit was finally barely a flicker. I knew I needed to do something drastic to try to jump-start something. Sometimes we need to take charge of our lives when the "routine" is no longer productive to our souls.

I am not the type to be passive, or be a victim... it was time to take my own life by the jugular. :) There had to be (has to be?) better than just existing, feeling monotone, just going through the motions each day.

I know there is more - I have been this person before.

So .... a summer in Boulder. Why not? And despite the challenges that come with any new surroundings, I believe it was good for my spirit. The friends I made here are sublime, and there is something very welcoming about Boulder. Everyone loves it here. There is something to be said for that. My friend Dana commented that by summer's end, "my step seemed lighter" when talking to me.

And then, the end of summer. What now?, I asked myself. I felt as though a snowball had been set into motion and I wanted to let it continue to build momentum as opposed to putting a brick wall in its place. I decided to commit to Boulder for a year. A summer wasn't enough to elicit true change, I thought.
So - back to Boulder I have come... searching for the change(s) that can only come with the experience of something NEW. I'll try and document the year journey as best I can ... and in doing so will hopefully inspire those in need of their own "jump start" to give courage a try. Only in being courageous enough to take risks can we become better than we are.

There is only ONE thing I know for certain (I used to know more than this but have since learned I know less than I ever thought): if we stay the same, we stay the same...

Profound, huh? :)

"We cannot discover new oceans until we have the courage to lose sight of the shore."
- Muriel Chen

Cheers to 2009!

Yoga... some like it hot, hot , hot!

I recently had another birthday. Oh goodie. :)

As a birthday treat, my dear friend and life/work mentor, Susan Edwards, exclaimed she wanted to "take me to Bikram (hot) yoga". I'd been resisting this for a while now. My Boulder cohort, Brandon DelCampo, is an avid, psycho hot yoga fan, often going multiple times a day! "C'Mon, Sharps. Come to yoga!", he'd try to coerce. But I wasn't having it. Mostly it was due to my PT's insistence I not go ... too many poses and awkward positions not too good for the healing SI joint.

The other reason... let's call a spade a spade: FEAR.

But for Susan, the woman who has hauled my butt out of more dark holes and given me the platform for several professional upgrades in the work force, I would do most anything. In keeping with my theme of trying new things this summer, being brave, facing fears, accepting new challenges without shrinking, I decided it was time for Bikram.

En route to Susan's place that morning I lamented with my best friend Doreen over the phone... "Dude, she wants to take me to hot yoga! Is she serious? Couldn't she take me to BREAKFAST? Or take me to the Zoo? Nooooo, she wants to take me to BIKRAM YOGA!"

Doreen giggled at my usual histrionics.

Anything new is a big deal for me. To put it more plainly: I have a sports-ego and always have. I don't have to be the best at something, but I have to be able to do it adequately. This ego makes the development of new skills extremely tough. I also worry that someday I’ll be on Youtube as entertainment for thousands. I seem to have two problems: concentration and coordination.
Think Yoga requires these things??

As Susan and I drove over, she counseled me that I may have various reactions, that "stuff" may come out of me during class.
Stuff? Like what? gas?
NO!, she laughed... stuff like issues. It was a pretty intense experience.
Phew... if it's not triathlon I certainly don't want to be releasing butt-gas on people!

We walked into the studio and I felt myself gasp involuntarily. Here I had spent my entire summer escaping the brutality of Atlanta temperatures yet I was now paying to relive them. The heat hit me in the face like opening the oven door to check on cookies. That, and there was this odor -- kind of like day-old Chinese food mixed with that smell of the dirty gym bag you open a day too late.

Like many women, I immediately calculated the comparative fat levels in the room: I was by far the fattest person. The female instructor came in and 90 hellish minutes began.

“If you’re here for the first time, remember if you’re going to pass out, just stop. Drink water at any time. Don’t start wandering around in a stupor, stay on your mat. Then I know you’re safe … Don’t worry, you probably won’t be able to do everything and that's ok. You are your own person so don't compare yourself with anyone else in the room.”

Whatever, chick. Get these people to a pool and I am kicking everyone's ASS!

We stood, feet planted 6-inches apart, and stretched our arms up. OK, I'm a bit dizzy but I can handle this. She instructed us to breathe. On cue the whole class began a frightening, loud, gutteral panting series that sounded like Darth Vader practicing Lamaze. My eyes popped open, I had to see this. I bit my lip HARD to help keep me from bursting into laughter.

As the class progressed, my hair was soaking wet and sticking straight out like a clown. Eventually I barely noticed the 103 degree room heat. I just concentrated on doing the poses correctly.

“Look in the mirror”, our instructor called out.

“I’d rather not,” I thought to myself.

The part about not being able to do everything was an understatement. I listened hard to the constant instructions. We went into one pose after another. I was sweating and dripping all over my yoga mat. While some of the poses were extremely hard, others were impossible. Our instructor would explain a move and I was shaking with the effort of just the preamble to the move. Sometimes to deepen a stretch we were instructed to wrap our fingers around our toes for resistance, upon which, my fingers would slip and snap loose because my sweaty hands and feet were as slippery as a hooked fish flopping on the floor of a boat. Ugh. I was exhausted.

Finally, class was over. I collapsed on my raft and waited for rescue.

Susan was right (and so was Brandon). It’s a great experience. I may even keep it up. You do feel great when it’s over. You are all stretched out, soaking wet, and you have taken a total break from your life. In those 90 minutes your biggest worry was getting your chin up or not falling over when you were standing on one leg.

In the crowded class of about 25 women and 10 men, I got what I came for. Calm, pain, clarity, sweat, even-ness, respite.

I also got an absolutely killer leg workout.

More than anything, I appreciated the way that hot yoga is "quiet". Not in the aural sense, but in the experiential sense. It is so different than any other physical activity I do. Slow and intentional. Reflective in its agony. Relentless in its insistence that you stop rushing and start paying attention.

And amid the searing pain of holding, holding, holding (those bastards make it look so easy!) I solidified and finalized my thoughts around what I want for myself this year, and how I’m going to make it real.

Whoever said you have to be good at everything? :)