…seeking light

YES…it’s TRUE, the long awaited weekend is HERE!!! I am packing right now for my race this weekend. Laura, Sara and I road trip it to San Diego tomorrow AM! I can’t wait! The countdown is almost over…and the money is ALMOST all in…just under $500 out of $3400!!

Friends, strangers, family and those at work have been SO supportive of me. I’ve been blown away with generosity and kindness!

I just love that as I’m packing, going over details, checking things off, running last minute errands, I am filling out multiple “in case of emergency” forms…ah, yes, I forget that I have to sign a waiver that recognizes that “I might be subject to drown”…

Let’s hope not!!

Stay tuned…

Well, apparently, in my crazy schedule, I haven’t made time to keep everyone updated…but yes, it’s the LAST week until my triathlon!! I can’t believe it’s ALREADY here. The journey has been pretty amazing.

My favorite things are the funny stories throughout the past few weeks….
1) On Memorial Day, my roommates and I went to the beach so while they were enjoying the sun, I pulled on my wetsuit, threw on my bright yellow swim cap and pink goggles. Sure, I might have appeared as a mutant to all those in their bikinis and swim trunks but I had to conquer the waves at some point. Ironically, the waves conquered me and within minutes I was thrown back onto the beach. Yet, I dove back out there…hoping to try again. I was determined to make it from Lifeguard Tower 8 to Tower 4. Yet, somehow, I’m pretty sure I swam backward…and then as I tried to swim towards shore, the waves swallowed me AGAIN and I felt like I was trapped and only 8 feet from actually touching the beach! Then all of a sudden, the water spit me out and I was thrown onto the sand like a beached whale. Pretty entertaining!

(Stay tuned for more stories…)

Almost at my triathlon fundraising goal…donate HERE to support me and the Leukemia/Lymphoma Society…
http://www.active.com/donate/tntgla/tntglaCNorman

In the past few weeks of training, our team has shared various stories about the people they are racing for. Now our team of 50 is broken down into smaller teams so I’m on a team of about 5-7 other athletes….one who is Jose. He has shared during this season that his brother has cancer and was only in his 30s. Just recently, I received THIS email.

“I miss you all a lot and I guess moreso because my brother passed away.
I am in New Mexico with my family. I don’t think I’ll come back this season, but I do want to do it again next season. It’s just too hard for me right now. I can’t even cope it seems, which is weird because I’m the priest in the family. I know that my faith says that he’s in a better place and I realize this to be true, it’s just sooooo hard to realize that he’s gone - physically.”

THIS is why I’m RACING…for teammates like Jose who cannot compete because the cause hit closer to home. Please support ME, JOSE and his family through this! (See Team in Training link at left).

It’s interesting when LIFE happens and then puts everything into perspective. Just a few weeks ago, as part of the training for the triathlon, I ran the Jimmy Stewart Relay Marathon with my co-workers. In fact, there were two teams and our guys team finished in 3rd place and our women’s team finished FIRST in the “Corporate Women’s” category. The funny thing is, when we found this out, we were the ONLY women’s team but by the end of the day, there were five teams! The highlight of the day was when we were cheering the guys team on at the finish, I was leaning against the finshing chute and I could have reached out and touched Isaiah Washington (starring in Grey’s Anatomy). He was hosting the event and was holding the banner for the FIRST place winner…which was one from OUR team!!

Every Saturday AM there are group bike rides. However, due to conflicts of schedules, I have only made it to one pratice…and of course, that was BEFORE I had a bike so I did a run. Again, this weekend, I missed the Saturday ride and yet I knew I had to get one in so I went on Sunday. I set my alarm and was planning on meeting some other riders at 9am. Yet, with the time change, I missed the 9 AM meeting but pulled myself out of bed just to head to the trail anyways. To my amazement, three other riders were just pulling into the parking lot…ALSO missing the time change.

Since this was the 2nd time I was actually ON my bike, I needed a crash course in changing gears and clipping in and out of my pedals. Our lead rider, Cav, took some time explaining this to me and then we started to ride. A few times when we would stop at stop signs or for traffic, I would almost fall over because I would forget to take my foot out of the pedals. The best part was when Cav was explaining the gears to go uphill and I was thinking, “This is pretty easy. The incline isn’t too bad.” And then he asked, “Have you done THIS hill before?” Then I looked up and saw a gradual incline that kept going and going…after I crept up the hill, he then explained how to proceed downhill. Of course, I had to take a breather at the top, so I clipped out of one pedal and waited for his instruction. He specifically said to change the one gear at the top of the hill because once you get going, you won’t be able to because you’ll be moving too fast. “Yeah, yeah…I got it…” So I started to push off the concrete with my foot that was balancing me, while the other foot was clipped in to my bike. I started to gain momentum but before I could get my foot in the pedal. So without my foot in, I couldn’t pedal, so I couldn’t change gears!! I began to pick up speed, and then the trail curved out of nowhere, and now I’m fighting to watch my pedal spin relentlessly below me, trying to find a time or place to fit my foot in while trying to keep my eyes on the road and also stay out of the way of traffic that came up behind me!! Finally, as I reached the bottom, what seemed like a mile later, I found my footing and clipped in just in time to find my brakes to stop from crashing into another rider.

Everyone is suggesting…”Oh, you have to journal about your experience in the triathlon training!” Well, lately, since I’ve missed practices because of work or out of town guests…or just plain, “I want to sleep in on Saturday!”, I just assumed there wasn’t much to write about. However, lately, as I have talked with other teammates, I realize I’m really behind on the fundraising portion. And well, if it’s a matter of ASKING people for help, we less likely to TALK about that, right?

The team has done various fundraisers that I have been unable to attend because of work…they’ve had parties, silent auctions, served at Coldstone, etc. Some have even raised $6000 already. We started IN February!!!

As I struggle to get this fundraising going, I’m amazed that people that come into my work, that hardly KNOW me are willing to support me. Or my mentor, who I’ve seen a handful of times, says that she is going to put her fundraising TOWARDS my fundraising…and I’m extremely overwhelmed at the generosity of people that GIVE to someone they don’t even KNOW and yet it’s because they believe in the cause!

What cause do you believe in enough to GIVE with nothing in return?

http://www.active.com/donate/tntgla/tntglaCNorman

Today we celebrated St. Patrick’s Day and I didn’t even realize HOW much green I had to wear in my closet. It must have been too early in the morning for me to think clearly because with my green pants, green shirt and green shoes, I definitely looked like the world’s largest leprechaun. We had a party at work ALL day…prizes, green bagels, green drinks, green food, green dip–just green fun!!

Even after 14 hours of fun, I sometimes wonder what my job is all about at the end of the day. Yet, as I wrestle, I realize that people are just LONGING to have community. Even if it’s where I work, for our clients, it’s where they come to hang out. One woman shared about how she works all week, then cares for her husband who can’t live at home because of his health and so she goes to him, brings him to us and then only has him home on the weekends. Another man shared about his passion for teaching high school students…the list goes on about the people I am honored to meet every day and I take a NEW perspective on how MY JOB is to encourage them!!

Why do we do the things that we do? It’s been a long day..well, week at work, and my friend has invited me to go hang out with her in downtown L.A. tonight and instead I had to turn her down, WHY?? Because I decided to SIGN UP for a triathlon team in which we raise money for cancer…and we have our swim practice tonight. You may be wondering, “Well, what’s the problem? You should be motivated, it’s for a good cause!” I agree…but why then do I drag my heels EVERY Wednesday evening AND Friday night as I prepare for EARLY Sat. AM workouts? I think I just don’t like the discipline…I’d rather EAT what I want, sleep in or just VEG on the couch after work. This is the EXACT reason why I WANTED to sign up for this because I KNOW I don’t have the discipline naturally…so IF YOU want to PRESS me to get MORE disciplined…check out the website…

http://www.active.com/donate/tntgla/tntglaCNorman

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