What I Learned From a Return to Sprint Triathlon

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I like to talk a big game about “getting comfortable with being uncomfortable” and “the magic happens outside of your comfort zone” and all the related platitudes of that ilk. But, do I walk that talk? While I won’t say I’ve completely mastered being comfortable with the discomfort of endurance pain, I know I can take a long course licking and keep on ticking. My nickname isn’t Midget Tank for no reason. What I’m not very good at – not good even a little bit – is anything at or even near my threshold. The so-called “red-line.” No, I much …

Asking questions, seeking answers

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After three years of working toward a slot at the Ironman World Championships, the goal became a part of my identity, my decision making, my lifestyle. Now, the race is long done and dusted and the mysteries have been revealed. So, what’s next? My interest in the 140.6 distance has all but disappeared, while my desire to participate more in the ultra world (both triathlon and running) continues to grow. Even so, I haven’t settled on “THEE” goal that drives me. On the one hand, I’m totally okay with that. I’m having a low-stress, fun year of racing and training so far. On the other hand, I …

Boiling Frogs and Gradual Adaptation

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Every new distance seems impossible when you first begin to wrap your head around it. Think about the first race you ever signed up for that you thought was really long.  Before you started the training, the race distance probably seemed almost insurmountable, right? I mean, how could anyone go X miles? The very first distance I ran that made me think: whoa, this is going to be LONG was a 6 mile run I did during a high school crew practice, circa 1989. We ran daily, but never that far. But, we had gotten in trouble, so we were punished by running 6 miles, …

Force of Nature, Power of Experience: Running Rim to Rim to Rim in the Grand Canyon

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“A mind that is stretched by a new experience can never go back to its old dimensions.”  ~Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. I gingerly peered over the side of the North Kaibab trail, which runs from the North Rim of the Grand Canyon down (about 5,600 feet down) to the Colorado River. As I looked down, I saw the Grand Canyon jig and jag from millions of years of evolutionary change. I looked up and saw the cliffs reach upward to the sky, as if praising the sun and the clouds. And, there I was somewhere in the middle of this expanse, nothing but a molecular speck, clinging …

On Role Models, Possibilities, and Equality

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Outside of my endurance sport life, I’m a professor of Communication Studies at Rowan University, in Glassboro, NJ. (Read: Nerd.) In my research and teaching, I examine how communication creates meaning about “things” – people, places, objects, events, ideas. I know what you are probably thinking: things exist, that can’t be changed no matter how we communicate or think about them. Of course people, places, and objects exist, and events happen. But, how we communicate about these things affects our interpretation of them–regardless of their tangible properties. So, let’s say we’ve got this thing that is a 2.4 mile swim, a 112 mile bike, and a 26.2 mile run. How we think …

Wrapping Your Mind Around This Thing: 2015 Florida Double Anvil

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“Perseverance is not a long race. It is many short races one after the other.” ~Walter Elliot “So, do you have your mind wrapped around this thing?” John asked me a few days before the 2015 Florida Double Anvil (double iron-distance triathlon), which was held on March 6-7 in Tampa, Florida. I paused. He has never in all of the history of the things we’ve done asked me that question, which led me to question myself. Wait! Do I have my head wrapped around this “thing”?  “Um, I…uh, what do you mean? Do I have a race plan?” I asked. “Not a …

Where the @#$%# have I been?

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It’s been six weeks since my last post – this silence from the woman who rarely finds herself without something to say! So, where the #$@$%& have I been? Hiding under a rock? Escaped from the country? Cowering from the glare of the social media sphere? Buried under a pile of dirty laundry? None of the above, except for the dirty laundry part. I’ve been working my part time “job” – otherwise known as training for the Florida Double Anvil, which is a double-iron distance ultra triathlon to be held March 6-7 in Tampa, Florida. When I first started this training journey, my original …

Patient Aggression: Reflection on the Year of the Plow Horse

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Little did I know a year ago, when I dubbed 2014 the “Year of the Plow Horse,” how much I would come to depend on the characteristics of the reliable ol’ plow horse to make it through some of the more challenging races I’ve done. The plow horse is a strong, sturdy animal. She has a lot of work to do, but she can’t rush through it and burn out. No! The plow horse must be patient as she pursues the goals for the day, the week, the month, the year. The plow horse has been uniquely bred with the intention to balance both speed and muscle, …

Trainer Time: 3 bike trainer workouts for triathletes

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I could blame the colder temperatures for the time I spend on the trainer, but that would be dishonest. I ride (and like to ride) the trainer year-round, and I find for shorter workouts, it can’t be beat for time efficiency – as well as the ability to nail a workout without worrying about stop signs, squirrels, flying saucers or cars. Even so, John and I are just a little bit crazy with the time we are willing to put into the trainer. We’ve done quite a few 6 hour heat acclimation rides, and we are steadily working up to 12-14 hours …

Liminal State: What’s next?

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As a young graduate student, I learned about the concept of liminality. In Anthropological theory, liminality is described as a state of transition during rites of passage, such as those associated with the transition from childhood to adulthood. Liminality is a betwixt and between state in which you are no longer who you once were, but you have not yet transitioned into who you may become. The processes we go through to get to and live through a rite of passage changes us: who we are, how we relate to others, the choices we make. Through the performance of rites of passage, we mark our change from one social status into another: child …