Lent is quickly passing by and so far so good on the not eating meat on Fridays but that takes a great deal less than the daily good acts. I am supposed to write about what I do on a daily basis but the days just scoot by with everything that is going on in the crazy Redfield household. I am sitting on the couch on a rainy Friday evening so I am going to catch up and get back on track. I will simply go day by day:
On Monday the kids were off and they had a relaxing day with their dad. Trey was playing with his buddy Brian for a good portion of the day. As I was driving home from work Brian's mom dropped Maggie and Trey off at my house and I thought.....hmmmmm. Trey and Brian very seldom get to play together and since this was the only day that Trey would be off during Brian's track out that they could get together I decided to call Alicia. I told her to drop Brian off and I would get the boys to baseball practice. This meant that I would have to adjust my schedule a bit but the boys had a great time and I felt like a super mom. I like when my world seems to match "Leave it to Beaver" with the kids playing and going to practice and Dan cooperating with getting them to practice so we were like the happy divorced sitcom. In the end I think i got as much from that good deed as Alicia did by bringing Brian back to me. She had a class to go to with he husband and the boys go to play and to go to practcie together. It was a good karma breeds good karma kind of day.
On Tuesday things were so busy that I knew that the end of the day would come faster than I could get do my good deed. I was a little worried but the good thing about that is that it forces me to try and think outside of the box. I took the time to write a letter that I had been meaning to write for ages. A friend of my dad's is a lovely WWII Army Airborne Veteran who I met at Fort Bragg years ago when I was pregnant with my son Trey. He had been having trouble getting his reservations taken care of for All American week. I took care of the resevations very easily by stopping by the 82nd Airborne HQ and when he got to Fort Bragg he came by to thank me for helping him and his fellow veteran. I introduced him to my boss and other folks in my unit and he loves to tell everyone that he got to hug a female major. He was old school and there were no female majors during WWII and so it was a great All American event! His name is Ralph and I have kept in touch through Christmas cards every year. He is such a great American and part of the greatest generation. He is having medical issues now but he loves his wife and he has such great outlook on life. When he gets my Christmas cards in March or June ( I am a late sender) he always takes the time to write me a personal note. His wife's health is declining and they have moved from their home in NY to live with his children in CT. He never complains and he is so positive. I am not sure what our country will be like without great Americans like Ralph but it made me smile to finally get a letter sent off to Ralph. Airborne!
On Wednesday I was not sure what I would do but one of the custodians at school brought in the uniform of one of my cadets. She had found the uniform stuffed in a locker and it had been there for a month. I knew whose uniform it was and the fact that it had been stuffed in a locker explained why she looked like she had worn it to bed at uniform inspection. She had not worn it this week because her boyfriend was one of the students thrown from the vehicle when it crashed. He was thrown from the vehicle but he was lucky enough to land in a ditch and he lived to see another day. Will was not so lucky and he died and my Cadet was good friends with Will. She was having a very tough week and trying to focus was close to impossible so when the custodian brought in her unifrom I thought, let me drop it off at the dry cleaners. Her mom lost her job so the dry cleaning cost is just one more thing. I dropped the uniform off and my plan is to leave it hanging in the closet in my classroom. I hope it might be something that helps her get her head back in the game while she works through the grieving process.
On Thursday I was coming home from swimming with the kids and I was supposed to drop two of the boys off at the gas station for pick up. As I was leaving the pool I thought I should drop the boys at home. Their mom is the one that does all the carpool planning for all of us and I thought it would be nice to say thank you in actions instead of simply in a note on email. We shot their mom a quick text and then delivered the boys to their front door instead of the car pool drop off point. I think it was a pleasant surprise and that made me feel good since their mom does so much for the kids and the weekly carpool planning. It was not a huge thing but it was a concious decision and it felt good.
Sunday, February 24, 2013
Sunday, February 17, 2013
Days 3 , 4 and 5 of Giving
I have to be honest and say that this is not quite as easy as I thought it would be but it is making me think and reflect on things that I do throughout the day. I went to sleep on Thursday trying to think of what I would do on Friday. I knew that I was going to have a crazy busy day and I knew if I did not have a plan then I would not get my good deed done. I decided that I needed to get gift cards for my children's swim coaches. I had been meaning to get them gifts for Christmas and I forgot and I kept saying that I would do it. I even told the kids I would do it and the days flew by and I did not get it done. You know what they say about good intentions and I was on that path with the coahes' gifts. I think it is important to remember that we don't really get credit for thinking about the nice things that we will do.....we get credit for what we do. I was able to get the gift cards (and got triple reward Kroger points for the money spent....a nice bonus) and Maggie and Trey wrote very nice notes on the gift cards. The kids were thrilled to give the gift cards and the coaches were tickled to get them.
It was a good thing to do and it reminds me that I need to do it more because coaches are critical in our children's lives. They mentor and teach so many things to our kids that they do not learn from other places. They teach the value of hard work and they develop a child's self esteem. Many times that coach is the one that is there to hear your child's problems because they need advice and may not want to ask mom or dad right away. They ask your kids to push themselves and praise them for their success and give feedback on their performance. They change lives and they do not get rich doing it. My swim coaches got me through some tough times, they listened when I cried, made me believe in myself and pushed me to levels I could not have achieved on my own. My children's coaches are doing the same thing for them so a gift card is not really enough but it is a token that says....thanks for all you do, I see it and my kids are growing under your guidance.
My 4th day of giving is a little more subtle and may come across as last minute but it came to me when as I was panicking at bed time. I ran a half marathon in the morning and I kept thinking that I would see someone out on the race course that needed some help or that I could do a good deed at the end of the race but nothing really fell into my lap and at the end of the race I was cold and not feeling very giving. Then on the drive home from the race I got a call saying that some of the students from my high school had been in a car accident. One student had died and the driver was being charged with DUI and vehicular manslaughter. My heart just broke for the students and their families. I wanted to call all of my cadets and say.....see this is why you have to be safe and make good choices. I received text messages from my cadets asking what we could do in honor of the student who died and I wondered myself. I then went on with the rest of the day as I was staying out of town with a great group of friends. We shopped and I think I did more giving to myself and that does not count for this Lenten Giving Project. Then I found myself ready for bed and "deedless" and it came to me....I would say a rosary for the boys in the accident. I have not said a true rosary in so many years and so I really felt that this was the right thing to do and it was what my grandmother would have done. I said a rosary and it reminded me that taking the time to pray is important and I should do it more often.I pray that the families find the strength to survive this tragedy.
Now it is Sunday my 5th day of giving and I am enjoying the chance to write about all of this and yet I am also finding that I really have to think about doing something nice for others. I do not think I am a bad person, but I find that so much of my day is spent trying to keep up that I miss the chance to do things for others (besides my kids of course). I certainly smile and say hello and I hold the door open for people but I don't always communicate that I appreciate people and all that they do for me or for the community or for my family. I think letting people know that they are noticed and appreciated is important. I think that making something better in someone else's life even if they do not directly affect your life is important.
That is what I tried to do today. I have too many things in my closet and I say that I will clear it out often. I have in fact cleared it out recently but the things usually make it as far as the guest room bed and there they sit. Today I went through all of it and pulled some more from other closets and I started to pack it into bags. I was thinking it would be easiest to put it all into bags for the Guardian Angel and then I could get a tax deduction and quickly get the bags out of the house. However, when I started to go through the pile I thought of several people that I could give some of the things to and I knew they would love and use them, I went through all of the items and packed two bags for the wonderful mom who drives the bus for my JROTC cadet events (she has lost a bunch of weight but does not have the extra funds for new better fitting clothes). two bags of books for my favorite second grade teacher's classroom and a bag of clothes for my friend with 13 kids (there is always someone in her crowd that fits what my guys outgrow). I also put some bras in a bag for the collection box at Soma because they say that bras are greatly needed by women who are in shelters or experiencing hard financial times. It would have been easier to put it all in bags and clear it out today but it feels better knowing that it will be used and enjoyed. I still sent eight bags to Guardian Angel but I feel really good about my other used gift bags.
It was a good thing to do and it reminds me that I need to do it more because coaches are critical in our children's lives. They mentor and teach so many things to our kids that they do not learn from other places. They teach the value of hard work and they develop a child's self esteem. Many times that coach is the one that is there to hear your child's problems because they need advice and may not want to ask mom or dad right away. They ask your kids to push themselves and praise them for their success and give feedback on their performance. They change lives and they do not get rich doing it. My swim coaches got me through some tough times, they listened when I cried, made me believe in myself and pushed me to levels I could not have achieved on my own. My children's coaches are doing the same thing for them so a gift card is not really enough but it is a token that says....thanks for all you do, I see it and my kids are growing under your guidance.
My 4th day of giving is a little more subtle and may come across as last minute but it came to me when as I was panicking at bed time. I ran a half marathon in the morning and I kept thinking that I would see someone out on the race course that needed some help or that I could do a good deed at the end of the race but nothing really fell into my lap and at the end of the race I was cold and not feeling very giving. Then on the drive home from the race I got a call saying that some of the students from my high school had been in a car accident. One student had died and the driver was being charged with DUI and vehicular manslaughter. My heart just broke for the students and their families. I wanted to call all of my cadets and say.....see this is why you have to be safe and make good choices. I received text messages from my cadets asking what we could do in honor of the student who died and I wondered myself. I then went on with the rest of the day as I was staying out of town with a great group of friends. We shopped and I think I did more giving to myself and that does not count for this Lenten Giving Project. Then I found myself ready for bed and "deedless" and it came to me....I would say a rosary for the boys in the accident. I have not said a true rosary in so many years and so I really felt that this was the right thing to do and it was what my grandmother would have done. I said a rosary and it reminded me that taking the time to pray is important and I should do it more often.I pray that the families find the strength to survive this tragedy.
Now it is Sunday my 5th day of giving and I am enjoying the chance to write about all of this and yet I am also finding that I really have to think about doing something nice for others. I do not think I am a bad person, but I find that so much of my day is spent trying to keep up that I miss the chance to do things for others (besides my kids of course). I certainly smile and say hello and I hold the door open for people but I don't always communicate that I appreciate people and all that they do for me or for the community or for my family. I think letting people know that they are noticed and appreciated is important. I think that making something better in someone else's life even if they do not directly affect your life is important.
That is what I tried to do today. I have too many things in my closet and I say that I will clear it out often. I have in fact cleared it out recently but the things usually make it as far as the guest room bed and there they sit. Today I went through all of it and pulled some more from other closets and I started to pack it into bags. I was thinking it would be easiest to put it all into bags for the Guardian Angel and then I could get a tax deduction and quickly get the bags out of the house. However, when I started to go through the pile I thought of several people that I could give some of the things to and I knew they would love and use them, I went through all of the items and packed two bags for the wonderful mom who drives the bus for my JROTC cadet events (she has lost a bunch of weight but does not have the extra funds for new better fitting clothes). two bags of books for my favorite second grade teacher's classroom and a bag of clothes for my friend with 13 kids (there is always someone in her crowd that fits what my guys outgrow). I also put some bras in a bag for the collection box at Soma because they say that bras are greatly needed by women who are in shelters or experiencing hard financial times. It would have been easier to put it all in bags and clear it out today but it feels better knowing that it will be used and enjoyed. I still sent eight bags to Guardian Angel but I feel really good about my other used gift bags.
Friday, February 15, 2013
40 days of giving for Lent
I am trying a new approach to doing in something for Lent. I have decided to focus on the positive and not on the negative. I am not going to give anything up but I am going to do something everyday. I am going to do something kind/nice/good//helpful everyday during Lent and I am going to write about it. Of course this is Friday so I will have to write about Ash Wednesday and Valentine's Day on this very first post. I did not come up with idea on my own but I am launching it based on the book I read called, "Thirty Days of Giving" and from a few articles I have read that talk about positive acts and positive energy. I am becoming a very firm believer that positive energy breeds positive energy and good feelings and I believe that we need more of both in this crazy world.
Day 1: Ash Wednesday. I lead a busy life and so it can be crazy to find the time to specifically do something nice because life is crazy. This is the excuse that we all use to ease our guilt. I did two small things on this first day of 40. I stopped swimming laps so that I could let the folks in the other lane know that they could share my lane. The pool was crowded and there was a swim lesson going on in their lane so they could not do laps. I am a very strong swimmer so I think they were nervous about asking to share my lane. I could have just kept swimming and waited for them to ask me but I stopped and offered to circle swim. It took no time at all and one of the swimmers jumped into my lane. It had no effect on my swim and he was able to get his laps done.....it was easy but it made me feel better. Then when I got home from swimming and I dropped off my kids I took a few minutes to talk to their step brother about his swimming. His mother had asked me to talk to him and I had not done it. I took the few minutes to give him a mini pep talk and some feedback on his stroke. I hope that it had a positive impact but I do not know at this point in time. I was worried about it being a little awkward since he is not my step son and his mom married my ex-husband but she had asked me to talk to him. I think it was a positive effort at multiple levels, one being the embracing of the modern family dynamic.
Day 2: Valentine's Day: This one is set up to be easier than a normal day since it is all about giving gifts. I gave Valentine's Day candy to my folks at Dunkin Donuts since they are always so pleasant and they give me the military discount without me even reminding them. They are efficient and pleasant and so I think that the candy made them smile. Then I helped my cadets give out candy/valentines to each and every member of the staff at Cleveland High School and I gave out candy to each of the cadets in the program. It was not required but it made people smile and they were still talking about the glitter being everywhere in the school. I think it can be a bad thing if we added glitter to every one's world.......everyone needs a little sparkle because it really makes you smile. I also mopped half of the cafeteria since some of the cadets were practicing for the evenings color guard and we were short handed. The mopping was a positive gesture but it got my blood boiling because the cafeteria was a bloody mess and it makes me crazy when people do not take care of their school/work environment. It is simply disrespectful. Overall the day was a good one and there was plenty of positive energy to spare.
Day 1: Ash Wednesday. I lead a busy life and so it can be crazy to find the time to specifically do something nice because life is crazy. This is the excuse that we all use to ease our guilt. I did two small things on this first day of 40. I stopped swimming laps so that I could let the folks in the other lane know that they could share my lane. The pool was crowded and there was a swim lesson going on in their lane so they could not do laps. I am a very strong swimmer so I think they were nervous about asking to share my lane. I could have just kept swimming and waited for them to ask me but I stopped and offered to circle swim. It took no time at all and one of the swimmers jumped into my lane. It had no effect on my swim and he was able to get his laps done.....it was easy but it made me feel better. Then when I got home from swimming and I dropped off my kids I took a few minutes to talk to their step brother about his swimming. His mother had asked me to talk to him and I had not done it. I took the few minutes to give him a mini pep talk and some feedback on his stroke. I hope that it had a positive impact but I do not know at this point in time. I was worried about it being a little awkward since he is not my step son and his mom married my ex-husband but she had asked me to talk to him. I think it was a positive effort at multiple levels, one being the embracing of the modern family dynamic.
Day 2: Valentine's Day: This one is set up to be easier than a normal day since it is all about giving gifts. I gave Valentine's Day candy to my folks at Dunkin Donuts since they are always so pleasant and they give me the military discount without me even reminding them. They are efficient and pleasant and so I think that the candy made them smile. Then I helped my cadets give out candy/valentines to each and every member of the staff at Cleveland High School and I gave out candy to each of the cadets in the program. It was not required but it made people smile and they were still talking about the glitter being everywhere in the school. I think it can be a bad thing if we added glitter to every one's world.......everyone needs a little sparkle because it really makes you smile. I also mopped half of the cafeteria since some of the cadets were practicing for the evenings color guard and we were short handed. The mopping was a positive gesture but it got my blood boiling because the cafeteria was a bloody mess and it makes me crazy when people do not take care of their school/work environment. It is simply disrespectful. Overall the day was a good one and there was plenty of positive energy to spare.
Monday, August 15, 2011
Training for an Ironman
It has been ages since I have posted anything on this blog and so much has happened since my last post.....it is amazing what life will throw at you especially when you are not expecting it. The biggest change is that I now have a full time job and I am no longer spending a good portion of my time training other people for triathlons or coaching them on their swimming. The time I have to devote to training others has diminished but my desire to do it has not.....I just have to figure out how to make my passion for training people into my life's work that feeds my soul AND helps pay the bills. So at the time of my last post I still had some new triathletes that I was encouraging to embrace the multi sport lifestyle and not simply stop after one race. There has been some attrition but all of the ladies and gentlemen grew from the experience and many are still training....if not for triathlons they are still in the gym or out running or encouraging others to jump on the fitness band wagon. It is that exact band wagon that I jumped on as I looked for some direction and for continued contact with my awesome circle of work out friends.
For me it all started fresh when I was having doubts about whether going back to work was the right thing for me to do and people started to say the dirty M word. That word would be MARATHON. I had sworn off of those events back in 2007 when I finished one, it was a major life event and I checked it off of my bucket list.....never to me done again. I had done it and even though I thought I would be faster finishing it was good enough for me. The training plan had given me a new focus and lifted me out of the trenches of my ongoing separation/divorce. My soon to be ex-husband lived 2 blocks away and his girlfriend had moved in from Northern VA. People were always asking about the divorce and how was I doing and it was tough to always be rehashing details. Once I started training for the marathon people started asking about my training and that was so much better. The training was tough and I had multiple injuries but I did it, took a sip of beer at the finish line party and then I used a sharpie to mark it off my bucket list....DONE, finished, horrible grueling event but I survived it and so I would survive the divorce.
So this fall Trish starts talking about doing a marathon and everyone starts to form groups on facebook...like kickin asphalt....and they are talking about their training and so I joined in because I needed something to keep me focused and involved since my job took me out of the loop during the day. The amazing thing was the support that I got from people as they tried to work with my new work schedule. For example since I had to leave the house for work by 0615 Rob was a good soul and he would run with me at 0445 so I could get my mileage in while training. Then at times Christine would join in at what Julie called the butt crack of dawn and then Bridget joined in with the early morning crew. This was even more incredibly supportive than it sounds because they all had to meet at my house since I have the kids and they would run a 1.6 mile loop around the neighborhood....over and over again. I would never have gotten out of bed to train without such dedicated training partners and that further proves my theory that it truly does take a village to train for a triathlon. The beauty of it is that everyone is so supportive and it is such great therapy to get out and run in the dark on a regular route....we are a regular sight at 0500 at least two mornings a week. Rob says he likes it because I talk the whole way and he simply has to run and listen. I get a lot of venting taken care of at poor Rob's expense!
And so that is how the journey to the Ironman began......peer pressure to do a marathon AGAIN even though I swore I never ever would...EVER. They do say to never say never and so I now have a journey to take you on....the one where the average, I will never do an Ironman person makes the decision to train for an Ironman.
For me it all started fresh when I was having doubts about whether going back to work was the right thing for me to do and people started to say the dirty M word. That word would be MARATHON. I had sworn off of those events back in 2007 when I finished one, it was a major life event and I checked it off of my bucket list.....never to me done again. I had done it and even though I thought I would be faster finishing it was good enough for me. The training plan had given me a new focus and lifted me out of the trenches of my ongoing separation/divorce. My soon to be ex-husband lived 2 blocks away and his girlfriend had moved in from Northern VA. People were always asking about the divorce and how was I doing and it was tough to always be rehashing details. Once I started training for the marathon people started asking about my training and that was so much better. The training was tough and I had multiple injuries but I did it, took a sip of beer at the finish line party and then I used a sharpie to mark it off my bucket list....DONE, finished, horrible grueling event but I survived it and so I would survive the divorce.
So this fall Trish starts talking about doing a marathon and everyone starts to form groups on facebook...like kickin asphalt....and they are talking about their training and so I joined in because I needed something to keep me focused and involved since my job took me out of the loop during the day. The amazing thing was the support that I got from people as they tried to work with my new work schedule. For example since I had to leave the house for work by 0615 Rob was a good soul and he would run with me at 0445 so I could get my mileage in while training. Then at times Christine would join in at what Julie called the butt crack of dawn and then Bridget joined in with the early morning crew. This was even more incredibly supportive than it sounds because they all had to meet at my house since I have the kids and they would run a 1.6 mile loop around the neighborhood....over and over again. I would never have gotten out of bed to train without such dedicated training partners and that further proves my theory that it truly does take a village to train for a triathlon. The beauty of it is that everyone is so supportive and it is such great therapy to get out and run in the dark on a regular route....we are a regular sight at 0500 at least two mornings a week. Rob says he likes it because I talk the whole way and he simply has to run and listen. I get a lot of venting taken care of at poor Rob's expense!
And so that is how the journey to the Ironman began......peer pressure to do a marathon AGAIN even though I swore I never ever would...EVER. They do say to never say never and so I now have a journey to take you on....the one where the average, I will never do an Ironman person makes the decision to train for an Ironman.
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Some Very Important Updates
Hello All:
I cannot believe how long it has been since I posted something......leaving you all in the dark. What kind of leadership is that? Of course I am writing to you straight from Panera in Cary where I thought I could get some work done.....hmmm so far I have seen my kids and Tri Di. Diane is going to eat with her friend so I can keep on typing and not neglect the Tri2Teach Team any longer.
This post is going to be about some administrative and financial issues.....get the less than totally cool stuff out of the way upfront. The exciting news is that I did get the check from our sponsor....Caroline Back Institute and so I opened up a bank account at BB&T for Tri2Teach. I think it is best to keep that money in a separate place so that it is there for the good of the team and so it can be accounted for at any point in time. Eventually I would love to have more sponsorship and more folks benefitting from taking on some healthy physical challenges just like the current great group of triathletes. We also got an extra 10 dollars from BB&T for opening a new account and Franky put in $60 dollars from the "fund" (that is what she called it).
Of course as with any organization in order to keep doing great things for more folks we had to go ahead and get some equipment to assist with our training since we can now use the pool at Ballentine instead of driving to CU or to the TAC. In order to offset the costs I was looking to have folks contribute $10 a month for May/June/July/Aug.....the main tri season. I know that we have some couples in the group so it would simply be $10 per couple. Everyone gets at least two shirts for that price, plenty of swim instruction, workout plans (to be posted on the new website tri2teach.org), group workouts and swim equipment etc. I have ordered swim paddles, kickboards, pull buoys, noodles for lane lines and a pace clock so you will get some great swim instruction. The bonus is that if you signed up for a similar swim class at the Y it would cost $20 a month.
Since we do have a sponsor they would like us to have a team meeting at their location in Cary at a time TBD in June so we can know what they do before we go to our other races. We want to make sure that we are well versed on who Carolina Back Institute is in case people ask us questions. In addition I want you to know that you will be in the newsletter for RAJE Outdoor next month. They were the folks that were selling i tri t-shirts at the Riverwood. Adrian was impressed by the team and now you will be in the company newsletter. In addition Karee White will be doing a follow up article in the paper about all that the team is doing and how well everyone did at the Riverwood.
Other great news is that I have talked to Kenny O and he is going to help me get the website up and going. It will be Tri2Teach.org and I think it will be a great addition to our team and to our training. I was contacted by the FV Rotary Club because they are the ones that will be hosting the Tri the Quay. They were thrilled to hear about our team and wanted to personally call and tell me about the Tri in FV. I said we are already signing up and looking at it as our hometown race!!! All great stuff....now if we coud get a kids tri team going out of Ballentine for the 31 July Lochmere Kids in Training Tri.
OK I am going to post this since Angela just came into Panera!!! So much for this being a hide out.
I cannot believe how long it has been since I posted something......leaving you all in the dark. What kind of leadership is that? Of course I am writing to you straight from Panera in Cary where I thought I could get some work done.....hmmm so far I have seen my kids and Tri Di. Diane is going to eat with her friend so I can keep on typing and not neglect the Tri2Teach Team any longer.
This post is going to be about some administrative and financial issues.....get the less than totally cool stuff out of the way upfront. The exciting news is that I did get the check from our sponsor....Caroline Back Institute and so I opened up a bank account at BB&T for Tri2Teach. I think it is best to keep that money in a separate place so that it is there for the good of the team and so it can be accounted for at any point in time. Eventually I would love to have more sponsorship and more folks benefitting from taking on some healthy physical challenges just like the current great group of triathletes. We also got an extra 10 dollars from BB&T for opening a new account and Franky put in $60 dollars from the "fund" (that is what she called it).
Of course as with any organization in order to keep doing great things for more folks we had to go ahead and get some equipment to assist with our training since we can now use the pool at Ballentine instead of driving to CU or to the TAC. In order to offset the costs I was looking to have folks contribute $10 a month for May/June/July/Aug.....the main tri season. I know that we have some couples in the group so it would simply be $10 per couple. Everyone gets at least two shirts for that price, plenty of swim instruction, workout plans (to be posted on the new website tri2teach.org), group workouts and swim equipment etc. I have ordered swim paddles, kickboards, pull buoys, noodles for lane lines and a pace clock so you will get some great swim instruction. The bonus is that if you signed up for a similar swim class at the Y it would cost $20 a month.
Since we do have a sponsor they would like us to have a team meeting at their location in Cary at a time TBD in June so we can know what they do before we go to our other races. We want to make sure that we are well versed on who Carolina Back Institute is in case people ask us questions. In addition I want you to know that you will be in the newsletter for RAJE Outdoor next month. They were the folks that were selling i tri t-shirts at the Riverwood. Adrian was impressed by the team and now you will be in the company newsletter. In addition Karee White will be doing a follow up article in the paper about all that the team is doing and how well everyone did at the Riverwood.
Other great news is that I have talked to Kenny O and he is going to help me get the website up and going. It will be Tri2Teach.org and I think it will be a great addition to our team and to our training. I was contacted by the FV Rotary Club because they are the ones that will be hosting the Tri the Quay. They were thrilled to hear about our team and wanted to personally call and tell me about the Tri in FV. I said we are already signing up and looking at it as our hometown race!!! All great stuff....now if we coud get a kids tri team going out of Ballentine for the 31 July Lochmere Kids in Training Tri.
OK I am going to post this since Angela just came into Panera!!! So much for this being a hide out.
Thursday, May 6, 2010
USAT Membership
I know that you all purchased a one day membership for the Riverwood....you can apply that to an annual membership and how to do that is listed below.
I think it is a good idea to purchase the annual membership since you will be doing multiple races, you get the magazine and great info on triathlons via email. It is good for one year so you will be all set for Riverwood next year already and any that you might feel like doing in the fall
Keep in mind that only one receipt can be applied per membership application so if you have already signed up for three pigs use that for the reduction and next year Riverwood will be free.
I purchased a one-day at a previous event and would like to apply that towards an annual membership. How do I do that? To receive credit toward an annual membership, the receipt from the purchase must be attached to your application along with providing the remaining payment due. Only one receipt can be applied per annual membership. The receipt is valid for one year from the day of the race. Please also note that this discount cannot be submitted online, only via fax or mail.Please submit your application to:USA Triathlon Membership Services1365 Garden of The Gods Road, Suite 250Colorado Springs, CO 80907719-955-2685 (fax)
How long does it take to receive my USAT membership card and materials? Once applications are received please allow three to six weeks for your membership packet to be delivered in the mail. Feel free to also check on your membership status online. If you purchased your membership online, your information will appear immediately. It generally takes one week for your membership information to appear online when you purchase your membership via fax or mail.
Any other questions let me know.
Carol Ann
I think it is a good idea to purchase the annual membership since you will be doing multiple races, you get the magazine and great info on triathlons via email. It is good for one year so you will be all set for Riverwood next year already and any that you might feel like doing in the fall
Keep in mind that only one receipt can be applied per membership application so if you have already signed up for three pigs use that for the reduction and next year Riverwood will be free.
I purchased a one-day at a previous event and would like to apply that towards an annual membership. How do I do that? To receive credit toward an annual membership, the receipt from the purchase must be attached to your application along with providing the remaining payment due. Only one receipt can be applied per annual membership. The receipt is valid for one year from the day of the race. Please also note that this discount cannot be submitted online, only via fax or mail.Please submit your application to:USA Triathlon Membership Services1365 Garden of The Gods Road, Suite 250Colorado Springs, CO 80907719-955-2685 (fax)
How long does it take to receive my USAT membership card and materials? Once applications are received please allow three to six weeks for your membership packet to be delivered in the mail. Feel free to also check on your membership status online. If you purchased your membership online, your information will appear immediately. It generally takes one week for your membership information to appear online when you purchase your membership via fax or mail.
Any other questions let me know.
Carol Ann
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Congratulations and What Does the Future Hold??
Hello Triathletes:
Here is a link to a nice article that I thought would give you some food for thought.....as we train for the 3 Pigs Tri. Go to the link and you can read about how skinny women stay skinny. I think for athletes like us it should read "How Triathletes Stay Lean so they can get faster and faster at every Tri!!" Of course it is hard to know whether the link will work or not based on my technological challenges.
I am posting the article because I want to let you know that we are still in training mode. We are looking ahead to the next race and now we have some very specific goals based on how we did at the first race. We should all learn something every time we finish a race. I for one know that I lost the race in the transition area.....that is where the number one gal gained over 40 seconds on me. I need to learn how to take my bike shoes off and leave them clipped on the bike.....I think it will save me some time. For some of you the transition may be where you gain some time at the next race or it could be on the run. For some of you it will be on the swim since we will be getting more swimming in and we will have some swim clinics to work on your stroke and technique. Of course the most important thing to me is that you all finished and you had a great time. I am so proud of you....each and every one of you. It was so exciting for me to watch you complete your first triathlon that I got a little bummed when it was all over....sort of like the bride gets after the wedding is over. Unlike a bride I know there is another race on the horizon and so the training goes on and now we will build on the base that we established in the off season (Jan/Feb/Mar). We are officially in "tri season" and you are officially triathletes.
As of right now I believe that Diane and Lisa K are the only ones who have signed up for The 3 Pigs Tri. Great job ladies!! I want you to keep in mind that since we are doing several races you should join USAT since it costs $39.00 and you will spend more if you pay $10.00 every race. I believe if you send in the receipt from the Riverwood you will get that $10.00 back. In addition you get emails and the Triathlete magazine as part of your memebership....and a sticker for your car which means you are part of the club for sure! It is something to think about since as of now we have teh Tri for the Quay on the radar after 3 Pigs and then OBX in September. I was talking to Kristin at boot camp and there is a tri in Winston Salem at Tanglewood (the one Beth mentioned) on Sunday 27 June if anyone wanted to do that one instead of the Kure Beach Double Sprint Tri.
I would like to say that I thought that the t-shirts looked great on all of you. It was easy to see you on the course and they looked sharp in all of the pictures. I was pleased with how they looked and I was so happy to see Julie in hers at the Y tonight. I know that some of you mentioned wanting some for family members. You just have to let me know so when I do the next batch I can order for them as well. I checked the invoice and for this first batch if you ordered some for family members the cost breakdown is as fololows: Men/cotton: $14.00 Kids/cotton: $12.00 and women/Tech material: $17.00 and they should never be more expensive than that if you would like to order any of them. In additon please keep in mind that our logo is now digitized at the Art House (on Air Park Rd in Fuquay) so you can go in and have them embroider it on anything.....like your bathing suit or a sweatshirt. I think one of the next items would be to have bathing caps that match since we do have several pool swims. When you do a tri in open water they give you swim caps that are color coordinated based on what wave you are swimming in for your start. I have ordered some additional shirts and tanks so that you have alternate shirts to choose from. I am still working on getting a info sheet on Carolina Back Institute so we can talk their story.
As of right now we are training on Monday and Wednesday morning as usual. I am looking to add in 2 afternoon workouts each week since I am no longer doing GOTR (until Sept). The afternoons will change format but I am looking at some bike speedwork/run in a brick fashion and a cardio boot camp so that we can work on some core strength as well as on our cardio vascular endurance. I will keep you posted on what days we will have those. The pool opens in Ballentine in mid May so we will start having run/swim workouts on Monday and Wednesday mornings. The nice thing is that you will knock out two parts of the tri at once but the bad news is that we will start a little earlier than 0530.....probably 0515. But as I always say if you can get up at 0530 than you can easily get up at 0515 :-)The other thing that I think we will need to add in is a longer ride early on Saturday or Sunday mornings. It is brighter in the morning now so we can get out there and knock out a 20 mile ride with very little traffic and very little conflict with any weekend plans.
I know I should have put this in the beginning but you can now order your necklaces to congratulate yourselves!!! Here is some info I got from Beth....the necklace lady:
Yes the 20% off would apply to anyone you give the code (the code is: SUPER20) to…so that Long Funky Rectangle version (larger one) on a chain would be about $44, and the Dainty Rectangle (smaller one) on a chain would be about $30. They can opt for no chain and it would be $14 or so less. We have free shipping right now and will continue to have that for a while.
And remember, people can choose any charm and anything they want it to say. And yes I do have other fonts so they would just need to let us know in the order if they want a different font. I’ve also seen instead of Swim Bike Run, you could put 2.4, 112, 26.2. Another idea is the Circle of Love with Swim Bike Run Swim Bike Run going around the circle – just some more ideas!
I am going to order the square of love necklace and have it say swim, bike, run and T2T.....on each side. I can order for other folks as well or you can order on your own.
OK I think that is enough info for one evening.
Here is a link to a nice article that I thought would give you some food for thought.....as we train for the 3 Pigs Tri. Go to the link and you can read about how skinny women stay skinny. I think for athletes like us it should read "How Triathletes Stay Lean so they can get faster and faster at every Tri!!" Of course it is hard to know whether the link will work or not based on my technological challenges.
I am posting the article because I want to let you know that we are still in training mode. We are looking ahead to the next race and now we have some very specific goals based on how we did at the first race. We should all learn something every time we finish a race. I for one know that I lost the race in the transition area.....that is where the number one gal gained over 40 seconds on me. I need to learn how to take my bike shoes off and leave them clipped on the bike.....I think it will save me some time. For some of you the transition may be where you gain some time at the next race or it could be on the run. For some of you it will be on the swim since we will be getting more swimming in and we will have some swim clinics to work on your stroke and technique. Of course the most important thing to me is that you all finished and you had a great time. I am so proud of you....each and every one of you. It was so exciting for me to watch you complete your first triathlon that I got a little bummed when it was all over....sort of like the bride gets after the wedding is over. Unlike a bride I know there is another race on the horizon and so the training goes on and now we will build on the base that we established in the off season (Jan/Feb/Mar). We are officially in "tri season" and you are officially triathletes.
As of right now I believe that Diane and Lisa K are the only ones who have signed up for The 3 Pigs Tri. Great job ladies!! I want you to keep in mind that since we are doing several races you should join USAT since it costs $39.00 and you will spend more if you pay $10.00 every race. I believe if you send in the receipt from the Riverwood you will get that $10.00 back. In addition you get emails and the Triathlete magazine as part of your memebership....and a sticker for your car which means you are part of the club for sure! It is something to think about since as of now we have teh Tri for the Quay on the radar after 3 Pigs and then OBX in September. I was talking to Kristin at boot camp and there is a tri in Winston Salem at Tanglewood (the one Beth mentioned) on Sunday 27 June if anyone wanted to do that one instead of the Kure Beach Double Sprint Tri.
I would like to say that I thought that the t-shirts looked great on all of you. It was easy to see you on the course and they looked sharp in all of the pictures. I was pleased with how they looked and I was so happy to see Julie in hers at the Y tonight. I know that some of you mentioned wanting some for family members. You just have to let me know so when I do the next batch I can order for them as well. I checked the invoice and for this first batch if you ordered some for family members the cost breakdown is as fololows: Men/cotton: $14.00 Kids/cotton: $12.00 and women/Tech material: $17.00 and they should never be more expensive than that if you would like to order any of them. In additon please keep in mind that our logo is now digitized at the Art House (on Air Park Rd in Fuquay) so you can go in and have them embroider it on anything.....like your bathing suit or a sweatshirt. I think one of the next items would be to have bathing caps that match since we do have several pool swims. When you do a tri in open water they give you swim caps that are color coordinated based on what wave you are swimming in for your start. I have ordered some additional shirts and tanks so that you have alternate shirts to choose from. I am still working on getting a info sheet on Carolina Back Institute so we can talk their story.
As of right now we are training on Monday and Wednesday morning as usual. I am looking to add in 2 afternoon workouts each week since I am no longer doing GOTR (until Sept). The afternoons will change format but I am looking at some bike speedwork/run in a brick fashion and a cardio boot camp so that we can work on some core strength as well as on our cardio vascular endurance. I will keep you posted on what days we will have those. The pool opens in Ballentine in mid May so we will start having run/swim workouts on Monday and Wednesday mornings. The nice thing is that you will knock out two parts of the tri at once but the bad news is that we will start a little earlier than 0530.....probably 0515. But as I always say if you can get up at 0530 than you can easily get up at 0515 :-)The other thing that I think we will need to add in is a longer ride early on Saturday or Sunday mornings. It is brighter in the morning now so we can get out there and knock out a 20 mile ride with very little traffic and very little conflict with any weekend plans.
I know I should have put this in the beginning but you can now order your necklaces to congratulate yourselves!!! Here is some info I got from Beth....the necklace lady:
Yes the 20% off would apply to anyone you give the code (the code is: SUPER20) to…so that Long Funky Rectangle version (larger one) on a chain would be about $44, and the Dainty Rectangle (smaller one) on a chain would be about $30. They can opt for no chain and it would be $14 or so less. We have free shipping right now and will continue to have that for a while.
And remember, people can choose any charm and anything they want it to say. And yes I do have other fonts so they would just need to let us know in the order if they want a different font. I’ve also seen instead of Swim Bike Run, you could put 2.4, 112, 26.2. Another idea is the Circle of Love with Swim Bike Run Swim Bike Run going around the circle – just some more ideas!
I am going to order the square of love necklace and have it say swim, bike, run and T2T.....on each side. I can order for other folks as well or you can order on your own.
OK I think that is enough info for one evening.
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