Who's In?

I really don't approve of athletes taking drugs. It's cheating. It throws the whole thing into disarray and chaos and removes the beauty.

But I do think it's better to finally fess up, even if it takes a while, than to persist in bug-eyed denial. Sometimes the lessons from one who's erred or fallen can be stronger than all the lecturing in the world from the virtuous.

Hopefully, Marion Jones will say succinctly, it just isn't worth it. 

Just glossing over the silent gaps here, as usual, I wanted to bring attention to a nice blog I like to read.

It's called  Mile Markers, and seems to be affiliated with Runner's World. I don't know what that affiliation represents; it is very much a personal blog, as the tagline says, "Sharing the road with Kristin Armstrong."  

I don't know Kristin, but feel like I'd like to. She would fit well in my roster of sporty women I admire so much and am lucky to call friends. Another adult mom jock who needs to give her sport (in this case running) some time in her life to stay sane.

I was talking about this dynamic recently with my colleague Diann, also a runner. How we feel a bit crazy if deprived of exercise for awhile. It's not like a day without it is so bad but... it's like brushing your teeth. Sure, you can survive a day, a couple of days... a week without brushing your teeth. You're unlikely to die because of it. But you'll feel pretty crummy. And be unpleasant to be around! 

Anyway, nothing eye-opening in Mile Markers, no secrets to new road speed or racewinning techniques. Just another experience in the world related by someone who is funloving, spiritual (not overbearingly), dedicated and hard-working, open to the world and humble in her way of sharing it. It's just satisfying to read. Like drinking a really good cup of coffee or something--entirely pleasant, a pause for thought, fills a gap. In the process you feel you get to know the writer, though in truth I don't know much... she has kids, maybe three? Divorced it seems like? Lives in Austin maybe? Maybe Oregon? Works doing something where she travels and has a varied schedule...? Isn't it funny? But I like her. Maybe you will too. Why not visit?

Long silence. I blame the day job.  Honestly, I acknowledge it’s ridiculous to have such gaps in a so-called blog.

I’ve been meaning to point any passersby’s attention to an amusing post on rowing from one of my favorite blogs, The Disgruntled Chemist. (Ukrainian border guards arrested Belarus's national rowing team Tuesday for illegally entering the country on a flotilla of eight boats.) I think the DC must have rowed at one point. He points out a bonehead Yahoo.com choice of photo (of kayakers) to accompany a news story about rowing.

He does sum up the difference between canoeing, kayaking and rowing pretty well! But really this is just a good chance to mention this very likeable site.  

(I'm breaking the silence bit by bit here, clearing my throat....) 

It’s been just about a year now since I started this blog. I haven’t been nearly as frequent or free and easy a poster as I’d hoped or envisioned. I apologize.

 

(If you apologize in the forest, and nobody’s there to hear, did it happen? )

 

It’s a good time to think back on why I started. Self-publishing is kind of fun, of course, even while it’s also a self-imposed nagging burden…. Homework you give yourself! But I started because I had been in a state of wondering what I should do with my working life, which at the moment seems terribly stale and meaningless. And I thought, yeah, if I could do anything, without regard to reality (i.e., funding), what would I want to do, let’s see… well, I’d like to start a women’s sports magazine. One that would be half spectator rag to cover women’s sports (at high levels, but including the citizen competitor) and half “service magazine” that would include workout advice, research and product reviews (again, aimed at the adult competitor in anything). Then, once the brand was strong and we were ragingly profitable, we’d sponsor and host our own events (races, horse shows, 3 on 3 tourneys, whatever) where the proceeds would go to a foundation. The foundation would award grants to organizations worldwide doing projects involving women’s health, nutrition and sports, particularly in places where this is not traditionally done. In the end, that kind of development work would be the true mission of my fantasy organization.

 

Sigh.

 

So I can’t even manage to make a weekly post about sports on my own blog. But I am going to save the world via my delusional career strategy. Ahem. Still, nice idea, isn’t it?

 

I recall the audience I had in mind, whom I was also going to write about. And it makes me happy to think of them, though I have largely failed to write about them. Friends, a cohort that could make up our own splendid Title Nine catalog.

 

Lou: rower, mother of one, French and Spanish teacher.

Nicola: sailor, physical therapist, comedian.

Cheryl: runner, mother of two, project manager.

Evelyn: rower, personal trainer, friend.

Charlotte: swimmer, innkeeper, rowing coach, letter-writer.

Penny: basketball player, mother of two, nonprofit consultant, activist.

Barbara: competitor, grandmother of four, artist.

Felice: tennis player, mother of two, import consultant.

Ruth: equestrian and swimmer, realtor, survivor.

Melanie: outdoorswoman, translator, world citizen.

Lisa: avid surfer, mother of two, graduate student in wastewater management.

Nomi: biathlete, reluctant lawyer, chair of the Nordic Commission in Steamboat.

Saiya: rower, mother of two, psychiatrist.

Carin: mad rock climber, mother of two, part-time lawyer, high school crew coach.

Jenny: yogi, mother of one, professor.

CB: hockey player, mother of three, marketing consultant.

Kris: runner, mother of three, railroad safety engineer.

 

And that’s just a quick look—wow.

 

First off, acknowledgement of an unbloggish gap in posts. No excuse, just ordinary life overrunning time to write. Back when I was training for something real and specific (rowing world championships), I kept detailed—embarrassingly detailed—prolific journals. It was the perfect thing to do, for someone who didn’t knit or nap: In the peak summer training months, when we were off at camp and at regattas, rowing twice a day and monitoring caloric intake carefully, we were often physically tired. We were also away from home and work, so there wasn’t a lot that required doing. So sitting and writing was just the right activity. Besides there were endless mysteries in the coach’s thinking and worries about the minutiae of one’s stroke or recovery or whatnot, so that pages could get filled reporting one seat-race and its significance.

(e.g., (names changed) “Clearly, if Carol had raced for the 3rd starboard again (Amy vs. Lucy) and not the 2nd (Amy vs. me), she might not have been able to take Amy [to world championships]. Racing her against me ensured that at least she could bring her as a spare. The first time she switched me & Amy, I had to switch into the coxing seat and I had not coxed the whole camp; Amy frequently did. On the last day, we switched and went to start the piece. Carol stopped it really before we started because there was a tailwind & we’d drifted too far. By this point, my back was killing me—it’s the starting and stopping and sitting at the finish that really gets unbearable. And I was stretching it and holding it, etc. We started the piece again. My boat jumped out in the first three strokes and Carol stopped the piece again. Without saying why. I could only think it was to aggravate my back. I refused to be aggravated. I sort of liked it. It made me feel like an underdog, on the defense. Well, I don’t feel like such a whiner with all this because I did win. So it isn’t an excuse. Still, I feel somewhat like a whiner." Etc. etc. etc.)

Thank god we didn’t have blogs then.

The habit was hard to break, too. After a world championship when the training intensity was past, I still felt compelled to write, to record. I remember saying once, “ I need two lives: one to just live and the other to write it down.” The person I said it too thought it was really strange, but another lightweight rower pal totally understood. (Thank you, Nomi.)

All I can say is I wish I still had that habit. When I retired from competitive rowing, my journal keeping really fell off. Just as if (as I often remark about my ability to get up early, or to care intensely about boatspeed) “I used it up.” I wish I hadn’t because I’m afraid I won’t remember anything that happened to me in this section of life. Hopefully other people are keeping track of their own lives and I can extrapolate from where we intersect.

My friend A.J. has a blog called SportsGeezer, which in attitude is much like this one. That is, it’s for people who like to play hard. His focus is more on the… mature athlete of either sex, but could be relevant to anyone interested in health and fitness and sports. I mean, after all, we all get older. My focus is more on women over the age of, say, 16. But after all, we all know women, so it could be of interest to anyone, right?

SportsGeezer’s presentation is less personal and more of a compilation of interesting stuff for its audience, particularly news and research that could help your performance, attitude, or health. Cool stuff. I especially liked reading that coffee before a workout was good for you. Or at least not bad. This was as I was sipping cappuccino at Sweet Finnish, a clean well-lighted coffee shop with Wi-Fi and pastries spiced with cardamom …just before heading down the street to basketball practice!

So you don’t have to be a geezer. Lots of fun info.