The Year of SHAZAM!

Happy New Year! Happy 2009!

IT'S HERE!

Are you as excited as I am?

It hit me yesterday while I was watching the final sunset of 2008 - that in 2009 (fingers crossed with a cherry on the top), I get to race triathlons! I could have sworn that someone was playing techno music in the background, but perhaps it was only my heartbeat. Not quite sure on that one.

A little Sandstorm never hurt anyone, and its great for motivation. Trust me.

So why Shazam!?

Glad you asked!

For those of you who faithfully read Captain Marvel comic books (Dad introduced them to me as a young whippersnapper), you're well aware of SHAZAM! and the meaning behind the word.

For everyone else: when Billy Batson said the magic word SHAZAM, he would transform into Super Hero and Comic Book Legend Captain Marvel! Don't worry - YOU won't transform into Captain Marvel by uttering SHAZAM. I already tried. Except I was going for Mary Marvel - the sister of Captain Marvel. It would be weird otherwise, because I am, in fact, a girl.

But SHAZAM! has specific meaning. When Billy said the word, he was granted the following powers:

S: the wisdom of Solomon
H: strength of Hercules
A: stamina of Atlas
Z: power of Zeus
A: courage of Achilles
M: speed of Mercury

Mary Marvel was similar, except her SHAZAM! was modeled after female deities (except for Zephyrus):

S: Selena, grace
H: Hippolyta, strength
A: Ariadne, skill
Z: Zephyrus, fleetness
A: Aurora, beauty
M: Minerva, wisdom

And that got me thinking: what would my SHAZAM! be? What would I model my transformation after? Would it encompass solely gods that I find fascinating (cue: really cool powers!), or would there be something else?

Only one way to find out.

I made my own SHAZAM! list. Enjoy!

S: Swift! Steady! Speedy! Safe! Strong! Toss in the occasional Shit!, and you've got it. Be it by land or by sea - I hope to go fast, stay safe, and do all the "s" things that you see listed. Except the Shit! part. Though a bit of that is inevitable, and I figured I might as well be prepared.

H: HTFU! Need I say more?

A: After Burners. The fire is burning, the blood is pumping, the power is THERE, waiting to be set free. Seriously, I've got enough energy to power afterburners on the new Joint Strike Fighter, F-35 Lightning II. Just try me, I dare you.

Z: Zvaizdikis. I'll give you bonus points if you can even pronounce that word! Z-man (as I'll call him), is the Slavic God of the Stars. You might as well aim high - and my 2009 season goals (written on note cards and taped throughout our condo) are right up there with them. Why not? I thought long and hard about what I wanted to do this season; I would rather go out with a BANG! than take the easy road and set smaller goals. Besides, I love a challenge and my after burners are going strong.

A: Astrild and Aurora. Now that I've got a guy God on my list, I might as well toss in a few females. Astrild, the Nordic goddess of Love, and Aurora, the Roman goddess of Dawn (pictured zooming around the East sky in a pink chariot). I love my sport, love the people in the sport, and have a tremendous amount of love for live. As for the pink chariot? Two things come to mind: 1) my bike seat is BRIGHT PINK. 2) Jen Harrison - pink bike zooming by during races. A top notch coach on my list of SHAZAM!? You betcha!

M: Power of the Mind! Mental focus, mental toughness, mental strength. A component that keeps getting stronger and sharper the more I age. I am a very different athlete now from where I was a few years ago - the physical ability has increased, yes. But the mental aspect - the strength of my mind (especially after my 2008 year) - has grown leaps and bounds. And I'm still learning, something that I enjoy tremendously.

Cheers to a FANTASTIC 2009!

SHAZAM!