Signs of Competition...

Hello! Howdy! How are you?? It's weird - but things have been A LOT busier than I would have imagined, which feels very strange because the symphony is out of session. Go figure. But that's life and we all have to live it.

I realized last weekend that I'm approximately 4 weeks out from my FIRST RACE OF THE SEASON!!!! VINEMAN 70.3. True, I'm still in base-building, per Coach's orders...and for the most part, I'm behaving myself - following the plan and not going HARD when I'm supposed to go EASY.

And remember what I've said in the past about HARD and EASY? My hard is different than your hard, and my easy may not be as slow as your hard, and it's so complicated that I can hardly keep up with myself. But you get the point.

But I realized the other day, during my longest run to date, that there have been little things, little signs that I'm antsy to race. I'm getting the itch to compete... curious? Well, follow along...

THE TOP 10 WAYS MARIT KNOWS SHE'S GETTING GEARED UP TO COMPETE!(in no particular order....)

10. In the morning, I'll race to see how fast I can empty the dishwasher. I've only broken one cup so far...Nathaniel claims that I'm surprisingly efficient. Little does he know....

9. While waiting for my dinner at Noodles the other day, timing how long it took my plate of Japanese Pan Noodles to emerge. 4:30 - awesome.

8. Schlepping bags upon bags of groceries into the house has NEVER been fun. However... when I challenge myself to take 10+ bags per hand, well, it makes life interesting. The electrician working in our basement thinks I'm crazy. He's mistaken: I just need another outlet.

(sorry - really really really bad joke. Sigh. I know I'm getting old when I come up with stuff like that, and then actually put it into practice. ugh.)

7. Counting the number of green lights I hit while biking on Pacific Coast Highway. No, I'll never jeopardize my safety - because unlike some other cyclists, I won't race a moving 2 ton vehicle for prime intersection position. But if it's yellow...and there are no 1) waiting cars or 2) cops - I'm going.

6. Upon getting passed by 4 Marines running their Physical Fitness Test, deciding that I would keep pace with the leaders (from the other side of the trail)- even if it meant passing Guy #4 back. He didn't believe me when I told him, "Good Job - you're doing GREAT! Hang in there!!" Luckily, after 10 minutes they went one way and I went the other...but I still kept the pace up...I would be lying if I said the pass didn't feel good.

5. At the gym, making SURE I bench press more than the lady with the Shape UP Shoes. Seriously- do those things really work? I've always though diet and exercise was the answer, NOT the shoes? Seriously. Yes, I will beat her, no matter what. And then some.

4. When I noticed a TIRE FLIPPING contest advertised at the grocery store, I contemplated it - just for the challenge. Post flip hernia and all.

3. Hiking with Nathaniel...my idea of an extra loop turns into a 4-mile detour. But it's a beautiful day on Laguna...the meadow is WONDERFUL at 5000+ feet...Look at the scenery! Although he's a trooper, he put his foot down. The second time.

2) While spending Thursday at the San Diego Fair (a future blog post - I promise), speed walking past as many people as possible, even if I had to turn around and meet up with my group again. And YES, it was a long long long day. And I am not a Fair Person - let's just leave it at that. Stay tuned.

1) When Nathaniel takes a shower, seeing if I can take a faster shower in the other bathroom. And dry my hair... And apply moisturize (dude - it's Southern California and dry!)...And make the bed....And have my first cup of coffee before he gets out of the shower. In his defense, I don't think he realized this the first or second time. But now, well - now he's catching on. Clearly, I need to move faster.

..And one more, just because:

1B) Timing myself while playing Kreisler's "Allegro" from Praeludium and Allegro. I think my hand cramped the other day - at least that's the only explanation I can come up with for the odd sensation in my fingers. Suddenly playing it at "normal" tempo feels...easy.

Now...as long as I can make it sounds good - that, my friends, is the key.

With that, I'm off. Perhaps to finish my stupidly long SD Fair blog...it seriously was the longst. day. ever. and. it. just. didn't. end. Ever have days like that? Of course you have... Regardless, I did have fun. It. just. took. forever. Like - my slowest Ironman time was faster - if that's an indication. And towards the end, I would have MUCH rather been crossing the finish line than exiting the fair grounds... At least the medal and post-race satisfaction would have been awesome.

Maybe I'll see how long it takes for me to write that post... yeah... that's it.