Do you Remember

This morning's workout was great. After the last few weeks of not so good training, and seemingly poor results, it was refreshing to have a good one. This morning's spin class was huge - typical of the new year with everyone looking forward to the first race of the year (around here, that will be the Louisiana Triathlon in April, but for me - it will be the 70.3 in Oceanside, Claifornia.) It's so motivating to have such a big crowd at 5am and JP's brought some yummy oatmeal cookies his wife made for us to eat halfway through! After spin class, i headed out for my run hoping to it would go as well as spin class....and it did. While I was running, I had a number of things running through my head - as always. One thing in particluar was the fact that I think of so much stuff and it's all so clear while I'm out there running alone, it's too bad I have no way to write it all down. I swear, if I could write my blog while I ran, I would have a lot more postings on here! Usually, by the time I get home and eat and unwind, my mind wants to take a break too, and I lose the desire to write anything. But for whatever reason today, I have made it to the computer with a clear mind and an eagerness to share my thoughts. For the last few weeks I have been in a Funk. I'm not sure why, but it's just where I am and it's a cycle that is hard to break. This morning, I had a breakthrough - deciding to change my traning a bit. The type of workouts I have been doing may be the very reason why I am not having good ones. Last night while I was lying in bed exhausted and feeling like my brain was fried, I thought back to my Kona traning last year when I could go and go and go - and the reason I could do all that was because I went long, slow, and aerobic. Basically, I kept my heartrate down and went forever. So one of my biggest problems lately is feeling like I can't last....getting worn out and bummed out because I was tired. So this morning, I kept my HR low and rode for an hour, and had an awesome easy 9 mile run.
9 miles....all the time thinking of the things going on in my life, the year to come, and the years behind me. In Spin class today, I played a song "Do You Remember". I can't recall who sings it, but it's about a girl who used to get abused by her father. None of that is signifigant to my life as I have the best Dad anyone could ask for....but the words "Do you Remember" kept going through my mind - over and over......so I began to remember some things....

I remember when I did my first spin class.
I remember running the "loop" with the group for the first time....and thinking "where did this stupid hill come from?"
I remember running in the dark thru beau chene for the first time.
I remember talking to Donnie for the first time.
I remember his classes.
I remember buying my first bike.
I remember my first race.
I remember when my goal was to "just finish" a sprint.
I remember the only race I ever DNF'd. I had a good reason, and it wasn't an Ironman.
I remember bonking for the first time in my first half ironman. But I don't remember much about it!
I remember feeling Donnie's hand on my back pushing me up to the group when I fell behind on a ride. (I still feel it)
I remember Donnie hiding in the bushes in beau chene ready to jump out and scare the bejezus out of me! It always worked....
I remember tripping over a speed bump running in the dark and falling flat on my face. (there were no witnesses, and it's been a while since i've done that)
I remember Donnie's green wig and those ugly teeth he would wear to make us laugh.
I remember the day we learned he had ALS.
I remember him standing in the rain with a cane in Lake Placid watching Ironman from the sideline when he was supposed to be racing.
I remember him teaching class from his wheelchair, using his computer when he couldn't speak anymore.
I remember how many lives he touched, and how many people loved him.
I remember his funeral.
I remember how he believed in me.
I remember when I first ran a sub 8:00 mile and rode averaging 2o mph.
I remember when I ran sub 7:00 miles and averaged over 24 mph.

I remember what it felt like to buy a size 8 for the first time. Then a 6. Then a 4.

I remember my first bike crash.
I remember my first sponsor.
I remember winning my first race and getting PAID!

I remember meeting Ryan.
I remember beating all the boys last year.
I remember tripping over the barbed wire to pee in the woods. that hurt.
and I remember once only wishing I could run 9 miles....and then, in 2003 when a 9 mile run was my longest run ever....and then last year, when a 9 mile run was part of a mid-week easy day.