Nibbs - XXXIX

MotoQueen

13195

Subject: RE: Nibbs - XXXIX

enders_shadow - 2009-04-28 8:06 PM OK, so here it is - my 5000th post. I wasn't quite sure where to put it...because it's kind of about everything and nothing and mostly everything...but then I figured I should put it where I put nearly everything.

In the Challenge forum.

On the occasion of my 5000th post... When I was in high school, there was a counselor who asked us to write our three biggest goals or wishes on a piece of paper. They weren't supposed to be material things, but more like accomplishments or achievements. Well, I was a pain in the butt in high school, and so I wrote down three things that to me, at that time, seemed like the pinnacles of impossibility. 1. Do a marathon. 2. Do a triathlon. 3. Write a book. The counselor put them in envelopes and then gave them to us at graduation. At that time I got a good laugh. What kind of idiot would put those down as their biggest goals? So then I went to college, grad school, law school. Always dabbled a bit in running, but never too seriously. I ran some races, but didn't "train." I ran because I like to, but never enough to do it much. And I spent a lot of the time being chased by the sag wagon. DFL. I was never thin, but I got fat. And then had kids and got fatter. And then in 2006, when my baby was 1 year old and my life in the middle of a huge transition, my husband and I decided to get our selves back into shape. And I picked running back up. I remember my first race at that time - it was a 4 mile trail run. I finished with some 80-year old men. They were faster than me, but they talked me in. No sag wagons on the trails, y'know. In the summer of 2006, we moved to Richmond from Chicago...and my husband, who had shared a good giggle with me about my high school goals, agreed that I should get a bike. And so began the slippery slope into full-blown triathlon craziness. Of course, there was one little hitch in that giddyup. I didn't know how to swim. But that didn't stop me from joining BT in July 2006. Fast forward to January 2007 - I took adult swim lessons. (And I should probably take some more...but I digress). And I did my first triathlon in March 2007 - pool swim, 10 mile bike, 5K run. It was horrible. I hated the swim. The bike was hard. The run was long. And I came home from the race so excited that I couldn't wait for my official times to post something. So I posted some long sappy rant about how exciting my first triathlon was. And folks on BT responded so nicely to my post. If I wasn't hooked on BT before then, that sealed the deal. Since then, I have been completely sucked into BT. I've had some great mentors, both in the mentor program and out. I've had a bunch of fun in COJ and with the challenges. I've made great friends - ones I've met outside of the 'net and ones I haven't but that I'd give a kidney for. OK, maybe not a kidney, but I'd definitely send my used tri gear for free.

Pay it forward and all that. I've been ticked at BT - there are definitely people who get a bit under my skin...but far fewer here than in real life, I must say. And there are people who's sanity I question. Including mine. But there are people I care about and people I trust. When my knee went south before the marathon, even my husband said to talk to the folks on the board. Now, I may have ignored all of your sage advice, but still. That's not really the point, is it? Wow, are you still reading? You're like one of those people who stay and read all the credits after the movie, hoping there's something funnier at the end, right? Huh. Well, I should have guessed that about some of you. One of my earlier milestone posts was about wasabi. A post of substance.

And for my big 5000th, I give you this sappy masterpiece. I guess the bottom line is that, with BT's help, I have accomplished two of my biggest goals (three if you count this post as a book) - and proven that the impossible is not so much. Hugs, smooches, and heaven forbid, melon presses, all around.

Congratulations on the 5000 posts. Loved the book to the end. Looking forward to the sequel.

Nibbs - XXXIX (Page 64)

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