space book and podiums

one week ago tomorrow marks the beginning of lent and my attempt at no facebook for 40 days.

as a child, i remember going to the school chapel and having ashes placed on my forehead each ash wednesday. back then, the only thing it "signified" was something i had to do without, something i had to give up.   on occasion i gave up sweets and then later in life gave a run at no cursing until i realized that working on a trading floor would make that impossible, probably even for Jesus himself.

every year i would try and every year i would make it on average 3-4 days and give up.  eventually i got to the point where lent would come and go and so i gave up, giving up.

people ask me all the time "have you always been an athlete?"   this question is difficult for me to answer because up until earlier this year, even after two ironman finishes and a sub 4 hour NYC marathon in less than 6 months, i still had a hard time calling myself an athlete.   the answer to this question is yes and no.  yes, my parents had me on the soccer field while all my girlfriends were off trying to meet their thin mint quotas.  in fact, i have several soccer photos with me being the one and only girl on the team. then, i used sports as leverage to leave catholic school for the local public school (there were sports at the public school and there were also boys!)  and then again in high school i was chasing  my sister around the lacrosse field and also chasing the social scene with the same drive and determination.  i was the only person in high school that could talk her way out of a detention i received as a direct result of TALKING in class.

And no, because i always felt like there were people better than me, faster than me and that meant that i wasn't an athlete.  i was wrong.  it took me 34 years to figure it out but last weekend i made the podium for the first time ever in a race. first place, a small race but i'll take it.  turns out there are people i'm faster than, quite a few actually.  and today marks 6 days with no facebook.

success, its a beautiful thing.