My Blog Log

Thursday, November 24, 2011

Thankful

     Today is perhaps my favorite holiday. Thanksgiving is all about the food and the football, but more importantly it is a kick-back day of realizing what we truly are thankful for. The story we learned in elementary school was that Thanksgiving was a celebration of the first harvest of the colonists in Plymouth with the help of the Native Americans. The colonists struggled until the Native Americans gave them seeds and taught them how to fish.
     How many times have we taken for granted the fact that we can just run down to the store to get what we need for our meals? Thankfully, our world is realizing the importance of getting back to our roots, so to speak, and buying food from local farmers or farmers markets. My husband Mark is a big hunter and fisherman so we do eat venison meat and fish that he provides from his hunting expeditions, but what if he didn't have those skills? Would we go hungry? No, because we can go to the local Harris Teeter and get what we need. But the colonists weren't so lucky. Thankfully, they were able to figure things out with some help so that their entire population did not get wiped out.
     How many times do we really think about the original Thanksgiving?  I guess my point is that it's probably a good idea to revisit that lesson we learned in elementary school. But in a modern day world filled with computers, flat screen televisions, Kindles and Ipods and...electricity, it's hard to comprehend that if you didn't hunt you didn't eat. So as you are eating your feast today, appreciate the small things, like you didn't have to actually venture out in the cold woods to find a turkey first. Perhaps you did venture out in the cold ,but only to get into your warm automobile and drive yourself to the local market.
     Beyond the bare bones meaning of Thanksgiving, I wanted to share a more personal reason I'm thankful. In 2001 my husband Mark was supposed to go to New York City for a meeting on Windows on the World, the restaurant on top of the World Trade Center. At the time he was working for Metlife and they had scheduled a managers meeting on Sept. 11, 2001; now currently known as 9/11. That day our world changed forever as we were bombed by al-Qaeda terrorists and our," twin towers," were destroyed forever. We all know the story, but mine was significant because my husband did not end up going to the meeting, as Metlife, thankfully, changed the meeting to another day. My life could have been greatly altered, but I was spared.
      I remember exactly where I was when the attacks took place that morning. We were living in Apex, NC.  After I had dropped my son Bryce off at pre-school, and had put my son Nick into his jog stroller,
I had gone out for my morning run, donning my Sony headset. I did not own an Ipod yet. I was listening to G105, a Raleigh radio station, when the story broke. At the point of the breaking story I was climbing a nasty hill and I remember thinking that hill was nothing compared to what just happened. The newscaster thought the attack was an accident and by the time I ran home and turned on the local news, the real story was playing out before my eyes. I immediately called my husband Mark at work to tell him the news. I silently prayed to God and thanked him  for not sending my husband to New York for the meeting.
     I often think of all the wives that lost their husbands in the 9-11 attacks; all the kids that lost their dads and moms, all the unnecessary violence, and I thank God everyday that I was spared. It sounds almost selfish, but I feel there was a reason I was spared that day. I am thankful that I still have my husband and that my kids have their dad. In times of marriage when I am feeling frustrated; and if you are married (let's be honest) you definitely have times that are challenging, I remind myself how lucky I am. The one thing I am truly thankful for is that I have the person I am meant to be with standing by my side and cheering me all the way to the finish line of life.

Tri-On,
Kelly

Wednesday, November 9, 2011

Reflections of a Triathlete

     Reflection-Something such as light, radiant heat,sound or an image that is reflected; a fixing of the thoughts on something, careful consideration.
    
     A few weeks ago I completed my last triathlon of the season and it was a challenging event. Being my last event always stirs up many emotions for me. I am usually a little sad that the season is over, but hopeful for the next season. Pinehurst Olympic Triathlon was a wonderful way to end my season. Rolling hills on the bike and run; a clean, clear lake with beautiful homes surrounding it and a golf community that provided a beautiful venue while I tortured myself one last time will keep me coming back to this race.
     During the swim I was challenged by the glaring sun reflecting on the lake, but rather than cursing the sun I suddenly was overcome by the beauty of the morning. I was reminded of my grandmother and my aunt who I have recently lost and realized how lucky I was in that moment to be in the warm water even if it was a bit rough from the winds. I realized that with each arm stroke I was gaining momentum to the shoreline. The sunlight was blinding, but it didn't blind my spirit. I felt a sense that my aunt and grandmother were with me guiding me through the light to the bike transition. This was living; feeling the waves, the cold water, the sunlight in my eyes, the cool morning temperatures- all examples of life and experiencing these elements keeps me coming back for more. I could have slept in and been home drinking a cup of coffee, but why sit on the sidelines when you can be in there," in it?" It's a privilege to be a triathlete and the ability to participate is never taken for granted as it is a gift that I reflect on regularly. As I've written before, I ,"tri," for those who can't.
     The bike and the run lead me through the beautiful Pinehurst community and while the hills challenged me, I enjoyed the cool temperatures of the day, especially during the run when I so often overheat. I always like to talk to people on the run. During Pinehurst, I talked with a man that was in his sixties. The cool thing, or maybe not so cool, is that your age is marked on the back of your leg. I am always so inspired to see all age groups out there participating in the field of triathlon. The man that was in his sixties expressed that he was tired when I asked him how it was going. But then he said," I keep doing this because of how I feel afterwards." I nodded and told him I felt the same way. Whatever his reasons were for feeling good after he didn't say, but I had a pretty good understanding of what he meant. When you are done it is a feeling that something great was accomplished in a morning. Rather than watching TV or drinking coffee or perhaps having breakfast, there is something great about knowing that your body travelled a long distance (37.2 miles in this race) in a morning using arms, legs and a bike. Through this,"play," I feel like a child again. Competing in triathlon gives you strength to get through tougher things in life.
     I met another guy on the run who was closer to my age and he,"carried," me for about four miles. He kept me going by talking with me. What I learned from him was that he was a," weekend warrior," type of athlete. He said he didn't train much but rather just came out to the events and did them. I was impressed with his ability as at mile four he increased his speed and took off; probably tired of talking to me. What stuck with me was that he said he'd rather be,"spending time on the weekends playing and fishing with his son," so he doesn't put in as many training hours as he should. I could relate to that philosophy as my race schedule is always around my family.
     Part of reflecting is also realizing how thankful I am to be able to share my stories and to have people that believe in me and support my efforts as an athlete. I can't say thanks enough to my friends at HydroWorx for believing in me. I believe in water therapy and would recommend an underwater treadmill at every gym in the country. The people behind  HydoWorx are visionaries in the sports medicine industry, much like Steve Jobs was a visionary in technology. Recently, they put an underwater treadmill in the Keefer home that was featured on ABC's Extreme Makeover:Home Edition show. One of the family members featured on the show is a paraplegic that needs therapy and HydroWorx installed one of their pools right in the home. The power of water therapy is so incredible. The show featured another man with a disability that is now walking as a result of one of the pools.
     Beyond reflecting on my last race, I began to reflect on the challenges faced by my family over the last six months. We recently relocated back to North Carolina after a five year stint in Pennsylvania. Although we were returning to an area we call home, we were leaving behind new friends that we'd made and traveling far away from family members again. Moving across country is no easy task,especially when you have children. "Setting up shop," is an adventure, but hard work. Relationships/friendships from the past have changed as well and so our old life was a bit different. We moved back to our,"home," but things had changed over five years. Again an adjustment had to be made for all of my family. Through it all, the swimming, biking, and running kept me on task. Sounds crazy, but when you have a checklist of things to do and follow it, voila it happens. I train for triathlon that way and live my life that way. The workouts were a great release in between packing, unpacking, setting up my kids in school and sports, DVM visits. et cetra.
     This blog is more than a blog about a girl who loves triathlon. This is about life and how triathlon shows up in my life. I am reminded of my brother-in-law, Dr. Frank McCluskey, who wrote a book called Thoughts on Fire; a book about being a fire fighter. In his book, his life was brought full circle by his passion for fighting fires and the relationships he developed doing so. It is not much different than what I am trying to convey in My Tri Life; do what you love and love what you do. I am lucky enough to have figured out my mantra and I am only middle aged. Thankfully, I still have half a life to go.

Pinehurst Triathlon Swim Transition
Tri- On Friends,
Kelly  
Pinehurst Triathlon Run Transition


EXTREME MAKEOVER HOME EDITION - "Keefer Family," - Workout Room Picture,         on   "Extreme Makeover Home Edition," Friday, October  21st            (8:00-10:00   p.m.  ET/PT) on the ABC Television  Network.
HydroWorx Pool at Keefer home featured on ABC  Extreme Makeover Home Edition

EXTREME MAKEOVER HOME EDITION - "Keefer Family," - Workout Room Picture,         on   "Extreme Makeover Home Edition," Friday, October  21st            (8:00-10:00   p.m.  ET/PT) on the ABC Television  Network.
HydroWorx Pool featured on ABC  Extreme Homemaker Home Edition