Countdown to Triathlon - 257 Days, 36.75 weeks to Race Day (See Installment 21 of "The Journey", 220 mile bike ride, below)

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY -

Christmas waves a magic wand over this world, and behold, everything is softer and more beautiful.  ~Norman Vincent Peale

We went to Lake Tahoe for the day on Sunday, which made a long day - two and a half hours up and two and a half hours back.  Before driving home we we stopped to help my Mom finish her decorating.  Her tree and home look absolutely beautiful.  I'll have to take some pictures next time we're there.  The real blessing of the day, besides Bob buying a pickup from a pastor of a church at Lake Tahoe, was the fact that we had good weather going and coming home until we got out of the mountains.  Since Bob was driving his new pickup ( it's a older model Ford), I had to drive his other pickup  home and I was praying all the way that it wouldn't snow.  I actually drove a little faster than I should have and took full advantage of passing lanes because I was really scared to get caught in a blizzard.  Driving in the snow gives me a giant stomach ache and going over the summit is really scary in bad weather since the road is so narrow and winding.  The fact that there is only a waist-high stone fence that separates the drivers from a thousand foot drop to the valley below adds to my discomfort.  Incidentally, that valley is called Christmas Valley, quite apropos to the season we are in currently. By the time we were out of the mountains and only half an hour from my Mom's, the storm hit with pouring rain and wind.  But we did arrive home safely late Sunday night after a very long day.

The training is taking a backseat, I'm afraid, to Christmas preparations and holiday activities and get-togethers.  It seems that the same thing occurred during my bike ride training.  The first of the year I will definitely have to turn up the heat on the training program. I most likely won't be swimming until then, but at least I can use my elliptical trainer which is in my family room so that I don't have to get out in the rain.  Poor Roxi will have to wait until the weather is better before I go out walking. 

I hope all your plans for the Christmas Holiday are going well and that you are not stressing out but are able to enjoy this very special time of the year.

The Journey - Installment Twenty-One

(Note – I have asked my sisters Cindy & Patti to help me remember these next three days.  Lynda is a second cousin to my husband Bob and she has graciously told me her story about September 11 which will be included in a couple of days.)      

        

      After September 11^Th, there had been some talk of canceling the marathon. It was decided by the marathon committee that this country was not going to let the terrorists run our lives and keep us in constant fear.  However, a week before we arrived in New York City, anthrax was found at the NBC studios in an envelope mailed to NBC headquarters at 30 Rockefeller Center.  Several floors of the NBC headquarters were closed for several days.  Senator Tom Daschle (D-SD) and Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT) also received letters tainted with anthrax.  There were other cases and one woman died from the disease.  There was certainly a heightened level of concern with what was being sent through the mail.  Not only had I been nervous about flying on Halloween because of possible terrorist attacks, we also wondered if we were safe from an anthrax outbreak.  My sister Patti flew to New York from Minnesota on Saturday, the day Cindy’s family and I arrived by train.  Patti did mention that she was very nervous taking a cab to the hotel because it seemed that most of the cab drivers were Middle Eastern.  The prevailing mood of our citizens was one of wariness about anyone who even looked Middle Eastern.  I do remember that the Sikh Temple in Hughson put up a huge sign on their chain link fence and kept their gate locked.  The sign read, “We are not Muslims and we love America.”  They had dozens of small American flags attached to the fence.  They feared for their property and lives, and rightly so, because many Muslim places of worship in the U. S. had been attacked since September 11th. This particular house of worship was not Muslim, but many Americans didn't know the difference between Sikhs and Muslims. 

           

            Cindy was part of a group of 11 patients of Dr. Pamela Peeke of Bethesda, Maryland.  Dr. Peeke had asked the eleven ladies if they would consider training for the New York Marathon with her.  The Marathon was to be held the first Sunday of November 2001.  Cindy and all the ladies, including Dr. Peeke,  had been training for months.  Their little group was being sponsored by Prevention Magazine for which Dr. Peeke sometimes wrote articles on health and physical training.  Each of the ladies had raised at least $3000 for Memorial Sloan Kettering and their Pediatric Cancer program.  With that contribution, each received two nights free at the Plaza Hotel at Central Park.   One of the women had been getting Cancer treatments of her own during the time of her training and actually had to go to the hospital the night before the marathon.  That is real determination and motivation on a level I find hard to comprehend.