Lesson One: My weekend started on Friday when a friend asked me if I wanted to spend the day on the Eastern Shore (of Maryland), about 1 1/2 hours away. I'm on a new kick: I'm trying to say "Yes," when my natural instinct is to always say "No." So I did something I NEVER do: I took the day off and went with her.
D. asked me to name three things I wanted to do. I said "Yoga, massage, and NAP."
So while D. took care of some business, I went to The Spa at Glenwood, without an appointment, and had one of the best massages of my life. For $60, I went to the Zone. To another place entirely. And, like the good multi-tasker I am, I also knocked out a nap in the process. Two outta three! Before noon!
After that, we went here,
had crab cake sandwiches, wandered around, and looked at jellyfish here:
Had some ice cream. Stopped at a fruit stand.
In other words, we did nothing! For an entire day!
At the end of the day we started looking for a nice park so that D., who is an aspiring Reiki-practitioner, could practice on me. (Don't worry, I don't really understand Reiki either.) Finding a secluded public place where no one would notice two women carrying pillows and a yoga mat turned out to be not so easy. We ended up in a lovely church graveyard off the main highway.
D in a pensive moment.Reiki is supposed to tap into your natural energy to help you heal yourself. It was a deeply relaxing experience, as I laid on the leaves looking up through a canopy of trees in this holy place—even as I was being eaten alive by bugs. I just went with it.
What I really needed on Friday was peace, quiet and relaxation, and a day far away from work and training.
The Perfect Day. Thanks, D..
Lesson Two: Saturday.
Saturday I rode 27 miles with three D.C. Tri chicks.
Under the sweet exterior are two hardcore biker chicks, Joanna and Karen.
The saintly Jennifer.We rode this route:
Georgetown, out Reservoir Road to MacArthur Blvd to Falls Road through some neighborhoods back to MacArthur. In case you were interested.Around mile 5 or so, I noticed my heart racing at 95% max. So I mentioned it to my friends, just in case I keeled over. I couldn't bring it down. I felt dizzy and weird, and my heart felt like it was doing some weird skips. All this before the first big hill. But I hung on, thinking, as do most women I know, that it would "just clear up by itself." Luckily for me, the saintly Jennifer refused to leave me, despite me pleading with her to go on ahead. Sure, leave me here, to die of a heart attack. As if!
Jennifer asked me if I would leave her if the situation were reversed. I think not! She hung in there for the slowest ride of her life and got me back to her house. After hanging on her front stoop for a while my heart finally slowed down. So I told Jennifer I planned to spend the rest of the day in the pool learning flip turns.
At which point she looked at me and said, "Have you always been this psycho??!"
Err, that would be an affirmative.
So I scrapped the flip-turning plans, and instead practiced more napping.
Somewhere amidst all that mayhem Jennifer invited me to a chi-chi party at her place that night. In chi-chi Georgetown.
Which I totally went to, because, hey, if your time is up, it may as well be up at a charming wine-and-cheese party, right? Plus we have the new "say yes" rule.
Jennifer, left, the girl who saved my life.
A sparkling night in Georgetown.Sunday was packed with church, a barbecue, a 5-mile run with NO WALKING—and no racing heart—and my second-to-last swim class, the class where each week I learn just how much I suck at swimming.
7 Thursday, August 21st Review, Starts/Race Strategy/ Other Strokes
Ya gotta have friends, people.
16 comments:
LOVELY!!!! Minus the near death experience.... :)
Now THAT'S living.
Energy systems? Does your coach have some magic way to give me more energy when I swim? Cuz I totally need that :-) Is it like Water Reiki?
What a great weekend! And good that Jennifer was willing to stay with you. You never know in those situations what is going on. As for flip turns? I say what's the point. You don't use them in tris anyway so its wasted effort on my part.
You are so sociable. I am the polar opposite - the say no girl.
Okay; you held me to the end. That was good.
Be careful with that napping stuff. Life goes on without you even when you're sleeping. Yes. True. It also affects your heart rate, obviously.
A day doing nothing and napping and getting massaged sounds perfect! So do frou-frou parties!!!!! It's a great life!
Uhhhhhh so you're saying you were 2 blocks from my house and didn't come see me?
Some friend!!!!!!!!!! ;-)
Besides, I could have taken you MUCH nicer places than Big Al's.
Wow what a great weekend! Sounds like it might have been too much relaxation for you and your body just wasn't used to the down time LOL! As for flip turns, last time I practiced I swallowed so much water I vowed to never try again. Gotta agree with Vickie (though if you learn the trick tell me, cuz all the great swimmers at the gym use them and it makes me nuts that I can't!)
Hang on to that relaxing feeling!
1.) I agree with Vickie: flip turns = pointless.
2.) Google PVCs
3.) PVCs sometimes = panic attack
4.) "sparkling" = your best light
5.) Say "yes" because life's short!
Yeah, I wouldn't have made it with you guys.
i saw wine and cheese and everything else got blurry . . . must go find wine and cheese.
Oh, and you look hot in the black v-neck.
There's a very funny book called Yes Man where a bloke decided he would say nothing but YES to EVERYTHING for a whole year (true).
The weekend sounds superb - except WHAT DID I TELL YOU ABOUT THAT SWIMMING TECHNIQUE? you do not suck.
Sounds like a great weekend. You look happy and rested!
Reiki is cool. That's neat your D wants to be a reiki master. I had reike when my dog died. I was a mess.
See what just say YES does to your life? Sounds like a good mantra!
Is chi-chi party like in fu-fu party or like Chi-Chi's Mexican restaurant?
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