By popular demand, I have decided to dust off my blogging shoes and resume my online babbling, after a well-deserved, 2-month sabbatical post Half Ironman triathlon. The past few months have gone by like a whirlwind, despite the fact my plan was to spend my time after the race sitting on the couch, eating bon-bons and watching bad Lifetime movies while twiddling my thumbs. If it’s at all possible, my life has actually been more hectic since May 8th than it was before, when I was dedicated to following my strict 3-sport training regimen while trying to learn my new job and deliver a major project to the head of my agency. Over the past 2 months, I have experienced a flourish of social activity of the positive kind, which has kept me on the go 24-7. Because so many events and activities have transpired since I last put pen to paper (or type to blog?), I thought I would summarize my time by reciting the Top 10 Things I Have Learned About Life Since the Half Ironman. Blog entry #1 covers the first 3 lessons in this saga, both because I am feeling slightly lazy this evening and because I want to drag out this post so that I don’t run out of blogging ideas ☺ Stay tuned for the remainder of the top 10 list...


THE TOP 10 THINGS I HAVE LEARNED ABOUT LIFE SINCE THE HALF IRONMAN

#10 I love running. If you followed my tri blog, you know that while I definitely enjoyed some of the aspects of the training more than anticipated (e.g., swimming), it was often a struggle to fit in all of the weekly workouts in multiple sports, largely during months of inclement weather, alongside a challenging work schedule and abundant social calendar. So much of a struggle that many days I found myself going through the motions without really enjoying the experience. As soon as the triathlon was over, however, and I went out for my very first casual, unplanned run on the lovely Mt. Vernon Trail along the Potomac in DC’s spring sunshine, I felt liberated. Truly free and happy. Since that day, I have focused my training on running (and strength training), and what I have realized is that I just plain love running. It gives me time to contemplate work or personal issues, or socialize with my running buddies, or jam to good music, while getting in a great workout in a short period of time. As a result, my plan is to focus on several running races this fall rather than participate in another tri. I do have vague plans to do another Half Ironman in 2011, but for now I am going to put on my running shoes and remain loyal to my first fitness love. So far, my love has treated me well - I ran my first post-tri race in June with my Capital Area Runners team and PRed (i.e., set a Personal Record) for the 10K distance finishing in 43:31 - 40th place among 1568 women overall).

#9 The best place to sneak a photo of yourself in the West Wing is in the bathroom near the Oval Office. A close friend from work was given the opportunity to work at the Office of Management and Budget, the Federal agency that serves the President and is largely responsible for overseeing his policies throughout the Executive Branch. This friend was kind enough to invite me to a special, non-public tour of the West Wing, a perk provided to those who have the privilege to work at OMB. I graciously accepted and joined him and another friend at the White House a few Friday nights ago for a 9:15 p.m. jaunt through Homebama. You know, your typical kick-off to the weekend in DC ☺ The unfortunate part about the tour was that you are strictly prohibited from taking photos anywhere other than in the Press Room. However, those are photos that any commoner (did I just say that?) can get during his or her White House tour. So I got creative. Just outside the Oval Office (which, by the way, is far too immaculate to make it look like any work is actually done there), are men’s and women’s restrooms. Given that I am pretty well-versed in Federal privacy laws, I was relatively certain that the Secret Service, who filled the place, were not watching me as I relieved myself. So I quickly took my camera out of my purse and snapped a shot of my reflection in the mirror. Lesson learned: The best place to sneak a photo of yourself in the West Wing is in the bathroom near the Oval Office. Disclaimer: If President Obama or any of his staff or Secret Service Agents are reading this, I am just joking…

#8 The key to a happy life is to channel your inner Satisfier. I once read a quote from my favorite actress Audrey Hepburn that has stuck with me. She had been asked how she always managed to appear happy when she had such a tough childhood (she suffered from starvation and other unpleasantries in Nazi Europe). Her response was (and I am paraphrasing) that her youth taught her an important lesson, i.e., to set your expectations in life low because then you are destined to be pleasantly surprised rather than tragically disappointed. Wow. Profound. A similar conclusion is drawn in a roundabout way in a book that I stumbled upon on my wonderful Amazon Kindle, which, incidentally, ranks near the top of the things I would take with me if my apartment burned down, along with my dogs, my passport, my iPhone and my Garmin GPS watch…The book, which has been the subject of much conversation between me and my close friend Christina, is entitled “Marry Him: The Case for Settling for Mr. Good Enough” by Lori Gottlieb. The theme of the book is that if you live life like a Maximizer, i.e., someone who is never satisfied with what they have (for the purposes of the book, that something is a man) – even if that thing (or person) is really great – but is always looking for the next best thing, then you will likely be someone who does not end up happy (again, for the purposes of this book, that means in a wonderful, committed relationship). The opposite of a Maximizer is a Satisfier, or someone who recognizes when she has a good thing and doesn’t let it go – she doesn’t feel the need to search for something better because what she has is already wonderful. Bringing all of this full circle, I had the opportunity to meet my old boss (Linda, I mean old in the sense of previous and not age!) for lunch yesterday, and she commented on my dating life, making the comment that when she met her second husband, they definitely clicked, but she could have kept dating other men looking for someone with whom she “clicked” even more, but what was the point? 20 or so years later, they continue to have an incredible marriage. Something she might have missed if she continued to look for someone with whom she was even more compatible – a someone she may never have found. The bottom line is that the key to a happy life may just be channeling your inner Satisfier and saying so-long to the Maximizer in you. At least when it comes to men.

Until next time, and my next few Life Lessons...