The Triathlon Rx

And a happy heart, despite the fact that La Madre de la Naturaleza has been crying all week! I am happy that the rain has been taking out a lot of the snow (I see GRASS!!) but man, talk about gloomy!

And speaking of gloomy, here are two other gloomy things that have occurred in my life this week:

1. Wallet. Gone. Credit card. Brand new Caribou gift card. Brand new Dunn Bros gift card. Two American Express gift cards from my boss. Drivers License. U of MN ID. Left on Minneapolis’ finest form of transportation – the metro transit. (Insert voice over of sarcasm.) Called the control center less than five minutes after the fact > they radioed the bus driver > he neglected to answer call > I have no wallet nor form of identification.

2. Which is a problem when you’re tank is close to empty (close to empty people… this is a HONDA)! Lets not talk about how dusty my dashboard is… the emphasis is on the subE status of my gas tank. You should always always always have at least $5 in cash stashed in your car/bike.

To combat said gloominess, I have decided that for the next week, I am going to surround myself in nothing but positivity, happy people, and good things. And now that I write that, I realize a week is not nearly long enough. How about a lifetime? Why, yes Dr. TriRunner – that sounds like an ingenious idea! A lifetime of good running, smiling pregnant ladies, delicious food sprinkled with love, puppies with overgrown ears, and sunny 70° days spent at the lake.

Haha – raise your hand if I put you over the top with the puppy part! It might be an optimism overdose, but sometimes that is what you need. I firmly believe that attitude is a matter of choice,  and whattya know – so does my man up top:

“For as he thinks in his heart, so is he.” (Proverbs 23:7)

So why do you care? You come to Dr. TriRunner to read about running, tri life, training, injury prevention, good nutrition, and the occasional product review and giveaway. How do these gloomy rainy Minneapolis days slash life epiphanies affect you? Two fold compadres:

1. YOU are part of my positivity. And by “you” I don’t necessarily mean you… I mean the people and things I surround myself with or allow to influence my life. My girl Kelly talked about toxic relationships a while ago, and that’s something I could throw in a cent or two about. Long story short, I’ve cleaned out my phone book, my facebook, and yes, my Google Reader (haha Abby!! Looks like I’m “really a blogger” too). My life-rule of “I don’t do passive” … has been extended to include “I don’t do negative/toxic/despairing.”  Just don’t need it… and neither do you!!

2. I want to SHARE with YOU some of this goodness! This will [hopefully] look a lot like what you already get at Dr.TriRunner – advice, tips, good discussion, honest reviews, and c’mon.. what giveaway doesn’t put a smile on your face? But there will also be some new things to look for! I have been working for a long time on that “LINK Love” tab at the top of the page… the one that has been “Under Construction” for forever. There are a ton of awesome people, athletes, companies, and bloggers out there, but there are several who have had a particularly positive influence on my life, and those I think deserve to be recognized! Unfortunately I can’t say the “LINK Love” is finished today, but I can say I am SO CLOSE, and once I can get past this lil’ technologically challenged blip, I’m golden.

In the mean time, I would like to share with you three things that have delighted me this week:

1. A 7 mile run with el chico guapo, in said rain/mist/fog, on Wednesday night. It was part two of the BRICK (part 1 = swim), it was dark, we talked about cockateals bought over wild rice soup and guinea pigs named Peanut, about families, futures, laughed about ‘how the hell do you pronounce the word libido?’ and just overall a great run. It didn’t matter that I was up at 5 that morning and felt like I was running slower than molasses. It was great. Followed up by more great and dinner at one of our favorite Vietnamese restaurants and huge bowls of delicious. I really like this kid.

2. Depending on when you joined me here at Dr. TriRunner, or RunRoamRecycle for you vets, you may or may not be aware of my adopted mother / fairy godmother / idol. Yes, I would be talking about my girl, Martha Stewart. I don’t need to give you the whole list of why we’re BFFs, but I would like to say that she is also an official member of the BAMF club, and she makes brownies with Snoop.

3. Happy old people. After a recent conversation with my good friend Susan, I have decided that I will approach all of the “seasoned” population with the assumption that they have the mindset of this man:

It’s super interesting to me the difference that being consciously aware of your attitude makes. Since “choosing” to only surround myself with positivity this morning, I’ve felt so energized and light on my feet. If I could bottle that up and sell it, I’d be rollin’ in dough. But I don’t need that.. what can dough really buy me that I don’t have anyways, right?

Night night peeps. Saturday endurance ride – ready!

-E