Fleetwood Mac Concert

I've been getting a lot of cool opportunities to do some some exciting things. Two weeks ago, the president of our company invited me to see Fleetwood Mac in concert that evening. Believe me, I wasn't his first choice as the girl he was taking bailed on me. Honestly, who cares if I was second choice! I was going to see a classic group perform and I was thrilled to have the opportunity to see them. I met our president, the CEO and his wife out for dinner and drinks at a restaurant/bar called Lime. We started off the night with a bottle of wine that was several thousand dollars! Then we had a private car chauffer us to the stadium for the concert. Our seats were incredible! About midway through the show, one of their managers came over to our seats and gave us backstage VIP passes to meet the band after the show. Evidently the owners of our company and the manager for Fleetwood Mac go way back. Once the show was over and people cleared out of the arena, we went backstage and hung out with the band and a few others guests. The night ended with access to a private bar downtown that is a haven to well known political figures and people of status. Not really my kind of hang out spot but I did meet some rather influential people there. It's always interesting to hear another persons story on how they got to where they are today. All in all, this was another adventure I won't ever forget!

Eric Clapton/Steve Windood

My dad bought me a ticket to see Eric Clapton and Steve Winwood in concert last Wednesday night in Houston, Texas. Fortunately I had a free round trip on Southwest to use or otherwise I would struggle with the funds to purchase the flight home. To say I witnessed two of the greatest musicians ever would be an understatement. As a guitar hobbiest, I have a great appreciation for musical talent. Especially when it's music that is about music. Not the current and trendy pop crap we hear today. Although a short trip, it was the break I needed to clear my mind and return to Nashville refreshed. This concert also marked the half way point through the year. I've made it my goal to not let a day go by where I don't take advantage of opportunities to really live. Reflecting back on previous postings, I think I've done a good job at living each day to the fullest.

Skittle Bump

Whenever I get really excited about something, I attack it with full speed. Today, I dropped a Skittle on the floor below my desk. Not just any Skittle, the last red one! And what did I do? I attacked the front of my desk... with my head... at full speed! I either completely forgot about my desk being there or I underestimated the size of my forehead! I let out a grimace that gradually got louder and ended with, "oh no! I think I'm bleeding!" I had created a nasty gash on the front of my head and it was proceeding to bleed everywhere. I had half the office hovering around my desk while 2 ladies administered the office first aid kit to my wounds. My headache was greatly overshadowed by the beating my pride took. I'm 24 years old and I just chased a red Skittle to the point where I split my head open. That's what a 5 year old does. Unfortunately, these incidents happen quite often to me. Nobody was surprised that it happened. It's only a matter of time before I freeze my tongue to frost on a metal pole. To further inflict pain on my open wounds, I was supposed to go to the CMT awards that night. My headache was so bad that I had to miss the show all because I let my 5 year old self loose and it attacked my adult body with full force. I hate it when that happens!

back in action

Life has finally settled down to where I can train effectively and efficiently again. The past month has been filled with an olympic distance triathlon, labor day weekend, moving, and my brother's wedding. Now that my trips are shorter and less strenuous, I can reclaim my drive towards my first ironman. This past week I gradually eased into a structured training schedule. The intensity of my workouts were moderate at best. Summarized: swim- 3 pool swims focusing on form and alternate breathing. Bike- 1 high paced, short distance ride, 1 spin class, and 1 long and slow, 40 mile ride. Run- 3 runs immediately following each bike ride. I wouldn't normally include 3 brick workouts in my training regimen. However, after taking a three week break from training, I needed a good test at what my legs could handle over the next month. As I begin a new week, my legs have recovered well from Sunday's workout that lasted over 2 hours and 45 minutes.

Looking forward, I am increasing my mileage each week for the next four weeks. This will help build my base up. Then I'll taper down for one week and build up for another three weeks. I'll reach a season high max of swimming 6,500 yards, biking 140 miles, and running 40 miles in a week. Taper back for a week and work on quality and speed for the next two weeks. At this point in my training, Atomic Man 70.3 will be in three weeks. I'll change my diet to include fat intake of 35-45% (sounds weird but I'll elaborate in another post.) This diet along with shorter, race pace workouts will teach my body to use it's stored energy more efficiently.

I've designed my training to give me a chance at breaking 5 hours. More specifically, I've dialed my time down to the minute to get a top 10 finish in my first Half Ironman. I'd estimate that proper training gives me about 75% of what I'm capable of enduring come race day. The other 25% includes variables that aren't foreseeable until I'm racing. Some variables can be reduced by pure knowledge and effective training. For example, understanding what my body needs nutritionally and can handle during an endurance race will allow me to make better decisions as I compete. Also, any technical issues that I may encounter like transistions, flat tires, blisters, and chafing (yikes!) can be less threatening if I know how to effectively deal with them. I have purposely left out one factor that can completely throw away an entire race. The only thing that can overwhelm all the hard training and technical knowledge is the voice inside of your head that tells you to quit. Mental strength is by far the number one most import aspect to any endurance event. That's why it's important to train like you're going to race. The more times you put yourself in mentally straining situations during training, the better off you'll be when you experience it during a race.

I'm eagerly waiting for 5 o'clock to roll around so I can leave the desk job and start pushing my training. It starts today!

Marriage

June 7, 2009- Clinton Thomas Carter: Friend, Brother, Braves Fan, Outdoor Enthusiast. He was survived by 9 groomsmen who were with him through thick and thin, his family, backpacking pack and track spikes. Sadly, Clint made the decision to hang up those track spikes and box away the backpack. He made the daring move from bachelorhood to the last legal form of slavery. He is beginning a journey that many men have started but sadly, only few have stood by their vows of "till death do us part."

That sounded very depressing but I do not apologize for the somber tone reflected in the above paragraph. Although exaggerated for an emotional reaction, the tone is not far from the stigma that marriage undeservingly receives. Who do we blame? Pop Culture that airs the dirty laundry of our favorite actors and actresses who seem to make a living bouncing from one marriage to the next? Maybe it's our generations way of rebelling against common practice and basic moral principals? Or should the blame be found closer to home with, O! dare I say it, our own Parents? Either way you spin the wheel, our current culture isn't placing an emphasis on marriage preservation. Surprisingly though, divorce rates are at an all time low since the 1970's. In fact, fewer people are getting married. In 2005, despite a population increase of 2.9 million, total marriages were down by 50,000 from the prior year. Further, the U.S. has seen a 13% decrease in percentage of population that is married. In 1970, 72% of the U.S. population was married while in 2002, only 59%. One would think that an increase in population and total marriages would be a direct relationship. In fact, we are seeing an inverse relationship between these.

I think it's a cultural shift in the perception of marriage and our personal priorities. Before our parents' time, it was acceptable for a woman to marry young, not get a college degree and be a stay at home mother. Currently, advances in women's liberal rights have given them the same opportunities as men (which they should have). There are more career opportunities for women than there have ever been in our time. Now I'm not saying that marriages are down because we're giving women more career opportunities than just being a stay at home mom. That would be a ridiculous statement. I'm simply presenting changes in our society that play a roll in our relationships. Further, it's possible that the desire to have a successful career has taken priority over a life time, committed relationship. I find that more men and women want to be financially stable and independently set in their careers before making that life long commitment. We've all seen how money and career changes can adversely affect a marriage and it's no wonder why we desire to have those things firmly in place.

After witnessing high divorce rates among our parents, I believe that many people don't want to go through the same things our parents did. For those who have seen first hand the emotional scaring that comes from divorces, it's not wonder so many people are afraid of getting married. Unfortunately, it's a trickle down effect to the way kids treat relationship today. In a recent Men's Health magazine, it polled a shocking but not surprising number of college students who opted for the "friends with benefits" status instead of developing long term relationships. Their outlook, who wouldn't want to have sex with no commitment involved. It's ideal for the self serving way we live our lives. It's no longer about someone else's feelings, it's about mine. And it's that selfish mind set that carries into our personal lives. We've basically cut out the entire middle section of a relationship. A long, long time ago, keeping your virginity till marriage was more sought after than it is today. Instead we skip out on feeling heart broken after a few years or even months of puppy love and skip straight to the fun stuff. It's like getting a book assignment from your teacher and reading the first chapter and skipping to the climatic ending. You see, there is no break up and no divorce when you keep a surface level relationship. In fact, a 2005 statistic shows that 8.9% of coupled households consisted of unmarried, heterosexual partners. That percentage is up almost half of what it was 10 years ago.

What started with a funny intro that would lead into my brother's bachelor party and wedding extravaganza has turned into a ranting and raving, strictly opinion based monologue of where I think marriage is today. I am fully aware that there are many things that affect our opinions and views of current marriages and that not everybody is so doom and gloom about finding someone special to spend the rest of their lives with. Most of my opinions come from the conversations I hear both single and married men having about their current relationship and their views on marriage. So it's not just me with these same views. I'd be curious to see how these trends hold over the next few years.

Why I Tri

In 2008, after a series of life changing events, I had a breakdown moment. I said, enough is enough, Ryan. I will no longer make excuses for not living a meaningful life. I had become a waste of space and a complaining, whining, "the whole world is out to get me" person. I had become the person I said I never wanted to be and it took me losing some important things and people in my life to see this. Like my previous post, I took inventory of everything in my life. I made the decision to get rid of the clutter and cut the fat. I also wrote down what I am really passionate about and the God given talents that i've been blessed with. Physically writing these things down on paper was the best thing I could have done for myself. I wanted to use everything I had been given and incorporate everything I love into something meaningful so that I would no longer be a wasteful human being. I realize that a great sacrifice was made for me and to let some of my gifts go to waste is completely unacceptable. My list clearly showed that I had a love for the outdoors, extreme sports, and pushing my limits. What better way to incorporate all these things than to start training for Ironman's. It's not that I love swimming, biking, and running. I actually hate running, i'd rather be on a surfboard than swimming and why bike when you can just drive! The fact that I promised myself to not be wasteful with the life i've been given is what drives me to train for these ironman races. It's the ultimate testament to what i've been blessed with. I have the natural ability to excel at endurance sports and I love being outdoors. I think triathlons are the perfect combination of these two things. The training has also completely changed my lifestyle. I am more conscience about my health. It's not just watching what I eat but how I live my life. I've cut back on a lot of excess things I was doing to myself. 1cor. 9:24-27 talks about training for a race. Everyone else is running a race for material items, but i'm training for a prize much greater that any worldly possession could ever offer. In a nut shell, that's why I tri. Triathlons have been a great tool for me to use myself in a way that is pleasing in God's eyes. And that's what I strive for everyday.



"When I stand before God at the end of my life, I would hope that I would not have a single bit of talent left and could say 'I used everything You gave me'" -Erma Bombeck

Moving

The past week has been very busy for me. As some of you know, i've been in the process of looking for a new place to live. I finally found a really nice house in a great neighborhood. The current tenants of the house couldn't move out until Thursday of this past week and I had to be out of my house by Saturday so another person could move in. It's exhausting me all over again just to type this! Being the organized person I am, I started moving with my house in a complete mess! I had no clean clothes, all my dishes were dirty, and everything seemed to be on the floor in no particular order! This made moving a very efficient process (insert sarcasm). I started moving Friday evening after work at 6pm and I didn't stop till 6:30 am that next morning! Yes, that's correct! I was up for 24 hours and worked on moving for a solid 12! It was one of the single most painful experiences i've ever been through. Part of what took so long was that I took a lot of time to read old notes and cards and things i've boxed away for years. It was reminiscent to look back on where I had been and to think about how i've gotten here today. Moving was also a great opportunity for me to get rid of a lot of clutter that had accumulated over the years. Out of all the frustrations I encountered on my move, this was the single most rewarding aspect. I've found that it is incredibly easy to hold onto material items that add zero benefit to our lives. I find it funny how we hold on to things of no value. Moving this past week allowed me to take inventory of what I was keeping around. Some good, some bad, but for the most part I had a lot of junk that didn't need to be there. It felt good to let go of the past and move on. To start over on a new foot and a lighter load. Even if you're not moving, I see a great deal of importance in occasionally taking inventory of what you have. You'll surprise yourself with how much better if feels to let go of the stuff that's weighing you down and literally filling up your closet space!