Evolution

Not in the Darwinian sense. Evolution in the change and growth and progressive sense. I hope this is me in everything I set out to do. My kids are obsessed with the Leaning Tower of Pisa right now. Why? I have no idea. Maybe because they are little sponges who seek to know more about any random and unusual idea. Maybe because their Italian grandfather is here visiting and talking about the Old Country. Maybe because they originally thought it was constructed of their favorite meal, pizza. Thank goodness for the Internet.

Rather than scour the local library for several books on Italy and their heritage, I went directly to the source: Google. We had everything we needed to know about the "Leaning Tower of My Favorite Junky Dinner" right at our fingertips. Don't you just love progress? Parenting is so much easier now, I have decided, rather than in the dark ages, before the advent of ipods, portable DVD players, and digital everything. Of course, we stress about what images the kids may stumble upon online, or who they might converse with on cell phones, but overall, if we can avoid video games and dodge the obesity bullet, I think the evolution of our consumer society is a beautiful thing. Faces glued to Game Boys, many of our consumer brats do not know how to carry on conversation anymore, but they are sharp little high-tech geeks. There is balance somewhere between old fashioned fun and innovation, and as parents, we try to strike it with regard to our kids, of course.

I think this is the same of my training. I would like to think I am growing, evolving, learning from past mistakes and mishaps. I do not want to obsess over nutrition details and socks or no socks on the bike. I would like to look at triathlon history and know we are in a better place now that we have traded flat Coke for Gatorade, and candy bars for fancy energy bars. We eat supplements like trail mix and take Advil like Tic Tacs for damage control, but how many of us are taking it to extremes? Are we still having fun out there? How many of us are just posers, wanting desperately to think of ourselves as athletes, scrambling for more endorphins? Guilty. Today was 3 miles on the tread mil, a swim, a weight workout, and then 8 more miles on the road to run my girl to school while she "trained" on her bike for her race quickly approaching. I love it.

EVOLUTION scrambled: NO, U LOVE IT. This sport that is. This is my mantra on days I do not want to get out of bed at all. I talk myself back into it, and then I find myself again. And, yes, I am still having good old fashioned fun, despite obsessing over the details. I still love the purity of pulling on running shoes and heading out toward the beach. I will always love the run over all the complications of the bike and technicalities of the swim. I hope I am evolving in many ways, but I am still a purist at heart.