Tri Tribe

Call it a clan, call it a network, call it a tribe, call it a family.  Whatever you call it, whoever you are, you need one.  ~Jane Howard

So it’s Tuesday night, 7 pm, and I’m sitting in my car writing this while I wait for one of my cubs to finish an acting class.  It’s been one of those days.  You know the ones.  You go and go and go and the day just flies by with work and unexpected meetings and questions and answers and lunch at your desk and 20 minutes for dinner on the run and by the end you think whew… that was nuts!  When I get home tonight at 8, I will want to sink into a chair and watch Glee with my cub and then slide into the quiet of deep sleep so that I can start this madness again tomorrow, but on this night, I have one more thing.  This time when I get home at 8, I’m changing clothes and going for a run.

Now there have been times in recent months when I would blow this off and think, I’ll go tomorrow.  This is crazy.  There’s no need to do any more today.  You’ve gotten your fill.  But on this night I HAVE to go and this compulsion is actually because of you.

You see Danskin opened the registration this week.  I know you got the emails.  And Danskin did everything they could to eliminate the things were annoying about this race.  First there was the long trek to Disney not once, but twice, both on Saturday and Sunday, complete with remote parking and bus rides.  So much time spent.  Now with the race in Clermont, there’s easy parking and less of Mother’s Day weekend consumed.  They cut the price by almost half to make it more affordable for everyone.  And they offered a super sprint option with shorter distances.

The result is that many of you said yes.  Some of you who had told me no way you’d ever do a triathlon have changed your minds.  Others have returned to the race after quitting because you just HATED something about it…  the time, the cost, the dreaded swim… something deterred you…  no more.  And finally there is a whole batch of newcomers, people who said yes when I asked a long time ago or last week and now really have no reason to say no. 

It’s awesome…  truly awesome.  Dear friends, new friends, youngsters, women in their 70s… you’re all in and your enthusiasm, your determination, your passion leaves me no choice but to go running tonight, and tomorrow, and every chance I get.  I really have no choice but to give it my best because so many of you have decided to give it your best. 

In the end, that’s all this was ever really about.  We build this community that lifts us and encourages us to reach new goals, to be fitter, stronger, and healthier than we were a few months ago.  And in the process we make new friends and learn a little something about ourselves.  I want to thank you for making tonight’s run happen.  I hope that at some point in the next few weeks and months, I will say or do something that makes a run, a ride, or a swim happen for you.  Rest assured, I’m always just an email away and I’ll check back in with you soon.  In the meantime my clan, network, tribe, family… gotta run.

Train safely, eat well, hydrate, stretch, sleep.

Safe journey.  Wind at your back.