I am now an official blogger

After over a year of blogging on myspace, it has finally become clear that nobody goes there anymore so maybe I should try something a bit more official. So here I am. I suppose the easiest way to introduce myself here would be to share something I wrote as part of a facebook post, 16 Random Things About Me. Since I wrote it and others started playing it somehow ballooned to 25 random things, but since I am long-winded you are sure to get enough out of the 16 things I'm adding here. So here it is:

1. I grew up on what we affectionately refer to as "the compound" which consists of six houses all next door to each other, some even sharing a driveway, where many of my cousins, ants and uncles lived. It was like growing up with all of these extra brothers and sisters without the hassle and pretty much made every day like summer camp.

2. I think that may be part of the reason why I am having such a hard time becoming an adult, because I had so much fun as a kid. But we still see each other plenty an love to reminisce about pool baseball, all day bike rides, various broken bones and late-night games of flashlight tag. We can also all accurately quote all of the same movies.

3. I played organized basketball from third grade through college. I nearly quit after 7th grade because of a horrible coaching experience, but reluctantly continued. My high school experience wasn't much better, and although I probably could've, I didn't seek out scholarship opportunities for college but instead just wanted to go to Emerson for the education and play basketball for fun. We spent the first season begging people to play so we'd have 5 for the game, but I had fun. The following years we actually had some players. I set a school rebound record in my first game, was the NCAA leading shot blocker my junior year, scored by 1000th point my junior year and got invited to pro basketball camp, but I didn't go because I didn't think I really belonged there. Even got a call from Sports Illustrated for Faces in the Crowd but I didn't make it to the magazine. I had a blast playing at Emerson even though we were never that good. In fact, I never played for any really good basketball teams. I have tons of softball and even soccer trophies, but only 1 basketball trophy.

4. I went to Emerson because I wanted to direct movies. I spent many days growing up with my cousins and my video camera making little movies, whether they be simple music videos or scripted films that took months to shoot and edit. I moved to Los Angeles a year after I graduated and was a production assistant on the TV movie "The Pennsylvania Miner's Story" which was directed by David Frankel, the guy who directed "Marley and Me" and starring John Ratzenberger who is Cliff Claven of Cheers and voices some animated character in every Pixar film, the guy who played the janitor in Die Hard 2, and Tom Cruise!.....'s cousin William Mapother. I also worked on the feature film "The Rundown" with The Rock, Rosario Dawson, Seann William Scott and Christopher Walken... who was never there when I was. I got to do such fun things as give the crew high water pants for scenes filmed in a giant water tank, stand in the background of a shot hidden behind something to make sure nobody walked into it, writing down when the union guys went to lunch, staying out of the way while they tried to make the cattle stampede (fact: they don't really have much interest in stampeding) watching my step after they went by, getting The Rock his blueberries and yogurt for breakfast, but only getting to give it to his assistant at the trailer, walking around with a walkie talkie in my ear and saying things like, "What's your 20?", and watching stuff blow up. It was fun for a bit, but then one of the other PA's told me that it was basically like joining the circus, and I realized he was right. And I never wanted to join the circus. I don't necessarily want to be on the crew of a movie, but I am still interested in the prospect of writing them. I am also grateful that my brief stint in LA worked out so that I was able to see Kermit the Frog get his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. And I still love movies and believe that going to see them in the theater is the best way to enjoy them.

5. The hardest, most exhausting job I have ever had was ski instructor. It sounds easy until you do it from Monday-Friday from 9am-6:30pm and are given 13 6-year olds at a time who have never been on skis before and spend much of the time dead-lifting them. No matter how many times you tell them that they have to turn their skis sideways on the hill in order to get up, they will continually spend most of the time sliding down on their butts. It was also one of the warmest winters ever and I was amazed at how many people still go get lessons when it is 60 degrees out. You also never know who is going to be a great skier. I had a couple of 4-year olds who could ski the entire mountain. I lost two kids on the chairlift but only got one angry parent phone complaint. The other just laughed. It was incredibly satisfying though that a few of the kids actually learned from me. I lost 20 pounds that winter and couldn't feel my big toes afterward for about 6 months because they were cramped up in those ski boots all winter. I also don't think I've ever slept better.

6. When I graduated college my parents gave me rock climbing for a gift and my sister gave me skydiving. I am still not sure if they were trying to kill me. I did four days of rock climbing and wish I could do more. Skydiving was fun, but I don't feel any pressing need to do it again, mostly because by the time the chute opened I thought my head was going to explode due to the intense pain in my ears.

7. I was taught to hate running by my high school basketball coach who used it as punishment. I was by far the slowest one on any sports team I was ever on. I was way too tall to control my limbs, being 6' since I was 14, and I was also overweight. I only started running on purpose when I was a senior in college and needed to get in shape for basketball after missing the first semester since I was interning in Los Angeles. I never stopped after that. My sister had run the Boston Marathon a couple of times and I didn't even think I could run 4 miles, let alone 26.

8. I signed up for my first triathlon in 2002 once my father told me he would buy me a new bike (other than my mountain bike I got in 7th grade) and we could ride together since he was a cyclist. Then we went to the bike shop and he decided instead to buy himself a new bike and let me have his old one. The first time he took me out to ride 28 miles I thought I was going to die because it was so far. He was my riding partner that entire first season and I think it is a big reason as to why I improved so fast, because we went as hard as we could every time. My first race was a Danskin all women's race and I had to walk a little during the 5K run, but I loved it. My second race was the Timberman half ironman where I honestly thought I was going to die since it was 96 degrees out with oppressive humidity and I was totally unprepared. I swam off course, biked with gloves and a camelback and walked much of the run while I thought about curling up under a tree and going to sleep. By the time I finished there was no food left aside from maybe some bagel halves and empty peanut butter jars, but my parents took me out for ice cream after and I still think that is the best brownie sundae I have ever eaten. I was disappointed in my time, but already plotting how to do better the next time. My best since then was an hour and 40 minutes faster.

9. I signed up for my first ironman one year after my first race and completed Ironman Lake Placid in 2004 for the first time. I spent the entire year leading up to it being scared out of my mind, but when the cannon went off, I just suddenly felt ready. I had only wanted to break 12 hours for that first one and did it in 11:23, placing 7th in my age group. My second one the following year I went 11:08 and qualified for Hawaii by coming in third in my age group. I treated that first time in Hawaii as my reward for qualifying and fully expected to go much slower than I had in Lake Placid, but wound up being only 8 minutes slower. I am not sure I have ever enjoyed a race from start to finish so much.

10. I won Ironman Lake Placid in 2006. It was a fluke because there were no women pros that year, but I did it. It was totally unexpected. I took the lead right out of the tent starting the run and spent the entire marathon convinced I was going to get caught, but I didn't. That year I only wanted to finish under 11 hours and finished in 10:11. I still can't figure out how I pulled that off and ever since I have been afraid that I will never be able to top that performance. So I have spent the last couple of years burning myself out and getting injured, wondering if I will ever get it back. I didn't qualify for Hawaii this year after going the last 3 years and instead went to spectate. I hated race day. I also spent much of the time wondering if every time someone saw me who knew what I had accomplished wondered, "What happened to her?" when they saw how out of shape I was. I spent this entire season injured and setting new personal worsts for triathlon times. I had never started so many races feeling so unprepared.

11. I HATE being the center of attention, which thankfully doesn't happen very often. I'd much rather blend into a crowd and not be noticed. This is why I have already decided that if I ever actually do get married, I will not have a big wedding because I can't stand the idea of spending the whole day with people looking at me. I will save my parents a fortune.

12. I love my niece and nephew but I am 99.9% sure that I don't ever want to have children of my own.

13. I have played the guitar since I was 14 and have not improved much, but I still love it. In high school I was in a band called "The Potato Heads" with my brother and two of my cousins. We had exactly 3 gigs: a family reunion, a family friend's Memorial Day BBQ, and filler at my sister's wedding while the DJ took a break. We weren't any good but we had a ton of fun. My mother suggested at one point that we get a van for our stuff and a vanity plate that would read "POTHDS" We determined that was probably not the best idea for a license plate.

14. I didn't really eat any fruits or vegetables until I was about 21 and it sure did show. I was also addicted to Pepsi and Doritos. I have since managed to lose my taste for red meat, super-cheesy, creamy things and fried stuff but I can't seem to get over my love of ice cream and all things sugary, although I avoid them as much as possible because I will forever be trying to keep my weight down after years and years as a fat kid.

15. I get along very well with my family and none of us ever really yell or get upset because it just seems like more trouble than it is worth. I am not sure I have ever heard my father yell, although he is intimidating to a lot of people. I don't understand people who get mad all of the time and have a great need to yell.

16. I am still not sure if the best years of my life are behind me or in front of me, and that thought scares me. But I guess there is only one way to find out...

So there is a little bit of insight into who I am. Much of my focus is on being the best triathlete I can be after a season full of injuries. But I'm also just trying to figure my life out.