Reach the Beach 2014 - Team Awesome

This was our seventh Reach the Beach and I am pretty sure it was the best one yet.  Team Awesome brought friends and friends of friends from as far south as the SF Bay Area and as far north as Seattle.  We were ten strong, all finished the full "century", and together raised $2,324.05 for the American Lung Association - a team best and enough to put us in the top ten teams for total fundraising!

At the start

Despite a forecast threatening rain up until the morning of and sprinkles as we drove to the start we ended up with perfect riding weather.  It wasn't too hot, there was barely any wind and by the time we reached the coast we had abundant sunshine. We had our usual fluster of excitement and a later start than we hoped at the beginning, as well as a few nervous bladders and a bit of cramping muscles along the way.  Packets of mustard were a great proxy for energy goo (don't knock it 'til you've tried it), Stinger Waffles got us through the final miles (and one killer hill at mile 92) and at the end was beer, the beach, cupcakes & friends.

For me this year in particular was an amazing reminder of what we can do together.  As individuals we didn't raise that much money; together our fundraising makes an impact.  On my own I am relatively slow; when drafting in a pack I go 30% faster with less effort.  Slogging my way through even 10 training miles in the rain and wind crushes my soul a little bit; Monster Cookie with Christopher Love and Alicia was an adventure.


So thank you for the waffles, the beer, the donations, the training rides, the drafting, the 11th hour doggie help, the rides back from the beach and everyone who participated or contributed being just so dang enjoyable!

P.S. It wouldn't be an epic ride without some hi-jinx!  We had a drafting mishap that led to one Awesomeite getting personal with the pavement.  Luckily it was one of our Navy men who brushed it off before continuing the lead the pack.  He also ran a half marathon the next day.  I'm pretty sure I was more upset my the incident than he was.

Just Say No

I am passionate, enthusiastic, driven, ambitious.  I get excited and sweep myself (and sometimes others) along for some fun rides.  I regularly bite off more than I can chew and promptly settle in to eat the whole friggen' elephant one bite at a time.

I get a lot done.  I have a lot of fun.  I even inspire sometimes.  This is not a bad thing.

It does, however, have its downsides.  Sometimes I don't sweep people along so much as roll over them.  Or I eat that whole elephant, but don't really enjoy the meal or where it gets me.  Last summer I did a half ironman and it was pretty intense.  I did it.  I'm proud that I did it.  I don't wish I didn't do it.  But it wasn't an enjoyable event.  That over achiever bit of me was drawn to the challenge but over achieving is not desirable.  "Over" anything is a marker of wasted time, effort, attention.  Think overshooting, overestimating.

Another dark side of this drive is perfectionism.  It took me a while to acknowledge that perfectionism is not a good thing.  Perfectionism is not high standards.  It is not doing your best.  It is an insane effort to control.  Control your house, your work, friends, family and ultimately, at its heart, self.  I have a sneaky suspicion that the antidote to this might be acceptance.  Accept your dirty dishes.  Accept that the people in your life might do or say things you don't agree with and that might also be bad for you, them, the earth, whatever.  Mostly, though accept yourself.

I am good enough.  I am good enough as I am right here and now.  With and without the perfectly trim body.  With and without the impressive job, beautiful home, awesome kids, or flashy car.  Whether or not I qualify for Boston, master the souffle or sing like an angel.

SAY IT!  "I AM GOOD ENOUGH."  If you are like me, that is hard to do without feeling super squicky and even harder to believe.

Not doing much of anything!

So what am I doing about it?  I'm focusing on not being "too busy".  I'm actively deciding not to take up screen printing.  Despite a baby boom I'm not knitting darling hats for all the new little ones.  Or any new little ones for that matter.  We are paying people to help with a major yard overhaul.  I'm sitting on our front porch in the evenings with my honey bun.  I'm running jogging very slowly.

I'm also listening to what some awesome smart inspiring people are saying:

• Mr. Money Mustache and Seth Godin too on the power of saying "no"
• Brigid Schulte on the trap of being busy
• My new discovery James Clear about making choices on how to apply your energy
• And then anything and everything from Brene Brown but most recently this interview from On Being

I'm still overdoing but I like to think I'm maybe not overdoing as much these days.  I used to drive myself to extreme illnesses once or twice a year and these days hardly ever get even a cold.  And when I did come down with some sort of virus-y thing last week I took time off work even though I wasn't deathly ill.

I might still be planning on a century bike ride this Saturday but baby steps right?