Karma

Karma is experience, and experience creates memory, and memory creates imagination and desire, and desire creates karma again.  If I buy a cup of coffee, that's karma.  I now have that memory that might give me the potential desire for having cappuccino, and I walk into Starbucks, and there's karma all over again. -- Deepak Chopra

It's just a couple days until Raleigh and yes, I'm freaking out.  I don't think I've had enough time in the open water and I've had a couple of really crappy workouts recently.  I think I may have had a bit of a stomach bug the last couple days (or maybe it's nerves, but usually I don't feel so sick with just nerves) - so I haven't eaten right and that hasn't helped much of anything.  But I'm going to go down there and I'm going to kick Raleigh's butt.  Ha!

Big goal - sub 7:00.  Manageable goal - finish strong with a smile.  Bottom line - finish and get back on the IMLOU training band wagon.

So, KARMA.  This weekend I finally gave back to the tri community - and you know what...Deepak up there is spot on.  Karma is an experience...that creates desire.  My daughter raced Rev3 RUSH at the Richmond Int'l Raceway this past weekend and had a ball.  And I volunteered, both at packet assembly the day before and in the chip tent the day of...and I had a ball too.  I had a great time interacting with all the athletes and it really made me feel like racing again.  Not that I haven't felt like racing - but for the month of May I've been a race & soccer mom and that's different.  The older daughter had a bazillion soccer games between travel and middle school.   The younger daughter had 3 tris - yeah, seriously...she's done until the end of June now - it's just the way the schedule worked.  Even husband raced.  I love being a race mom, and while watching C race is really inspiring, it doesn't make me want to race.  You know what I mean?  It makes me want to be a better person and not give up and aim for the stars.  But it doesn't get my engine revved. 

(She is pretty cute, though...check out some pics my husband took while I was soccer momming with the other child...)

Anyway, being around the race and volunteering made me ready to race (at least until I got that stomach thing).  I'm not sure I'm ready.  I would have like to have spent a little more time in the open water but Mother Nature and my job hate me.  My calves are still not what they were before the marathon.  But I'm revved and ready for Raleigh.  Go me!

(And I would be remiss if I didn't give you some Culture Club, right?  That's what you thought of first when you read "karma," right?  Or is it just me who is stuck in the 80s?)

(EDITED - what is up with the weird formatting???  No idea, but I got to get on my bike.)