Where has the Summer Gone, My Captain?

Where has the summer gone?  It seems as if Rev3 Williamsburg was ages ago.  Immediately after the race my new career with Fleet Feet Sports began.  It was a whirlwind week of meetings and information.  It was much like the first few teacher workdays back at the beginning of the school year when all levels of administration are laying out the goals for the year.  (Hint: It was always the Achievement Gap!)

Mission Man Sprint 

Transition Area 

July was basically a blur of training and working in the shop.  I did race Mission Man Sprint Triathlon and set a PR of 1:16:44 on the day.  Hard, structured work brings about results!  Jeremy had mentioned that he wanted to race this one because it was the first Tri that he had seen.  (If you go back to last year, you will see that his wife VaLArie, daughter Mia and he cheered me on last year.)  Funny thing is I was three minutes slower last year and placed third in my age group.  This year it is no longer in the Try Series and has been moved to the NCTS; hence the fast boys and girls came out to play!  All that aside, it was a great race and it is always fun to race with/against Jeremy.  (Where is "The Stein" my good man??)

New Career

The career change has been interesting.  Retail.  If you don't turn a profit, you don't get paid.  Fleet Feet High Point has been going along, but I have been tasked to help the shop reach its full potential.  This means I am in the shop, utilizing social media and even getting in the car and doing old fashion sales calls.  Things have been interesting and I am finding that I most enjoy working with people and helping them become more knowledgeable about why the proper shoe, apparel and socks are important.  (Socks are not part of your apparel in the shoe world, they are accessories.)  I have quickly found my favorite sock brand and style, but to find out and get them on your feet you'll have to come to Fleet Feet High Point!  Another plus of working is I am seeded apparel and shoes to test so that I can give the customer an educated opinion of what we carry.  My Tri area at home is becoming shoe-filled and I LOVE IT!  Let me state this: Just because I like a shoe does not mean that you should be in that shoe or that you will like it!  The FIT process is vital to getting the customer in the correct type of shoe.

One of my favorite ventures in my new position was working with Potent Potables, a local beer and wine specialty shop, to create the Potent Runnables.  The group meets every Thursday evening at 6:15pm at Potent Potables and runs 3-5 miles at any pace.  Last week, Sydney, or Hoka Sydney as I call her brought the Hoka Clifton for the Potent Runnables to test out.  Everyone was excited and enjoyed the experience.  Throughout the next two months Swiftwick, Saucony, Adidas ( Whose rep is Amy and I call her Adidas Amy: Alliteration is GREAT!)  and Brooks will be making appearances.  (Philip from Pearl Izumi you are welcome ANYTIME!! #givingrev3plugandlove).

I will say that it is a little weird and sad that I am not returning to the classroom.  I ran with the SWGHS XC team last week and all the returning runners were asking where I had been.  They are such a great group of kids!  This choice is the right one, it is just an adjustment from what I have known for ten years.  Who knows what the future holds from here?  I will say that I am in the process of tackling my apartment at the moment because while adjusting to the new career and training schedule my apartment has been declared a NATIONAL DISASTER AREA!!!  I have "put my stupid hat on", as Gov. McCrory would say, in the cleaning department.

Oh Captain, My Captain...

Robin Williams committed suicide last week.  Needless to say, we are collectively suffering from this shock.  This goes to show that it is difficult to see what truly lies underneath the surface.  He was a person who I never met, but did look up to as an actor/comedian.  There has been a great outpour of support and sadness over social media and throughout the world beyond social media.  Although I had never met him, I felt sadness and pain due to his loss.  My mother phrases feeling loss like this, "When a person has affected your life you have an emotional response."  Good words.  But remember his final words from Hook...

The Family you Choose

*Borrowed from Pam McGowan's Facebook

Everyone knows that I love my family that I was born into, but with the loss of the greatest comedian it has made me very reflective.  The other day on Facebook my fellow Rev3 Teammate Pam McGowan posted an amazing picture her husband Steve made for her.  It states "Triathlon is Family"!  (Pam and Steve, I "borrowed" this picture for the blog.  I hope you don't mind.)  This past year has been an amazing year filled with inappropriate jokes, losses, quips and new editions through the Rev3 Google Groups; and that's just through Google.  My Facebook feed has been filled daily with the adventures and support of all my Rev3 Teammates.  You could possibly be apart of this part love/part insanity by applying for next years team.  I can say that I am so thankful for this experience will continue to support Rev3 through my efforts as a team member. There are still some events left this year!  Go sign up!