Superpowers

I asked for some feedback today from a highly placed person that I respect a lot.  I wanted to know what other people thought of me and if he had any feedback.  His personality is a lot like mine- he is very out there and says what he thinks.  But he has done pretty well for himself, so I figured I'd ask him how he made it work for him.

He told me that I have a very good reputation around that the Air Force and that I shouldn't change anything.  He also said that I do a good job letting my personality out at the right times and holding back at others, as appropriate.  And that's when I told him I treat it like my superpower.  I made a reference to Charlie in Fire Starter, but he didn't know what I was talking about, I think.  You know- the Steven King book.  It was the first one I ever read.  I was 9 and I couldn't believe that my parents let me read books with the F word in it! But I kept reading anyway, of course.  Anyhow, Charlie was 8 and she was able to create fire spontaneously.  But she was just a little kid and couldn't really control it.  She would get angry and fire would fly and she would set people on fire by accident.  As she got older, she learned to control it. Well, my superpower is Supercheerfulness and Superenergy.  But it has to be controlled or it can set people on fire and get me in a lot of trouble!  I let it out in controlled doses and with the right people.  Seems to be working so far!  And he liked the superpower analogy, even if he didn't seem to know who Charlie is.  Oh yeah....what feedback did he give me?  He said to make sure I have people who will tell me when I messed it up and stepped over the line.  He said he had a few of those and it helped a lot over the years.  And he volunteered to be one- awesome!  So I got a new mentor in the deal- cool!

Smile, It can't be that bad!

Really?  Who says?  Has anyone ever said this to you?  I would bet that if you are a man, no one has.  If you are a woman, you may have heard it several times in your life, or maybe even often.  I have heard it occasionally and it has always irked me because it's just dumb.  Of course it could be that bad!  I've even had people say it to me in hospital elevators.  HOSPITAL ELEVATORS!!!!!!   In a HOSPITAL!!!!!  Of course it could be that bad!!  People are sick and die in hospitals!

The other night I read that this is a phrase said almost exclusively to women because they are supposed to be smiley and agreeable.  So when someone said that to me a couple of days ago, I had had enough.  I was washing a cup out at the common sink at work, and a guy walked in and said, "Smile!  It can't be that bad."  I said, "How do you know?"  He told me it really couldn't.  I repeated what I had said- how could he know?  I had to say it one more time before he gave up.  I decided that time not to let it go.

I would really like that phrase to just go away.  And the next time some clueless jerk face says it to you, don't let him get away with it.  Oh yeah- it's always men who say it.  Never once has it been a woman.

Flying- written on 9-17-11

I have been through airport security twice in the last week.  I'm slightly concerned because I have accidentally....really... accidentally both times taken through a large tube of sunscreen, a small tube of sunscreen, and a small pepper spray.  PEPPER SPRAY!!!!   And I've done that before!  Not on purpose... in fact, I didn't even think about last week's transgression until I realized I did it today.  I did remember to take the knife out though. I guess that's something.  This time I was a bit concerned because I realized it when I was still in line, before I got to the xray machine,.  Then I saw that there was a guy in training, so I figured they'd be looking extra hard.  Then they pulled my bag out for a special search- but not the right bag!!!!  Good grief.  Of course, if they were allowed to profile, maybe they never would be suspicious of me in the first place.  Maybe they would.  But who knows how many people are taking contraband on planes by accident.  But how many are taking it on purpose to test the system? I'm almost afraid to wonder.

Hopefully I'll be flying safe today.  If there's a problem, it won't be me!

Racism?

Today we had elections for the Board of Directors for the American Academy of Family Physicians.  There were 3 slots and 5 candidates.  I'm very happy to say that the 2 women who were running won.  Both were extremely well qualified and I'm glad they won.  Of the men that were left, 2 were Caucasian and 1 was Filipino.  The Filipino has a slight accent.  He is very passionate and has some great ideas.  The other 2 were fine candidates as well and we would have been well served by any of them.  But when I talked with people about who they were thinking about voting for, I kept hearing over and over, "but if only he did't have the accent".  And when they vote for a candidate, they picture him on TV and radio and also is the person qualified to run for president, because that is where the pool of presidential candidates comes from.  I got the idea talking with people that they liked his ideas and his passion, but his accent and race were being held against him.

He did not get elected.  I truly truly hope it's because people preferred the ideas and plans of the other candidate.  But I worry that it wasn't and I think that says something about us.

Am I a Triathlete or do I Do Triathlons?

So sometimes I get to talking to someone and it comes up that I swim or bike or run- whatever the topic is.  And they ultimately say...are you a swimmer?  Or a runner or a cyclist.  And I usually say, "I do triathlons, so I swim, bike AND run."  I was thinking this morning, "why do I say it like that?"  If I ran all the time, I'd simply say I'm a runner.  Heather is a swimmer.  I have friends who are cyclists. Why can't I just say that I'm a triathlete?? I think it's because I don't really consider myself an athlete. Whenever someone asks me if I run, I tell them I do, but I'm really slow.  Same thing with swimming. "Yeah, I swim, but I'm really slow."  WHY DO I SAY IT LIKE THAT??!?!?!!??!  If a friend of mine said that, I'd smack them in the head (probably figuratively!) and tell them to stop putting themselves down.

 I am vowing right now to stop. It's probably self defeating.  I train.  I complete.  I finish all my races middle of the pack.  I recognize that I am average and I'll likely not make it to the top of the podium until I'm 80 and the I'm only one left on the podium.  I'm usually not competing against the rest of the field for time and place....I'm competing against myself on some goal I have set.  Sometimes it's a goal to beat a personal best on the run or bike.  Sometimes it's to maintain a certain attitude. For example, in my last Sprint triathlon (a short one), my goal was to swim aggressively, go all out on the bike, and try not to fall apart on the run. And I met all of them!   But rarely is it to beat a whole bunch of people.  I usually finish about the 40%-ile on the swim and 50-60%-ile on the bike and run.  So, apparently I'm not slow!  I'm about average.  So- I train and compete.  And I finish average.  I am not slow.  I don't "do" triathlons.

 I AM A TRIATHLETE.

Know When to Take a Rest

This one was drafted in Spring 2011 and I just found it- I was training for my Ironman.

Yeah- that came from me.  I know I am always doing a million things at a time.  I like to have my cake and eat it too and I like to do it a 100 mph.

But this week, I'm tired.  I'm tired every morning when I get up.  Tired when I go to sleep.  Tired during my workouts.  After my 4th bad run in a row on Monday I realized that I had increased my bike mileage and my running mileage simultaneously and I was not getting enough sleep either.  Saturday, my long run day, I had planned before bed for 11 miles, got up and decided the usual 10 would be fine.  Upon wakening, running sounded utterly miserable.  Bike did not sound appealing either.   Somewhere around a miserable mile 3, I decided 8 would be even better.  That was after I got up at 0445, put my eyes in, brushed my teeth, got half way dressed, got undressed and started back for the bed, then got re-dressed and left.  I should have stayed in bed.  All 8 miles were horrible.  Rested on Sunday.  Ran 8 miserable miles on Monday and realized I needed a rest.  Did only 24 EASY miles on the bike Tues, ran a miserable 2.6 miles Wed, 20 more EASY miles on Thursday, and then I hit today.

I think I need to chill out and figure out when to rest.