New Job

Last month I accepted a position back at Side Street Projects where I worked before my current job. It turns out that they had an opening and the director contacting me before making it public. It felt very flattering to be considered for this opportunity, and it came at the perfect time.

I had accepted my current job at ECF Art Center because I wanted the experience of managing an Art Center. I knew that it was not a job that I would stay at long, but I told myself to give it a year. Once the year passed I started fiercely looking. I even investigated going back to school and started doing observation hours at a physical therapy office. I made a goal to get out of my current job by the first of the year. I have a big birthday coming up in February that I didn't want to be in a job I hate.

For the next 2 weeks I will be working 3 jobs: ECF Program Manager, Side Street Projects Operations Manager, and PT Observer (a volunteer position). It is going to be challenging, but I'm looking forward to the extra income it wil produce. I'm also looking forward to being in a job I enjoy. I am excited to have this new opportunity and will update as it moves forward.

Triathlon Completed

Last month in October I completed my first sprint triathlon in Morro Bay California. This sprint version I opted for required 12 miles biking, just over 3 miles running and 1.5 miles kayaking. I came in 98th out of 104 people that competed in the sprint version, but I still felt very proud. You see 3 years ago when I saw this event happen in person I thought that only the toughest person could ever do this type of thing.

The process began about a year and a half ago after my initial introduction to this activity. I decided that I was going to see if I could do this. I started off with running. And when I say running I mean, walking for 45 seconds and running for 15 seconds at a time for 20 minutes total. Then I bought a new bike that was fast, and I started biking to work. Since I opted for the kayaking version I had to try this out as well. I first kayaked in February as a gift to myself, which necessitated that I face a fear of drowning. I slowly checked things off the list that would lead me closer and closer to accomplishing this challenging event. It was all tough and time consuming, but I developed a love of exercise through this process.

The hardest physical part of the triathlon was the beginning. We started with kayaking first, and I was holding my own until about 20 minutes in. I slowly started slipping to the last position. Then after 15 minutes went by and all the other kayakers were pulling into the transition area for the next component of the race. Then another good 30 minutes plus passed with the safety boat and I doing a dance. With my hands cold and cramping I slowed to a near crawl. I thought about stopping, but I couldn't figure out the logistics of that, so I just kept moving forward, slowly. I thought about James, my finance, worrying about me out in the ocean. I pushed on and somehow made it. The rest of the race from there on was much easier, especially since I had been biking and running regularly.

The other challenge of the race was mental. I was not use to training without music, and out there on the open waters it was tough to keep rallying myself to forge ahead. Like I said, I thought about giving up, but then I would miss out on the next part of the race, which I was really excited about. So at times I sang to myself. I took mental breaks to look around at the pelican flying overhead and the seals playing in the water around me.

There were 2 really amazing gifts that I received through this process that I couldn't have imagined. The first was realizing that my body was stronger than I ever thought it could be. Having lived with Rheumatoid Arthritis for 13 years now, I never thought I would be able to do something like this. It felt great to prove those doctors wrong that told me at 16 years old that I would eventually become disabled from this condition, but perhaps that only made me fight harder. The second gift of realization was that this hobby found it's self into my art practice. I found myself incorporating running into my social sculpture practice, and days before the triathlon I was in NYC performing a piece called "Save Yourself: Relay" that relied on me running for hours at a time.

Other things that I learned along the way was the importance of nutrition, discipline, the usefulness of routines, and that training for a triathlon won't necessarily led to the weight goals one wants--bummer. All in all I would definitely recommend this race and activity to others. And if all the exercise doesn't make you feel good, at least there will be free beer at the end of the race.