Home, Sweet Home...For February!

This lovely 14th Century villa in the Tuscan Countryside will be home this February for our Italian travel and training! Sam made me BEYOND happy when he said, "I want to come home exhausted, having seen everything there is to see in Rome and Tuscany." - Yes, tall order, but I couldn't be more excited.

If you want to train on hard terrain and get in no culture whatsoever, you can train to your heart's content plenty of places Stateside. But, if you want great training paired with true adventuring, museum-visits, tastings at vineyards and marathon days in cities like Florence and Rome... well, you do what Sam and I are doing with our buds.

Frequent flyer miles were easily used to cover our airfare and this lovely villa? Round-about $60 a night. Oh, and our hotel in Rome? It is less than .5 a mile from the Colosseum and is literally built into Nero's Aquaduct. Yes, it is a dream come true and I'm counting down the days until we fly, fly away!

I'll be updating here daily with maps, photos and recommendations for your own adventure! With all of the fantastic tools at our hands (shameless plugs in future posts, I warn you now), it is bound to be an epic experience.

Our plan is to wake up early daily and head into town for coffee and a bite. From there, train in the morning and spend the afternoons and evenings exploring local cities, towns, sites, food and of course.... WINE!

YAY!

Taking the Plunge...

Tomorrow at 12:45! I'll post pictures tomorrow afternoon!

BRRRRRRR!

Thank you all again for your contributions, I am, as usual, overwhelmed by the generosity of those around me. Well, maybe it's not love, and instead a desire to see me freeze my tush off!

Polar Plunge 2010

Howdy y'all!

So this Saturday I'm going to do something really dumb for a really good cause. I'm trying to raise $100 (or more) by Saturday at noon. If I can do that, I'm going to jump into the Long Island Sound with other philanthropic crazies (in speedos, no less)!

Here are the details - if you make a donation towards my "plunge" - just make a memo on Eric's paypal that says "Mandy Braverman Plunge". You can also mail me a check - just leave a note for the address.

Check out the deets from Eric below:

2010 Polar Plunge (Eric's words from here on out)

This year we will be raising funds for Trumbull resident Alex Convertito. On September 6th, 2009, Alex, a member of the Trumbull community, was critically injured in a two car motor vehicle accident on rt. 8. He was ejected from his vehicle and as a result received severe spinal injuries. Alex, 22, has undergone substantial surgeries to stabilize his spine and restore movement and feeling to his lower extremities. For Alex and his family, the road to recovery is a long one paved with extensive rehabilitation. He is about to once again undergo another spinal stabilization surgery. As you can imagine, the costs of this keep building and insurance only covers so much. It would be very cool if we could help offset some of this debt.

The deal is we meet at Southport Beach (directions below) at 12:45pm on January 16th and take a dip in The Sound at around 1pm. If you are taking The Plunge, your goal is to try and raise $100 to donate to the cause we select. The past few years, we have sent a local child battling cystic fibrosis and hefty medical bills to Disney, we assisted two autistic children in seeing one of the top specialists around, we helped pay the costs of a young boys medical bills from his fight against Kawasakis Disease, we also gave some financial aid to a woman cyclist who was struck by a hit and run car, and in the very first Plunge, we sent close to $50,000 to the American Red Cross to aid those in the Tsunami. Let's keep this great thing rolling. In these tough economic times, it's important to still support a worthwhile cause. And at the very least, whether Plunging or not, you will have a laugh. If we raise over $5000 I will do something stupid again. One year I wore a speedo which in January in icy cold water can be quite embarrasing. This year, I will be the first one in and the last one out - if we raise more than $5000.

So here’s the deal:

Meet at 12:45pm on Saturday, January 16th at Southport Beach (directions below).

Alex’s father’s employer, Fletcher Thompson, Inc. has compassionately established a 501c3 account in Alex’s name. Any contributions donated to this fund will be tax deductable and go directly to offset the cost of Alex’s medical expenses and equipment.

Contributions can be made payable to:
Fletcher Thompson Health and Family Services
Memo on check: For Alex Convertito

You can also donate through the Paypal link on my site http://www.hodska.com/paypal.html – if you do this, please note “Alex Convertito Donation” in the subject or notes. www.hodska.com/paypal.html

If you don’t plan on Plunging, come out anyways to support us fools that are and have a laugh!

I'll bring the coffee and hot chocolate. I hope you can make it!

Cheers,
EH

Amateur Versus Pro

Last night we ventured into the city (after a swim and run, of course!) to see Andreas Staier perform on the Fortepiano (pre-piano, post- harpsichord instrument). It was an incredible concert at the intimate Zankel Hall.

At the end of the performance, Staier returned to the stage for his encore, but he brought a woman out with him... She was his "homestay" of sorts and as he explained in his thick accent, "The best natural horn playing lawyer."

The audience took a collective deep breath, feeling the nervous energy this woman exuded. She stood on stage in towering heels and dramatic dress. A slight nod and Staier began playing. While the woman hit some of the notes (and I give her GREAT credit for getting up on stage with a professional), she was noticeably shaken and it was difficult to know whether to smile or wince.

It got me thinking about the calculated risks we all take in endurance sports. We all line up to take on the same event and perhaps it's seeing the fluidity and grace of the top pros (there are too many pros that don't really deserve the honor and many age groupers that do!) is what gives us some sense of attainability. I don't think pros are necessary for any of us to race - our desires, especially in triathlon, cycling and running come more from a personal goal standpoint.

In the book "Outliers", Malcolm Gladwell (I confess, I loved the "Tipping Point", but found "Outliers" utterly unreadable), the author, discusses what it takes to achieve greatness - it equates out to something like 10,000 hours of practice.

Think of how many hours many of us practice each week - if 10,000 hours were the bar for achieving greatness, than I think many of us have achieved it! Of course greatness is not a matter of just how long you practice or train. It's never that simple.

Seeing the stark contrast between the professional and the amateur was enlightening, but not for the obvious reason. Enlightening because the professional was open to performing just as happily along side the sometimes-musician and the amateur showed considerable bravery in playing for an audience other than her living room couch.

Triathlon plays out the same way - the tides are turning and the amateur races are becoming more competitive and interesting to watch than the professionals that have reached their peak and can do a 4 hour 1/2 Iron man every time (well, some of them!). Eric's race last year at RI 70.3 was FAR more interesting than what happened in the pro ranks (and Eric beat most of the Pro men racing as an amateur).

I do not expect to see amateur musicians on the stage again any time soon, and in fact, I would venture to say it has never happened at Zankel hall before! But I loved that moment of intrigue as the stage hand brought out the music stand and we all sat in awe for a moment, envisioning ourselves on stage alongside greatness.

Be brave today!

Home Sweet Home...for February, at least

Mo Mo

"Memories and fingerprints, the only things we leave behind" - Pearl Jam

Today Coach E and I sat down to talk about 2010, 2009, New prospects and rehash the last year a bit. Eric is a great listener - something I truly value. I'm a "think out loud" kind-of-person and although I believe myself to be thoughtful in my choice of words, I tend to talk and talk until I hit the right mark.

I've done a lot of reflecting on the past year and what I plan 2010 to be (maybe it's the extra yoga?!). I was not fresh in 2009. I was worn down in a variety of ways and not only was I not enjoying my training, I was not in the mood to race. My heart wasn't in it.

That all changed at Ironman Florida. No, it wasn't my fastest Ironman ever and certainly far from a perfect race, but it was my most positive race. I was happy the whole lead up into it (despite my upper respiratory infection the day before) and I was happy the whole race itself.

Ironman Florida was the turning point - My heart and mind finally clicked and since then, I've been more motivated than ever to get back in the game.

My life outside of training has been especially fulfilling and I'm finding that balance I always desired. Healthy relationships with my family, friends and boyfriend. A healthy social life. A healthy business and more avenues for adventure and growth than I could possible explore!

This year, I'm putting my goals back out there. I'm holding myself accountable to sustain this positivity, this balance that I've struck. I am going back to Kona in October and I'm not going to let myself or anyone else get in my way. Last year, I didn't want to go. Now, I'm ready and I've learned from the mistakes I made leading into the 2008 race.

Laying out the racing schedule with this goal in mind is exhilarating.

The next few months are still building base, then adding in a run speed focus. Combine that with a few more group workouts and I know I can achieve it!

The Cleanse is coming along well - 1 week down and 1 week to go! I've lost 7 lbs, but would like to lose another 3-7 lbs before the end of this.

Tomorrow I'll fill you all in on my long and short term goal setting....

YAY!

My Running Buddy

Presumably telling me to hurry up!