I’ve been watching my friend Ramsey’s Bernese Mountain dog and Ashley is not a small dog! Thankfully, she likes to go for walks. Plus she’s a friendly, loving companion. She’s always ready for a snuggle and hug! I miss having my own dog who likes to go out for walks a few times a day. Riley, and Mack before Ri, both loved their twice a day walks. And my diabetes liked our fast walks too!
I’m out in a suburb of Minneapolis, and I am reminded why I picked Minneapolis as my home base. There’s more action in the city, more of a feeling of community. Ramsey’s got a great townhouse, but I prefer sidewalks and people coming and going!
I’ve been doing some consulting projects I have, thankfully I have these! And I’ve been studying for a test I’d like to take in a few weeks. In addition, I have been working on my book proposal. This is something I’ve been working on for a few years now. You’d think I’d just get it done. I’ve got lots I want to write, and I have already published one book, do I know what it takes to get a book finished and out into the world. I’ve been wondering why I haven’t just plunged in and gotten it done. And I realized that it’s because I want to tell the whole truth.
Like how Ashley is big, I have a big story. And most of the time, I only tell parts of it. It gets a little overwhelming how complex my story actually is. I don’t like to overwhelm people, and over the years, I’ve gotten used to just telling clips. Very few people know my whole story. I think that it’s time to tell the whole thing. I believe it’s time to reveal the whole truth. Just writing that, I had to take a deep breath, and center myself. It’s scary.
I take courage from Tyler Hamilton, a pro cyclist who wrote The Secret Race: Inside the Hidden World of the Tour de France: Doping, Cover-ups, and Winning at All Costs. A quote from the book that speaks to me is, “Secrets are poison. They suck the life out of you, they steal your ability to live in the present, they build walls between you and the people you love.”
It’s taken me 49 years to gain the courage to speak my truth. And to speak my truth in a way that doesn’t blame, it is just my truth. The book I plan to write will actually be an inspirational, how-to book. It’s how to become an endurance athlete in the face of chronic health challenges. What has saved my life, over and over again, is my ability to get back in my body. To dance, and run, and best of all, to ride my bike.
Speaking of my bike, I am at the moment, bike-less. My LeMond is at the shop. All of a sudden last weekend, I stopped being able to shift my right gear. When I took it to the shop, they told me it was broken. We’ve ordered a new shifter, but since the bike is 14 years old, it had to come from a far off shop! In addition, it became clear that the chain and cassette on the old bike needed to be changed too. So, we ordered those parts too. I’m hoping the LeMond will be in working order by next Wednesday when I’ve been invited to go riding with Ramsey and our D friend Gunnar.
Since I’m doing my first triathlon in 5 years on August 17, 2014, I need that bike! I will write a post about triathlon training in another few days. And on that note, I’m going out for a run! I’m near a good run path, out here in the suburbs!!
If you would like to still help me replace my Raleigh that I crashed in May, the GoFundMe campaign is open through the end of this month. It means the world to me that you’d help me out. Here’s the LINK to get to the campaign!
