barrydavidsparatriathlete
I was in a world of pain and I couldn’t move my right arm; I had detached some of the nerves supplying my arm. The next big decision of my life was coming up – does the arm come off or not. As if I could do that! I was negative about everything, finding excuses not to go but they threw me on the back of a tandem, arm in a sling. One working arm between us, this was going to be a problem. I no longer have to wear a sling daily and there is a bit of muscle definition in my arm. Turning up at a swimming pool and ploughing up and down with only 1 arm, I was worried people thought I was showing off. Turning up to a running club with no sling on, then running in a sling, then taking it off again, I was worried that people would question why I had a sling. For my first triathlon back in 2009, I was terrified of getting in that pool for fear of what people thought of me and to be fair, I still feel that a bit now. I hadn’t bothered with a sling as I found they cut my neck but it didn’t take long for my dangling arm to hurt so I bought a specialist running sling that was a bespoke make from America. The person missing a leg sympathised with the person missing an arm.
The Bishop’s Wife
Linda Wallheim is a devout Mormon, the mother of five boys and the wife of a bishop. Linda is increasingly troubled by her church’s structure and secrecy, especially as a disturbing situation takes shape in her ward. One cold winter night, a young wife and mother named Carrie Helm disappears, leaving behind everything she owns. Carrie’s husband, Jared, claims his wife has always been unstable and that she has abandoned the family, but Linda doesn’t trust him. As Linda snoops in the Helm family’s circumstances, she becomes convinced that Jared has murdered his wife and painted himself as a wronged husband. Linda’s husband asks her not to get involved in the unfolding family saga. Linda has become obsessed with Carrie’s fate, and with the well-being of her vulnerable young daughter. She cannot let the matter rest until she finds out the truth. Mette Ivie Harrison is the author of three other novels in the Linda Wallheim mystery series, His Right Hand, For Time and All Eternities, and Not of This Fold, as well as numerous books for young adults. A member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, she lives in Utah with her husband and five children.
Triathlon Lifestyles: Kevin Konczak
I’ve got plenty of long course race experience with something like 28 Ironman races under my belt all over the world. Just not a lot of experience racing 3/4 of an Ironman only 5-6 weeks after a full Ironman. First, I ignored every cardinal rule I ever set for myself in a race, so results are quite deserving of where I landed up. This has more to do with jumping in a race too soon and spacing everything you should NOT do before a race. I typed the leave/return and race dates from/to Boulder incorrectly, as well as took off more days from work than I needed. Packet pick up, bike drop off, pack race bags, plan the early morning commute and wake up times, when to eat, what to eat, everything was turned completely upside down in a flurry and rush. Peeing a bit on the gold side race morning…it must’ve been all the running around getting things done Friday. First thought…I’m racing too soon after Ironman Boulder, with too little training behind me. Right down to dropping a shampoo bottle on my foot in the shower race morning, leaving a bruise before I left the hotel for the race. A few missed details can be disastrous for race day.
Rock Star Tri: My journey back to the endurance world frequently interrupted by life
It dead-ends into a county park which focuses on a 1800s era restoration village. There was no athlete parking at the facility, instead the athlete’s parked a few miles away with bus transport to the race site. Several enterprising athletes decided a better option was to park as close as possible to the venue and walk it in. Since the closest place to park was my street, at 6am there was a traffic jam on my block with some athletes trying to park and others heading to the site. I decided to join those athletes and walk to the site as my daily walk. Surrounded by athletes on their way to the race site, I initially felt a little like a poseur. A guy who worked with me once said that people had one of two types of eyes and you can tell a lot about their personality based on which type of eyes they had. The first type of eyes are typical of raptors, they are focused ahead, on prey, and are ready to be aggressive. The animals with these type of eyes are ready to attack. This second type of eyes is typical of bunny rabbits, large, constantly looking behind them, passive, yet ready to flee. Many of the athletes had raptor eyes, A few had bunny eyes.
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