Okay. So. Here we go.

Still no definitive word about project/relocation/gigantor-life-changing plans. And by "no definitive word" I mean "no word at all from the big company that holds all the cards and apparently is in no real hurry to, y'know, get ON with it already."

But screw that.

I registered for a race. Granted, it's a 5K which is in two weeks, but it lit enough of a fire under me to actually think about PLANNING my 2007 season.

Since plans are, of course, subject to change at any time, there was no reason at all for me not to plan. Even though it might not end up being the ultimate destination.

My major caveat here is that EVERYTHING after the Apr. 28th date comes with a great big flowchart of "if. . . then. . . else"s, which would be really, really boring and pedantic for y'all if I mapped it out. So, we'll just put that in the "take it as it comes" category and trust that God and the universe and whatever else will give me the opportunities to do whatever it is that I'm supposed to do.

So here it is. Throwdown!

Veeg in Training 2007 Race Schedule

Jan. 28 Lakeview RecPlex Indoor Tri #1
Mar. 4 Lakeview RecPlex Indoor Tri #2
Mar. 24 Simply Stu World-Wide Triathlon
Apr. 22 Lakeview RecPlex Indoor Tri #3
Apr. 28 Either Pine Line Marathon or Racine Running Fest 30K
Jun. 3 Green Bay Sprint Tri
Jun. 17 Lighthouse Run
Jun. 24 Either High Cliff Sprint Tri or High Cliff 70.3
Jul. 22 Spirit of Racine HALF Triathlon
Aug. 12 Oshkosh Olympic-distance Triathlon
Oct. 7 LaSalle Bank Chicago Marathon

Listiness

I'm SO VERY CLOSE to actually moving forward. One foot. Next foot.

And in the meantime, here's a meme. Which is lame, but at least this is a cool meme.

01. Bought everyone in the bar a drink
02. Swam with wild dolphins
03. Climbed a mountain
04. Taken a Ferrari for a test drive
05. Been inside the Great Pyramid
06. Held a tarantula
07. Taken a candlelit bath with someone
08. Said “I love you” and meant it
09. Hugged a tree
10. Bungee jumped
11. Visited Paris
12. Watched a lightning storm at sea
13. Stayed up all night long and saw the sun rise
14. Seen the Northern Lights
15. Gone to a huge sports game
16. Walked the stairs to the top of the leaning Tower of Pisa.
17. Grown and eaten your own vegetables
18. Touched an iceberg
19. Slept under the stars
20. Changed a baby’s diaper
21. Taken a trip in a hot air balloon
22. Watched a meteor shower
23. Gotten drunk on champagne
24. Given more than you can afford to charity
25. Looked up at the night sky through a telescope
26. Had an uncontrollable giggling fit at the worst possible moment
27. Had a food fight
28. Bet on a winning horse
29. Asked out a stranger
30. Had a snowball fight
31. Screamed as loudly as you possibly can
32. Held a lamb
33. Seen a total eclipse
34. Ridden a roller coaster
35. Hit a home run
36. Danced like a fool and not cared who was looking
37. Adopted an accent for an entire day
38. Actually felt happy about your life, even for just a moment
39. Had two hard drives for your computer (Are there people who DON'T do this?)
40. Visited all 50 states
41. Taken care of someone who was drunk.
42. Had amazing friends
43. Danced with a stranger in a foreign country
44. Watched wild whales
45. Stolen a sign
46. Backpacked in Europe.
47. Taken a road-trip
48. Gone rock climbing
49. Midnight walk on the beach
50. Gone sky diving
51. Visited Ireland
52. Been heartbroken longer than you were actually in love
53. In a restaurant, sat at a stranger’s table and had a meal with them
54. Visited Japan
55. Milked a cow
56. Alphabetized your CDs
57. Pretended to be a superhero
58. Sung karaoke
59. Lounged around in bed all day
60. Played touch football
61. Gone scuba diving
62. Kissed in the rain
63. Played in the mud
64. Played in the rain
65. Gone to a drive-in theater
66. Visited the Great Wall of China
67. Started a business
68. Fallen in love and not had your heart broken
69. Toured an ancient site
70. Taken a martial arts class
71. Played Dungeons & Dragons for more than 6 hours straight
72. Gotten married
73. Been in a movie
74. Crashed a party
75. Gotten divorced
76. Gone without food for 5 days
77. Made cookies from scratch
78. Won first prize in a costume contest
79. Ridden a gondola in Venice
80. Gotten a tattoo
81. Rafted the Snake River
82. Been on television news programs as an “expert”
83. Got flowers for no reason
85. Been to Las Vegas
86. Recorded music
87. Eaten shark
88. Kissed on the first date
89. Gone to Thailand
90. Bought a house
91. Been in a combat zone
92. Buried one/both of your parents
93. Been on a cruise ship
94. Spoken more than one language fluently well enough to have a decent conversation
95. Performed in Rocky Horror
96. Raised children
97. Followed your favorite band/singer on tour
99. Taken an exotic bicycle tour in a foreign country
100. Picked up and moved to another city to just start over
101. Walked the Golden Gate Bridge
102. Sang loudly in the car, and didn’t stop when you knew someone was looking
103. Had plastic surgery
104. Survived an accident that you shouldn’t have survived
105. Wrote articles for a large publication
106. Lost over 100 pounds (yes, but not all at one time)
107. Held someone while they were having a flashback
108. Piloted an airplane
109. Touched a stingray
110. Broken someone’s heart
111. Helped an animal give birth
112. Won money on a T.V. game show
113. Broken a bone
114. Gone on an African photo safari
115. Had a facial part pierced other than your ears
116. Fired a rifle, shotgun, or pistol
117. Eaten mushrooms that were gathered in the wild
118. Ridden a horse
119. Had major surgery
120. Had a snake as a pet
121. Hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon
122. Slept for more than 30 hours over the course of 48 hours
123. Visited more foreign countries than U.S. states
124. Visited all 7 continents
125. Taken a canoe trip that lasted more than 2 days
126. Eaten kangaroo meat
127. Eaten sushi
128. Had your picture in the newspaper
129. Changed someone’s mind about something you care deeply about
130. Gone back to school
131. Parasailed
132. Touched a cockroach
133. Eaten fried green tomatoes
134. Read The Iliad
135. Selected one “important” author who you missed in school, and read
136. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
137. Skipped all your school reunions
138. Communicated with someone without sharing a common spoken language
139. Been elected to public office
140. Written your own computer language
141. Thought to yourself that you’re living your dream142. Had to put someone you love into hospice care
143. Built your own PC from parts
144. Sold your own artwork to someone who didn’t know you
145. Had a booth at a street fair
146. Dyed your hair
147. Been a DJ
148. Shaved your head
149. Caused a car accident
150. Saved someone’s life
151. Finished a marathon

Possibly Throwing Down. Or Maybe Not Quite Yet.

I'm sick of being in limbo. Sick, sick, sick, SICK.

I'm done. I can only control so much (and y'all? That is NOTVERYMUCH). But I'll do what I can. Let preparation meet opportunity, right?

And if I'm going to prepare, I need to start getting stuff off of my "don't wanna" and "not gonna" spreadsheet, and put it on the "to-do list."

That includes getting myself onto a bike and into the water. Which I've been doing very, very little of lately -- apparently, all of the psychic churning and spinning is a powerful disincentive to do gearing up for the physical acts of the same.

I need to actually sign myself up for the indoor tri series, so I've got some motivation to train. Because right now? I just want to run. Both in a literal and a metaphoric sense.

Plan Your Work, Work Your Plan

I love how much triathlon just encapsulates life. And, being me, I love drawing the smaller patterns out to a bigger perspective.

* Here's the goal.
* Here's the plan. Here are the main components. Here are the supporting pieces.
* Here are the benchmarks along the way to measure your progress.
Do the things on the plan. Don't do them half-assed, or you'll fall short. Don't get too ambitious, or you'll flame out.
* Stay in the moment, or you'll get overwhelmed.
* Remember that in every moment, you are shaping. You are molding. You are becoming.
* Be thankful for that opportunity.

. . . It's Go time.

Stumbling Is Still Forward Progress

"Not knowing was hard. Knowing was harder" -- Toni Morrison

There are no final answers yet. No contracts. No guarantees.

But the initial indicators look promising. And if we want to jump onto that train, we need to start running NOW, or the risk of winding up as rail grease is just too great.

Cliche though it is, the journey of a thousand miles beginning with a single step? Absolutely true.

I am not clear at this point what the thousand-mile destination is. I suspect the course might be some sort of out-and-back. The kind of route that's impossible to cheat. Once you've gotten to the turn-around, there's nothing to do but push through. And then, you end up in the same place you started, but with more miles in the bank, more time in your own head, more practice living out what you want to be.

Now that I think about it, you're not in the same place at all.